High School Ace Vocabulary Cards

Front 1

text features

Back 1

Graphic features of written material designed to assist the reader's understanding of the text (italics, sub-titles, etc.).

Front 2

theme

Back 2

A central idea developed in a work of fiction; the unstated idea or topic in a discussion or writing; a main idea or proposition broad enough to cover the entire scope of literary or other works of art; underlying meaning of literary work.

Front 3

thesis/hypothesis

Back 3

The statement that must be proved, supported, and/or defended in the body of a work.

Front 4

tone

Back 4

The author's implicit attitude toward the reader or the people/places/events in a work.

Front 5

topic

Back 5

A subject that people think, talk, and write about.

Front 6

allusion

Back 6

A reference to some event, person, place, or artistic work, which is not explained by the writer but relies on the reader's familiarity with what is mentioned.

Front 7

analogy

Back 7

A partial similarity as the computer is like the brain.

Front 8

antagonist

Back 8

The character that opposes the heroine; villian

Front 9

autobiography

Back 9

A biography of a person narrated by himself/herself.

Front 10

bias

Back 10

A personal and sometimes unreasoned judgement.

Front 11

APA

Back 11

American Psychological Association; A particular type of format for writing.

Front 12

bibliography

Back 12

The works or a list of the works referred to in a text or consulted by the author in its production.

Front 13

hyperbole

Back 13

An intentionally or exaggerated figure of speech, such as I have told you a million times.

Front 14

foreshadowing

Back 14

The technique of giving clues to coming events in a body of writing.

Front 15

fluency

Back 15

Able to express oneself readily and effortlessly.

Front 16

imagery

Back 16

A set of mental pictures or images; the use of vivid or figurative language to present objects, actions, or ideas.

Front 17

inference

Back 17

The act or process of deriving logical conclusions from premises known or assumed to be true.

Front 18

irrelevancy

Back 18

The quality or state of being unrelated to a matter being considered.

Front 19

cliche

Back 19

A trite or overused expression.

Front 20

idiom

Back 20

An expression that does not mean what it literally says such as "He put his foot in his mouth, " meaning that he said something embarrassing.

Front 21

paradox

Back 21

An apparently contradictory statement that suggests a truth, as life is but a dream; a self -contradictory, illogical statement, as include me out.

Front 22

irony

Back 22

The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning;incongruence; ex. a doctor that smokes.

Front 23

metaphor

Back 23

A figure of speech in which a word or phrase meaning one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a similarity between them (as in the ship plows the sea).

Front 24

jargon

Back 24

Speech or writing having unusual or pretentious vocabulary, convoluted phrasing, and vague meaning.

Front 25

MLA

Back 25

The Modern Language Association, a particular type of format for writing.

Front 26

main idea

Back 26

The chief topic of a passage expressed or implied in a word or phrase.

Front 27

overstatement

Back 27

To state in too strong of terms; exaggerate.

Front 28

narrative

Back 28

A story that is told or written.

Front 29

onomatopoeia

Back 29

Using words whose that sound like their meaning, such as purr, buzz, or hiss.

Front 30

mood

Back 30

The emotional state of mind expressed by an author or artist in his or her work.

Front 31

climax

Back 31

The point of highest dramatic tension or a major turning point in the action (as of a novel). Action or interest in a short story or book.

Front 32

character

Back 32

A person or animal represented in or acting in a story, drama, etc.

Front 33

cause/effect

Back 33

Something or someone that brings about a particular result, and the result of that action or event; a text structure.

Front 34

compare/contrast

Back 34

A literary technique of placing together like people, places, or ideas to show common or different features; a text structure.

Front 35

comprehension

Back 35

Accurately understanding what is written or said.

Front 36

conflict

Back 36

The opposition of persons or forces that gives rise to the dramatic action in a drama or fiction.

Front 37

conclusion

Back 37

The last part of something; a result or outcome.

Front 38

context clues

Back 38

Information from the text that helps the reader identify a word or word group.

Front 39

connotation

Back 39

The emotional association suggested by the primary meaning of a word or phrase that affects its interpretation and meaning.

