Reading: Literature - Middle School

Whether you prefer poetry or prose, you'll want to review these terms related to reading literature. This comprehensive vocabulary list covers text structure, literary devices and figures of speech, genre, tone and mood, point of view, and much more. We know every trick in the book!
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. accent
    the relative prominence of a syllable or musical note
  2. adaptation
    a written work that has been recast in a new form
  3. affix
    a linguistic element added to a word
  4. alliteration
    use of the same consonant at the beginning of each word
  5. allusion
    passing reference or indirect mention
  6. ambiguity
    unclearness by virtue of having more than one meaning
  7. analogy
    drawing a comparison in order to show a similarity
  8. anecdote
    short account of an incident
  9. antagonist
    someone who offers opposition
  10. antonym
    a word that expresses an opposite meaning
  11. aphorism
    a short pithy instructive saying
  12. assonance
    the repetition of similar vowels in successive words
  13. attitude
    a complex mental state involving beliefs and feelings
  14. autobiography
    a book or account of your own life
  15. background knowledge
    information that is essential to understanding a situation or problem
  16. ballad
    a narrative poem of popular origin
  17. biography
    an account of the series of events making up a person's life
  18. cause
    any entity that produces an effect
  19. character
    an imaginary person represented in a work of fiction
  20. characteristic
    a noticeable feature or aspect of something
  21. characterization
    a vivid verbal description
  22. characterize
    describe or portray the qualities or peculiarities of
  23. chronological
    relating to or arranged according to the order of time
  24. cite
    repeat a passage from
  25. climax
    the decisive moment in a novel or play
  26. compare
    examine and note the similarities or differences of
  27. comparison
    relation based on similarities and differences
  28. conclusion
    the last section of a communication
  29. conflict
    opposition in a work of fiction between characters or forces
  30. connotation
    an idea that is implied or suggested
  31. connotative
    implying or suggesting something extra
  32. context
    discourse that surrounds and helps explain a word or passage
  33. contradiction
    opposition between two conflicting forces or ideas
  34. contrast
    put in opposition to show or emphasize differences
  35. convention
    something regarded as a normative example
  36. couplet
    a stanza consisting of two successive lines of verse
  37. denotation
    the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression
  38. denouement
    the resolution of the main complication of a literary work
  39. description
    a statement that represents something in words
  40. detail
    a single fact considered separately from the whole
  41. device
    something in an artistic work designed to achieve an effect
  42. dialect
    the usage or vocabulary characteristic of a group of people
  43. dialogue
    the lines spoken by characters in drama or fiction
  44. diction
    the manner in which something is expressed in words
  45. dilemma
    state of uncertainty in a choice between unfavorable options
  46. drama
    a work intended for performance by actors on a stage
  47. dramatic
    characteristic of a stage performance
  48. dramatic irony
    when the audience understands something the characters don't
  49. dramatic work
    a play for performance on the stage or television or in a movie etc.
