English 7 Gold Mini-Index of Literary Elements Name: Period: Miss. Meere
Genre 1. Fiction 2. Nonfiction 3. Narrative 4. Short Story 5. Novel 6. Biography 7. Autobiography 8. Poetry 9. Drama 10. Legend Literature Terms 1. Character 2. Protagonist 3. Antagonist 4. Setting 5. Plot 6. Exposition 7. Rising Action 8. Conflict 9. External Conflict 10. Internal Conflict 11. Climax 12. Falling Action 13. Resolution 14. Point of View 15. First Person 16. Third Person Omniscient 17. Third Person Limited 18. Theme 19. Tone 20. Suspense 21. Motive 22. Foreshadowing 23. Flashback 24. Allusion 25. Symbol 26. Sensory Language 27. Dialect 28. Fantasy 29. Realism 30. Stereotype 31. Imply 32. Infer 33. Direct Characterization 34. Indirect Characterization Poetry Terms 1. Literal Language 2. Figurative Language 3. Simile 4. Metaphor 5. Extended Metaphor 6. Personification 7. Hyperbole 8. Rhyme 9. External Rhyme 10. Internal Rhyme 11. Exact Rhyme 12. Half Rhyme 13. Rhyme Scheme 14. Rhythm 15. Repetition 16. Onomatopoeia 17. Stanza 18. Refrain 19. Alliteration 20. Assonance 21. Literary Ballad 22. Lyric Poem 23. Haiku 24. Quatrain 25. Concrete 26. Free Verse
Genres 1. Fiction: Prose (paragraph) writing that tells about imaginary characters and events. 2. Nonfiction: prose (paragraph) writing that explains ideas or tells about real people, places, objects, or events. 3. Narrative: writing that tells a story. 4. Short Story: a brief work of fiction. 5. Novel: a long work of fiction that contains all the elements of a short story bit is developed more fully. 6. Biography: a work of nonfiction where the writer tells the life story of another person. 7. Autobiography: a work of nonfiction where the person tells his or her own life story. 8. Poetry: one of the three major types of literature (besides prose and drama); uses imaginative and vivid language in verse form. 9. Drama: a story written to be performed by actors. 10. Legend: a widely told story about the past; loosely based on historical facts; reflects peoples values and attitudes; each culture has its own legends. Literature Terms 1. Character: a person or animal who takes part in the action of a literary work 2. Protagonist: the main character in a literary work 3. Antagonist: Character or force in conflict with a main character 4. Dialogue: conversation between characters 5. Setting: the time, place, and general environment of a story; establishes the mood and affects the plot 6. Plot: sequence or order of events in a story 7. Exposition: introduction of setting, characters, and the basic situation at the beginning of the story 8. Rising Action: a series of events or conflicts that lead a literary work to its climax 9. Conflict: a struggle between opposing forces 10. External Conflict: occurs when a character struggles against some outside forces (person vs. person/ person vs. nature / person vs. society /person vs. supernatural)
11. Internal Conflict: a conflict that takes place within the mind of a character 12. Climax: the crisis or point of most intense action or the turning point that determines the outcome of the story 13. Falling Action: events that occur after the climax and leads to the story s resolution 14. Resolution: how a conflict is resolved 15. Point of View: the perspective, or vantage point, from which a story is told 16. First Person: narrator is a character in the story and refers to himself or herself with the pronoun I 17. Third Person Omniscient: narrator is not in the story but knows and tells what each character feels and thinks by using the pronouns he, she, or they 18. Third Person Limited: narrator is not in the story but tells what one character feels and thinks by using the pronouns he, she, or they 19. Theme: a central message, concern, or purpose in a literary work; general statement about people or about life (not a summary of the plot) 20. Mood: the feeling created in the reader by a literary work 21. Tone: the writer s attitude towards the subject and characters (ex: playful, serious, sarcastic, etc.) 22. Suspense: a feeling of anxious uncertainty about the outcome of events in a literary work 23. Foreshadowing: hints or clues about events that will occur later in the story 24. Flashback: a section of a literary work that interrupts the sequence of events to relate an event from an earlier time 25. Allusion: reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art 26. Symbol: a concrete or real object used to represent an idea 27. Sensory Language: writing that appeals to one or more of the five senses sight, sound, touch, taste, smell 28. Dialect: the form of language spoken by people in a particular region or group 29. Fantasy: highly imaginative writing that contains elements not found in real life 30. Realism: the representation in literature of objects and actions as they actually are; life as we know it 31. Stereotype: a false idea that all members of a culture group are the same 32. Imply (implication): the writer suggest something without stating it outright
33. Infer (inference): the reader uses information the writer tells to draw conclusions about details that are not specially stated by the author 34. Direct Characterization: the writer tells the reader the character s traits 35. Indirect Characterization: the writer reveals the character s personality through the character s own words, thoughts, and actions and by what other characters say to or about him or her Poetry Terms 1. Literal Language: the actual or dictionary meaning of a word; language that means exactly what it appears to mean 2. Figurative Language: writing that uses hyperbole, personification, simile, or metaphor, to enhance or clarify meaning 3. Simile: a figure of speech that uses the words like or as to make a direct comparison between two unlike ideas (Ex. His hair was like moldy hay. ) 4. Metaphor: a figure of speech that compares two things without using the words like or as (Ex. His eyes were hollows of madness. ) 5. Extended Metaphor: a metaphor in which several comparisons are made that point out a number of similarities 6. Personification: a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics 7. Hyperbole: exaggeration for effect (Ex. I m so hungry I could eat a horse. ) 8. Rhyme: the repetition of sounds at the end of words 9. External Rhyme (End Rhyme): rhyming words at the ends of the lines (Ex. Twinkle twinkle little star How I wonder what you are ) 10. Internal Rhyme: rhyming words within lines (Ex. For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams ) 11. Exact Rhyme: words that sound exactly alike (Ex. floor/door) 12. Half Rhyme (Near Rhyme): words whose sounds are similar but not identical (Ex. Pans/hams) 13. Rhyme Scheme: a regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem, indicated by lower case letters; each rhyme sound is assigned a different letter (Ex. aabbcc or abababab)
14. Rhythm: a pattern of beats or stresses in spoken or written language 15. Repetition: the use, more than once, of an element of language like a sound, a words, a phrase, a line, or sentence 16. Onomatopoeia: the use of words that imitate sounds (Ex. buzz, hiss, jingle, etc.) 17. Stanza: a formal division of lines in a poem 18. Refrain: a regularly repeated line or group of lines in a poem or song 19. Alliteration: the repetition of beginning consonant sound (Ex. The Sixth Sheik s Sixth Sheep s Sick. ) 20. Assonance: the repetition of vowel sounds (Ex. The fat cat sat on the black mat. ) 21. Literary Ballad: a song-like poem that tells a story, often dealing with adventure and romance 22. Lyric Poem: a highly musical verse that expresses the observation and feelings of a single speaker 23. Haiku: a three (3) line Japanese poem whose subject is nature; 5-7-5 syllables 24. Quatrain: a four line stanza or poem that rhymes 25. Concrete: a poem with a shape that suggest its subject; the poet arranges the letters, punctuation, and lines to create an image 26. Free Verse: poetry that has neither rhyme nor regular rhythm nor meter; poet is free to use unusual spacing, little capitalization, or punctuation