English Language Arts 020, OAE 020 Exam Terms, OAE 020 Practice Assessments

Morrison

In her work she has explored the experience and roles of black women in a racist and male dominated society. In the center of her complex and multilayered narratives is the unique cultural inheritance of African-Americans.

Ad Hominem

In an argument, this is an attack on the person rather than on the opponent's ideas. It comes from the Latin meaning "against the man."

Lending Credence

In arguing her point, a writer or speaker should always give the opponent some credit for his / her ideas.

Cumulative

Sentence which begins with the main idea and then expands on that idea with a series of details or other particulars

Medieval

Strong Christian influence prompted the exploration of Biblical themes and stories and contributing to the developments of hymns, mystery plays, and religious poetry.

Modernism

Strong intention to break tradition after WWI. All things are relative and there is no absolute truth. "the lost generation". Lack of certainty and direction.

Questioning

Students create their own questions about the material before reading. This allows them to think ahead about the characters, theme, plot, ect.

Elegy

Sustained and formal poem setting forth the poet's meditations upon death or another solemn theme

Metaphorically

Symbolically; figuratively

Inference/Infer

To draw a reasonable conclusion from the information presented. When a multiple choice asks for an _________ to be drawn from a passage, the most direct, most reasonable _________ is the safest answer choice. If an __________ is implausible, it is unlikely to be the correct answeer. Note that if the answer choice is directly stated, it is not ______ed and it is wrong. You must be careful to note the connotation-negative or positive- of the choices.

Consonant Digraphs

Two consonant letters that together stand for a single sound (sh, th, wh).

Inferential Comprehension

Understanding of information that isn't explicitly given, but rather implied in a written passage. (make predictions)

Iamb

Unstressed, Stressed

Anapest

Unstressed, Unstressed, Stressed

Symbolism

Use of a person, object, event, action, or image to represent an idea

Third Person Limited Omniscient

This type of point of view presents the feelings and thoughts of only one character, presenting only the actions of all remaining characters

Mythology

anonymous work having roots in primitive folk belief. Present supernatural episodes to interpret natural events

Mood

atmosphere that the writer creates for the reader

Plot

authors use flashbacks, foreshadowing, and suspense- as well as subplots and parallel plots to very the structure and tempo of a narrative

Dialect

the recreation of regional spoken language, such as a Southern one. Hurston uses this in Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Attitude

the relationship an author has toward his or her subject, and/or his or her audience

Setting

the time and place that is set for a narrative text

Rhetorical and Literacy Devices/ Techniques

the tools that authors use to express ideas through language in the creation of literacy works

Climax

the turning point of the story

Antecedent

the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers.

Trochee

Stressed, Unstressed

Dactyl

Stressed, Unstressed, Unstressed

Deduction

The process of moving from a general rule to a specific example.

Euphony

the pleasant, mellifluous presentation of sounds in a literary work.

Synecdoche

. a figure of speech that utilizes a part as representative of the whole. "All hands on deck" is an example.

Petrarchan Sonnet

14 line poem often dedicated to a lady or unrequited love

The Renaissance

16th and 17th century rebirth humanism - writer's think about their position in the world literature as an art form Authors: Marlow, Bacon, Shakesspeare

Romanticism

17th century valued feeling and intuition nature and freedom of imagination rebel against the "old way" proper gender behavior Authors: Irving, Bryant, Dickenson, Whitman

Realism

1855-1900 Civil war and post war focus on changing on specific social issue the world as one sees it realities of life does not idealize people or places

Neoclassicism

18th century. Respected order, reason, and rules. Humans viewed as imperfect. Society more important the the individual

Surrealism

1920s. Expression of the philosophical movement. Features the element of surprise, unexpected juxtapositions, and non sequitir.

Romanticism

19th century. Writers look to nature for inspiration. Idealized the past and celebrated the individual.

Realism

19th century. writings based on careful observation of ordinary life. They often focused on the middle and lower classes of society and attempted to present life objectively and honestly without idealism

Modernism

20th century experimental knowledge is not absolute loss of tradition technology

haiku

3 unrhymed lines (5, 7, 5) usually focusing on nature

Fantasy

A conscious breaking free from reality. Either for the delight of the author or a serious comment on reality

Ethos

an appeal based on the character of the speaker. An __-driven document relies on the reputation of the author.

Invective

an emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language.

Hyperbole

an extreme exaggeration

Rebuttal/Refutation(nouns) rebut/refute (verbs)

an opposing argument; a contradiction. To prove an argument wrong.

