Skip to main content
We’re so back. See what’s new for the 2026-2027 school year →

🔤English 9
Key Terms

104 essential vocabulary terms and definitions to know for your English 9 exam

Study English 9 →

Browse All A-Z

A

Abstract ideas
Active Verbs
Ambiguity
Anapestic meter
Anapestic trimeter
Artistic choices
Audience reception
Auditory imagery
Author's Choices
Author's message
Awkward phrasing

B

Birds Representing Freedom
Body paragraphs
Butterflies Representing Transformation

C

Capitalization
Character Arcs
Character journeys
Character voice
Character vs. Character
Character vs. Nature
Character vs. Self
Character vs. Society
Character vs. Technology
Charles Dickens
Chronological order
Coherence and Consistency
Collective nouns
Coming-of-age narratives
Complex Ideas
Complex sentence
Compound sentence
Compound-complex sentence
Contractions
Coordinate adjectives
Coordinating Conjunction
Cultural criticism
Cultural Setting

D

Dactylic meter
Deeper Meaning
Dialogue Tags
Digital publishing
Direct Characterization
Direct quote

E

Edgar Allan Poe

F

False dichotomy
Flat characters
Foil
Folklore
Formalism
Fragmentation

G

Gustatory imagery

H

Harper Lee
Henry Fielding
Historical fiction
Holden Caulfield

I

Integration of themes

J

James Baldwin
Jonathan Swift

K

Kurt Vonnegut

L

Literary canon
Lyric poem
Lyric poetry

M

Marxist criticism
Marxist Literary Criticism
Mood and atmosphere
Morally ambiguous
Mythological allusion

N

Narrative Elements
Narrative Perspective
Non-fiction
Non-linear narrative

O

Oliver Twist

P

Psychoanalytic Criticism
Psychological depth

R

Reader-response