Hey there, ever heard of literary terms? Well, guess what, I personally had to take several tests about these so am used to all of them. Don't get scared by hearing those two words, even thought a lot of words follow them, they are very easy to remember. How many languages do you speak?? Knowing several languages can help you memorize different terms easier because they come from the same root word. TO make you understand every literary term fully, I will give you some examples so you can memorize the words.
Act: does this sound familiar to you? Do you remember the times when you were small and teachers would remind you to watch how you act? Why don't you refer to that when you think of an act? This is a ways you can remember it, because an act is simply a section of a play, and other way of remembering it is as a chapter in a book.
Alliteration: anyone ever said you are a Big Bad Boy to you? Do you notice the b,b,b? This is all that alliteration is about, it is a set of words starting with the same sound or letter.
Anecdote: A short, entertaining story usually about a real person used to make a point. Any idea of who Einstein is? He was a famous and very intelligent child but unfortunately he was only good in science and wasn't interested in the other subjects. Let's say that there would be a short story about how he would fail math test but pass every time, this story would be entertaining because it includes a real person and interesting facts and everything he did in life.
Autobiography: True facts about a person also usually written from first person perspective: I. For example, Jane Goodall, and animal lover, wrote many books about her self and everything she has established in life. But this doesn't have to be a famous person, you might decide to write an autobiography about yourself and publish it to your family.
Biography: A story or written piece about real facts about a person but is not written by the person in the book, but usually in 2nd or 3rd point of view. So back to the autobiography, back to the example that you write an autobiography about yourself, and your friend starts writing about your book and about you life, that would be a biography.
Cast of Characters: A list of names of all characters who will take part in the play. This is usually seen as a chart with on one side the real names of the participants, and on the other side the names they will be called in the play.
Character: Any animal, person or thing in a play is a character. Ever seen the series of The Princess Diaries? In this movie, there are major and minor characters. Minor are the ones that are not as important and are mentioned in the story but not as much as major ones. In your life, who are the major people who mean the most to you? Who are a bit minor?
Characterization: The way a writer creates and develops a character. Do you notice any difference between these two sentences?: 1)The girl ran to the other side. 2) The little 4-yer-old girl crosses the street without noticing the danger she was going to face. I think you do, did you notice how it is not only "the girl" but details are being added to the text?
Climax: This is the high point of interest of the story. Where the problem has been spotted and now there are several effects that could happen. Usually the most exciting part of the story.
Conflict:Who does a conflict mostly remind you of? A bully right!? But that is not the only conflict that happens in life, there is external and internal. Internal, happens in your mind, and External, is usually physical. Description: We all know what this is,or? It is detail! Every noun should have some type of detail: The black dog, the scary cat. Description is in other words adjectives, these describe something in physical form or feeling.
Dialect: A form of language from different places. Each place has a different accent, and dialect is all connected to how these people speak. What does your dialect sound like? Is it similar to the British one? Or more like an American one? Don't be surprised if you can't choose because it sounds like more than one, every language is similar to some other in the world.
Dialogue: What would we do without dialogue? We use this every day can you believe it? This is the communication between characters, when this is used in books it is marked with: " and"
Drama: A story that is meant to be acted out and has a plot just like any other story.
Fantasy: This is known as a story set in a completely imaginary world with nothing that could relate to the real world. An animal as a liobeus doesn't exist, but if I were to write a story, I might use it because it is a mix of lion, bear and octopus which doesn't appear normal to our world.
Fiction: Think of fiction ad a form of literature somewhat similar to fantasy but might include some true facts but have changed information from the real ones.
Irony: What the heck is this? to be honest I didn't know this either at first, but after all it is easy to remember. This is a word that a writer uses to mean the exact opposite of its normal meaning.
Folk tale: A simple story about humans or animals. These stories have been handed down by generation to generation from mouth. I can't really give you an example of one of these stories because I might be wrong, go ask a friend or family if they know any story like this :D
Form: a synonym for this would be shape. Also the way something looks. For example, if it is Christmas, you might decide to write a poem on a paper formed as a Christmas tree.
Humor: The quality that makes writing funny amusing to a reader
Foreshadowing: Gives you indication of what is going to happen but you don't know how it is going to end. For example: The man went for a knife, this might mean that he is planning to kill someone or on the other hand, he might want to peel an apple.
Imagery: Description that makes an object or experience so real that the reader can see it.
Legend: Similar to a folk tale because it is passed on to generations except for the fact that it is based on someone who really existed but while people pass them on, they over exaggerate making the "hero" seem unbeatable
Metaphor and Simile: These two words are pretty similar but a bit different. They are both used to compare two very different things in different ways. Let's say there is a boy you find attractive or something, and you say: You are just as strong as superman - simile( these include: like or as) You are Superman-metaphor
Motive- this is where the languages come in,if you know other languages,such as Italian, you say motive:motivo- so it is very easy to remember. Motive is the reason for why something happened or a character did what they did.
Mood: The feeling the writer wants the reader to get while reading. This happens through dialogue, words or action.
Narrative Poetry: This one is easy to guess, it is a poem that includes narrative writing, this means it has characters, setting and plot.
Narrator:
The teller of the story (can be a character in the story)
Hyperbole: Over exaggerating for example: I am so hungry I could eat a horse! Who could eat a horse?!
