Personal narrative An account of a certain event or set of events in a person’s life, written by that person.
See also Autobiography; Diary; Journal
Personification Figurative language that describes animals, things, or ideas as having human traits. Examples: In the movie Babe and in the book Charlotte’s Web, the animals are all personified.
See also Figurative language
Persuasive writing Writing that attempts to get someone to do or agree to something by appealing to logic or emotion. Persuasive writing is used in advertisements, editorials, and political speeches.
Photo-essay A short nonfiction piece made up of photographs and captions. The photographs are as important as the words in presenting information.
See also Essay; Nonfiction
Play A work of drama, especially one written to be performed on a stage. Example: Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun was first performed in 1959.
See also Drama
Plot The pattern of events and situations in a story or play. Plot is usually divided into four main parts: conflict (or problem), rising action (or exposition or complication), climax, and falling action (or resolution).
See also Climax; Conflict; Drama; Falling action; Fiction; Rising action; Story
Poetry A form of literary expression that uses line breaks for emphasis. Poems often use connotation, imagery, metaphor, symbol, allusion, repetition, and rhythm. Word patterns in poetry include rhythm or meter, and often rhyme and alliteration.
See also Alliteration; Connotation; Figurative language; Meter; Repetition; Rhyme; Rhythm
Point of view The position from which the events of a story seem to be observed and told. A first-person point of view tells the story through what the narrator knows, experiences, concludes, or can find out by talking to other characters. A third-person point of view may be omniscient, giving the narrator unlimited knowledge of things, events, and characters, including characters’ hidden thoughts and feelings. Or it may be limited to what one or a few characters know and experience. Example of First-Person Point of View: I’m really hungry right now, and I can’t wait to eat my lunch. Example of Third-Person Limited Point of View: Olivia is really hungry right now and she wants to eat her lunch. Example of Third-Person Omniscient Point of View: Olivia is really hungry right now and she wants to eat her lunch. The other students are thinking about their weekend plans. The teacher is wondering how she will finish the lesson before the bell rings.
See also Character; Fiction; Narrator
Propaganda A type of persuasion that twists or doesn’t tell the whole truth. Types of propaganda include glittering generalities (using impressive words to skip past the truth), transfers (using appealing ideas or symbols that aren’t directly related to the topic), testimonials (using the words of famous people), plain folks (showing that a product or idea has the same values as the audience), bandwagon (claiming that everyone else is doing it), and name calling.
See also Persuasive writing
Prose A form of writing in which the rhythm is less regular than that of verse and more like that of ordinary speech.
See also Poetry; Rhythm
Proverb A short saying that expresses a general truth. Proverbs are found in many different languages and cultures. Example: An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
Purpose An author’s reason for writing. Most authors write to entertain, inform, or persuade. Example: An author’s purpose in an editorial is to persuade the reader to think or do something.
See also Expository nonfiction; Narrative writing; Persuasive writing
Realistic fiction Fiction in which detailed handling of imaginary settings, characters, and events produces a lifelike illusion of a “real” world. Example: Although Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle is a work of fiction, the author’s graphic, detailed descriptions of the slaughterhouse workers’ daily lives led to real changes in the meatpacking industry.
See also Fiction
Repetition The repeating of individual vowels and consonants, syllables, words, phrases, lines, or groups of lines. Repetition can be used because it sounds pleasant, to emphasize the words in which it occurs, or to help tie the parts of a text into one structure. It is especially important in creating the musical quality of poetry, where it can take such forms as alliteration and rhyme.
See also Alliteration; Poetry; Rhyme
Report A usually short piece of nonfiction writing on a particular topic. It differs from an essay in that it normally states only facts and does not directly express the writer’s opinions.
See also Essay; Nonfiction; Topic
Resolution See Falling action
Rhyme The repetition of ending sounds in different words. Rhymes usually come at the end of lines of verse, but they may also occur within a line. Examples: look, brook, shook
See also Poetry; Repetition; Rhyme scheme