Grammar & Style (GC.2.c & SS.2.c)
In this sentence voice, the subject performs the action directly—for example, "The student completed the exam."
What is active voice?
You would consult this specific reference material to quickly check the definition, pronunciation, and part of speech of an unfamiliar word.
What is a dictionary?
Transition words like however, on the other hand, and conversely signal this type of relationship between ideas.
What is contrast (or opposition)?
An author who writes a brochure detailing the rules and sign-up dates for a school club is primarily writing to achieve this purpose.
What is to inform?
Hints or clues an author leaves early in a story that point toward events that will happen later are called this.
What is foreshadowing?
This sentence suffers from inconsistent voice: "The teacher explained the lesson, and the quiz was taken by the class." This revision fixes it to maintain active voice.
What is "The teacher explained the lesson, and the class took the quiz"?
In the sentence "Her meticulous notes helped everyone pass the exam, while his careless scribbles were completely useless," these two words serve as antonyms.
What are meticulous and careless?
Comparing two unlike things using the words like or as is this specific figure of speech.
What is a simile?
Historical events, physical geography, and time period make up this critical element that shapes a story's plot and character struggles.
What is historical context (or background setting)?
The central message, lesson, or moral about life that an author conveys through a story is known as the...
What is theme?
An official email sent to a principal or potential employer should use this type of language, avoiding slang, abbreviations, and overly casual phrasing.
What is formal style (or formal tone)?
Words that share similar meanings, such as furious, irate, and incensed, are known as this.
What are synonyms?
An author writing a step-by-step instructional manual for building a shelf will most likely structure the text using this organizational pattern.
What is chronological order (or sequential structure)?
Before starting a research paper on renewable energy, a student generates several broad topic ideas and narrows them down into open-ended inquiries to guide their investigation. These are known as...
What are research questions?
According to MLA style, an entry on a Works Cited page for a book begins with this item.
What is the author's last name?
"The football game was won by our team in the final seconds." This is the passive subject in that sentence.
What is "the football game"?
"Cold is to ice as hot is to fire" is an example of this word relationship structure.
What is an analogy?
"The wind whispered through the dark trees" uses this device to give human characteristics to non-human objects.
What is personification?
When an author combines informational facts with persuasive arguments in a single article, they are targeting an audience by developing these.
What are multiple purposes?
Authors create suspense and tension in a story primarily by manipulating this narrative element.
What is the plot (or conflict/pacing)?
Rewrite this passive sentence into active voice: "The historic speech was delivered by the president on Monday."
What is "The president delivered the historic speech on Monday"?
The dictionary lists four definitions for the word vocation. Based on the sentence "She turned her love of cooking into a lifelong vocation," it refers to this definition.
What is a career/profession or calling?
While house simply means a building where someone lives, home carries a warm, safe emotional association. This emotional association of a word is called its...
What is connotation?
A novel set in Oklahoma during the 1930s Dust Bowl uses this background context to create the primary obstacles for its main characters.
What is the Great Depression / environmental drought?
Expository texts use facts, statistics, subheadings, and key details to build main ideas and typically end with this structural element that wraps up the topic.
What is a conclusion (or sense of closure)?