Biography: The story of someone’s life told by someone else. The
subject is known and of interest to other people. Tells you the facts of the
subject’s life and explains what these facts mean.
Narrative essay: A short nonfiction composition that
tells a story that may focus on a character other than the writer.
Descriptive essay: A short nonfiction composition that uses vivid sensory
details to describe people or places.
Personal essay: A short nonfiction composition that gives an informal
account of an episode from a person’s own life.
Reflective essay: A short nonfiction composition that presents a writer’s
thought about ideas or experiences.
Persuasive essay: A short nonfiction composition where a series of
arguments are presented to convince readers to believe or act in a certain way.
Humorous essay: A short nonfiction composition meant to amuse readers.
Writers sometimes create humor by contrasting the reality of the situation with
the character’s mistaken views of what is happening.
Lit 8 Wednesday, 12/12 - Short story vocab test on Irony - caricature.
Irony: Figure of speech in which the actual intent is expressed
in words which carry the opposite meaning. Lighter than sarcasm.
Dramatic Irony: A contradiction between what a character thinks and what
the audience or reader knows to be true.
Irony of situation: An event occurs that directly contradicts the expectations
of the character or the reader.
Allusion: Reference in a work of literature to person, place, or
thing in another work such as literature, music, history, painting, or
mythology. Adds meaning to the story.
Willing suspension of
disbelief: Reader voluntarily agrees
to set aside what he knows to be true and accept what is presented as reality
in the story.
Alliteration: Repetition of an initial consonant sound in two or more
words of a phrase. Consonant is picked to enhance meaning. (Huge, hooting,
howling, hissing, horrible, bellow)
Point of view: The way an author chooses to see and tell a story.
First-person
narrative: A character tells the story
referring to himself as "I" and presenting only what he knows about
events.
Inference: Reasonable conclusion one can draw from facts or evidence
given.
Caricature: The distortion or exaggeration of the peculiarities in a
character’s personality. Often for humorous effect.
