Grade 10 Examinable Terms and Devices

1. Alliteration: the intentional repetition of similar initial sounds in two or more words.
Alliteration is meant to appeal to the sense of sound.
Example: He clasps the crag with crooked hands.
Close to the sun in lonely lands.
2. Allusion: A reference, usually brief, to a famous person, event or work. Usually the writer
expects the reader to understand the reference.
Example: He is such a Romeo! (This makes reference to Romeo from Romeo and
!uliet"# it means that he is so romantic.$
3. Antagonist: the forces against the protagonist in the story, whether persons, things,
conventions of society or traits of the protagonists own character.
4. Aside: a line or lines that are spoken by an actor to the audience but not intended for other
actors on stage to hear. he techni!ue is used to give insight to characters thoughts and feelings.
5. Atmosphere: Atmosphere refers to the overall effect of a literary work that is created by mood, setting,
description and dialogue.
6. Audience: the reader or listener.
7. Bias: the combination of fact and opinion.
8. Ballad: A short narrative poem told in songlike form. "any have been passed down as folk
songs that tell love stories or tales about heroes or historical events.
9. Blank verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter# often used for long poems.

!. "haracter: a person represented in a drama, story, etc.
. "hronological #rder: a se!uence according to time of occurrence.
2. "lima$: $oint of greatest intensity, interest or suspense in a narrative# the turning point.
3. "ollo%uial: everyday conversational vocabulary and usage# informal.
4. "ompare: explaining the similarities between two things
5. "ontrast: explaining the differences between two things
6. "lich&: An overused phrase made colourless by repetition. %or example: &'ts raining cats
and dogs.(
7. "on'lict: he struggle between two opposing forces# internal or external.
8. "onnotation: he suggested or implied meanings and mental associations related to a word
or phrase.
9. "omed(: A dramatic work that is light and often humorous or satirical in tone and that
usually contains a happy ending.
2!. )enotation: he dictionary definition of a word.
2. )escription: describes a person, place, thing, or idea.
22. )rama: a prose or verse composition that is intended for representation by actors
impersonating the characters and performing the dialogue and action.
23. )ialogue: he lines spoken by a character or characters in a play, essay, story, or novel,
especially a conversation between two characters.
24. )irect *resentation: author tells the reader straight out about a character.
25.)(namic character: a character that changes in the actions, thinking, or personality.
26. +$positor(: gives step)by)step instructions about how to do something.
27. ,alling Action: he events of a dramatic or narrative plot following the climax.
28. ,igurative -anguage: *riting or speech characteri+ed by the use of simile, metaphor,
personification, and other figures of speech.
29. ,lash.ack: scene in a short story, novel, drama, play that interrupts the action to show an
event that happened earlier.
3!. ,lat "haracter: known by only one or two traits
3. ,oil: anything that serves by contrast to call attention to the characteristic of
something,someone else
32. ,oreshado/ing: use of hints or clues in a narrative of what will happen later in the plot.
33. ,ree verse: $oetry that lacks a regular metrical pattern and line length, but instead tries to
capture the rhythms of natural speech. 't does not obey rules of spelling, line length, rhyme or
metre.
34. 0enre: A type of writing# a literary type or class. %or example: fantasy, romance, thriller.
35. 1(per.ole: -bvious and deliberate exaggeration.
Example: % am dying for lo&e.
36. 2ndirect *resentation: the author shows the reader the character in action# the reader infers
what a character is like from what she,he thinks, says, or does.
37. 2mager(: he use of language to appeal to one or more of the senses: taste, touch, sight,
smell or hearing.
'mage .one example, imagery . one or more example
38. 2ron(: A statement in which the literal meaning is the opposite of the intended meaning, or a
situation in which ones expectation of the outcome is reversed.
Example: %t is ironic to cut down trees to make a newspaper article that talks a'out the
destruction of forests.
39. 3argon: language that is specific to a certain discipline or sub/ect.
4!. -(ric: a short poem expressing the poets emotion a person, ob/ect, event, or idea. hey originated at
songs.
4. 4etaphor: A comparison between two unlike ob/ects that does 0- use &like( or &as(.
42. 4ood: "ood is an element of atmosphere that refers to the feeling or emotional state that is
created in the reader through the authors tone and use of descriptive details.
43. 5arrative: A work which tells a story. A narrative may be prose, verse, fiction, or non)
fiction.
44. 5arration: the telling of an event or series of events.
45. 5arrator: the person or character telling a story.
46. #nomatopoeia: he poetic use of words whose sounds seem to imitate the sounds
associated with the action involved.
Example: slap( whisper( 'u))( roar( growl( clang( crunch( screech
47. #$(moron: An expression which combines two contradictory words.
Example: ci&il war * 'ittersweet * free)er 'urnt * +um'o shrimp
48. *arado$: A statement which appears to be self)contradictory, but contains an element of
truth.
Example: ,hat came first( the chicken or the egg-
49. *ersoni'ication: A figure of speech when non)human things, animals, and ideas are given
human)like !ualities.
aken from the poem &*ho Am '1( Example: The trees ask me
2y %elice 3olman .nd the sky(
.nd the sea asks me
,ho .m %-
5!. *ersuasion: the act of changing someones opinion towards something.
5. *oint o' vie/: he way a story gets told and who tells it. 't is the method of narration that
determines the position, or angle of vision, from which the story unfolds.
,irst *erson 6the story is told from one characters point of view and is coloured by their
experiences
#.7ective *oint o' 8ie/ 6 the reader does not know any of the characters thoughts or feelings.
9hird *erson *oints o' 8ie/:
-imited #mniscient 6 narrator knows everything about one or a group of characters.
#mniscient : the narrator knows everything about all of the characters and events.

