Steffen 8th Grade ELA Elements of Literature
Essential Knowledge
Terms : Hide Images [1]
| 206266244 | Plot | sequence of events in a story | |
| 206266245 | Foreshadowing | the use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a story | |
| 206266246 | Flashback | author trick: insertion of events that happened earlier | |
| 206266247 | Suspense | excited anticipation of an approaching climax | |
| 206266248 | Exposition | introduces the characters, setting, and basic situation | |
| 206266249 | Prologue | introduction to a poem or play | |
| 206266250 | Rising Action | events leading up to the climax | |
| 206266251 | Climax | the decisive moment in a novel or play | |
| 206266252 | Conflict | opposition in a work of drama or fiction between characters or forces; 4 types: person vs. person; person vs. self; person vs. nature; person vs. fate | |
| 206266253 | Epilogue | a short passage added at the end of a story | |
| 206266254 | Falling Action | events after the climax, leading to the resolution | |
| 206266255 | Resolution | end of the story where loose ends are tied up | |
| 206266256 | Antagonist | the character who works against the protagonist in the story | |
| 206266257 | Direct Characterization | the writer tells us directly what a character's personality is like | |
| 206266258 | Dynamic Character | A character who grows, learns, or changes as a result of the story's action | |
| 206266259 | Flat Character | a character who embodies a single quality and who does not develop fully over the course of a story | |
| 206266260 | Indirect Characterization | the character is gradually revealed through his or her personality, appearance, words, actions, and effect on others | |
| 206266261 | Protagonist | the major character in a work of fiction | |
| 206266262 | Round Character | this character is fully developed - the writer reveals good and bad traits as well as background | |
| 206266263 | Static Character | a character who does not change at all, or who remains almost entirely the same, throughout the course of a play or story | |
| 206266264 | Stereotype | a generalized belief about a group of people | |
| 206266265 | First Person Point of View | a character in the story is actually telling the story himself/herself | |
| 206266266 | Limited Point of View | the story is told from the perspective of one of the characters whose information is restricted only to what he/she sees, hears, and feels. | |
| 206266267 | Omniscient Point of View | as if God is telling the story and knows everything and can get into each character's mind | |
| 206266268 | Point of View | the perspective from which a story is told | |
| 206266269 | Dramatic Irony | when a reader is aware of something that a character isn't | |
| 206266270 | Irony | the opposite of what is expected | |
| 206266271 | Situational Irony | an outcome that turns out to be very different from what was expected | |
| 206266272 | Style | particular way in which a writer writes | |
| 206266273 | Verbal Irony | A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant | |
| 206266274 | Mood | the overall emotion created by a work of literature | |
| 206266275 | Moral | relating to principles of right and wrong | |
| 206266276 | Satire | The use of humor to emphasize human weaknesses or imperfections in social institutions | |
| 206266277 | Setting | where and when the story takes place | |
| 206266278 | Symbol | something that stands for something else | |
| 206266279 | Theme | The deeper meaning of a text; an insight about human life revealed in a literary work | |
| 206266280 | Foil | a character who provides a striking contrast to another character | |
| 206266281 | Confidant | a character type: a close friend or associate to whom secrets are confided or with whom private matters and problems are discussed | |
| 206266282 | Dialogue | the lines spoken by characters in drama or fiction | |
| 206266283 | Figurative language | Writing or speech that is used to create vivid impressions by setting up comparisons between dissimilar things: 3 examples are metaphor, simile, and personification | |
| 206266284 | Genre | a kind or type of literary or artistic work | |
| 206266285 | Imagery | literary description that appeals to the senses: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste | |
| 206266286 | Alliteration | the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words | |
| 206266287 | Metaphor | comparison not using like or as | |
| 206266288 | Onomatopoeia | words that have sounds that suggest their meaning ex: the water gurgled down the drain. | |
| 206266289 | Personification | A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes | |
| 206266290 | Simile | comparison using like or as | |
| 206266291 | Versimilitude | in a fiction setting, the similarity to reality; the appearance of truth; looking like the real thing | |
| 206266292 | Stream of consciousness | A literary technique that presents the flowing thoughts and feelings of a character as they occur. | |
| 206266293 | Fab Five | a reading strategy that helps you summarize the basic, essential elements of a story; NOT a huge retelling: who? wants what? but? so? then? | |
| 206266294 | Inference | a reasonable conclusion that a reader draws by combining what you already know about the subject with what's in the text | |
| 206266295 | Connecting | thinking about how what you're reading has to do with you personally, other things you've read, and what's happening in the world | |
| 206266296 | Questioning | the process of raising questions while reading in an effort to understand characters and events; checking your internal comprehension | |
| 206266297 | Allusion | a reference to another work of literature, person, or event; usually Biblical or Shakespearean | |
| 206266298 | Pun | play on the multiple meanings of a word or on two words that sound alike but have different meanings; can be somewhat humorous | |
| 206266299 | Flashback | a scene or event from the past that appears in a narrative out of chronological order, to fill in information or explain something in the present | |
| 206266300 | Suspense | excited anticipation that a reader fells of an approaching climax; nervous or anxious about the outcome of a scene or novel | |
| 206266301 | Epilogue | a short passage added at the end of a literary work | |
| 206266302 | Stereotype | a type of character that is a distorted, exaggerated, or oversimplified | |
| 206372616 | Short story | a brief work of fiction generally read in one sitting | |
| 209388212 | Main characters | story centers around the events of these characters | |
| 209388213 | Events | attempts by main character to solve his/her problem/overcome roadblocks; found in rising action | |
| 219702043 | motive | a driving force that causes a person to take action to satisfy specific needs | |
| 219702044 | motif | an element in literature that recurs in stories from many cultures and from many periods in history; example: the number three |