Creative Writing Final Exam Study Guide

1. Acrostic

a poem or a series of lines in which certain letters, for example, the first, form a name or motto.

2. Alliteration

repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words

3. Allusion

a reference in a literary work to a well-known character, phrase, or situation from history

4. Anecdote

a short written or oral account of an event from a person’s life.

5. antagonist

the character in contrast or opposition to the main character

6. autobiography

a person’s account of his or her life.

7. biography

a nonfiction account of a person’s life written by another person

8. brainstorming

a technique to generate ideas in which the person writes down ideas as quickly as possible without judging the ideas

9. character

an individual in a literary work.

10. characterization

Method of revealing a character’s personality

11. direct characterization The writer makes explicit statements

about the character; the character is revealed through his or her own actions, words, thoughts, reactions, and beliefs

12. indirect characterization The writer reveals a character

through the reactions, thoughts, words, and beliefs of other characters

13. chronological order

the ordering of events according to time

14. climax

The point of the greatest emotional intensity, interest, or suspense in the plot of the literary work; the highest point in a story

15. conflict

The struggle between opposing forces in a story or drama.

16. internal conflict

A struggle that takes place within the mind of a character who is torn between opposing feelings or goals; man vs. self

17. external conflict

exists when a character struggles against some outside force, such as another person, nature, society, or fate; three types:

man vs. man man vs. nature man vs. society

18. denouement

the resolution (outcome) of a story.

19. diamante

A diamond shaped poem focused on opposites.

20. diary

A personal record of experiences, events, and observations.

21. dynamic

A descriptive word for a character who changes

22. expository

The explanation of a subject; a mode of writing whose purpose is to inform or to explain

23. falling action

the action or events that follow the climax

24. flat

a character who reveals only one personality trait; predictions cannot be made about this type of character

25. formula poetry

a formula or fixed pattern dictates the form, structure, and/or content of a poem

26. free writing

writing nonstop for a set time, usually only five or ten minutes; the idea is to get your thoughts on paper; it can begin anywhere and go anywhere; the purpose is to help you get started or free your mind

27. free verse

poetry that has no fixed pattern of meter, rhyme, line length, or stanza arrangement

28. haiku

a type of poetry characterized by the following : three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables; originated in Japan; traditional topic is nature

29. essay

a writing attempt on a topic; a short work of nonfiction on a single topic

30. exposition

introduces the story’s characters, setting, and situation.

background information

31. hook

that which gets the reader’s attention at the beginning of any piece of writing

32. imagery

descriptive writing that appeals to one or more of the 5 senses; writing that paints a picture

33. limerick

a short poem fitting the following formula:

lines 1, 2, and 5 rhyme (longer). lines 3, and 4 rhyme (shorter). The limerick is usually humorous.

34. journal

a daily record of events kept by a participant in those events or a witness to them; not meant to be a private document

35. fable

a short story with animal characters that teaches a lesson

36. simile

a comparison between two seemingly unlike things using like or as

37.metaphor

a comparison between two seemingly unlike things not using like or as; a DIRECT comparison

38. mood

the feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates

39. narrative

a piece of writing or speech that tells a story; driven by a conflict or problem, a narrative unfolds event by event and leads to a resolution

40. onomatopoeia

Use of a word or phrase that imitates or suggests the sound of what it describes

41. organizational patterns of writing (5)

Method for organizing a piece of writing

1. Chronological (time)2. Spatial (space)3. Problem-solution4. Sequential (sequence of events;

order)5. Cause-effect

42. paragraph

a unit of writing that consists of related sentences

43. sequential order

A method of organization which relies on the sequence (order) of events

44. point of view

the perspective from which the story is told

45. first person

The narrator is a character in the story and is referred to as “I.” The reader sees everything through the eyes of the narrator.

46. Third-person limited

The narrator reveals the thoughts, feelings, and observations o f only one character, referring to that character as “he”, or “she.”

47. Third-person omniscient All-knowing point of view; the

narrator is not a character in the story but rather is someone who stands outside the story and comments on the action. A third-person omniscient narrator knows everything about the characters and the events and may reveal details that the characters could not themselves reveal.

48. Plot diagram

_/\_ (c) /

(b) / \ (d) / \

_______ _________ (a) (e)

(a) exposition (d) falling action (b) rising action (e) resolution/ (c) climax denouement

49. protagonist

The main character in the story; hero

50. recursive

A term that describes the writing process: goes back on itself; circular; can double back to previous steps or jump ahead

51.resolution

that part of the plot that concludes the falling action by revealing or suggesting the outcome of the conflict

synonym: denouement

52.rising action

the events that lead up to the climax

53.round (character)

a character in a story who is highly developed or more fully developed than other characters; easy to make predictions about a round character; encounters conflict and is changed by it; shows varied and sometimes contradictory traits

54.rubric

an explicit (precise) summary of the criteria for assessing a particular piece of student work, plus levels of potential achievement for each criterion

55. sequential order

a method of organization for a written of work or a speech based on sequence or the order of events

56. setting

the time and location

57. static (character)

a character who remains the same throughout the story; does not undergo any significant change

58. theme

the main often idea or message of a story, poem, novel, or play often expressed as a general statement about life

59. title

An identifying name given to a book, play, film, musical composition, or other work.

60. Transition words

help ideas flow within sentences, from sentence to sentence, and from paragraph to paragraph;

provide logical organization and understandability

improve the connections and transitions between thoughts

61. Writing process

The series of overlapping steps used to produce a text:

prewriting drafting

editing and revisingproofreadingpublishing

best described as recursive

62. What is the strongest sense?

smell

63. How can character be revealed? by making a character round through dialogue through direct and indirect

characterization the character’s handling of conflict

Quotation Marks Rule 1

Use quotation marks to enclose a direct quotation, a person’s exact words

Quotation Marks Rule 2

A direct quotation begins with a capital letter.

Quotation Marks Rule 3

When a quoted sentence is divided into two parts by an interrupting expression such as “he said” or mother asked, the second part beings with a smaller letter.

Quotation Marks Rule 4

A direct quotation is set off from the rest of the sentence by commas, a question mark, or exclamation point.

Quotation Marks Rule 5

Commas and periods are always placed inside the closing quotation marks.

Quotation Marks Rule 6

Quotation Marks Rule 7

Correct the following:

67. What is the main purpose of personal writing? To record ideas and experience to discover things about oneself and

the world

68. List at least five methods/ways you can use to come up with a story idea? 1. Keep a journal. 2. Freewrite. 3. Brainstorm. 4. Read newspapers. 5. Use a photograph.

69. What is the main reason for writing an autobiography?

to examine the meaning or significance of events in the writer’s life.

70. How can you determine whether or not the dialogue you have written is realistic?

Read it aloud.

Questions 71-73

What language device is illustrated in the passage?

71. What language device is used in the passage below?

“Life is a broken-winged bird….”-Dreams”

metaphor

72. What language device is used in the passage below?

“But I was going to say when Truth broke in With all her matter of fact about the ice

storm,”- “Birches”

personification

73. What language device is used in the passage below?

“Life is like a box of chocolates.” – Forrest Gump

simile

74. Define creativity.

the ability to produce something new through imaginative skill, whether a new solution to a problem, a new method or device, a new form, or a new artistic product .

75. When proposing a story idea, what should you consider?

who, what, when, where, why, and how

the purpose of the writing the audience