Final Exam Review: Terms Needed for the Test

Explanation: The following terms below could appear on various sections of the final exam and Keystone Test. Please familiarize yourself with these terms. You WILL be able to use this paper on your final exam, but tenth graders WILL NOT be able to use this on the Keystone.

Rhetorical Devices/Speech Terms:

Repetition: A word or phrase used two or more times in close proximity.

Anaphora: Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses or line.

Parallelism: The arrangement of words, phrases, clauses that are side-by-side and have similar structure and form.

Antithesis: Contrast of ideas or words in a parallel structure.

Analogy: Comparing two unlike things using similes and metaphors.

Anecdote: A brief account (story) used to make a point.

Allusion: A reference to a well-known character, place or situation.

Connotation: The implied or emotional meaning of a word.

Propaganda:

Bandwagon: Persuades by claiming the product is popular or because “everyone” is doing it.

Testimonial:Persuades by using a famous person to endorse a product or idea (like a celebrity).

Emotional Appeal: Persuades by using words or images that appeal to the audience’s emotions instead of intelligence.

Snob Appeal: Persuades by claiming the product is better than others or is ahead of its time.

Plain Folks: Persuades by identifying a product with everyday people.

Appeal to Numbers, Facts, and Statistics:Persuades by showing, well, numbers, facts, and statistics.

Patriotism: Persuades by claiming the product will show your love for your country or will help your country.

Sweeping Generalization: Persuades by claiming that the product works for one person so it will work for you.

Slogan: Persuades by using a catchy phrase that is easy to remember or has emotion.

Repetition: Persuades by repeating the message over and over again.

Literary Terms/Elements of Literature/Literary Devices:

Elements of Plot

Plot: the sequence of events in a narrative work.

There are basically five stages of plot that you’ll have to know.

Exposition: introduces the characters, setting, and conflict.

Rising Action: The complications to the conflict and increase the reader’s interest.

Climax: The point of greatest emotional intensity, interest, or suspense. The turning point.

Falling Action: Follows the climax and shows the results of the climax.

Resolution: (Denouement) part of the plot that reveals the outcome of the conflict. The story comes to a close.

NOTE: Conflict is also often considered when being asked about Plot on Keystone Tests

Theme

The main idea, message, or lesson of a story.

Themes of Romeo and Juliet:

One must learn to control his/her emotions.

Love takes on many forms.

One must be allowed to choose who they marry.

Motif

A word, phrase, image, description, or idea that is repeated throughout a story and is related to the theme.

For example, if a theme of a novel is that any person can be lonely, a motif would be if the characters play solitaire throughout the story.

Simile: A comparison using “like” or “as.”

Examples: He is like a beast on the field.

He whines like a baby when he has to do work.

Personification: An animal, object, force of nature, or idea is given human characteristics.

Example: The house glanced darkly at him.

The sun smiled down on her.

Metaphor

A comparison that does NOT use like or as.

Examples:

Juliet is the sun.

He is a beast on the football field.

Keep your meat hooks off of that food!

Foreshadowing: Clues or hints to prepare readers for events that happen later in a story.

Flashback: An interruption of the chronological order of a narrative to describe an event that happened earlier.

Imagery

Descriptive language that appeals to the five senses.

Tone

An author’s attitude toward his or her subject matter.

We can figure out tone by an author’s word choice, punctuation, sentence structure, and figures of speech.

SAMPLE TONE WORDS:

sympathetic, serious, ironic, sad, bitter, humorous, angry, apologetic, critical, proud

Mood

The emotional quality of a literary work.

Mood is determined by setting, subject matter, and tone.

SAMPLE MOOD WORDS:

Cheerful, gloomy, bleak, eerie, tense, calm, ominous, uncertain, miserable

Conflict

The struggle between opposing forces in a story.

External Conflict

A character struggles against some outside force: a person, nature, society, or fate.

Internal Conflict

The struggle takes place in the character’ mind as he/she is torn between opposing forces.

Hyperbole is an exaggeration used for effect.

Examples:

I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.

I told you a million times!

We’re never going to get out of this class!

Symbolism

The use of any literal person, animal, place, object, or event to represent something on the figurative level.

In Romeo and Juliet, the ring is a symbol of their love.

In Of Mice and Men the farm house George and Lennie dream of symbolizes hope.

Irony

A contrast or discrepancy between expectation and reality, or between what is expected and what actually happens.

There are three types of irony.

1. Situational Irony:

The outcome of a situation is the opposite of what’s expected.

Example: An ambulance injuring pedestrians.

2. Verbal Irony:

A person says one thing but means another.