  50. editorial
    an article giving opinions or perspectives
  51. effect
    a phenomenon that is caused by some previous phenomenon
  52. elicit
    call forth, as an emotion, feeling, or response
  53. epic
    a long narrative poem telling of a hero's deeds
  54. epic poetry
    a literary work celebrating the deeds of some hero
  55. epigraph
    a quotation at the beginning of some piece of writing
  56. epilogue
    a short section at the end of a literary work
  57. episode
    a brief section of a work forming part of a connected series
  58. episodic
    divided into or composed of distinct scenes or events
  59. essay
    an analytic or interpretive literary composition
  60. evidence
    knowledge on which to base belief
  61. exaggerate
    enlarge beyond bounds or the truth
  62. explicit
    precisely and clearly expressed or readily observable
  63. exposition
    an account that sets forth the intent of a story
  64. expository
    serving to expound or set forth
  65. fable
    a short moral story
  66. fantasy
    fiction with a large amount of imagination in it
  67. fiction
    a literary work based on the imagination
  68. fictional
    related to or involving imaginative literary work
  69. figurative
    not literal
  70. figure
    language used in a nonliteral sense
  71. figure of speech
    language used in a nonliteral sense
  72. first person
    pronouns and verbs used to refer to the speaker
  73. flashback
    a transition in a story to an earlier event or scene
  74. folktale
    a traditional story or legend circulated by word of mouth
  75. foreshadow
    indicate by signs
  76. foreshadowing
    the act of providing vague advance indications
  77. form
    an arrangement of the elements in a composition or discourse
  78. formal
    adhering to traditional standards of correctness
  79. free verse
    poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular meter
  80. genre
    a class of art having a characteristic form or technique
  81. glossary
    an alphabetical list of technical terms in a field
  82. haiku
    an epigrammatic Japanese verse form of three short lines
  83. hero
    the principal character in a play or movie or novel or poem
  84. heroine
    the main good female character in a work of fiction
  85. historical
    of or relating to the study of recorded time
  86. homophone
    a word pronounced the same with another meaning or spelling
  87. humor
    a message that has the power to evoke laughter
  88. humorous
    characterized by the power to cause laughter
  89. hyperbole
    extravagant exaggeration
  90. idiom
    expression whose meaning cannot be inferred from its words
  91. infer
    reason by deduction; establish by deduction
  92. inference
    a conclusion you can draw based on known evidence
  93. informal
    not in accord with established conventions and requirements
  94. informative
    serving to instruct or enlighten
  95. interpretation
    an explanation that results from making sense of something
  96. irony
    incongruity between what is expected and what occurs
  97. juxtaposition
    the act of positioning close together
  98. legend
    a story about mythical or supernatural beings or events
  99. limerick
    a humorous rhymed verse form of five lines
  100. line
    a row of text written across a page or computer screen
  101. literal
    limited to the explicit meaning of a word or text
  102. literary
    relating to or characteristic of creative writing
  103. literary genre
    a style of expressing yourself in writing
  104. literary work
    imaginative or creative writing
  105. literature
    creative writing of recognized artistic value
  106. lyric
    a short poem of songlike quality
  107. lyrical
    expressing deep emotion
  108. metaphor
    a figure of speech that suggests a non-literal similarity
  109. meter
    a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in verse
  110. mood
    the prevailing psychological state
  111. moral
    the significance of a story or event
  112. motivation
    psychological feature arousing action toward a desired goal
  113. multimedia
    the use of many types of communication simultaneously
  114. mystery
    a story about a crime presented as a novel or play or movie
  115. myth
    a traditional story serving to explain a world view
  116. mythological
    based on or told of in traditional stories
  117. mythology
    the body of stories associated with a culture or institution
  118. narration
    a telling of a story in writing, drama, or cinema
  119. narrative
    an account that tells the particulars of an act or event
  120. narrator
    someone who tells a story
  121. nonfiction
    prose writing that is not formed by the imagination
  122. novel
    an extended fictional work in prose
  123. nuance
    a subtle difference in meaning or opinion or attitude
  124. omniscient
    knowing, seeing, or understanding everything
  125. onomatopoeia
    using words that imitate the sound they denote
  126. opinion
    a personal belief or judgment
  127. oral
    using speech rather than writing
  128. paraphrase
    express the same message in different words
  129. passage
    a section of text, particularly a section of medium length
  130. personification
    representing an abstract quality or idea as a human
  131. perspective
    a way of regarding situations or topics
  132. persuasive
    intended or having the power to induce action or belief
  133. play
    dramatic work intended for performance by actors on a stage
  134. playwright
    someone who writes plays
  135. plot
    the story that is told, as in a novel, play, movie, etc.
