Levels I,II,III
Examinable Terms
A
Abstract: words or phrases that identify qualities, attitudes and ideas that cannot be seen, heard, smelled, touched or tasted.
Act: a major division in a dramatic work, larger than a scene or episode.
Action: the process of acting, doing, or working.
Advertisement: a paid-for promotion of a product, service, or company.
Allegory: a short narrative, in which a moral principle or truth is presented by means of fictional characters, events, etc …
Alliteration: the repetition of the same sound at the beginning of near by words.
Ex: The falcon took flight with flair.
Allusion: a direct or indirect reference in one work to another work or to a historical person or event. Ex: when the strength of a character is compared to Superman.
Ambiguity: language that has two (or more) possible meanings; uncertainty or inexactness of meaning in language.
Anachronism: an event, character, or object that is placed in a period of history where it actually did not exist or occur. For example a character who looks at a wristwatch in a play set in medieval Europe.
Anecdote: a brief story or account of a single incident without the elaboration of a short story.
Analogy: a comparison based on partial similarity for the purpose of making something clearer. Ex: the growth of a tree as an analogy for the growth of human beings.
Antagonist: a character that is the protagonist’s main opponent.
Antithesis: the direct opposite. For example the antithesis of love is hatred.
Aphorism: a short pithy statement of advice or perceived truth.
Apostrophe: (Language) a symbol (‘) written above the line to mark the omission of a letter or letters from a word or to indicate the possessive case. Ex: cannot – can’t, baby’s bottle.
(Literature) an animate or inanimate objects are addressed as if they are present or alive. Ex: Death be not proud.
Archetype: an original or standard pattern or model.
Argumentative essay: controversial, it is used to argue a point.
Art Director: the individual responsible for the overall look of a professionally created media text.
Assonance: the repetition of the same or similar vowel sound within nearby words for musical effort. Ex: We chatted and laughed as we ambled along.
Aside: a piece of dialogue intended for the audience and supposedly not heard by the other actors on stage.
Atmosphere: the mood or feeling created by the writer’s use of setting, character and plot.
Audience: the spectators or listeners assembled at a performance; in writing the audience is the reader, the author looks at the age, gender, education, background, etc…of the intended reader and then writes accordingly.
Audio: sound in media text, which could include music, spoken words, or sound effects.
Autobiography: the story of a person’s life written by that person.
Autobiographical Fallacy: the unwarranted assumption that an author’s fictional work is necessarily autobiography; or the unwarranted interpretation of an author’s work based on knowledge of the author’s life.
B
Ballad: a narrative poem, often of folk origin and intended to be sung, consisting of four lined stanzas (quatrain) and having a refrain (chorus).
Bias: a prejudice; a narrow, subjective perspective.
Biography: an account of a person’s life written, composed or produced by another.
Blank Verse: unrhymed verse or poetry written in iambic pentameter.
Byline: in a newspaper or magazine, the acknowledgement of the author.
C
Cacophony: the use of harsh or discordant sounds in literary composition, as for poetic effect.
Caption: a written description of the content of a photograph or illustration.
Caricature: a flat character, lacking complexity, often built on one unchanging characteristic, who has an exaggeration of a characteristic; a character which is stereotyped or oversimplified.
Catharsis: the process of releasing and providing release from strong emotions such as pity and fear by watching the same emotions being played out in a story or drama.
Character: the people in a literary work.
Characterization: the means by which characters are described such as actions, dialogue and description.
Character trait: one word that describes a character’s personality. (ex: selfish, adventurous, outgoing, etc…)
Chorus: in song lyrics, the refrain or repeated phrases or lines; in drama, one or more narrator like characters that come on stage and speak to the audience.
Cinematography: the art or technique of shooting motion pictures.
Cinquain: a stanza containing five lines and works with syllables.
Classification: the action or process of assigning or arranging elements into categories or groups.
Cliché: an overused, time-worn phrase, usually avoided unless used for effect in dialogue.
