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Story Elements (Literary Elements)

  1. Protagonist – the focus of attention, the main character in a story or play

  2. Supporting Character – has important role but is not the focus of attention

  3. Characterization – developing a character in a story by describing appearance, revealing thoughts, or letting the character speak

  4. Character Traits –all the aspects of the character’s behavior and attitudes that make up the character’s personality

    • Physical Traits – strong, skillful, awkward, clumsy

    • Social Traits- quiet, grumpy, annoying, polite

    • Mental Traits – wise, crafty, foolish

    • Moral Traits – truthful, wicked, cruel

  5. Setting – when and where the story or play takes place

  6. Plot – the main events in a story; what happened to whom and in what order

  7. Theme – the big idea of a story which connects the character, setting, and plot; it is a lesson we learn from the characters.

  8. Climax – the turning point in the story

  9. Conflict – the problem a character in the story faces

  • Example: Roy in the novel Hoot has a conflict with the bully Dana. Dana tries to fight him on the bus.

  1. Resolution – how the story ends, how the conflict is resolved

  2. Point of view – the perspective from which the story is presented

    • examples are first person (I, me) and third person (he, she, they)

  3. Author’s Purpose – the message a writer wants to get across to readers

    • Inform, persuade, or entertain

 

Genre of Literature – form of writing

  1. Fiction – short story, novel or play that has characters and events that are made up

    • Types of fiction include mysteries, drama, realistic fiction, historical fiction, science fiction, myths, and fantasies

  2. Nonfiction – true information

    • Types of nonfiction include articles, biographies, autobiographies, news stories

 

Reading Vocabulary

  1. Synonym – a word having the similar meaning, or nearly the same meaning, as another word Example: house, home

  2. Antonym -  a word that means the opposite of another word

    • Example:     stop, go          big, small

  3. Prefix – a syllable or several syllables at the beginning of a word which changes its meaning, examples: antifreeze, unhappy

  4. Root – the word base, example: bio = life, so a biography is the story of a person’s life

  5. Suffix – a syllable or several syllables at the end of a word which changes  its meaning or part of speech, example: movement, performed

  6. Main idea – the most important idea that is supported by the rest of the paragraph or passage

  7. Details – small, but important bits of information

  8. Dialogue – conversation between two or more people; used to show what a character is thinking or feeling

  9. Abstract term – hard to understand because it cannot be defined

(Ex: love, beauty)

  1. Concrete term – have exact, precise meaning (Ex: a 76 story building )

  2. Connotation – associated or secondary meaning of an expression; words or phrases that make you feel an emotion when you read them (Ex: a well-worn chair = comfort)

  3. Denotation – specific meaning of an expression (Ex: well-worn chair = old piece of furniture)

  4. Generalization – a broad overall statement concerning a particular topic

Example: In the poem, “The Witch,” by Jack Prelutsky, we can generalize the witch is ugly and evil.

  1. Cite Textual Evidence – provide an exact quote from the passage to support your claims and explain how it helps to support your answer.

    • Example: An example from the passage is, “direct quote.” This quote helps to prove…

  2. Key Idea – the idea that an author is interested in supporting

  3. Fact – something that is true, a statement that can be proven

    • These trees are green.

  4. Opinion – a belief, which may or may not be based on fact

  5. Cause/Effect – an action(cause) that brings about a result (effect)

  6. Comparison – examining two things looking for similarities and differences

Example: The polar bears are both white. However, one is bigger than the other.

  1. Contrast – shows the differences between two things

    • One difference between the Roy and Dana in the novel Hoot is Roy tries to be kind, while Dana tends to be a bully.

  2. Sequence – one thing after another in logical order

 

Figurative Language Guided Notes

  1.  Figurative Language - An expression or description that does not mean exactly what is says

  2.  Simile – COMPARES  two UNLIKE things using “like” or “as”

    • Example: The highway is like a racetrack in the air.

  3.  Metaphor - A way of describing something by comparing it to something else directly

    • Example: His mind is a super fast computer

  4.  Personification - Giving something that is not human, human qualities or characteristics

    • Example: The tree danced in the wind.

  5.   Hyperbole - A hyperbole is an exaggeration of the truth, usually meant to be humorous or funny.

    • Example: I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse.

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Sound Devices – used to create attention in poems, stories and plays

  1. Alliteration - Repeating consonant sounds at the beginning of words 2 or more times close together

    • Example: Silly snakes slithered away.

  2. Onomatopoeia – words that are sounds

    • Examples:  Cluck, boom, bang

  3. Repetition – repeating the same word or phrase more than once close together

Literary Terms – other terms for reading poetry, stories and plays

  1.  Irony - When the outcome of events is different from what you expected

    • Example:  A traffic jam when you’re already late

  2.  Analogy – a comparison between two different things so you can point out something about how they are similar.

    • Example: Ink is to pen as lead is to pencil.

  3. Foreshadowing - When the author provides clues to the reader at what is to come later in the story or the play. Often characters within the play or story are unaware.

  4. Imagery - Descriptive language that incorporates the senses: sight, sound, taste, touch, feel

    • Example: It was dark as night. It tastes like eating a cherry ring pop

  5.  Symbolism - Something which stands for or suggests something else

    • Example: Heart is a symbol of love.

  6.  Idiom - An idiom is a phrase that is made up of words which can't be understood by literal, or ordinary, meaning. 

    • Example: Hit the hay= go to bed

  7.  Stanza is verse in a poem.

    • Stanzas are divided by white space.

  8.  Rhyme

    • End rhyme – when words rhyme at the end of lines

    • Internal  rhyme – when words rhyme within a line of poetry

  9. Rhyme Scheme – the pattern of rhyming words at the end of lines in a poem, if the second line doesn’t rhyme with the first, it is assigned a new letter; each stanza starts a new pattern

    • Example:  ABCB

There are strange things done in the midnight sun (A)

By men who moil for gold (B)

The arctic trails have secret tails (C)

That would make your blood run cold (B)

 

  1.  Rhythm – the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables that may create a beat

  2. Tone – an  author’s attitude or expression toward a subject

    • Examples: guilt, pride, surprise, triumph, confidence

  3.  Diction – the author’s choice of words to achieve a certain effect

    • Example: She comes by night in fearsome flight, in garments black as pitch

(“night” and “black as pitch” are diction words and phrases to achieve a feeling of darkness)

 

Reading Cumulative Common Core Vocabulary List

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