  136. plot element
    a component or element of the plot of a story
  137. poem
    a composition in metrical feet forming rhythmical lines
  138. poet
    a writer of verse consisting of lines that often rhyme
  139. poetic
    of or relating to verse, or literature in metrical form
  140. poetry
    literature in metrical form
  141. point of view
    a mental position from which things are perceived
  142. prediction
    the act of foretelling
  143. prefix
    an affix that is added in front of the word
  144. prologue
    an introductory section of a novel or other literary work
  145. prose
    ordinary writing as distinguished from verse
  146. protagonist
    the principal character in a work of fiction
  147. proverb
    a condensed but memorable saying embodying an important fact
  148. punctuation
    the use of marks to clarify meaning of written material
  149. purpose
    an anticipated outcome that guides your planned actions
  150. quatrain
    a stanza of four lines
  151. reader
    a person who can read; a literate person
  152. realism
    artistic movement that represents the world accurately
  153. recur
    return in thought or speech to something
  154. recurring
    coming back
  155. refrain
    part of a song or poem that recurs at regular intervals
  156. repetition
    the continued use of the same word or word pattern
  157. represent
    serve as a means of expressing something
  158. rhyme
    correspondence in the final sounds of two or more lines
  159. rhythm
    alternation of stressed and unstressed elements in speech
  160. rhythmic
    recurring with measured regularity
  161. root
    the form of a word after all affixes are removed
  162. sarcasm
    witty language used to convey insults or scorn
  163. sarcastic
    expressing or expressive of ridicule that wounds
  164. scene
    a subdivision of an act of a play
  165. script
    a written version of a play or other dramatic composition
  166. sensory
    involving or derived from the senses
  167. sentence structure
    the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences
  168. setting
    the physical position of something
  169. short story
    a brief but fully developed prose narrative
  170. simile
    a figure of speech expressing a resemblance between things
  171. soliloquy
    a dramatic speech giving the illusion of unspoken reflection
  172. sonnet
    a verse form of 14 lines with a fixed rhyme scheme
  173. sound effect
    an effect that imitates a sound called for in the script of a play
  174. speech
    communication by word of mouth
  175. stage direction
    instruction or description written in the script of a play
  176. staging
    the production of a drama on the stage
  177. stanza
    a fixed number of lines of verse forming a unit of a poem
  178. structure
    the building of something and the arrangement of its parts
  179. style
    a mode of expression typical of a person, group, or period
  180. stylistic
    of or relating to style (especially in the use of language)
  181. suffix
    a linguistic element that is added at the end of the word
  182. summarize
    briefly present the main points of something
  183. summary
    a brief statement that presents the main points
  184. supernatural
    not able to be explained by physical laws
  185. suspense
    excited anticipation of an approaching climax
  186. syllabic
    of or relating to syllables
  187. symbol
    something visible that represents something invisible
  188. symbolism
    the practice of investing things with arbitrary meaning
  189. synonym
    a word that expresses the same or similar meaning
  190. tall tale
    an improbable (unusual or incredible or fanciful) story
  191. technique
    a practical method or art applied to some particular task
  192. text
    the words of something written
  193. textual
    relating to or based on writing
  194. theme
    a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in literary work
  195. third person
    pronouns referring to people besides the speaker or listener
  196. tone
    a quality that reveals the attitudes of the author
  197. topic
    the subject matter of a conversation or discussion
  198. tradition
    an inherited pattern of thought or action
  199. transition
    a passage or word that connects a topic to one that follows
  200. unaccented
    pronounced with little or no stress
  201. understatement
    something said in a restrained way for ironic contrast
  202. unrhymed
    not having rhyme
  203. verbal
    communicated in the form of words
  204. verse
    literature in metrical form
  205. viewpoint
    a mental position from which things are considered
  206. villain
    the principal bad character in a film or work of fiction
  207. visualize
    imagine; conceive of; see in one's mind
  208. voice
    a means by which something is expressed or communicated
Created on Tue Jan 31 10:54:10 EST 2017 (updated Wed Mar 29 15:29:28 EDT 2017)

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