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9th Grade Literary Terms
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Allusion: a reference to a statement, person, place, event, or thing well known from literature, history, religion, pop culture, etc.
Catharsis: an emotional release which brings about renewal of the self or welcome relief from anxiety, tension, etc.
Character: a person in a story.
Antagonist: an obstacle to the protagonist or character who is involved in the most important conflict with the protagonist.
Protagonist: the main character, the one who “drives the action.”
Anachronism: elements of scenery of characters that do not fit into the time period presented in the work.
Archetype: An original model or type after which other similar things are patterned; a prototype
Conflict: a struggle or clash between opposing characters or forces.
Dialogue: lines of a conversation or speech included in a literary work.
Diction: A writer’s or speaker’s choice of words
Flashback: A scene in a movie, play, short story, novel or narrative poem that interrupts the present action of the plot to “flash backward” and tell what happened at an earlier time.
Foil: When one character serves to highlight one or more attributes of another character, often the protagonist, by providing a contrast.
Foreshadowing: clues which hint at events to come in a play or story.
Genre: a kind of type of literature (poetry, drama, fiction, etc.)
Comedy: a story that ends happily.
Essay: a short piece of nonfiction prose that examines a single subject.
Fiction: a literary work (story, novel, play) portraying imaginary characters and events.
Myth: story involving fantasy to express ideas about life that cannot be expressed easily in realistic terms.
Nonfiction: prose writing that deals with real people, events and places.
Tragedy: a play, novel, or other narrative depicting serious events in which the main character comes to an unhappy end.
Irony: a contrast or discrepancy between expectation and reality.
Monologue: an extended speech given by one speaker
Satire: writing which ridicules society, a group, a social institution, etc., in order to reveal a weakness.
Suspense: feeling of growing uncertainty about the outcome of events (what will “happen next”) in a story or play.
Simile: a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, using a term such as like, as, resembles, or than.
Theme: the central idea of a literary work.
Drama: a story that is written to be acted out in front of an audience.
Aside: words spoken by a character in a play to the audience or to another character (words, which supposedly, are not overheard by the others on the stage).
Monologue: an extended speech given by one speaker
Soliloquy: an unusually long speech in which a character on stage alone expresses his or her thoughts.
Epic: a long story told in poetry relating deeds of a larger-than-life hero who embodies the values of his society.
Epithet: An adjective or other descriptive phrase that is regularly used to characterize a person, place, or thing
Hubris: arrogance; excessive self-pride and self-confidence, especially in reference to Greek tragic heroes whose pride led them to ignore warnings from the gods and thus invite catastrophe.
Poetry: A kind of rhythmic, compressed language that uses figures of speech and imagery designed to appeal you our emotions and imaginations
Alliteration: the repetition of the same consonant sounds in words that are close together, or the repetition of consonant sounds that are very similar.
Assonance: the repetition of similar vowel sounds enclosed in different consonant sounds (e.g., “same” and “fade”).
Imagery: language that appeals to any of the senses.
Metaphor: a figure of speech that compares two unlike things in which one thing becomes another thing (or is another thing) without the use of the words like, as, than, or resembles.
Mood: atmosphere; feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage.
Onomatopoeia: the use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning (e.g., “fizz,” “crackle").
Personification: a metaphor in which a non-human thing or quality is talked about as if it were human.
Prose: literary expression not marked by rhyme or metrical regularity.
Pun: A play on the multiple meanings of a word, or two words that sound alike but have different meanings
Rhyme: generally, sounds repeated through stressed syllables (exception: see eye rhyme).
Setting: the time and place of a story or play.
Sonnet: a fourteen-line lyric poem, usually written in iambic pentameter, that has a set rhyme scheme (Shakespearean: three quatrains and one couplet).
Symbol: a person, place, thing or event that stands for itself and for something beyond itself.
Tone: the author’s attitude toward his or her subject, character or audience.
Narrative: a spoken or written account of connected events; a story.
Allegory: the use of characters or events in an effort to make a connection to characters or events that occur in life; similar to parable or fable.