Climax: in a plot, the height of the tension in the conflict, the turning point in the plot.
Closing by return: a restatement of the thought found in the thesis or topic sentence, sometimes used in the clinching sentence.
Coherence: the quality of being logical, consistent, articulate, and easy to follow.
· Connectives/Transitional words: words that show clearly how ideas are connected with one another.
· Organization: the way a piece of writing is put together; a clear thesis statement, paragraphs allow for progressive, logical development of subject, the purpose id clear, etc…
· Spatial organization: the arrangement of objects in space; for example from top to bottom, from left to right, or vice versa; signalled by words such as “in the distance”, “next to”, “underneath”, etc…
· Logical organization: the arrangement of details in a reasonable, understandable order.
· Chronological organization: the sequence in which things happen; time order; signalled by words such as “first”, “then”, “next”, “before”, etc…
· Repetition: the constant statement of an idea to help create an image or emphasis a point.
· Parallel structure/Parallelism: deals with the use of equivalent grammatical forms to express a series of ideas of equal importance. It can help create rhythm, balance, impact and clarity of expression in sentences. Ex: She loved dancing, skating, and hiking.
· Pronoun: a word that takes the place of a noun to indicate someone or something already mentioned or known. Ex: I, she, they, etc…
· Temporal reference points: guiding points used to show an audience when an action takes place. Ex: On Friday, before the hockey game…
Collage: an arrangement of images, objects, and occasionally written text places together to create a visual statement.
Colon: a punctuation mark (:) used to call attention to what follows it. It’s used to introduce a list, between main clauses, before a long or formal quotation, after the greeting of a business letter and with numbers.
Colloquial: belonging to or suited to ordinary or familiar conversation; informal language.
Comedy: a play, film, or other work of dramatic art of an amusing or satirical nature, and usually with a happy ending.
Comic relief: a break in the tension of a prolonged serious piece.
Commercial: an advertisement created for broadcast on radio or television.
Comparison: establishing and developing similarities as well as differences between two or more things.
Complex sentences: has one main clause and one or more subordinate clauses.
Ex: As she scanned the horizon, she saw a sailboat.
(subordinate clause) (main clause)
Complication: the rising action of a plot leading to its climax in which conflict is introduced and developed.
Composition: the way in which the parts of an artistic work are brought together into a visually satisfying whole.
· Visual: a picture, piece of film, or display used to illustrate, accompany or represent something.
Conceit: an ingenious, far-fetched, or elaborate comparison especially as a stylistic device presenting a surprising apt parallel between two apparently dissimilar things.
Concrete: words or phrases denoting material objects that can be seen, heard, touched, smelled or tasted; not an abstract quality, state, or action.
Conflict: the central struggle or problem of a narrative which moves the plot forward and
motivates the protagonist.
Connotation: an implied meaning of a word or phrase that can be derived from association or frequent use. Ex: a dove as a peace-loving person.
Consonance: the similarity of consonantal sounds in a line of poetry.
Context: the parts of a text that come immediately before and after a particular word or passage, giving it a fuller and clearer meaning. The context of a text as a whole refers to all the elements or circumstances influencing its creation or interpretation including purpose, time, place, intended audience, cultural or gender influences, etc…
Contrast: a difference clearly seen when two things are compared.
Conventions: a customary practice, feature, characteristic, or pattern of a text, often arising from the medium.
Copy: the written text of a newspaper or magazine article, book or advertisement.
Copywriter: the person responsible for writing the text of an advertisement.
Costume designer: the person who prepares the costumes worn by subjects in a media text.
Couplet: two successive lines of verse, especially when these rhyme and have the same metre.
Critical approach: a method or manner of interpreting or evaluating an artistic work such as a novel, film, painting, etc… often based on a particular set of beliefs.
D
Debate: a formal discussion or argument on a particular matter, especially one in which the affirmative and negative sides of a question or issue are presented by opposing speakers.
