Critical Vocabulary

2. description comparing one thing to another.
6. the reasons the author has written an article and has chosen the supporting information. The purpose may be informative, entertaining, or persuasive.
7. the most important ideas of a selection presented in order. Beginning, middle, end.
8. a group of lines within a poem.
13. the language that is not meant to be taken literally.
14. the major turning point in a story when the conflict is the highest.
15. elements in a poem that evoke any of the five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell)
18. description saying one thing has not the qualities of another thing.
19. an author’s attitude or feelings within the text toward the subject or intended audience.
20. a universal idea expressed in a text; texts generally have a central theme and other secondary themes.

1. a scene that takes place before the time period of the main story; a non-linear plot element.
3. facts, examples, statistics, anecdotes, or descriptions the author chooses to support the main idea or argumentative claim.
4. a literary device to tease readers about events that will occur later in the story.
5. the direct words from a selection or the direct words from an expert used in a selection.
9. an author’s unique personal style.
10. the person telling a story or relating information to the reader.
11. the author’s position in an argumentative text, expressing what the reader should do or believe.
12. the spoken words of a character in a story or drama.
16. the author’s overall main point or message.
17. the atmosphere of a text, how the readers are made to feel, emotion evoked by the author.