Lit Terms

Front 1

Figure of speech

In “The Treasure of Lemon Brown,” Walter Dean Myers uses a figure of speech by calling Lemon Brown’s memories his “treasure.”

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An expression used to compare one person or thing to another person or thing that is familiar to the reader. 1.Simile,
2.metaphor,
3.personification are examples of figures of speech

Front 2

Point of View

“The Raven,” “Stop the Sun,” and “Bagged Wolf” p. 269-276 - A story using first-person point of view is told by one of the characters, as in “The Raven,” by Edgar Allen Poe. The reader sees everything through that
character’s eyes. In a story with a limited third-person point of view, the narrator is outside the story and reveals the thoughts of only one character, but refers to that character as he or she. In “Stop the Sun,” Gary Paulsen uses this point of view. In a story with an omniscient point of view,
such as “Bagged Wolf,” by Carol Kendall and Yao-wen Li, the narrator is also outside the story, but can reveal events, thoughts, and actions of the characters as well as background information important to the story.

Back 2

The relationship of the narrator to the story.

Front 3

Foreshadowing

as in “The Summer of Vietnam,” by Barbara Renaud Gonzalez.

Back 3

The use of clues by an author to prepare readers for events that will happen in a narratives

Front 4

Imagery

Margaret Walker uses imagery in this passage from “Sorrow Home”: “Warm skies and gulf blue streams are in my blood. I belong / with the smell of fresh pine, with the trail of coon, and / the spring growth of wild onion.”

Back 4

Language that emphasizes sense impressions to help the reader see, hear, feel, smell, and taste things described in the work.

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Irony & types

situational or verbal

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A contrast between what is said or done and what is expected.

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Metaphor

“I Have a Dream” (web search & highlight metaphors) - There are many metaphors in the “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King: Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice; now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice…

Back 6

A figure of speech that compares seemingly unlike things. Unlike a simile, a metaphor does not use the clue like or as.

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Mood

In “If I Forget Thee Oh Earth…,” Arthur C. Clarke establishes a nostalgic mood that extends throughout the story.

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The emotional quality or atmosphere of the story or poem.

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Onomatopoeia

The following line from Emily Dickinson’ “I like to see it lap the miles” contains this example of onomatopoeia:
In horrid, hooting stanza …

Back 8

The use of a word or a phrase that actually imitates or suggests the sound of what it describes.

Front 9

Personification

“Sorrow Home” p. 504 - The plants of the tropics are personified in Margaret Walker’s poem “Sorrow Home”:
…The palm tree and banana leaf, mango and coconut, breadfruit and rubber trees know me.

Back 9

A figure of speech in which a human quality is given to an animal, object, or idea.

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Plot

The plot begins with exposition, which introduces the story’s characters, setting, and situation. The rising action adds complications to the story’s conflicts, or problems, leading to the climax, or point of greatest interest or suspense. The falling action is the logical result of the climax, and the resolution presents the final outcome.

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The sequence of events in narrative works such as stories, novels, plays, and some nonfiction.

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Poetry –

Back 11

A type of literature in which language, images, sound, and rhythm are combined to create an emotional effect. Poetry is a compact form of writing that often, but not always, uses rhyme, meter, and figurative language. Other characteristics of some poems are the use of metaphor and simile and the division of the work into stanzas.

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Nonfiction –

For example, “On the Road with Charles Kurault” is nonfiction.

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Writing based on fact, not on imagination.
Among the categories of nonfiction are
1. biographies,
2. autobiographies,
3. essays

Front 13

Verbal irony

for example, saying “Nice guy!” about someone you dislike.

Back 13

occurs when a person says one thing and means another –

Front 14

Situational irony

Back 14

occurs when the outcome of a situation is the opposite of what was expected.