Academic Vocabulary

For English 7

Genre The genre is the category of a piece of

literature. Genre can also be used to categorize music

and other art forms

Plot

All stories have a plot. That plot is made up of several parts. They are as follows…

Plot The plot is the chain of related events in a

story. It is what happens first, second, third, etc.

For example, the plot of the Fireflies is:1. A boy is eating dinner and sees fireflies.2. After dinner, he gets a jar.3. With friends, he catches fireflies.4. He puts the jar next to his bed.5. He is sad to see them lose their lights.6. What comes next?

Exposition/Basic Situation

The exposition or basic situation occurs at the beginning of a story.

It includes who the characters are, what they want, where the story is taking place, and what the basic issue is.

Setting• The setting is where

and when the story takes place. If the story is longer, the setting can change. The setting can affect the overall feeling, or mood, of a story.

• For example: On a summer evening I looked up from dinner, through the open window to the backyard. It was growing dark.

Protagonist

The protagonist is the “good guy” in the story. It is the character that the reader usually cares most about.

There can be more than one.

Antagonist The antagonist is the

“bad guy” in a story. He/She is usually the rival of the protagonist.

There can be more than one antagonist.

Conflict A conflict is a problem or struggle that the

characters are facing. Each story has at least one major conflict and often contains smaller conflicts as well.

There are two types of conflict.

Internal Conflict

An internal conflict is a conflict that a character has internally (inside of himself or herself). This often has to do with a character’s decisions or emotions.

For example: The boy wants the fireflies in his room, but he knows they are not happy in the jar.

External Conflict An external conflict is a struggle the

character(s) experience with something outside of himself. This struggle can be:

Character vs. CharacterCharacter vs. Nature

Character vs. SocietyCharacter vs. Machine

What type of external conflict is… …the fireflies struggle to evade capture?

Character vs. Society …the firefly gets upset and bites the boy?

Character vs. Character …the fireflies are caught in a tornado?

Character vs. Nature …the fireflies are killed by a microwave?

Character vs. Machine

Rising Action

• The rising action are the events that happen in a story before the climax occurs. They are often little conflicts or complications the climax.

1.The boy goes outside.2.He catches fireflies in a jar.3.He places the jar next to his bed.4.The fireflies start to die.

Climax The climax of a story is the moment when the

tension is at its peak. It is the turning point of the story.

What’s the climax of Fireflies? He decides to open the jar to

set them free.

Falling Action

The falling action of a story includes the events that happen after the climax. They lead to the ending of the story.

What is the falling action of Fireflies?

He sets the fireflies free.

Resolution The resolution is the ending of the story. It is

how the major conflict is solved. What is the resolution of Fireflies? The fireflies come back to life and fly away.

Plot Diagram One way to think about plot is as a mountain. It

looks like this:

Theme It’s the Universal Truth How does the story relate/connect to people

everywhere?

Foreshadowing Foreshadowing happens when an author gives

a reader hints at what will happen later in the story. Foreshadowing helps to keep the reader predicting what might happen and makes the reader want to continue reading.

For example: Jimmy walked down the darkened street, the clouds above him drifting to cover the moon. Ahead, Jimmy thought he saw a movement, but he pushed through his nerves and kept walking.

Suspense Suspense is the feeling of anticipation in a

person as he/she reads a story. It is the feeling of being ‘hooked’ into the story and not being able to wait to see what happens next. It is that on-the-edge-of-your-seat feeling. Authors create suspense by foreshadowing and including mystery in stories.

Characterization Characterization is the way in which an author

reveals information about and develops a character. There are two different ways they do this…

Direct Characterization When an author uses direct characterization,

she says directly what the character is like. The reader does not have to guess.

For example: Jimmy was a smart and responsible seven-year-old boy.

Indirect Characterization When using indirect characterization, the reader

must infer (guess) information about the character based on his/her speech, thoughts, effect on others, actions, and looks

For example: Jimmy woke up at 5:30 in the morning to clean his room, study his weekly spelling words, and comb his hair into just the perfect shape.

Figurative Language Figurative language is language that helps the

reader form mental pictures; simile and metaphor are examples of this.

For example: The mist shrouded the field, earth’s foggy blanket of early morning.

Simile A comparison between two unlike things,

using a word such as like, as, than, or resembles.

His hair is like spaghetti.

Metaphor

An imaginative comparison between two unlike things in which one thing is said to be another thing.

Time is money.

Symbol A symbol is when a writer uses an object to

represent something else, such as an idea or a concept.

Example: A red rose symbolizes love.

Point of View

Who tells the story?

Point of View

The point of view of a story, novel, or poem is who narrates (or tells) the story. Sometimes the story is told from the point of view of one of the characters and sometimes it is an outside narrator.

By choosing point-of-view carefully, authors can change the meaning and power of their writing.

Third Person Limited Third person limited point-of-view is when there

is a narrator who is outside of the story, but that narrator only stays with one character.

It can only see what is happening around that one character and can only see into his/her thoughts.

For example: Jimmy rode his bike down the hill, screeching his tires when he reached the bottom, his eyes widened in shock. Before him stood an Oompa Loompa, armed with chocolate bars to tempt Jimmy with. Jimmy wondered if he could be strong enough to resist the delicious aroma.

Third Person Limited The way I like to think about third person limited

P.O.V. is to think of the sun as the narrator. During this type of P.O.V., it can only follow one character and see inside of his/her thoughts.

Third Person Omniscient P.O.V.

Third person omniscent point-of-view is when there is a narrator who is outside of the story, but that narrator can follow any character. It can see what is happening with all characters and can see into all of their thoughts.

For example: Jimmy rode his bike down the hill, screeching his tires when he reached the bottom, his eyes widened in shock. Before him stood an Oompa Loompa, armed with chocolate bars to tempt Jimmy with. Jimmy wondered if he could be strong enough to resist the delicious aroma. The Oompa Loompa giggled to himself because he knew Jimmy would give into his demands. Jimmy would wash his car for him; his Mini Cooper would sparkle!

Third Person Omniscient The way I like to think about third person limited

P.O.V. is to think of the sun as the narrator. During this type of P.O.V., it can follow all characters and see inside of their thoughts

First Person P.O.V. First person point-of-view is when there is a

narrator who is one of the characters from the story. This P.O.V. uses “I”.

For example: Jimmy rode his bike down the hill, screeching his tires when he reached the bottom, his eyes widened in shock. I stood before him, my face painted orange, my eyebrows bright white. I was armed with chocolate bars to tempt Jimmy. I giggled to myself; I knew Jimmy couldn’t resist. My Cooper would be clean!

First Person P.O.V. The way I like to think about first person P.O.V. is

to imagine being the character who’s narrating. During this type of P.O.V., the whole story is given through one character’s observations and opinions.

IronyIrony is used to add depth to stories. There are three major types of irony.

Situational Irony When what happens is different from what the

audience expects to happen

For example: Let’s say one is reading a story about a rabbit and a hungry wolf who cross paths in the woods. One might expect the wolf to eat the rabbit; it would be situational irony if the rabbit attacked the wolf instead.

Dramatic Irony Dramatic Irony occurs when the

reader/audience knows something that one or more of the characters do not.

For example: When one watches a scary movie, often times he knows that there is a ghost hiding in the closet when the person in the movie has no idea.

Verbal Irony Verbal irony occurs when the words spoken do

not match the tone of how they are said. This type of irony is also sometimes called sarcasm.

For example: If a friend of yours buys new shoes that you really don’t like, you might look at her and say: “Nice shoes!”