Front 40

context clue words

Back 40

Information from the immediate textual setting that assists in identifying a word or word group.

Front 41

crisis/turning moment

Back 41

A point at which significant change occurs.

Front 42

description

Back 42

A composition in writing or speech that gives a picture of a character or event.

Front 43

denotation

Back 43

A direct specific meaning as distinct from an implied or associated idea.

Front 44

example

Back 44

One that serves as a pattern to be followed.

Front 45

dynamic character

Back 45

A character marked by usually continuous and productive activity or change.

Front 46

expository text

Back 46

A piece of writing that explains or informs.

Front 47

falling action

Back 47

The events of a dramatic or narrative plot following the climax.

Front 48

flat character

Back 48

One that represents a single trait (or a very few traits), such as a loyal sidekick.

Front 49

flashback

Back 49

A technique of disrupting the chronolgy of a narrative by shifting to an earlier time in order to introduce information.

Front 50

personification

Back 50

The representation of ideas, animals, or objects as human beings by endowing them with human qualities.

Front 51

parallel episode

Back 51

A single happening or group of happenings in a story that occur simultaneously with the main action of the story.

Front 52

paraphrase

Back 52

A restatement of text, passage, or work giving the meaning in another form.

Front 53

persuasive text

Back 53

Writing that seeks to convince the reader to adopt a particular opinion or perform a certain action.

Front 54

prefix

Back 54

An affix attached in front of a word that changes its meaning, such as "re" in reprint.

Front 55

plagarism

Back 55

The act of stealing and passing off the ideas or words of another as one's own; the use of another's production without crediting the source.

Front 56

point of view

Back 56

The standpoint from which the actions of a poem or story are related.

Front 57

primary source

Back 57

Firsthand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic, an event, a person's life, original works of literature, and historical facts.

Front 58

propaganda

Back 58

Writing that directly advocates a certain doctrine as the solution to some social or political problem.

Front 59

problem/solution

Back 59

A format for writing in which the author states a problem and a solution or solutions to solving the problem are offered in a text structure.

Front 60

protagonist

Back 60

The leading character in a work of fiction.

Front 61

relevance

Back 61

Relation to the matter at hand; staying within a task or topic.

Front 62

resolution

Back 62

The outcome or solution of the plot.

Front 63

restatement

Back 63

To state again in another way.

Front 64

retell

Back 64

The process in which the reader, having read a story, describes what happened in it.

Front 65

rising action

Back 65

The part of a literary work that begins with the exposition and sets the stage for the climax.

Front 66

root

Back 66

The basic part of a word that usually carries the main component of meaning.

Front 67

round character

Back 67

A complex character displaying inconsistencies and internal conflicts.

Front 68

satire

Back 68

A kind of literature that ridicules human folly or vice with the purpose of bringing about reform or of keeping others from falling into similar folly or vice.

Front 69

secondary source

Back 69

Published books or articles by an author who makes a personal interpretation about a topic based on primary sources.

Front 70

sequence

Back 70

The order of events or particular occurences.

Front 71

simile

Back 71

A figure of speech in which things different in kind or quality are compared by the use of the word like or as (as in eyes like stars).

Front 72

static character

Back 72

One that does not undergo important change in the course of a story.

Front 73

stereotype

Back 73

An author's method of treating a character so that the character is immediately identified with a group. A character may be associated with a group through accent, food choices, style of dress, or any readily identifiable group characteristic.

Front 74

structural analysis

Back 74

Analysis of stucture is an important aspect of explicating and understanding fiction.

Front 75

subplots

Back 75

A subordinate plot in a play.

Front 76

suffix

Back 76

An affix attached to a base or root word, such as -en added to ox to make oxen.

Front 77

summarize

Back 77

To cover the main points succinctly.

Front 78

supporting details

Back 78

Small pieces of information that one by one assist the reader in seeing the whole concept or picture. To use even the smallest or unimportant parts to tell the full story.

Front 79

symbolism

Back 79

The use, in literature, of objects, characters, and situations that represent something beyond themselves.

Front 80

technical text

Back 80

Nonfiction writing that describes how to do a task.