Literary Terms 7 th Grade Honors Part B Click Mouse to Advance

Exposition Introduction or The part of the work that introduces the character, setting, and Basic situation

Exposition Writing Writing that explains or informs

Extended Metaphor A subject is spoken or written of as though it were something else Bat My son is a bat. His eyes blink when darkness comes. His body stirs with life. His limbs gorge with blood as he sets out through the cave of night his roof the stars the moon a big white eye watching. Attracted by the false lights he mingles with his batty friends weaving in and out of nightclubs endless parties each other’s places till sensing the sudden ebb of darkness he flutters home a cloaked Dracula to the hollow of his room where he will sleep all day.

fable A brief story or poem, Usually with animal characters, that teaches a lesson, or moral

Fantasy Highly imaginative writing that contains elements not found in real life

Prose writing that tells about imaginary characters and events

Figurative Language Writing or speech that is not meant to be taken literally I am hungry as a horse. He is as sneaky as a snake.

A scene within a story that interrupts the sequence of events to relate events that occurred in the past

Folk Tale A story composed orally and then passed from person to person by word of mouth

The author’s use of clues to hint at what might happen later in the story

Free Verse Poetry not written in a regular, rhythmical pattern, or meter I Dream'd in a Dream by Walt Whitma I DREAM'D in a dream I saw a city invincible to the attacks of the whole of the rest of the earth, I dream'd that was the new city of Friends, Nothing was greater there than the quality of robust love, it led the rest, It was seen every hour in the actions of the men of that city, And in all their looks and words.

Genre A division or type of literature 1.Poetry: lyric poetry, concrete poetry, dramatic poetry, narrative poetry, epic poetry 2.Prose: fiction (novels and short stories) and nonfiction (biography, autobiography, letters, essays, and reports) 3.Drama: serious drama and tragedy, melodrama, and farce

Haiku A three-line Japanese verse form

Hero or heroine A character whose actions are inspiring or noble

Historical Fiction In historical fiction, real events, places, or people are incorporated into a fictional, or made-up story

humor Writing intended to evoke laughter

images Words or phrases that appeal to one or more of the five senses

Irony A contradiction between what happens and what is expected. 1.Situational irony occurs when something happens that directly contradicts the expectations of the characters or the audience. 2.Verbal irony is something contradictory that is said. 3.Dramatic irony is when the audience is aware of something that the character or speaker is not. Birds getting singing lessons

Journal A daily, or periodic, account of events and the writer’s thoughts and feelings about those events

Legend A widely told story about the past – one that may or may not have a foundation in fact

Letters A written communication from one person to another

Limerick A humorous, rhyming, five-line poem with a specific meter and rhyme scheme There once was a fellow named Tim. whose dad never taught him to swim. He fell off a dock. and sunk like a rock. And that was the end of him.

Lyric Poem A highly musical verse that expresses the observations and feelings of a single speaker

Reports, explanations, opinions, or descriptions written for television, radio, newspapers, and magazines

Metaphor A figure of speech in which something is described as though it were something else I am a rainbow

The meter of a poem is its rhythmical pattern