MB ELA 40S key terms

The central idea or insight about life that a literary work explores, such as ambition, loss, or justice. It is expressed through the whole text rather than stated once.

A recurring image, phrase, object, or situation that supports and develops the work's themes. Repetition draws attention to it and builds meaning across the text.

The use of a concrete object, person, or event to stand for an abstract idea beyond its literal meaning. Meaning depends on context and repetition inside the work.

A narrative in which characters and events consistently represent abstract ideas or moral qualities, so the story carries a second, systematic meaning beneath its surface.

A gap between what is said, expected, or understood and what is actually true or happens. It may be verbal, situational, or dramatic in effect.

A situation in a narrative where the audience knows something important that a character does not, creating tension, suspense, or comic effect as the character acts in ignorance.

Hints or clues early in a text that suggest events to come later. It prepares readers, builds suspense, and can make later developments feel inevitable.

A scene that interrupts the present action to show an earlier event. It supplies background, motivation, or context and can shift the reader's understanding of characters.

A story told within another story, where an outer situation introduces the inner tale. It shapes how readers receive the main narrative and whose perspective they trust.

The perspective from which a story is told, such as first person, third-person limited, or third-person omniscient. It controls what information and whose thoughts readers can access.

The degree to which a storyteller can be trusted to report events accurately. Unreliable narrators may be biased, mistaken, immature, or deliberately deceptive.

The techniques an author uses to build and reveal characters, including direct description and indirect methods such as dialogue, action, thought, and others' reactions.

A character who undergoes a significant change in attitude, belief, or behaviour during the story. The change is usually tied to the work's central conflict and theme.

A character whose traits contrast with those of another, usually the protagonist, so that each is clarified. Differences in values or temperament sharpen the reader's understanding.

The central figure whose goals and struggles drive the narrative and command the reader's main interest. The protagonist is not necessarily morally good.

The force or character that opposes the protagonist and creates or intensifies the central conflict. It may be a person, a group, nature, or an internal tendency.

The central struggle between opposing forces in a narrative, such as person against person, society, nature, or self. It propels plot and reveals character.

The point of greatest tension in a narrative, where the central conflict reaches its decisive moment. What follows resolves the outcome and its consequences.

The final part of a narrative in which loose ends are settled and the consequences of the climax are shown. It may confirm or complicate the work's theme.

A sudden moment of insight in which a character grasps a truth about self or world. It often marks a turning point and may drive the story's thematic conclusion.

The writer's or speaker's attitude toward the subject and audience, conveyed through diction, imagery, syntax, and detail. It differs from the mood felt by readers.

The emotional atmosphere or feeling a text creates in the reader, produced by setting, imagery, word choice, and rhythm rather than by stated attitude alone.

An author's choice of words, including their level of formality, connotation, and precision. Diction strongly shapes tone, voice, and the precision of meaning.

The associations, feelings, and implied meanings a word carries beyond its literal sense. Connotations vary by context and can carry strong emotional or cultural weight.

The literal, dictionary meaning of a word, apart from the feelings or associations it may suggest. It provides the neutral core that connotation colours.

Descriptive language that appeals to the senses, creating vivid mental pictures or sensations. Imagery can establish mood, reveal character, and reinforce themes.

Language that departs from literal meaning to create comparison or effect, including metaphor, simile, personification, and hyperbole. It invites readers to infer connections.

A direct comparison that describes one thing as another without using like or as, asserting a resemblance that illuminates both. Extended metaphors develop across a whole passage.

A comparison of two unlike things using like, as, or than. The comparison makes an abstract or unfamiliar quality concrete and easier to grasp.

A figure of speech that gives human qualities or actions to non-human things, animals, or ideas. It can create atmosphere, convey attitude, or make abstractions vivid.

Deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis, humour, or emotional force rather than literal accuracy. Readers recognize the overstatement and infer the intended intensity.

Writing that uses humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize human folly, institutions, or vices, usually with the aim of prompting reform or reflection.

A brief, unstated reference to a well-known person, place, event, or text. It relies on shared cultural knowledge to add meaning economically and reward recognition.

A fourteen-line poem usually written in iambic pentameter with a fixed rhyme scheme, commonly organized as Shakespearean or Petrarchan. It often develops a turn in argument or feeling.

A poetic line of five iambic feet, each foot an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one. It is the dominant rhythm of much English verse and drama.

The regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in verse, measured in feet. Meter gives poetry rhythm and can reinforce meaning through variation.

The continuation of a sentence or clause past the end of a poetic line without a pause. It can speed the reading, create suspense, or emphasize a phrase.

A noticeable pause or break within a line of verse, often marked by punctuation. It can slow the line, shift emphasis, or mirror a character's hesitation.

A concise sentence that states the central claim of an essay and forecasts how it will be supported. It should be arguable, specific, and appropriate to the assignment.

Quotations, paraphrases, or specific details drawn from a text that support an interpretation or claim. Effective evidence is accurate, relevant, and integrated into the writer's argument.

Careful, detailed analysis of a short passage's language, structure, and rhetorical choices to build an interpretation. It moves from specific observations to defensible conclusions.

Examination of how a text persuades its audience through appeals, structure, diction, and evidence. It explains why choices are effective rather than merely summarizing content.

The persuasive strategies of logos (reason and evidence), ethos (credibility and character), and pathos (emotion and values). Skilled writers combine them to suit audience and purpose.