Deductive reasoning: reasoning using knowledge about things that are generally true in order to think about and understand particular situations or problems.
Demographics: the study of population, statistics, such as age, gender and income. Demographics is used by media teat creators to determine the characteristics of the target audience.
Denotation: a literal, dictionary meaning of a word or phrase.
Detail: is key to good writing. Clear details will allow the reader to “see” what you are writing about. Ex: descriptive language, images, etc…
Dialect: a way of speaking or a variation on language unique to a particular people or to one region or social group.
Dialogue: the conversation of two or more characters involving the exchange of ideas and information.
Diction: the choice of words and phrases in literature, a term used to describe the level of language used.
Didactic literature: literature that is intended to teach, particularly having moral instruction as an ulterior or secondary nature.
Documentary: a film or broadcast program based on real events, places, people or circumstances usually intended primarily to record or inform.
Dominant impression/image: the overall feeling that a piece of writing creates in the reader, often times brought about by a recurring image.
Dramatic monologue: a poem in which the speaker addresses an unseen, silent listener. This form is related to the soliloquy.
E
Editorial: a newspaper article or a radio or television broadcast expressing an opinion on a topical issue.
Elegy: a type of lyric poem that expresses sadness for someone has died; traditionally a solemn meditation on a serious subject.
Ellipsis: the omission of words from speech or writing. Ex: the use of … or –
Endorsement: the recommendation of a product, service, or idea.
Emphasis: the stress or focus on a part of a whole. In writing emphasis can help specific elements stand out for the reader.
· Repetition: the constant statement of an idea to help create an image or emphasis a point.
· Parallel structure: deals with the use of equivalent grammatical forms to express a series of ideas of equal importance.
Emotional appeals: reasoning that uses generalizations, false information, or other devices to persuade you to do or believe something without asking why.
Emphatic devices: writing devices used to help create emphasis.
· Font: in printing a set of type of a particular size and design.
· Bold: having thick strokes, a deep shade of font.
· Italics: referring to the sloping typeface.
· Short sentences: a sentence containing a subject, verb and an object.
· Punctuation: the marks such as a period, comma, and brackets used in writing to separate sentences and to make meaning clear.
Epic: a long narrative poem dealing with the actions of legendary men and women or the history of nations, often presented in a grand ceremonious style.
Epigram: a saying, especially a proverbial one; also a short poem with a witty turn of thought.
Epilogue: the concluding part of a literary work; also a speech or short poem addressed to the audience by an actor at the end of a play.
Epiphany: a sudden recognition of or insight into the meaning, reality or significance of something.
Essay: a prose form of writing that explores a topic in detail, and is primarily informative.
· Introduction: a good introduction arouses the interest of the audience, often through a strong or controversial statement, a provocative question or some other technique. The introduction states the main idea (thesis) of the essay. It also provides a preview of the ideas discussed in the body of the essay.
· Body: a good thesis statement suggests the way the body of an essay will be developed.
· Conclusion: should be short and to the point. A brief summary that reviews the main points of the essay. The ending should naturally grow out of what precedes it. it should not add new information, but can present the writer’s final thoughts on the thesis.
· Methods of development:
1. Compare and Contrast: the attention is directed to similarities and differences. This method answers the question: How are two or more things alike? In comparison, similarities are carefully established and developed and in contrast the differences between the two things are emphasized.
2. Classification and Division: this method of development uses precise definitions and explanations to show the relationship between concepts or ideas. It answers the question: What kind is it or What parts make it whole? By classifying and dividing, writers are able to break down and explain complex ideas.
3. Examples and Illustrations: this method answers the question: For example? To clarify an idea. Writers use examples to support a thesis or to make the subject more interesting. A carefully chosen example makes the idea real and relevant to the reader.
4. Process Analysis: this method of development involves sequential, often chronological ordering of information. It answers the question: How does it work or How did it happen?