Polysyndeton

-- Use of several conjunctions in close succession

Types of Irony

(1) verbal - when the words literally state the opposite of the writer's (or speaker's) meaning (2) situational - when events turn out the opposite of what was expected; when what the characters and readers think ought to happen is not what does happen (3) dramatic - when facts or events are unknown to a character in a play or piece of fiction but known to the reader, audience, or other characters in the work.

Synesthesia

-- Associating two or more different senses in the same image ("Lilacs have a purple smell. Lilac is the smell of nightfall, I think.")

Imperative Sentence

-- Command

Conceit

-- Fanciful expression, used in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between dissimilar objects, displays intellectual cleverness due to unusual comparison.

Inductive Reasoning

-- Inferring a general truth from facts

Extended Metaphor

-- Metaphor that goes on and on

Juxtaposition

-- Placing two things beside each other for comparison

Interrogative Sentence

-- Question

Epanalepsis

-- Repetition of the initial word of a clause at the end of it ("Nothing can be created out of nothing.")

Epistrophe

-- Repetition of the same word at the end of a successive phrases ("I want to be the best, and we need the best, and we deserve the best.")

Apostrophe

-- Speaker directly addresses an absent or imaginary person

Archetype

A detail, image, or character type that occurs frequently in literature and myth and is thought to appeal in a universal way to the unconscious and to evoke a response

Figure of speech

A device used to produce figurative language. Many compare dissimilar things. Could include apostrophe, hyperbole, irony, metaphor, oxymoron, paradox, personification, simile, synecdoche, understatement.

Figure of Speech

A device used to produce figurative language. Many compare dissimilar things. Examples are apostrophe, hyperbole, irony, metaphor, metonomy, oxymoron, paradox, personification, simile, synecdoche, and understatement.

Synechdoche

A figure of speech in which a part of something us used to represent the whorle, or occassionally, the whole is used to represent a part. Examples: To refer to a boat as a "sail"; to refer to a car as "wheels"; to referr to the violins, violas, etc. in an orchestra as "the strings". **Different tan metynomy, in whcih one thing is represented by another thing that is commonly physically associated withi it (but is not necessarily part of it), i.e., regerring to a monarch as "the crown" or the President as "The White House".

Science Fiction

A form of fantasy in which scientific facts, assumptions, or hypotheses form the basis of adventures in the future other dimensions, or under new variants of scientific law

Litotes

A form of understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite. _____ is the opposite of hyperbole. Examples: "Not a bad idea," "Not many," "It isn't very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain" (Salinger, Catcher in the Rye).

quatrain

A four line stanza

Clause

A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb. An independent, or main ______ expresses complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence. A dependent, or subordinate ______, cannot stand alone as a sentence and must be accompanied by an independent _____. The point that you want to consider is the question or what or why the author subordinates one element should also become aware of making effective use of subordination in your own writing.

stanza

A group of lines in a poem

Shakespeare

A master dramatist of the English language, he changed literature for all time with his poignant tragedies, tragicomedies, and histories. As master of the pen, he finessed the use of a variety of literary elements; in Medias Res, puns, dramatic irony, foreshadowing, soliloquies, and anachronisms.

ode

A poem in praise of something divine or noble; usually serious in tone

Periodic Sentence

A sentence that presents its central meaning in a main clause at the end. The independent clause is preceded by a phrase or clause that cannot stand alone. The effect is to add emphasis and structural variety.

Aphorism

A short statement that expresses a general truth

Paradox

A statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense but upon closer inspection contains some degree of truth or validity.

Anecdote

A story or brief episode told by the writer or a character to illustrate a point.

Metonymy

A term from the Greek meaning "changed label" or "substitute name," _____ is a figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it. For example, a news release that claims "the White House declared" rather than "the President declared" is using metonymy; Shakespeare uses it to signify the male and female sexes in As You Like It: "doublet and hose ought to show itself courageous to petticoat." The substituted term generally carries a more potent emotional impact.

Appreciative Comprehension

Considering the author's purpose for writing the text. You may not "like" classical music, but can you appreciate the skill, talent, and years of training of the musicians or composer?

Loose Sentence/Non-Periodic Sentence

A type of sentence in which the main idea (independent clause) comes first, followed by dependent grammatical units such as phrases and clauses. If a period were placed at the end of the independent clause, the clause would be a complete sentence. A work containing many _____ ________s often seems informal, relaxed, or conversational. Generally, _____ ________s create loose style. The opposite of a _____ ________ is the periodic sentence. Example: I arrived at the San Diego airport after a long, bumpy ride and multiple delays. Could stop at: I arrived at the San Diego airport.

Parody

A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule.

Allegory

A work that functions on a symbolic level

Evaluative Comprehension

Ability to use critical thinking skills, logical analysis, and aesthetic considerations to evaluate a text.

