8Th Grade Ela Vocabulary

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Autobiography

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An autobiography is the story of the writer's life, told by the writer. Autobiographical writing may tell about the person's whole life or only part of it.

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Characterization

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Characterization is the act of creating and developing a character.

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Climax

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The climax, also called the turning point, is the high point in the action of the plot. It is the moment of greatest tension, when the outcome of the plot hangs in the balance.

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Dialogue

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A dialogue is a conversation between characters. In poems, novels, and short stories, dialogue is usually set off by quotation marks to indicate a speaker's exact words.

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Exposition

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In the plot of a story or a drama, the exposition, or introduction, is the part of the work that intoduces the characters, setting, and basic situation.

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Figurative language

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Figurative language is writing of speech that is not meant to be taken literally. The many types of figurative language are known as figures of speech. Common figures of speech include metaphor, personification, and simile. Writers use figurative language to state ideas in vivid and imaginative ways.

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Descriptive language

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A description is a portrait, in words, of a person, place, or object. Descriptive writing uses images that appeal to the five senses - sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.

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Foreshadowing

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Foreshadowing is the author's use of clues to hint at what might happen later in the story. Writers use foreshadowing to build their readers' expectations and to create suspense.

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Idiom

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An idiom is an expression that has a meaning particular to a language or region. For example, in "seventh grade," Gary Soto uses the idiom "making a face," which means to contort one's face in an unusual, usually unattractive,way.

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Metaphor

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A metaphor is a figure of speech in which something is described as though it were something else. A metaphor, like a simile, works by pointing out a simiarity between two unlike things.

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Narration

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Narration is writing that tells a story. The act of telling a story is also called narration. Each piece is narrative. A story told in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or even in drama is called a narrative.

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Simile

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A simile is a figure of speech that uses like or as to make a direct comparison between two unlike ideas. Everyday speech often contains similes, such as "pale as a ghost," " good as gold," " spread like wildfire," and " clever as a fox."

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Subplot

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A subplot is a secondary story line that complicates or adds depth to the main plot.

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Irony

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Irony is the general name given to literary techniques that invole surprising, intreresting, or amusing contradictions.

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Narrator

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A narrator is speaker or a character who tells a story. The narrator's perspective is the way he or she sees things. A third-person narrator is one who strands outside the action and speaks about it. A first-person narrator is one who tells a story and participates in its action.

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Author's purpose

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the author's purpose will influence the type and amount of information provided in a work. For example the author might want to entertain, to persudade, to inform, or to reflect on experiences.

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Plagiarism

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an act of plagiarizing, or to steal or pass off as ones own

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Punctuation

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the act, practice, or system of inserting punctuation marks in written matter to make the meaning clear and separate parts

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Thesis

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a statement put forth for discussion or proof

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Clarification

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to get a clearer understanding of word meanings by using additional information in the text around the unfamiliar word.

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Paraphrase

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To restate sentences in your own words. When you paraphrase sentences or paragraphs, you make their meaning clear to yourself.

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word roots

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a word root is the part of a word that reveals its basic meaning

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Fact vs Opinion

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In a writer's piece you have to figure of if its the author's opinion or if its a fact. Some questions you can ask yourself to figure it out, is can this statement be proven to be true? Is this statement someone's personal belief? Can this statement be suppported by factual evidence?

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transition words

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Transition words show the connection between sentences. For example however and first are transition words.

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slang

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an informal nonstandard vocabulary composed of invented words, changed words, and exaggerated or humorous figures of speech

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Restatement

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to state again or in another way

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Simile

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Comparison of two things using "like" or "as".

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Alliteration

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The repetition of the beginning consonant sound.

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Allusion

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Reference to a well known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art.

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Persuasion

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To attempt to convince the reader or listener to adopt a particular opinion or course of action.

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Subplot

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A secondary story line that complicates or adds depth to the main plot.

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Theme

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The central message, concern, or purpose in a literary work.

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Dialect

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The form of language spoken by people in a particular region or group.

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Irony

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The general name given to literary techniques that involve surprising, interesting, or amusing contradictions.

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Narrator

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A speaker or a character who tells the story.

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Context Clue

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Using the surrounding words within a sentence to understand a new word.

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Word Origin

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The origin of words and their differences and how they influence the English language.

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Main Idea

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A topic sentence which may appear anywhere in the passgae. Sometimes it is implied, or suggested by details within the passage.

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Personal Narrative

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A short nonfiction work specific to the author's experiences.

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Chronological

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To describe events or processes in order.

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Author's Tone

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The writters attitude toward the subject and his or her audience.

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Compare-and-contrast

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To show similarity or differences in a written paper.