Moral: the lesson learned through the resolution of the conflict in the story.
Empathy: a feeling of identification with a character or a situation in a story.
Hyperbole: exaggeration or overstatement for dramatic effect.
Lampoon: a satirical presentation of a character or a situation that holds the character up to ridicule or attack.
Motif: any repeated element in a work that points in the direction of a theme or that serves as a unifying agent.
9th Grade Literary Terms
Across:2. | A writer’s or speaker’s choice of words | 5. | a spoken or written account of connected events; a story. | 8. | an unusually long speech in which a character on stage alone expresses his or her thoughts. | 9. | arrogance; excessive self-pride and self-confidence, especially in reference to Greek tragic heroes whose pride led them to ignore warnings from the gods and thus invite catastrophe. | 10. | the repetition of the same consonant sounds in words that are close together, or the repetition of consonant sounds that are very similar. | 13. | A scene in a movie, play, short story, novel or narrative poem that interrupts the present action of the plot to “flash backward” and tell what happened at an earlier time. | 16. | a person in a story. | 17. | atmosphere; feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage. | 19. | a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, using a term such as like, as, resembles, or than. | 20. | the author’s attitude toward his or her subject, character or audience. | 24. | the lesson learned through the resolution of the conflict in the story. | 26. | the use of characters or events in an effort to make a connection to characters or events that occur in life; similar to parable or fable. |
| 28. | An adjective or other descriptive phrase that is regularly used to characterize a person, place, or thing | 30. | a figure of speech that compares two unlike things in which one thing becomes another thing (or is another thing) without the use of the words like, as, than, or resembles. | 33. | words spoken by a character in a play to the audience or to another character (words, which supposedly, are not overheard by the others on the stage). | 36. | a contrast or discrepancy between expectation and reality. | 37. | an extended speech given by one speaker | 38. | a story that is written to be acted out in front of an audience. | 39. | a fourteen-line lyric poem, usually written in iambic pentameter, that has a set rhyme scheme (Shakespearean: three quatrains and one couplet). | 40. | the time and place of a story or play. | 41. | A kind of rhythmic, compressed language that uses figures of speech and imagery designed to appeal you our emotions and imaginations | 42. | a feeling of identification with a character or a situation in a story. | 43. | an obstacle to the protagonist or character who is involved in the most important conflict with the protagonist. |
| | Down:1. | lines of a conversation or speech included in a literary work. | 3. | a reference to a statement, person, place, event, or thing well known from literature, history, religion, pop culture, etc. | 4. | a literary work (story, novel, play) portraying imaginary characters and events. | 6. | the repetition of similar vowel sounds enclosed in different consonant sounds (e.g., “same” and “fade”). | 7. | a short piece of nonfiction prose that examines a single subject. | 11. | literary expression not marked by rhyme or metrical regularity. | 12. | the central idea of a literary work. | 13. | When one character serves to highlight one or more attributes of another character, often the protagonist, by providing a contrast. | 14. | a person, place, thing or event that stands for itself and for something beyond itself. | 15. | language that appeals to any of the senses. | 18. | a kind of type of literature (poetry, drama, fiction, etc.) | 21. | writing which ridicules society, a group, a social institution, etc., in order to reveal a weakness. |
| 22. | a metaphor in which a non-human thing or quality is talked about as if it were human. | 23. | an emotional release which brings about renewal of the self or welcome relief from anxiety, tension, etc. | 24. | any repeated element in a work that points in the direction of a theme or that serves as a unifying agent. | 25. | generally, sounds repeated through stressed syllables (exception: see eye rhyme). | 27. | the use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning (e.g., “fizz,” “crackle"). | 29. | A play on the multiple meanings of a word, or two words that sound alike but have different meanings | 31. | a play, novel, or other narrative depicting serious events in which the main character comes to an unhappy end. | 32. | a struggle or clash between opposing characters or forces. | 34. | a long story told in poetry relating deeds of a larger-than-life hero who embodies the values of his society. | 35. | a story that ends happily. | 37. | story involving fantasy to express ideas about life that cannot be expressed easily in realistic terms. |