Effective Modifiers

Adjectives & Adverbs

Beat poetry

American poets in the 1950s and 1960s in romantic rebellion against the culture and value system of the US

Twain

An American Realist. Sensitive to the sound of language, he introduced colloquial speech into American fiction in his novels Huck Finn

Pedantic

An adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish.

Personification

Human qualities to a nonhuman entity

Prefixes

Any morpheme that is attached to the beginning of a root or word and changes the meaning of the word

Suffixes

Any morpheme that is attached to the end of a word or root that changes the meaning of the word

RHETORICAL STRATEGIES

Any tools used by the author to make his/her point more convincing. Rhetorical strategies help the author to make his claim (Logos) more convincing by appealing to Pathos and Ethos.

Authority

Arguments that draw on recognized experts or persons with highly relevant experience.

Chiasmus

Arrangement of repeated thoughts in the pattern of X Y Y X. It is often short and summarizes a main idea.

Allophones

Articulation of a phoneme (letters). Example- "k" in kit different from k in khaki.

Assertion/claim (noun)/ assert (verb)

Assertions are opinions stated as facts—the basis of all arguments. Assertions are always arguable. Another word for an assertion that controls an argument is claim."America has long had a love affair with violence and guns"(x). Canada begins his book by claiming, or asserting that an important part of America's experience has been their love of violence and guns.

Chaucer

Author of the Canterbury Tales. One of the first author's to advance the recognition of English as a language for literature.

Central Idea

Author's stance, belief or claim

Meter

Beat or Rhythm in Poetry

Ibsen

Born in Norway. Familiar with the economic hardships he later depicted in his plays, he experimented with realistic plays exploring social issues related to middle-class life.

Base Word

Can stand alone. It is a complete word all by itself, although other word parts may be added to it to make new words.

Emerson

Centered a new religious movement called Transcendantalism. His philosophy was rooted in an American Romanticist and Puritan background.

Asyndeton

Commas used (with no conjunction) to separate a series of words. The parts are emphasized equally when the conjunction is omitted; in addition, the use of commas with no intervening conjunction speeds up the flow of the sentence. X, Y, Z as opposed to X, Y, and Z.

Decoding

Decoding is the ability to apply your knowledge of letter-sound relationships, including knowledge of letter patterns, to correctly pronounce written words.

Utopian Fiction

Describes an imaginary ideal world

Imagery

Descriptive language that evokes a sensory experience

Closed Minded Biases

Difficult to interact with.

Shakespearean Sonnet

English poetic form attributed to William Shakespeare: Themes include love, time, beauty, and mortality

Exposition

Establishes the setting or atmosphere

Rising Action

Events that lead to the climax

Denotation

Explicit definition of a word listed in the dictionary Ex: Home- a place where one lives

Structural Elements

Exposition, Climax, Meter, Stanzas

Elements of Narrative Structure

Exposition, complication, rising action, crisis, climax, resolution

Character vs. Character

External conflict: occurs when the main character is in a conflict with another character

Naturalism

Extreme form of Realism. Creates characters who are victims of environmental forces and internal drives that are beyond their comprehension and control

Cultural Differences

Factors such as age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, etc.

Listening Barriers

Factors that interfere with our ability to comprehend information and respond appropriately.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Father of magical realism which expands the categories of the real so as to encompass myth, magic and other extraordinary phenomena in Nature or experience" excluded by European realistic fiction.

Stylistic Text Features

Figurative Language to Text Style

Poetry Characteristics

Figurative language, meter, sound, imagery, format.

Confessional

Focuses on poet's private experiences and personal feelings

Villanelle

French verse form: 19 lines long, 5 tercets and 1 quatrain

Oxymoron

From the Greek for "pointedly foolish," ___ is a figure of speech wherein the author groups apparently contradictory terms. Simple examples include "jumbo shrimp" and "cruel kindness."

Syllogism

From the Greek for "reckoning together," a __ is a deductive system of formal logic that presents two premises that inevitably lead to a sound conclusion.

Open Ended Question

Gives the interviewee a measure of control over the interview. Allows interviewees to select their answer.

Drama Characteristics

Highly emotional, usually focuses on humans and involves a "crisis of feeling" - a painful or harmful experience.

Causal Relationship

In __, a writer asserts that one thing results from another. To show how one thing produces or brings about another is often relevant in establishing a logical argument.

Third Person Omniscient

In ___, the narrator, with a godlike knowledge, presents the thoughts and actions of any or all characters.

Phonemes

In a language or dialect, this is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances.

