O and P Words

I will be posting writing terms every other week from the book "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creative Writing" (2nd edition) by Laurie E. Rozakis.

1. onomatopoeia- the use of words that imitate the sounds they describe- for ex., words like "snap" and "crackle."
2. passive voice- in passive voice, the subject receives the action.
3. personification- giving human traits to nonhuman things. For ex: "The book begged to be read."
4. persuasion- a type of writing that tries to move an audience to thought or action.
5. plot- the arrangement of events in a work of literature. Plots have a beginning, middle and end. The writer arranges the events of the plot to keep the reader's interest and convey the theme. In many stories and novels, the events of the plot can be divided as follows:
- exposition: introduces the characters, setting, and conflict
- rising action: builds the conflict and develops the characters
- climax: shows the highest point of action
- resolution: resolves the story and ties up all the loose ends
6. poetry- a type of literature in which words are selected for their beauty, sound, and power to express feelings. Traditionally, poems had a specific rhythm and rhyme, but such modern poetry as free verse does not have regular beat, rhyme, or line length. Most poems are written in lines, which are arranged together in groups called stanzas.
7. point of view- the position from which the story is told. The three different points of view writers use most often:
- first-person point of view: the narrator is one of the characters in the story. The narrator explains the events through his/her own eyes, using the pronouns I and me.
- third-person omniscient point of view: the narrator is not a character in the story. Instead, the narrator looks through the eyes of all the characters. As a result, the narrator is "all-knowing" (omniscient). The narrator uses the pronouns he, she, and they.
- third-person limited point of view: the narrator tells the story through the eyes of only one character, using the pronouns he, she, and they.
8. prose- all written work that is not poetry, drama, or song. Examples of prose includes articles, autobiographies, novels, essays, and editorials.
9. protagonist- the most important character in a work of literature. The protagonist is at the center of the conflict and the focus of our attention.