Mcas Vocabulary

Front 1

foreshadowing

Back 1

a writer's use of hints or clues to indicate events that will occur in the story

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antagonist

Back 2

the character who opposes the main character in a story, play or poem

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transformation

Back 3

the change of a character in appearance or form by magic

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moral

Back 4

the lesson taught in a work, such as a fable

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tone

Back 5

an expression of a writer's attitude toward a subject

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traditional narrative

Back 6

the knowledge and beliefs of cultures are passed on by word of mouth

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plot

Back 7

the action or sequence of events in a story

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myth

Back 8

a traditional story passed down through generations that explains why the world is the way it is

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hyperbole

Back 9

an intentional exaggeration for emphasis or comic relief

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resolution

Back 10

the portion of a play where the problem is solved

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ballad

Back 11

a poem in a verse form that tells a story

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dialect

Back 12

a particular variety of language spoken in one place by a distinct group of people

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metaphor

Back 13

the figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things that are basically different, but have something in common

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description

Back 14

the process by which a writer uses words to create a picture of a scene,an event, or a character

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idiom

Back 15

a phrase or expression that means something different than what the words actually mean

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rhythm

Back 16

a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry

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drama

Back 17

a play

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conflict

Back 18

the struggle between opposing forces that moves the plot forward

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fable

Back 19

a short, simple story that teaches a lesson

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fairy tale

Back 20

a story written for, or told to children, that includes elements of magic and magical folk

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refrain

Back 21

one or more words repeated at intervals in a poem

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genre

Back 22

a category of literature

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verse

Back 23

a unit of poetry such as a stanza or line

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hero/heroine

Back 24

a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent

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characterization

Back 25

a method a writer uses to develop characters

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voice

Back 26

indicates whether the subject is acting or being acted on

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onomatopoeia

Back 27

the use of a word whose sound suggests it meaning

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dialogue

Back 28

a conversation between two or more people that advances the action

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character

Back 29

a person who takes part in the action of a story

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climax

Back 30

the high point- the turning point- of the action of a story

Front 31

alliteration

Back 31

the repetition of initial consonant sounds in words

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theme

Back 32

a central ides or abstract concept made concrete through representation in person, action, or image

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personification

Back 33

a form of metaphor in which language relating to human action, motivation, and emotion is used to refer to nonliving things

Front 34

falling action

Back 34

in the plot of a story, the action that occurs after the climax

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image/imagery

Back 35

words or phrases that create vivid sensory experiences for the reader

Front 36

irony

Back 36

the contrast between expectation and reality

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simile

Back 37

a comparison of two unlike things in which a word of comparison - like or as - is used

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stanza

Back 38

a recurring grouping of two or more verse lines in terms of length, metrical form, and often rhyme scheme

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tall tale

Back 39

a distinctively American type of tale - a humorous story, characterized by exaggeration

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symbol

Back 40

a person, place or object that represents something beyond itself

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epic

Back 41

a long narrative that tells of the deeds and adventures of a hero and heroine

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narrator

Back 42

a person,or voice, telling the story

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point of view

Back 43

the vantage point from which the story is told

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protagonist

Back 44

the main character, or hero,of a story

Front 45

mood

Back 45

the feeling, or atmosphere, that a writer creates for the reader

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folktale

Back 46

a short narrative handed down through oral tradition, with various tellers and groups modifying it

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satire

Back 47

a literary technique in which ideas, customs, behaviors or institutions are ridiculed

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author's purpose

Back 48

what the author means to say or accomplish

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setting

Back 49

the time and place of the action in a story, play or poem

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rising action

Back 50

the events in the story that move the plot forward

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rhyme scheme

Back 51

in poetry, the pattern in which rhyme sounds occur in a stanza

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rule of three

Back 52

the number three occurs especially in folk literature