Wit

In modern usage, intllectually amusing language that surprises and delights. A ___ty statement is humorous, while suggesting the speakers verbal power in creating ingenious and perceptive remarks. ___ usually uses terse language that makes a pointed statement. Historically, ___ originally meant basic understanding. Its meaning evolved to include speed of understanding, and finally, it grew to mean quick perception including creating fancy and a quick tongue to articulate an answer that demanded the same quick perception.

Dramatic Irony

In this type of irony, facts or events are unknown to a character in a play or a piece of fiction but known to the reader, audience, or other characters in the work

Verbal Irony

In this type of irony, the words literally state the opposite of the writer's true meaning

Character vs. self

Internal conflict: the main character has a conflict with him self

Haiku

Japanese poetic form: 5,7,5

Tanka

Japanese poetic form: 5,7,5,7,7

Abstract Language

Language describing ideas and qualities rather than observable or specific things, people, or places.

Anadiplosis

Last word of a phrase is repeated to begin the next phrase ("Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate.")

Hawthorne

Leader in the development of the short story. The philosophic attitude implicit in his writing is generally pessimistic. His emphasis on allegory and symbolism causes his characters to be more often recalled as the embodiment of psychological traits or moral concepts than as living figures.

Subordinate Clause

Like all clauses, this word group contains both a subjec and a verb (plus any accompanying phrases or modifiers), but unlike independent clauses, the ___________ ______ cannot stand alone; it does not express a complete thought. The ___________ ______ depends on a main clause (or independent clause) to complete its meaning. Easily recognized key words and phrases usually begin these clauses. For example: although, because, unless, if, even though, since, as soon as, while, who, when, where, how, and that. Example: Yellowstone is a national park in the West 'that is known for its geysers'. Parenthesed phrase= ___________ ______

Listening Strategies

Listening for organizing cues, listening for verbal and nonverbal cues, listening for main ideas and relevant supporting ideas, questioning for clarification, seeking and using feedback, applying memory strategies, and taking notes?

Compound Words

Made of two attached words that combine to form a new word

Visualizing and Graphic Organizers

Many teachers and students think visually and might best comprehend reading material if there are shapes, spatial relationships, and movements, and colors

Dickens

Master of characterization. His later novels show great psychological depth, offering his distinct brand of social criticism

Reading Comprehension Strategies

Metacognition (thinking about own thoughts while reading) -Make connections and predictions -Use context clues -Question -Visualize -Infer -Synthesize -Identify structures -Use graphic organizer -annotate -Use text features

Modes of Writing

Narration, description, persuade, exposition, research writing, response to literature, writing for assessment, and workplace writing.

Informational Text

Nonfiction written primarily to convey factual information. Informational texts comprise the majority of printed material adults read (e.g., textbooks, newspapers, reports, directions, brochures, technical manuals).

Begging the Question

Often called circular reasoning, __ occurs when the believability of the evidence depends on the believability of the claim.

Prose

One of the major divisions of genre, ___ refers to fiction and nonfiction, including all its forms, because they are written in ordinary language and most closely resemble everyday speech.

Complication

Onset of major conflict

Metaphysical

Philosophical poetry 17th century

Pastoral

Poem dealing with rustic life

Crisis

Point of greatest tension

Personal Biases

Preferences developed through life experiences that alter objective decision making and make it difficult to think critically.

Wordsworth

Published the first great work of the English Romantic movement, Lyrical Ballads. Changed poetry forever by the decision to use common language in his poetry.

Consonance

Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity.

Assonance

Repetition of a vowel sound within two or more words in close proximity

Rhetorical Devices

Rhetorical devices are common, such as saying language is a living beast: that's a metaphor — one of the most common rhetorical devices. Another is alliteration, like saying "bees behave badly in Boston." Rhetorical devices go beyond the meaning of words to create effects that are creative and imaginative, adding literary quality to writing.

Syntactic Rules

Rules used in communication to describe how things are organized and ordered

Dystopian fiction

Seeks to point out what is wrong with a seemingly perfect situation or condition; offers alternative or negative view

Previewing

Simply going over texts with students before they engage in it. -Involves reviewing titles, section headings, and photo captions. This can give students a sense of structure, organization and comfort.

Characteristics of a Persuasive Text

Stated position or belief, facts that support a claim or belief, persuasive techniques, a logical argument, and a call of action

Annotating

Taking notes while reading. So, students are constantly thinking about the text while reading

Retelling and Summarizing

Teachers instruct students to retell what has happened in the text in their own words to help ensure they understand it.

Resolution/ Denouement

The "untying" of events

Explication

The act of interpreting or discovering the meaning of a text. __ usually involves close reading and special attention to figurative language.

