Reading & writing · Grades 5–12
Reading and literary analysis
25 key concepts, retrieval questions and a learning checkpoint.
Start here
Support an interpretation with specific details. A theme is a developed idea, not simply one word such as friendship.
Build your vocabulary
Narrator
The voice that tells a story.
Protagonist
A central character whose actions or experiences organize a story.
Antagonist
A character or force that opposes the protagonist.
Setting
The time, place and surrounding conditions of a story.
Plot
The arrangement of events in a narrative.
Conflict
A struggle between opposing goals, forces or values in a story.
Climax
A point of greatest tension or a major turning point in a narrative.
Resolution
The part of a narrative in which central conflicts are settled or brought to a stopping point.
Theme
An underlying idea explored through a text, rather than just its topic.
Inference
A conclusion supported by clues and reasoning, not always explicitly stated.
Summary
A concise account of the essential points of a text.
Simile
An explicit comparison often using like or as.
Metaphor
A comparison that describes one thing in terms of another without a literal equivalence.
Personification
Attributing human qualities to something non-human.
Hyperbole
Deliberate exaggeration used for effect.
Alliteration
Repetition of initial consonant sounds in nearby words.
Imagery
Descriptive language that evokes sensory experience.
Symbol
An object, action or detail that also represents a broader idea in context.
Tone
The attitude conveyed by a text's language and choices.
Mood
The atmosphere or feeling a text creates for a reader.
Irony
A meaningful contrast between what is expected, stated or understood and what actually occurs or is meant.
Foreshadowing
An earlier detail that hints at a later development.
Flashback
A narrative shift to events earlier than the current story time.
Allusion
A reference to another work, event or cultural material without fully explaining it.
Unreliable narrator
A narrator whose account the reader has reason to question.
Test your recall
Reading and literary analysis: which term fits this description? The voice that tells a story.
- Allusion
- Imagery
- Inference
- Narrator
Reading and literary analysis: which term fits this description? A central character whose actions or experiences organize a story.
- Protagonist
- Alliteration
- Tone
- Irony
Reading and literary analysis: which term fits this description? A character or force that opposes the protagonist.
- Hyperbole
- Theme
- Irony
- Antagonist
Check and explain
Answers and marking notes
- Narrator
Narrator: The voice that tells a story.
- Protagonist
Protagonist: A central character whose actions or experiences organize a story.
- Antagonist
Antagonist: A character or force that opposes the protagonist.
Learning preview · teacher review required. Grade bands are approximate, not official curriculum alignment.