Denotation: A definition from the dictionary about a word
Connotation: The feeling, emotion or meaning a words brings to your mind.
These are just some examples, there are much more. But personally, I think these are the most important ones :D
Act: does this sound familiar to you? Do you remember the times when you were small and teachers would remind you to watch how you act? Why don't you refer to that when you think of an act? This is a ways you can remember it, because an act is simply a section of a play, and other way of remembering it is as a chapter in a book.
Alliteration: anyone ever said you are a Big Bad Boy to you? Do you notice the b,b,b? This is all that alliteration is about, it is a set of words starting with the same sound or letter.
Anecdote: A short, entertaining story usually about a real person used to make a point. Any idea of who Einstein is? He was a famous and very intelligent child but unfortunately he was only good in science and wasn't interested in the other subjects. Let's say that there would be a short story about how he would fail math test but pass every time, this story would be entertaining because it includes a real person and interesting facts and everything he did in life.
Autobiography: True facts about a person also usually written from first person perspective: I. For example, Jane Goodall, and animal lover, wrote many books about her self and everything she has established in life. But this doesn't have to be a famous person, you might decide to write an autobiography about yourself and publish it to your family.
Biography: A story or written piece about real facts about a person but is not written by the person in the book, but usually in 2nd or 3rd point of view. So back to the autobiography, back to the example that you write an autobiography about yourself, and your friend starts writing about your book and about you life, that would be a biography.
Cast of Characters: A list of names of all characters who will take part in the play. This is usually seen as a chart with on one side the real names of the participants, and on the other side the names they will be called in the play.
Character: Any animal, person or thing in a play is a character. Ever seen the series of The Princess Diaries? In this movie, there are major and minor characters. Minor are the ones that are not as important and are mentioned in the story but not as much as major ones. In your life, who are the major people who mean the most to you? Who are a bit minor?
Characterization: The way a writer creates and develops a character. Do you notice any difference between these two sentences?: 1)The girl ran to the other side. 2) The little 4-yer-old girl crosses the street without noticing the danger she was going to face. I think you do, did you notice how it is not only "the girl" but details are being added to the text?
Climax: This is the high point of interest of the story. Where the problem has been spotted and now there are several effects that could happen. Usually the most exciting part of the story.
Conflict:Who does a conflict mostly remind you of? A bully right!? But that is not the only conflict that happens in life, there is external and internal. Internal, happens in your mind, and External, is usually physical. Description: We all know what this is,or? It is detail! Every noun should have some type of detail: The black dog, the scary cat. Description is in other words adjectives, these describe something in physical form or feeling.
Dialect: A form of language from different places. Each place has a different accent, and dialect is all connected to how these people speak. What does your dialect sound like? Is it similar to the British one? Or more like an American one? Don't be surprised if you can't choose because it sounds like more than one, every language is similar to some other in the world.
Dialogue: What would we do without dialogue? We use this every day can you believe it? This is the communication between characters, when this is used in books it is marked with: " and"
Drama: A story that is meant to be acted out and has a plot just like any other story.
Fantasy: This is known as a story set in a completely imaginary world with nothing that could relate to the real world. An animal as a liobeus doesn't exist, but if I were to write a story, I might use it because it is a mix of lion, bear and octopus which doesn't appear normal to our world.
Fiction: Think of fiction ad a form of literature somewhat similar to fantasy but might include some true facts but have changed information from the real ones.
Irony: What the heck is this? to be honest I didn't know this either at first, but after all it is easy to remember. This is a word that a writer uses to mean the exact opposite of its normal meaning.
Folk tale: A simple story about humans or animals. These stories have been handed down by generation to generation from mouth. I can't really give you an example of one of these stories because I might be wrong, go ask a friend or family if they know any story like this :D
Form: a synonym for this would be shape. Also the way something looks. For example, if it is Christmas, you might decide to write a poem on a paper formed as a Christmas tree.
Humor: The quality that makes writing funny amusing to a reader
Foreshadowing: Gives you indication of what is going to happen but you don't know how it is going to end. For example: The man went for a knife, this might mean that he is planning to kill someone or on the other hand, he might want to peel an apple.
Imagery: Description that makes an object or experience so real that the reader can see it.
Legend: Similar to a folk tale because it is passed on to generations except for the fact that it is based on someone who really existed but while people pass them on, they over exaggerate making the "hero" seem unbeatable
Metaphor and Simile: These two words are pretty similar but a bit different. They are both used to compare two very different things in different ways. Let's say there is a boy you find attractive or something, and you say: You are just as strong as superman - simile( these include: like or as) You are Superman-metaphor
Motive- this is where the languages come in,if you know other languages,such as Italian, you say motive:motivo- so it is very easy to remember. Motive is the reason for why something happened or a character did what they did.
Mood: The feeling the writer wants the reader to get while reading. This happens through dialogue, words or action.
Narrative Poetry: This one is easy to guess, it is a poem that includes narrative writing, this means it has characters, setting and plot.
Narrator:
The teller of the story (can be a character in the story)
Hyperbole: Over exaggerating for example: I am so hungry I could eat a horse! Who could eat a horse?!
Denotation: A definition from the dictionary about a word
Connotation: The feeling, emotion or meaning a words brings to your mind.
These are just some examples, there are much more. But personally, I think these are the most important ones :D