Rhetoric

The art or study of persuasion through speaking or writing; language that is elaborate or pretentious but actually empty, meaning little

Ethnocentric

The belief in the inherent superiority of one's own group and culture.

Semantics

The branch of linguistics that studies that meaning of words, their historical and psychological development, their connotations, and their relation to one another.

Theme

The central idea or message of a work, the insight it offers into life. Usually, __ is unstated in fictional works, but in nonfiction, the __ may be directly stated, especially in expository or argumentative writing.

Irony

The contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant. The difference between what appears to be and what actually is true.

Atmosphere

The emotional nod created by the entirety of a literary work, established partly by the setting and partly by the author's choice of objects that are described. Even such elements as a description of the weather can contribute to the _____. Frequently _____ foreshadows events. Perhaps it can create a mood.

Rhetorical Modes

The flexible term describes the variety, the conventions, and the purposes of the major kinds of writing.

Root Word

The form of a word after all affixes are removed, the base component of a term which gives it a meaning that may be modified by other components.

Literal Comprehension

The lowest level of understanding. It involves reading the lines and understanding exactly what is on the page. Students can repeat or paraphrase what they have read.

First Person

The narration is told by one character and uses pronouns like "I" and "me"

Exposition

The purpose of this rhetorical mode is to explain and analyze information by presenting an idea, relevant evidence, and appropriate discussion.

Third Person Omniscient

The reader experiences a narrator who is all knowing and is privy to the thoughts of all the characters in the story

Third Person Limited

The reader experiences narration through the senses and thoughts of one character and the use of pronouns like "he" "she"

Alliteration

The repetition of initial consonant sounds, such as "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers."

Imagery

The sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions. On a physical level, __ uses terms related to the five senses; we refer to visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, or olfactory. For example, a rose may present visual __ while also representing the color in a woman's cheeks.

Epigraph

The use of a quotation at the beginning of a work that hints at its theme. Hemingway begins The Sun Also Rises with two. One of them is "You are all a lost generation" by Gertrude Stein.

Subject Complement

The word (with any accompanying phrases) or clause that follows a linking verb and complements, or completes the subject of the sentence by either (1) renaming it(the predicative nominative) or (2) describing it (the predicate adjective). These are defined below: 1) The predicate nominative- a noun, group of nouns, or noun clause that renames the subject. It, like the predicate adjective, follows a linking verb and is located in the predicate of the sentence. Example: Julia Roberts is a movie star. movie star= predicate nominative, as it renames the subject, Julia Roberts 2) The predicate adjective- an adjective, a group of adjectives, or adjective clause that follows a linking verb. It is in the predicate of the sentence, and modifies, or describes, the subject. Example: Warren remained optimistic. optimistic= predicate adjective, as it modifies the subject, Warren

Narrative Device

This term describes the tools of the storyteller, such as ordering events to that they build to climatic movement or withholding information until a crucial or appropriate moment when revealing in creates a desired effect.

Mood

This term has two distinct technical meanings in English writing. The first meaning is grammatical and deals with verbal units and a speaker's attitude. The second meaning is literary, meaning the prevailing atmosphere or emotional aura of a work.

Homily

This term literally means "sermon," but more informally, it can include any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice.

Reading Process

What good readers do before, during, and after reading. Good readers are active as they read. By following the steps of the Reading Process, your comprehension and attention will increase.

Ethical Appeal

When a writer tries to persuade the audience to respect and believe him or her based on a presentation of image of self through the text.

Equivocation

When a writer uses the same term in two different senses in an argument.

Either-or reasoning

When the writer reduces an argument or issue to two polar opposites and ignores any alternatives.

Point of View

Who tells the story and how the story is told. Directly impacts the mood, tone, and the reader's interpretation of the text

Base Words

Words without any endings or other parts added to them

Persuasive Writing

Writing in which the author wants to convince readers to agree with the author's opinions. To accomplish this, the writer must first make the issues clear to the reader and then provide incidents and facts to support his or her opinion. Examples: campaign speeches, debates, etc.

Figurative Language

Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid.

Persuasive Text

Writing to present an argument or point of view; editorials, propaganda, advertisement.

Homer

Wrote the two great epics, Iilad and Odyssey. Considered to be one of the most influential works of the Western Canon

Metonomy

a term from the Greek meaning "changed label" or "substitute name" __ is a figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it. For example: a news release that claims "The White House declared" rather than "The President declared"

Situational Irony

a type of irony in which events turn out the opposite of what was expected.

