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This glossary contains definitions for words used throughout the website.  If you have a suggestion of a word that should be included here, please e-mail me at tim@mr-anderson.com.



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D

dialect

:
A form of language as it is spoken in a particular geographic area or by a particular social or ethnic group.

dialogue

:
A conversation between two or more characters in a work that is used by writers to give insight into the characters themselves.

diction

:

Clarity and distinctiveness of pronunciation; choice of words in speaking or writing.

digraphs

:
Two successive letters that make a single sound (e.g., ea in bread or ng in sing).

dynamic character

:
A character who undergoes a change during the course of a story.

E

e.g.

:
Exempli gratia (Latin), meaning "for example."

editing

:
A step in preparing a written work for publication or review that focuses on clarity and correctness.

elements of plot

:

All fiction is based on conflict and this conflict is presented in a structured format called PLOT.

  • Exposition
    The introductory material which gives the setting, creates the tone, presents the characters, and presents other facts necessary to understanding the story.
  • Foreshadowing
    The use of hints or clues to suggest what will happen later in the story.
  • Inciting Force
    The event or character that triggers the conflict.
  • Conflict
    The essence of fiction. It creates plot. The conflicts we encounter can usually be identified as one of four kinds. (Man versus…Man, Nature, Society, or Self)
  • Rising Action
    A series of events that builds from the conflict. It begins with the inciting force and ends with the climax.
  • Crisis
    The conflict reaches a turning point. At this point the opposing forces in the story meet and the conflict becomes most intense. The crisis occurs before or at the same time as the climax.
  • Climax
    The climax is the result of the crisis. It is the high point of the story for the reader. Frequently, it is the moment of the highest interest and greatest emotion. The point at which the outcome of the conflict can be predicted.
  • Falling Action
    The events after the climax which close the story.
  • Resolution (Denouement)
    Rounds out and concludes the action.
Keyword(s):

end rhyme

:
rhyme at the ends of lines of poetry

end-stopped

:
a pause (period or comma) at the end of the line.

English/Shakespearean Sonnet

:
a fourteen-line poem of four stanzas, three quatrains and a couplet. The rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg.

enjambed

:
no pause at the end of the line.

epic simile

:
Array

eponym

:

A person whose name is the source of the name of something.

Examples:

  • Rudolph Diesel is the eponym of the diesel engine
  • General Ambrose Burnside (1824-1881), a Civil war general whose trademark was a bushy beard that extended only along the jawline, is the eponym of the word sideburns

Note: The term eponym is also sometimes used to refer to a word that is derived from a person's name.

Websites for researching eponyms:
• From Greek epo (=on).

et al

:

"and others" or "and elsewhere" (when talking referencing other places in a text). 

et al. is the abbreviation of any of the latin terms: et alli (male plural), et aliae (female plural), or et alia (neutral plural). 

evaluative question

:
A question that asks the responder to make a judgment.

exclamatory

:

A sentence that makes a vehement statement or conveys strong or sentence sudden emotion.

exonym

:
A place name used by foreigners that differs from the name used by natives

Examples:
  • Londres is the French exonym for London
  • Germany is an exonym because Germans call it Deutschland.
• From Greek exo (=outside).

explicit

:
Fully or clearly expressed; definite.

expository

:
A spoken or written composition, intending to set forth or explain. Note: Good exposition is clear in conception, well organized and understandable. It may include limited amounts of argumentation, description and narration to achieve this purpose.

eye-rhyme

:
Array

F

fable

:
A story intended to enforce a useful truth, especially one in which animals speak and act like human beings.

fallacy

:
A typical error in reasoning that arises commonly in ordinary discourse and renders unsound the argument in which it appears.

feminine rhyme

:
Array

figurative language

:

Language enriched by word images and figures of speech.

Whenever you describe something by comparing it with something else, you are using figurative language. Any language that goes beyond the literal meaning of words in order to furnish new effects or fresh insights into an idea or a subject.

The most common figures of speech are simile, metaphor, alliteration, personification, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, and idioms.

figurative meaning

:
A symbolic interpretation of written work.

figures of speech

:
special poetic ways of expressing things, especially comparisons that are not literally true.

first person narration

:
Narration in which the point of view is that of the main character.

flashback

:
The technique of stopping the chronological action in a story and shifting to an earlier period to introduce additional information.

flat character

:
A character with only one outstanding trait or feature.

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