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© 2015
PuzzleFast.com, Noncommercial Use Only
9th Grade Literary Terms
Across:2. | A writer’s or speaker’s choice of words | 5. | a spoken or written account of connected events; a story. | 8. | an unusually long speech in which a character on stage alone expresses his or her thoughts. | 9. | arrogance; excessive self-pride and self-confidence, especially in reference to Greek tragic heroes whose pride led them to ignore warnings from the gods and thus invite catastrophe. | 10. | the repetition of the same consonant sounds in words that are close together, or the repetition of consonant sounds that are very similar. | 13. | A scene in a movie, play, short story, novel or narrative poem that interrupts the present action of the plot to “flash backward” and tell what happened at an earlier time. | 16. | a person in a story. | 17. | atmosphere; feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage. | 19. | a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, using a term such as like, as, resembles, or than. | 20. | the author’s attitude toward his or her subject, character or audience. | 24. | the lesson learned through the resolution of the conflict in the story. | 26. | the use of characters or events in an effort to make a connection to characters or events that occur in life; similar to parable or fable. |
| 28. | An adjective or other descriptive phrase that is regularly used to characterize a person, place, or thing | 30. | a figure of speech that compares two unlike things in which one thing becomes another thing (or is another thing) without the use of the words like, as, than, or resembles. | 33. | words spoken by a character in a play to the audience or to another character (words, which supposedly, are not overheard by the others on the stage). | 36. | a contrast or discrepancy between expectation and reality. | 37. | an extended speech given by one speaker | 38. | a story that is written to be acted out in front of an audience. | 39. | a fourteen-line lyric poem, usually written in iambic pentameter, that has a set rhyme scheme (Shakespearean: three quatrains and one couplet). | 40. | the time and place of a story or play. | 41. | A kind of rhythmic, compressed language that uses figures of speech and imagery designed to appeal you our emotions and imaginations | 42. | a feeling of identification with a character or a situation in a story. | 43. | an obstacle to the protagonist or character who is involved in the most important conflict with the protagonist. |
| | Down:1. | lines of a conversation or speech included in a literary work. | 3. | a reference to a statement, person, place, event, or thing well known from literature, history, religion, pop culture, etc. | 4. | a literary work (story, novel, play) portraying imaginary characters and events. | 6. | the repetition of similar vowel sounds enclosed in different consonant sounds (e.g., “same” and “fade”). | 7. | a short piece of nonfiction prose that examines a single subject. | 11. | literary expression not marked by rhyme or metrical regularity. | 12. | the central idea of a literary work. | 13. | When one character serves to highlight one or more attributes of another character, often the protagonist, by providing a contrast. | 14. | a person, place, thing or event that stands for itself and for something beyond itself. | 15. | language that appeals to any of the senses. | 18. | a kind of type of literature (poetry, drama, fiction, etc.) | 21. | writing which ridicules society, a group, a social institution, etc., in order to reveal a weakness. |
| 22. | a metaphor in which a non-human thing or quality is talked about as if it were human. | 23. | an emotional release which brings about renewal of the self or welcome relief from anxiety, tension, etc. | 24. | any repeated element in a work that points in the direction of a theme or that serves as a unifying agent. | 25. | generally, sounds repeated through stressed syllables (exception: see eye rhyme). | 27. | the use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning (e.g., “fizz,” “crackle"). | 29. | A play on the multiple meanings of a word, or two words that sound alike but have different meanings | 31. | a play, novel, or other narrative depicting serious events in which the main character comes to an unhappy end. | 32. | a struggle or clash between opposing characters or forces. | 34. | a long story told in poetry relating deeds of a larger-than-life hero who embodies the values of his society. | 35. | a story that ends happily. | 37. | story involving fantasy to express ideas about life that cannot be expressed easily in realistic terms. |
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© 2015
PuzzleFast.com, Noncommercial Use Only