Expository Writing

a type of oral or written discourse that is used to explain, describe, give information or inform. Organization Ideas: Cause & Effect, Problem & Solution, Chronological Order

Speaker's Stance

a "stance" is a position, where you stand on an issue. You might, for example, disagree with Bush's stance on Iraq and believe instead that we should withdraw our troops. That belief, then, would be your stance.

sonnet

a 14 line poem containing 3 quatrains and 1 couplet

Deconstruction

a critical approach that debunks single definitions of meaning based on the instability of language. It "is not a dismantling of a structure of a text, but a demonstration that it has already dismantled itself."

Irony

a feeling, tone, mood, or attitude arising from an awareness that what is (reality) is opposite from, and usually worse than, what seems (appearance)

Onomatopoeia

a figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words. Simple examples include such words as buzz, hiss, hum.

Allusion

a figure of speech that makes use of a reference to an historical or literacy figure event or object

Transition

a word or phrase that links one idea to the next and carries the reader from sentence to sentence, paragraph to paragraph.

Factual Support

add credibility to the claim .

Soliloquy

allows a character thoughts and feelings without directly addressing other characters

derivational morphemes

alters meaning of a word, its part of speech or both

Apostrophe

an absent person is addressed as though present, or an abstract quality or a nonhuman entity is addressed

Pathos

an appeal based on emotion.

Analogy

a literary device employed to serve as a basis for comparison. It is assumed that what applies to the parallel situation also applies to the original circumstance. In other words, it is the comparison between two different items.

Hughes

a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance.

Euphemism

a more acceptable and usually more pleasant way of saying something that might be inappropriate or uncomfortable. "He went to his final reward" is a common __ for "he died." They are also used to obscure the reality of the situation.

concrete poem

a poem in which the words are arranged to create a picture that relates to the content of the poem

cinquain

a poem with 5 lines that contains a 2-4-6-8-2 syllable pattern

proverb

a short traditional saying that expresses wisdom

limerick

a silly, nonsense poem with 5 lines in a AABBA rhyme scheme

Logos

an appeal based on logic or reason

Testimonial

connect the writer's opinion to the readers feelings about an issue or person. Makes arguments less abstract

Figure of Speech

communicate meanings beyond the literal meanings of the words

Extended Metaphor

comparison is carried throughout the literacy work

Voice

can refer to two different areas of writing. One refers to the relationship between a sentence's subject and verb (active and passive). The second refers to the total "sound" of the writer's style.

free morpheme

can stand alone

bound morphemes

can't stand alone

anacoluthon

changes the grammatical structure in middle disturbance or excitement

Specific Details

claims which are connected back to general statements that provided evidence of probability

Analogy

comparison that reveals relationships and creates understanding for the reader

Repetition

creates familiarity. Author repeats a thought/ idea in an effort to get the reader to become more familiar with the topic or brand

Litotes (understatement)

deliberately representing something as less than it is in order to create a particular effect. Canada relates an incident which begins with the claiming of a basketball and escalates into the confrontation of a man with a gun. He watches as the older boys reach for their knives and face down an opponent who has a much more powerful weapon. Later, when Geoffrey wants to talk about this incident, Mike and Junior deliberately understate the severity of what happened: '"He was an *******. Forget it."'(42). Their use of litotes or understatement is meant to teach an important lesson: you must keep your emotions under control in order to survive on the streets

Technical Texts

deliver specific information and explain what could or may happen if the directives are not followed

Derivation

different words being formed from one particular root word

Central Ideas IMPLICITLY stated

difficult to find if students have not been taught to identify facts, evidence, and supporting details

Surrealism

element of surprise attacked false rationality and restrictive customs

Sound Devices

elements such as rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, and onomatopoeia - gives poetry a musical quality.

Existentialism

emphasizes individual existence, freedom, and choice reaction to realism

Types of Informational Texts

essays, news articles, US foundational docs, historical/scientific/technical/economic accounts

Annotation

explanatory notes added to a text to explain, cite sources, or give bibliographical data.

Ancient and Classic

included epics, lyric poetry, dramatic plays, comedies and tragedies and the origin of the novel.

episodic plot

individual chapters that are related to each other, but also a story within itself

Interpersonal vs. Intrapersonal Communications

interpersonal -- Exchange of information between two persons or among persons interpersonal -- Communication that occurs within yourself, including your thoughts and emotions.

