Key Academic Vocabulary

Sentence Structure

listening

paying attention to what you hear

sensory language/imagery

The descriptive language an author uses to create word pictures for the reader.

Sensory words are descriptions of the five senses – sight, sound, touch, smell and taste.

figurative languagelanguage layered with

meaning by word images and figures of speech, as

opposed to literal language

personificationfigurative language in

which a nonhuman subject is given human

characteristics

Example: The leaves danced in the wind.

similea comparison of two

things that are essentially different,

usually using the words like or as

Example: He is as happy as a clam.

metaphora subtle comparison in

which the author describes a person or thing using

words that are not meant to be taken literally

Example: The streets were a furnace under the hot sun.

HyperboleHyperbole is an exaggeration or

overstatement for effect.

Example: I had so much homework, I needed a pickup truck to carry all my books home.

symbolA concrete thing such as a person, place, or object—that stands for something more than just itself.

For example:A heart symbolizes ____________

A dove symbolizes ____________

idioman expression that has a different meaning from

the literal meaning of its individual words; cannot

be translated literally

Example: The TAKS test was a piece of cake.

adagesa short but memorable

saying that holds some important fact that is considered

true by many people

Example: Don’t judge a book by its cover.

Devices of Sound

OnomatopoeiaOnomatopoeia is the use

of words that imitate sounds.

Example: sizzle, hiss, bang, boom

AlliterationAlliteration is the repetition of initial

consonant sounds in words.

Example: She sells sea shells by the seashore.

AssonanceAssonance is the

repetition of similar vowel sounds

Example:And in the air the fireflies,Our only light in paradise

ConsonanceSimilar to alliteration except:in consonance the repetition of the consonant sound can

be anywhere in the word

Example:“silken, sad, uncertain, rustling”

poetryPoetry is written in sets of

lines. Often poems have rhythm and rhyme. The

writer may want to express feelings about something,

describe something, or simply entertain readers.

*Types of poetry include: narrative, humorous, lyrical and free verse

stanzaA stanza is a unit within a

larger poem.

A stanza consists of a grouping of lines, set off by a space, that usually

has a set pattern of meter and rhyme.

Stanzas can be given a specific name depending on their

structure and rhyme pattern.

A couplet is a poem made of two lines

whose last words rhyme.

couplet

Example: The cat ate a mouse, then brought it to the house.

rhymewords that sound alike because they share the same ending vowel and

consonant sounds

Examples: Mop up that slop!!

the pattern of rhyming lines

Example: ABAB, ABBA, etc…

rhyme scheme

the basic rhythmic structure in verse,

made up of stressed and unstressed

syllables

meter

capital letters, line length…; also called shape of the poem

graphical elements

A soothing song, usually sung to

children before they go to sleep

llullaby