AIMS 1 Vocabulary, ENG 10

ADAGE A saying that states a general truth. Example: “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.”

AFFIX Prefixes and suffixes. Parts of words that change a word’s meaning. Examples: -ing, ed, pre-, re-,

A LLUSION A reference to a famous person, place, event or literary work.

A NTAGONIST The main character who is against the protagonist or hero. Example: The Joker is the antagonist in the movie The Dark Knight because he is trying to destroy Batman.

A LLITERATION The repetition of consonant sounds Example: The glittering gold fell on the ground. The snake slithered silently through the sand.

C ONFLICT The struggle between two characters or forces. Internal conflict is a struggle a character has with himself; external conflict is with another character or force. Example: George’s external conflict was with Curley, his internal conflict was whether or not he should kill Lennie.

CLIMAX The main turning point in a story. The point of most tension. Example: The climax in Of Mice & Men is when Lennie kills Curley’s wife.

CHARACTERIZATION When the author shows us what a character is like. Example: “Behind him walked his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes; he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little…”

CONNOTATION The secondary meaning of a word, or what is suggests. Example: “She is hot.” The connotation is that she is very pretty.

DENOTATION The dictionary definition of a word. Example: “She is hot.”