PSSA TERMS You know you like them…

Literary Devices /Features /Techniques: Dialogue- a conversation between characters *Uses quotes Flashback- details in a story that provide information about something that took place before the story takes place Foreshadowing- hints or clues given to the reader about events that may happen later in the story

Literary Devices /Features/ Techniques:- continued Symbolism / Symbol- an image or object that stands for an idea beyond its dictionary meaning –Ex: heart = love, flag = freedom Allusion- a reference to a familiar person, place, or event –Ex: Noah, MLK, Zeus Irony-the use of a word or phrase to mean the exact opposite of its usual meaning –Ex: *Far Side comic

Elements of Fiction / Literary Elements: Characterization- reveals a character to the reader –Character’s thoughts, words, actions- indirect –Other character’s thoughts, words, actions- indirect –What the narrator reveals- direct

Elements of Fiction / Literary Elements:- continued Plot- the sequence of events / what happens to the characters Rising Action- plot details that develop the conflict Climax- the moment when the conflict is at its most intense point Resolution- the conflict is resolved and the moral is typically revealed; the final outcome

Elements of Fiction / Literary Elements:- continued Plot Structure (Conflict) (Resolution) (turning point)

Elements of Fiction / Literary Elements:- continued Conflict / Problem- the story problem –Ex. Person vs. Person, Person vs. Self, Person vs. Nature Mood- the overall feelings /emotions of the story Setting- the time & place of the story Tone- the author’s attitude towards the reader and characters –Ex: serious or humorous Theme- the life lesson or moral (broad) [THE[ME]SSAGE]

Poetry: Alliteration- the repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighboring words –Ex: Peter Piper picked Onomatopoeia- a word used to represent a sound –Ex: smack, hiss, pop Speaker- the person the reader is supposed to imagine is talking (don’t assume the author is the speaker)

Figurative Language: Hyperbole- an exaggeration or overstatement –Ex: I’m so hungry I could eat a horse! Idiomatic Language- a saying that cannot be understood if taken literally –Ex: It’s raining cats and dogs. Imagery- descriptive words that allow you to see, hear, smell, feel, and taste what you are reading –Ex: The bubbling, oozing-over cherry pie sat on the table releasing its sweet, rich scent.

Figurative Language:- continued Metaphor- a comparison of two things that does not use the words “like” or “as” –Ex: Her hands were ice cubes. Personification- giving human characteristics to nonhuman things –Ex: The leaves danced across the lawn. Simile- a comparison of two things using “like” or “as” –Ex: Her hands were as cold as ice.

Genre: autobiography- a story of a person’s life written by himself or herself biography- a story of a person’s life written by someone other than that person fiction- any story that is made up by the author (not true) nonfiction- any written work that is based on facts (true)

Types of Text: expository- text written to provide information about a topic informational- synonym to expository narrative- text that tells a story poetry- text that aims to present ideas and stir up emotional experience; can have various layers of meaning

Author: author’s purpose- the reason the author is writing such as to explain, describe, entertain, persuade, inform, or convince style- how an author writes; an author’s use of language (more to do with purpose) bias- a judgment based on a personal point of view -Ex: beach vs. mountains…Ford vs. Chevy voice- the personality of the author comes out in the writing *** add this one*** propaganda- spreading rumors, ideas, or information in order to help or hurt an organization or person

Point of View: 1st person - the narrator is someone in the story; “I”, “Me”, “Us” 3rd person - the narrator is a bystander and not involved in the story’s plot; “them”, “he”, “she”

Text Features: headings, graphics, and charts- any visual clues on a page that offer additional information to guide the reader’s understanding –headings- bold print that indicates the topic or theme of the text –graphics- photographs, drawings, maps –charts- condensed data in a series of rows, lines, or lists

Actions: compare- placing together characters, situations, or ideas to show common or differing features in literary selections contrast- to compare differences differentiate- to tell apart or recognize differences between two or more items evaluate- to examine or judge carefully

Actions:- continued infer / inference- to make a judgment based on reasoning; your understanding gained by “reading between the lines” paraphrase- to restate a text or a passage in your own words summarize- to capture the most important parts of an original work but to make them shorter and in your own words

Text Structure: cause and effect- cause comes from an action or event and the effects are what happens as a result of the action or event problem / solution- a organizational structure used in nonfiction where a problem is presented and possible solutions to it sequence- details told in order (ex. narrative, directions, process) question / answer- similar to problem/solution except a question is given and then answered (or possible answers are offered)

Word Meaning: antonym- a word that is the opposite of another word synonym- a word that is similar to another word homophone- words pronounced alike but with different spellings and meanings multiple-meaning word- words that have several meanings depending on how they are used in a sentence

Word Meaning:-continued prefix- a group of letters placed before a word to alter its meaning (ex. in, pre, post) suffix- a group of letters placed after a word to modify its meaning or change its part of speech (ex. ly, ion, ed, ing, er, ist) root word- one to which prefixes and suffixes can be added to form different words (ex. help…helpful, helper) context clues- information from the reading that identifies a word or group of words that’s helpful when figuring out meaning or understanding of the text

What’s the Topic: focus- the center of interest or attention main idea- the author’s central thought; the topic sentence of each paragraph thesis- the topic sentence for an entire piece of writing that the writer will defend throughout the written work

Test Words: validity- statements that have the appearance of truth or reality conclusion- the ending of a story or the summarization of ideas generalization- a conclusion, drawn from specific information, used to make a broad statement about a topic or person