Statement of Fact

expresses only what actually happened, or what can be proven by objective idea

Tone

expression of a writers attitude towards .a subject

Character vs. Society

external conflict: a single group of characters is in conflict with the social norms or expectations of a society

character vs. fate

external conflict: the main character battles with events that are determined by destiny or fate

Character vs. nature

external conflict: the main character struggles with nature

Legends

fictional stories once believed to be true. An exaggeration of individuals and events

Simile

figure of speech that compares two things that are unlike yet have something in common. Uses "like" and "as"

Metaphor

figure of speech that makes a connection between two things that are basically unalike but have something in common

focused freewriting

focus on a word or statement, then write down everything that comes to mind for a specified period of time

Root Analysis

focus on instructing their students on the most commonly occurring roots in the English Language. Students should see how the root helps them understand word meaning. When a student is able to breakdown unfamiliar words that share the same root as an unfamiliar word, the student may better determine the unfamiliar word's meaning

formative assessment

focuses on improving student or teach performance does not include a grade

Logical Argument

formal system of analysis that helps writers invent, demonstrate, and prove arguments, it works by testing ideas or propositions against one another to determine accuracy.

Sarcasm

from the Greek meaning "to tear flesh," ___ involves bitter, caustic language that is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something. It may use irony as a device.

Inflectional Morphemes

grammatical marker that indicates tense, number, possession, or comparison

periodic sentence

grammatically correct at the end important idea at the end

loose sentence

grammatically correct before the period important idea is first

Central Ideas EXPLICITLY stated

identified in the passage. Seen in opening paragraphs, headings, subheadings, ect.

Connotation

implied or associated meaning of the word Ex: Home- a place of comfort and security

Fables

in prose or verse to point to a moral and characters are frequently animals

Transcendentalism

mid 19th century. Believe that an ideal spiritual state that transcends the physical and empirical is realized only through the individual's intuition rather than through established religions.

Semicolon

more definite pause than a comma joins 2 clauses that could be separate

Round Characters

multidimensional that often undergo a change during the course of the narrative

Ballad

narrative poetry

Antithesis

the presentation of two contrasting images. The ideas are balanced by phrase, clause, or paragraphs. "To be or not to be . . ." "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times . . ." "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country . . ."

Flat Characters

lack dimension and are largely unchanged in a narration

Doublespeak

language used to distort and manipulate rather than to communicate. "Not doing so well" instead of very sick or injured

multiple sentences

links clauses of similar types using coordinating conjunctions

Epic

long narrative poem

lyric vs. narrative poem

lyric -- does not tell a story/expresses the personal feelings, observations, or thoughts of a speaker narrative -- poem that tells story

Ode

lyrical verse

Opinion Statement

makes judgements, views, or conclusions that cannot be proven false or true

Logical Fallacies

methods of pseudo-reasoning that may occur accidentally or may be intentionally contrived to lend plausibility to an unsound argument.

Foreshadowing

offering clues to the readers about upcoming events

Oxymoron

pairing words that have opposite or contradictory meanings

Voice

particular style of an individual author

Characterization

people who participate in the action of a literary work

Exaggeration

play on the emotions of readers by creating a heightened state of emotion

Rhetorical Question

posed for its persuasive effect without expectation of a reply

Predicting

predict what will happen in the text

accismus

pretended, ironic refusal of something that one wants or denial of something about a person that is not true

Colon

provide a pause before introducing related information introduces lists, definitions, statements, or explanations

Repeat Exposure to Words

provide several opportunities for students to use a new word, both written and spoken

progressive plot

pulls reader through entire book to get answers to questions about the plot

Skimming

quickly identifying the main ideas of the text

Jargon

refers to a specialized language providing a shorthand method of quick communication between people in the same field. The basis of assessment for Schedule D Case I and II, other than commencement and cessation, is what is termed a previous year basis. (legal jargon)

Parallelism

refers to the grammatical or rhetorical framing of words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs to give structural similarity.

Imagery

refers to words and phrases that create vivid sensory experiences for the reader

Renaissance

renewed interest in classical antiquity; a rise in humanist philosophy including a belief in self, human worth, and individual dignity. Radical changes about science, religion, and politics were reflected in literacy topics

Denotation

the literal or dictionary meaning of a word

Metonymy

the name of one thing is substituted for that of something different

Understatement

the opposite of exaggeration. It is a technique for developing irony and/or humor where one writes or says less than intended.

Anaphora

repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row. This is a deliberate form of repetition and helps make the writer's point more coherent.

Restructuring Reading Materials

replace difficult words with easier words to understand

Wolfe

revolutionized modern fiction as one of the pioneers of the stream-of-consciousness writing technique. This literary device allowed readers to look directly into the flow of thoughts and images in a character's mind.

Word Maps

scaffolds a student's vocab learning experience

Lyrical

showing personal feelings of a first person speaker

simple sentences

single clause

Parallel Expressions

single words, multi-word phrases and clauses should all be equal

Synecdoche

special kind of metonymy in which part of something is substituted for the whole of which it is a part, as in the commonly used phrase "lend me your eyes"

Paradox

statement or figure of speech that seems to contradict itself but in fact, reveals some element of the truth

Stating a Position or Claim

states a position or thesis clearly in the opening paragraphs. Clear, focused, and consistent view throughout the text. Author's may add opposing arguments to their claim so they can include responses or counter arguments

Scanning

student knows what they are looking for. Student will quickly gaze through the text to locate it.

