Argument and Informational Skills
Classify this statement as a Fact or an Opinion: "Requiring high school students to wear uniforms completely eliminates morning stress."
What is a OPINION?
Read this line: "I stared at the blank paper, my palms sweating as the clock on the wall ticked down its final five minutes." Infer how the character feels.
What is ANXOUS?
"The old wooden floorboards groaned beneath my feet as I crept down the hallway." Identify the figurative device used here.
What is PERSONIFICATION?
Using knowledge of the Latin prefix mal- (meaning "bad" or "wrong"), define the word malfunction.
What is to fail to work properly / function badly?
Correct or Incorrect? "The jacket, that was vintage, belongs to Sam."
Incorrect - Commas = WHICH = extra info
In the sentence "The city council's foolish decision was an absolute disaster for our community," the loaded word choices reveal this author's tone.
What is CRITICAL or HOSTILE?
An author slows down the pacing during a dangerous moment in a story to focus on a character's internal fear. This technique builds this narrative element.
What is TENSION or SUSPENSE?
Phrases like "the howling wind" and "the deafening clap of thunder" appeal to the sense of hearing, making them this specific type of imagery.
What is AUDITORY IMAGERY?
"Despite freezing temperatures and exhaustion, the climber showed incredible tenacity and reached the peak." Define tenacity.
What is perseverance (or persistence / determination)?
Name the punctuation mark used to fix a comma splice like "The storm raged outside, the power went out."
What is SEMICOLON?
What is a piece of credibly evidence an author could cite to support the claim in this sentence: "Although electric scooters are convenient, cities must regulate their speed to prevent pedestrian injuries."
Yes! This evidence would support the author's claim!
When a story is told using first-person point of view (I, me, we), the audience's view of events is limited to this perspective.
What is only the narrator's personal thoughts, feelings, and experiences?
Descriptions like "the coarse, scratchy wool blanket against her cold skin" appeal to the sense of touch, making them this type of imagery.
What is TACTILE IMAGERY?
In the sentence "She made an intelligent point," intelligent is an adjective. What part of speech is intelligently in "She argued intelligently"?
What is an adverb?
Identify where the comma belongs: "When the bell rang at the end of the day all the students rushed to the bus."
What is AFTER DAY?
An author includes a direct quote from a renowned climate scientist to back up a statistics-based argument. This is an example of this specific type of evidence.
What is EXPERT TESTIMONY?
A poem that tells a complete story with characters, a setting, and a rising/falling plot structure is classified as this type of poetry.
What is NARRATIVE poetry?
While tone is the author's attitude toward a subject, mood is defined as this.
What is the overall emotional feeling, vibe, or atmosphere created for the reader?
Words like "crisis," "trouble," and "danger" surrounding an unfamiliar vocabulary word provide clues that the unknown word has this type of emotional connotation.
What is a negative connotation?
Insert the missing punctuation mark to introduce the list: "Pack these items for the trip extra clothes, water, and a flashlight."
What is a colon ( : ) after trip?
In persuasive writing, an author acknowledges the opposing side's view before proving why their own argument is stronger. This opposing view is called a counter-claim or this.
What is COUNTERARGUMENT?
Two characters face the same storm: one stays inside waiting for help, while the other builds a shelter with their own hands. This contrast reveals a difference in how they take this responsibility.
What is PERSONAL responsibility for their own survival?
Comparing a massive ocean wave to a "lofty mountain rolling astern" uses a simile to emphasize this characteristic of the wave.
What is its enormous height / terrifying size?
"Trapped in the flooded cabin, the crew realized their predicament was severe." Name the two context clues in this sentence that help define predicament.
What are TRAPPED and SEVERE?
Combine these two simple sentences using subordination: "The river was high. We decided not to cross it."
What is "Because the river was high, we decided not to cross it" (or "Since the river was high...")?