Example: Sarcasm

Lennie Small

3. Dramatic Irony:

The audience or reader knows information that the characters do not know.

Example: A “kick me” sign on someone’s back.

Point of View

The position from which a story is told.

There are five types of Point of View you need to know.

First Person Point of View

One of the characters is telling the story and we get only his/her perspective.

I, me, we, us, and our will be used

Second Person Point of View

The narrator speaks directly to the reader, using “you” very often.

Third Person Limited

The narrator is not in the story, and the narrator only focuses on one character’s thoughts.

Third Person Omniscient

The narrator is not in the story, but we get the thoughts and feelings of all characters.

Third Person Objective

The narrator is not in the story, but we only get the actions of the characters (no thoughts).

Protagonist

The central character in a literary work.

Antagonist

A person or anything else that opposes the protagonist.

Characterization

How the writer reveals the personality of a character.

Direct Characterization

Writer makes direct statements about the character.

Indirect Characterization

Writer reveals a character through their words, thoughts, and actions.

Dialogue

Written conversation between characters.

Dialect

Language spoken by a group of people from a particular region.

Examples: yinz, pop, gumband, etc. are all “Pittsburgeze.”

Allegory

A completely symbolic story, where all characters, settings, and events have a deeper meaning.

Allusion

A reference to a well-known character, place or situation from history, music, art or another work of literature.

Examples: Bible references, Greek God references, etc.

Alliteration

The repetition of consonant sounds, usually at the beginning of words.

Sally sells sea shells by the sea shore.

Diction: A choice of words or pattern in choice of words.

Denotation: The literal, dictionary meaning of a word.

Home: A dwelling formed by a family living together.

Connotation: The suggested or implied meanings of a word beyond the dictionary definition.

Home: comfort, warmth, security

Diction: A writer’s choice of words; an important element in the writer’s voice or style.

POETRY SPECIFIC ITEMS: Remember, many of the terms above apply to poems as well.

Onomatopoeia: The use of a word or phrase that imitates or suggests the sound of what it describes.

Examples: Hiss, crack, swish, murmur, mew, buzz.

End Rhyme: The rhyming of words at the end of a line.

Example: They could not excuse the sin.

That was committed by his kin.

Internal Rhyme: Rhyme that occurs within a single line of poetry.

Example: No, baby, no, you may not go.”

Slant Rhyme: Two words sound similar, but do not have a perfect rhyme.

Example: The words jackal and buckle.

Speaker: The voice that communicates with the reader of a poem (like a narrator).

Stanza: A group of lines forming a unit in a poem or a song.

Line: The basic unit of poetry. The line is a word or a row of words (not a sentence that extends over to the next line, though).

Rhyme Scheme: The pattern that end rhymes form in a stanza or poem.

Rhyme scheme is designated by the assignment of a different letter of the alphabet to each new rhyme.

Roses are redA

Violets are blueB

You stole my heartC

Then were untrueB

Fiction vs. Non-fiction

Types of Texts and Characteristics

Fiction Texts

Novels

Short Stories

Plays/Dramas

Fairy tales or Tall Tales

Legends

Fables

Lyrics or Poems

Characteristics of Fiction Texts

Author’s purpose it to entertain

Writing comes from the writer’s imagination through a narrator.

Will have fictional characters

Will used literary devices often(personification, simile, metaphor, etc.)

Will have a theme, or lesson, in mind

Might have fictional world or setting

Non-fiction Texts

Biographies

Textbooks

Speeches or Interviews

Essays

Letters

News or Magazine Articles

Movie Reviews

Instructional Manuals

Encyclopedias

Characteristics of Non-fiction

Purpose is to inform, persuade, or describe.

Narrated from the point of view, or perspective, of the author, who is a real person.

Nonfiction presents facts or discusses concepts

It may reflect the historical context (actual settings) of the time period, including references to major social and cultural information.

Text Organization: Six Types

Keystone Non-Fiction

Chronological

Text that shows a time sequence or order of events.

Historical or biographical readings will show a chronological order (time line).

Compare and Contrast

Text that shows similarities and differences between two or more things or ideas.

Think of a Venn Diagram when you do a compare/contrast.

Sequence

Text that list steps, or the order, on how to complete an activity.

Recipes, instructions, and how-to guides are usually sequences.

Problem and Solution

Text that details a problem and offers a solution to the problem

The writer will usually write persuasively to try to get people to do something.

Cause and Effect

Text that explains what happened and why or gives reason for what happened.

This is different than problem and solution because no solution is proposed.

Classification/Description

Text that shows groups and describes the qualities that each group has.

A lot of science articles use classification.