52. *lot: he structure and relationship of actions and events in a work of fiction.
53. *ropaganda: information, lies, rumours, ideas, and artwork spread deliberately to help or
harm another specific group, movement, belief, institution, or government.
54. *rotagonist: the main character in a story.
55. ;esolution: the conclusion of a story.
56. ;e'rain: the same lines repeated at different intervals in a poem.
57. ;h(me: 4imilarity of sounds in words.
58. ;h(me scheme: the pattern of end rhyme used in a poem.
59. ;h(thm: the arrangement of beats in a line of poetry
6!. ;ising Action: the events of the plot that occur immediately before the climax.
6. ;ound character: is which is described using many traits and features.
62. <arcasm: A form of irony in which apparent praise conceals another, scornful meaning. %or
example, a sarcastic remark directed at a person who consistently arrives fifteen minutes late for
appointments might be, &-h, you5ve arrived exactly on time6(
63. <atire: 7iterature which blends criticism and humour, and holds up human vices to ridicule
and scorn.
64. <etting: the time and place in which a story takes place.

65. <lang: very informal language ex. (flipping out(, &hit the road(.
66. <mile: A figure of speech that compares two things using &like( or &as(.
67. <onnet: A lyrics poem of 18 lines written in iambic pentameter that usually focuses on one
main idea. 't follows a certain rhyme scheme depending on the type of sonnet.
68. <peaker: the &voice( which seems to be telling the poem, not always the same as the poet.
69. <tan=a: A group of two or more lines which make up a unit of a poem and contain a unity of
thought and form.
7!. <tatic "haracter: remains the same from the beginning of the plot to the end.
7. <tereot(pe:: an oversimplified standardi+ed image of a person or group
9x. 4ports are poor at academics, :anadians all play hockey, :hinese are all good
at math
72. <t(le: An authors characteristic way of writing. his may be reflected in choice of words,
the arrangement of words in sentences, and , or the relationship of the sentences to one another.
4tyle also refers to the particular way an author uses imagery, poetic devices, and rhythm.
73. <uspense: excitement and anticipation regarding an outcome, such as the ending of a
mystery novel
74. <(m.ol><(m.olism: 4omething that stands for something else ; an act, word or ob/ect that
represents more than itself.
75. 9heme: he central <main= idea in any literary work. here can be more than one theme in a
literary work.
76. 9one: he writers attitude or point of view towards his or her sub/ect and audience.
77. 9raged(: A work that dramati+es a story of lethal conflict and fateful choices. he traditional
tragedy recounts that fall of heroes or people of high degree.
78. ?nderstatement: Understatement occurs when something is intentionally represented less
strongly than the facts would call for. 't is a form of irony.
Example: %f someone replies( That/s nice" to the news that you ha&e +ust won the
lottery( she or he is using an understatement.