Literary Terms

Glossary Wisconsin Reading Assessment Framework Glossary of Terms Used in the Wisconsin Reading Assessment Framework

1.     Affix. A word element added to the beginning (prefix) or the end (suffix) of a word to alter its meaning or part of speech, for example pre-, -ful, and -ly.

2.     Alliteration. Repetition of an initial consonant sound across syllables or words, for example ‘sleds sliding on snowy slopes.’

3.     Analogy. A comparison of two things that are similar in some way. Writers often use analogy to explain something unfamiliar by comparing it to something familiar.

4.     Anecdote. A short narrative that is often entertaining or used to illustrate a point and is presumed to be true.

5.     Antonym. A word that means the opposite of another word.

6.     Audience. The reader.

7.     Bias. A preference or attitude that may prevent impartial judgment.

8.     Cause and effect. A way of organizing text that emphasizes the causal relationships between two or more events or situations.

9.     Character. A person portrayed in literature. The personality features of such a person.

10.   Character trait. Features of a personality.

11.   Comparison and contrast. A way of organizing text that emphasizes the similarities and differences of two or more things.

12.   Compound word. A word that is made from combining words, for example ‘riverbank’ or ‘houseboat.’

13.   Connotation. A word’s implied or associated meaning beyond its dictionary definition. For example, ‘home’ connotes warmth and family, whereas ‘house’ connotes a building.

14.   Context. The parts of a text that surround a word or passage and may help to clarify its meaning.

15.   Context clues. Information from text surrounding a word or phrase that helps the reader figure out meaning or pronunciation.

16.   Contraction. A shorter word or phrase formed by omitting part of the whole word or phrase, for example ‘they’re’ from ‘they are.’

17.   Credibility. How believable something is.

18.   Currency. Being up to date.

19.   Denotation. The explicit meaning of a word; the dictionary definition.

20.  Dialect. Language spoken by a particular regional or social group, often with distinctive pronunciation, syntax, and vocabulary

21.   Figurative language. Language that is interpreted imaginatively rather than literally, such as idiom, metaphor, and simile.

22.  Flashback. A way of presenting events that occurred earlier than the current time in a narrative. An advantage of using a flashback is that a story can start in the middle to get the reader interested, and then fill in what led up to that point.

23.  Foreshadowing. To hint at or indicate in some way something that will happen later in the text.

24.  Formal language. A standard dialect that follows accepted conventions and is used in formal settings, such as in a scientific report or when addressing a respected person.

25.  Genre. A category of text having a particular form, techniques, and content, such as biography, poetry, or short story.

26.  Homonym. A word that sounds or looks the same as another word, but has a different meaning, such as ‘pool’ table and swimming ‘pool.’

27.  Hyperbole. Figurative language in which exaggeration is used for heightened or comic effect, for example, ‘I’ve seen that a million times.’

28.  Idiom. A phrase that means something different from the literal meaning of the words in the phrase, such as ‘raining cats and dogs.’

29.  Implied. Not directly stated in the text, but may be inferred from the text; ‘reading between the lines.’

30.  Infer. To draw a conclusion based on evidence about something that is not explicitly stated.

31.   Informal language. Language used in an informal setting, such as at home or with friends.

32.  Irregular form. A word that does not follow the regular pattern for making plural or past tense, such as ‘mice’ and ‘went.’

33.  Literal meaning. The exact, primary meaning of a word or text.

34.  Literary device. A technique used in literature, such as alliteration, flashback, foreshadowing, hyperbole, idiom, imagery, metaphor, onomatopoeia, rhyme, simile, personification.

35.  Literary language. Language typical of literature, which may involve use of literary devices and rich imagery.

36.  Main idea. The central or most important idea in a text.

37.  Metaphor. A figure of speech in which one thing is compared imaginatively with another, sometimes in an unusual way, such as, ‘I am a bear in the morning.’

38.  Mood. The author’s emotional attitude toward the subject or theme of the text, for example hopeful or bitter.

39.  Narrative technique. Methods used by an author to convey the story, such as dialog.

40.  Onomatopoeia. Refers to the pronunciation of a word that imitates the sound associated with its object or action, such as hiss or buzz.

41.   Personification. A figure of speech in which human characteristics are attributed to animals, plants, objects, ideas, and so on.

42.  Plot. The arrangement of events or main story in a literary text.

43.  Plural. The form of a noun that indicates more than one.

44.  Point of view. The perspective or beliefs of the author. The perspective from which a story is told.

45.  Possessive. The form of a noun that indicates something belongs to it, such as ‘the teacher’s car.’

46.  Prefix. An affix added to the beginning of a root word that affects its meaning or form, such as ‘be-’ in ‘befriend.’

47.  Propaganda. Literature intended to influence public opinion, often by appealing to people’s fears and prejudices.

48.  Purpose. The author’s intent, such as to describe, entertain, inform, persuade, teach a lesson, and so on.

49.  Regular form. The form of a noun or verb that follows the normal rules for denoting number and tense, such as ‘books’ and ‘liked.’

50.  Resolution. The point in a story at which the conflict or problem is solved.

51.   Rhetorical device. A technique used for a particular purpose or effect, such as analogy, anecdote, exaggeration, repetition, and rhetorical question.

52.  Rhetorical question. A question to which no answer is expected, such as, ‘Didn’t I tell you to clean up your room?’

53.  Rhyme. The similarity in sound between two words, such as ‘dome’ and ‘home.’

54.  Root word. The meaningful base form of a word without any affixes. For example, the root word in ‘friendship’ is ‘friend.’

55.  Rubric. A scoring guide used to evaluate a student’s performance.

56.  Selected-response. A kind of test item in which a student must choose the best response from among several choices. Also known as multiple-choice.

57.  Sequence of events. The time order of events.

58.  Setting. The time and place in which the events of a story occur.

59.  Simile. A figure of speech that uses ‘like,’ ‘as,’ or ‘as if’ to directly compare two different things, such as, ‘The dog sat as still as a stone.’

60.  Solution. The way in which the conflict or problem of a story is resolved.

61.   Story elements. Parts of a story such as characters, plot, point of view, problem, relationships, sequence of events, setting, solution, theme, and so on.

62.  Style. A writer’s way of saying things, including word choice, sentence structure, organization of ideas, and so on.

63.  Suffix. An affix added at the end of a root word that affects the meaning or form of the root word, such as ‘-ly’ in ‘friendly.’

64.  Summarize. To express just the major ideas and most important supporting details from a text.

65.  Supporting detail. The specific facts and ideas that support or illustrate the major ideas in a text.

66.  Synonym. A word that means the same as another word.

67.  Theme. The central idea or message of a literary text.

68.  Tone. The reflection of the author’s attitude toward the subject, characters, or reader, such as friendly, teasing, and so on. Comparable to tone of voice in speech.

69.  Topic. The subject of a text.

70.  Vernacular. The everyday language of a group of people.

71.   Viewpoint. The perspective or beliefs from which the subject of the text is viewed.

72.  Word choice. The author’s choice of how to express an idea, such as, ‘She returned home’ versus ‘She returned to her house.’ Depending on choice of words, slightly different meanings or feelings can be conveyed.

73.  Word structure. The way words are put together to convey meaning, such as by adding affixes, making contractions, or putting two words together to form a compound word.