The Keyword Method

students are given a word clue before studying the material. This is intended to create an easy connection to the words meaning that the student can access quickly during a reading experience

General Statements

subjective thoughts about an idea, topic, or issue

complex sentences

subordination to link clauses

Prose

the ordinary language of speech and writing

Euphemisms

substitutions of agreeable or at least non-offensive expressions for more harsh or unpleasant meanings

summative assessment

success of a student's word based on a standard or benchmark includes grades

Summary

synopsis, recap, shorter version. Help readers get a glimpse of the author's ideas in a shorter period of time

Pre-Teaching Vocab Words

teaching students unfamiliar words used in text prior to actually reading the material

Suspense

tension or excitement readers feel as they are drawn into a story

Activating Prior Knowledge

text to text, text to self, text to world

Informational Texts

textbook, research reports, dictionaries, reference materials, newspapers, magazine articles

Diction

the author's choice of words that creates tone, attitude, and style, as well as meaning

A Call to Action

the conclusion. Summarizes the views clearly. It is a "So what" questions that creates a call for action in the end

Targeted Vocabulary

the content, subject matter, and evidence presented can also be used to determine the author's audience

Comic Relief

the inclusion of a humorous character or scene to contrast with the tragic elements of a work, thereby intensifying the next tragic event.

Connotation

the interpretive level or a word based on its associated images rather than its literal meaning.

Qualification (noun)

to modify, restrict or limit. A qualification of an assertion or claim means that you agree in part, or you wish to redefine or reshape the assertion. If you were asked your opinion of Canada's assertion, or claim, you might agree that guns have held an important place in the defense of America, but that "love affair" is too strong a term to describe Americans' feelings for guns. So you would express your opinion as a qualification of Canada's argument: while it is true that guns have played an important part in American history, the reason is not Americans' love for guns but rather their desire for safety and security.

Recapitulate

to repeat briefly; to summarize. Often when you write an argument essay or give a speech, you recapitulate, or sum up your points, in your conclusion. After describing his experience as a teacher with some difficult students (Ch. 4), Canada recapitulates by comparing these students to those he had grown up with in the Bronx and restating his claim that "Violence is a learned response"(28).

Poetic Devices

tools that poets use to express ideas through language in the creation of poetic works

compound sentences

two coordinate clauses together

syllepsis

use of single word in two different sense at once

Appeals to authority

using the endorsement , approval or voice of an authority to make an argument seem more convincing. When students voice their opinions in a synthesis essay, they often quote from authority figures to support their opinions.

Parallel syntactic structures

using the same part of speech or syntactic structure in (1) each element of a series, (2) before and after coordinating conjunctions (and, but, yet, or, for, nor), and (3) after each of a pair of correlative conjunctions (not only...but also, neither...nor, both...and, etc.). Below are examples for definitions (1) and (3):Over the hill, through the woods, and to grandmother's house we go. (3) That vegetable is both rich in vitamins and low in calories.

Persuasive Techniques

utilize an active voice instead of a passive voice. The active voice continually engages the reader and keeps the reader agreeing or disagreeing with positions or topics presented

Hemingway

was a leading spokesman for the "Lost Generation": he expressed the feelings of a war-wounded people disillusioned by the loss of faith and hope. His stories are mainly concerned with "tough" people, intelligent men and women who have dropped into exhausted cynicism.

Poe

was a short story master of Gothic literature. He is famous for his horror tales and is credited with inventing the detective story, as well as for writing poetry with a prominent use of rhythms, alliteration and assonance that gives it a strong musical quality.

Dickinson

was candid in her insights into her own state of consciousness and her speculations of the timeless mysteries of love and death. Her mind was charged with paradox as her eye was focused in opposite directions of two worlds; earthly and heavenly concerns.

Symbolism

writer integrates symbols to create deeper understanding and meaning. Ex: person, place, object, or activity that stands for something beyond itself

Informative(Explanatory) Writing

writing that conveys information accurately in order to increase readers' knowledge of a subject, to help readers better understand a procedure or process, or to provide readers with enhanced comprehension of a concept.

Persuasive Text

writing that is supposed to sway readers in one direction or another

Medieval Period

~600 - ~1500 Anglo-Saxon + Old English + Middle English Common Themes: Religious, anonymity Examples: Beowulf, Canterbury Tales