analogy: a comparison of similar aspects of different concepts

anecdote: a short account of an incident or event

atmosphere: similar to mood; the pervading tone

auditory: concerned with the sense of hearing

body paragraph: five to seven sentences in a literary essay that support and relate to the essay’s thesis statement by proving one main point

character: an individual in a drama or novel

conclusion: the final part of a literary essay including the thesis statement

context: the surrounding words or circumstances that add meaning to a given statement

contrasting: comparing to show striking differences

custom: an established behaviour or tradition

diary: a daily written record of events and/or the writer’s thoughts

diction: the choice of words or phrases in speech or a literary work

disposition: personality or temperament, especially regarding how one deals with others

dress: the typical clothing of a group or culture (style, costume)

evoke (to): to inspire an image, response, or feeling

geographical: related to the main physical features of an area

gustatory: concerned with the sense of taste

historical: related to past events

imagery: a collection of images or mental pictures that are created for the reader by the author’s words

imaginative: representing ideas or concepts in ways that go beyond their literal meanings

insight: perception or understanding

introduction: the preliminary part of a literary essay including the thesis statement

literal: using words in their primary realistic sense

literary technique: a way of writing to achieve a specific effect

literary: related to books, literature or written composition

mannerism: a habitual gesture or behaviour

metaphor: a figure of speech that employs an object or idea in place of another to suggest likeness

mood: the pervading tone

narrator: the person or voice telling the story

natural: existing in or caused by nature (the physical world of plants, animals, landscape and weather)

objective: unbiased, based on facts, not influenced by personal feelings

olfactory: concerned with the sense of smell

omniscient: having complete and unlimited knowledge of everything

paraphrase: a passage from a literary text that is described indirectly in an essay (and doesn’t require quotation marks)

perspective: a mental view or outlook that results in a subjective evaluation

plot: a plan or outline of the main events in a literary work

point of view: the position of the narrator in relation to the story

protagonist: the principal character in a literary work

quotation: a passage from a literary text that is inserted into an essay (between quotation marks) to explain an idea or statement

setting: the time and location in which a story takes place or is set

social: related to the mutual relations of human beings

speech: the language of a region or group

subjective: related to opinions or biased information; a subjective argument is one that openly allows for an individual’s (or group’s) personal convictions

summarize: briefly describe or sum up the main points from a longer, detailed statement

symbolism: the literary use of symbols to represent ideas

synthesis: the process of combining separate ideas into a unified whole

tactile: concerned with the sense of touch

theme: the central or main idea of a literary work. The theme is made up of a topic and the attitude that the text takes toward that topic.

thesis statement: the main idea of an essay that makes a general statement about the essay’s topic

tone: a general impression produced by the manner of expression chosen by the author of a literary work

topic sentence: a sentence that states the main idea of a paragraph

visceral: deep or intense physical feeling

visual: concerned with the sense of sight

weather: the state of the exterior atmosphere at a particular moment (rain, sunshine, snow etc.)