Glossary of Literary Terms

A

abbreviation
A word that is shortened, e.g. plane for aeroplane or fridge for refrigerator. Other abbreviations may be acronyms, e.g. PC - personal computer, RNIB, Royal National Institute for the Blind.

acrostic
A poem that uses the initial letters of a word or phrase. The letters can be used at the beginning of the line or have the lines of the poem arranged around them, e.g. Winter
Winter
Ice
Numbs our
Toes
Ears; nose and the
Rest of us!

adjective
A word used to describe a noun. It can come before or after the noun; e.g. the fierce dragon/ the dragon was fierce.

There are different types of adjectives,
e.g. three lions (number)
more / less/ some / enough bread (quantity)
red / tiny / sweet-scented rose (colour, size and smell)
my / your / his / their house (possessive)
which / whose / what picture? (questioning)
this chair/ that chair/ these chairs/ those chairs (demonstrative)

adverb
A word used to describe a verb, e.g. Mr Jones rang the bell loudly.

alliteration
A phrase, where words next to each other begin with the same letter or sound, e.g. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper.

antonym
A word that has the opposite meaning to another; e.g. hot - cold, slow - fast, happy - sad

apostrophe (')
A punctuation mark used when two words are shortened into one, e.g. it is/ it's, do not/ don't, and used when something belongs to someone, e.g. the lion's cage, Mrs Brown's funny turn.

autobiography
The life story of a person, usually written by that person.

B

biography
The life story of a person, written by another person.

C

character
A person in a story, play or poem.

colon (:)
This can be used in several ways:

1. as a punctuation mark that can be used before a list,
   e.g. to buy: eggs, bacon, bread, milk.
2. as a punctuation mark that can be used before a quotation, e.g. Juliet: Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo.
3. as a punctuation mark that can be used to divide a sentence, e.g. The day was cold: it had been snowing all night.

compound word
A word made up of two other words,
e.g. sandcastle, classroom, spaceship.

comprehension
Understanding what is written or said.

conjunction
A word used to link sentences or phrases,
e.g. because, but, and, however.

consonant
All the letters of the alphabet are consonants except a, e, i, o and u.

contraction
Words that are shortened, e.g. don't, shouldn't, could've, it's.

D

dash (-)
A punctuation mark that can be used instead of brackets or to add an extra thought to a sentence, e.g. If Helen wanted bread she would pretend to cut a loaf and butter the slices - but life wasn't always so simple.

dialogue
A conversation between two people; it can be written or spoken.

dictionary
A book that lists words alphabetically and explains the meaning of words.

discussion text
A piece of writing that presents both sides of an argument with points for and against.

E

epic
A poem or story about the adventures of an heroic or legendary figure.

exclamation mark (!)
A punctuation mark used at the end of some sentences, usually when feelings are expressed, eg. Good luck! Oh, dear! Well done!

F

fable
A short story that is written to teach a moral lesson, e.g. The tortoise and the hare.

fact
Something that is true and that can be proved with evidence. Factual writing is about real people and real events.

fairy tale
A story for children that contains 'magical' events or people and often includes fairies, elves, goblins, spells and wishes.

fiction
A piece of writing that is invented by the writer. Some parts of the story may include real places or real people, but the story itself, is not true.

format
The way in which a piece of writing is set out, with headings, sub headings, pictures or illustrations.

full stop (.)
A punctuation mark used at the end of most sentences.

G

grammar
The way in which words are used together and the rules that govern how they are used.

guided reading
A classroom activity where pupils are taught in groups according to their reading ability.

guided writing
A classroom activity where pupils are taught in groups according to their writing ability.

H

hyphen (-)
A punctuation mark that links two words or parts of words, e.g. well-known, ante-room, hot-tempered.

I

J

jingle
A short verse that is meant to be 'catchy' and is often used in an advert, e.g. a Mars a day helps you work rest and play.

K

L

legend
A traditional story about heroic figures - some of the stories may be based on true characters such as King Arthur.

limerick
A comic poem or verse that follows adefinite rhyming pattern A, A, B, B, A.

literacy
The ability to read and write.

M

myth
An ancient story of gods and heroes.

N

noun
A noun is a name of a thing, person, place or feeling. eg. James, England, Manchester, dog, group, love.

O

P

paragraph
A section of writing. Stories are usually broken up into paragraphs to show a change of place, time or a change of speaker. They can also be used to introduce a new idea in piece of writing.

Paragraphs start on a new line and there is a gap between a new paragraph and the previous paragraph.

person
A piece of text can be written in the first person (I am, I said); the second person (you are, you said); or the third person (he is, they are).

phoneme
The smallest unit of sound in a word, made up of one or more letters. eg. me, sea, quay.

phonics
The sounds that make up words. Phonic teaching is a method of teaching reading based on sounds.

phrase
Two or more words together, but not a complete sentence, e.g. the gentle sound, alone on his chair, chocolate cake and gingerbread.

plural
More than one, e.g. computers, stories, men.

poem
A poem is an individual piece of text about any subject. It may use rhyme, images and a special type of language to communicate ideas. It is usually written in phrases rather than sentences.

punctuation
The marks used in a piece of writing that aid understanding e.g. full stop, comma, apostrophe, and question mark.

Q

question mark (?) A question mark is a punctuation mark used at the end of a sentence that asks a question, eg. Can you dance?

R

rhyme
Words that end in the same sound, e.g. should, could, wood, good, or a piece of writing that make up a rhyming verse,

e.g. Gnarled and knotted
The great tree stood
Magnificently wrinkled alone in the wood.

riddle
A puzzle - sometimes given as a rhyme.

S

semi-colon (;)
A punctuation mark used to separate parts of a long sentence, e.g. The poster showed the high trapeze; horses and ponies; acrobats and artists with glittering costumes; and, of course, the clowns.

sentence
A sentence is a group of words that make sense on their own. Sentences can make statements, ask questions, or express ideas and feelings. Sentences start with a capital letter and end with a full stop, a question mark or an exclamation mark. eg. I like football. Would you like to play? What a goal!

shared reading
A good reader and less able reader work together to read a story that is too difficult for the less able reader to read alone.

speech marks (")
Punctuation marks used around the words that a person is speaking, e.g. "The tent is called the Big Top," said John's Dad.

synonym
Words that have the same or a similar meaning, e.g. touch - tap - pat, big - large - huge.

T

theme
The subject of a story or a poem, e.g. the themes used in activity pages include feelings, school and animals.

thesaurus
A book that groups words and phrases together according to their meaning.

U

V

verb
'Action' or 'doing' words, e.g. jump, run, eat or play; or 'being' words, e.g. are, is, or have.

vowel
A vowel is made up of a single sound (a phoneme). The letters representing vowels are a, e, i, o and u. Other groups of letter may make vowel sounds, e.g. aw, ah.

W

XYZ

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