Skill Words
Question Stems
Literary Terms
Read and Respond
Essay Basics
100
Giving a brief description of the plot or listing key events
What is summarize?
100
A question wants you to show you know how to determine this when it asks "which words/phrases indicate the tone/mood of the passage"
What is your understanding of word meanings?
100
This term refers to who tells a story using "I" and "we" pronouns
What is first-person narrator?
100

My study habits have improved since last year; ___________ , I now take notes every day while the teacher is lecturing.

This transition word/phrase is most appropriate in the blank space.

A. Although

B. For example

C. In other words

D. On the contrary

What is B: for example?
100
The two pieces required to make a thesis statement
What is a claim and reasons/justifications?
200
Drawing a conclusion about a text using context
What is inferring/inference?
200

A question wants you know what this is when it asks "what can the listener best infer about the author's purpose in this line of the text"

What is author's purpose?
200
This term is the words/phrases an author uses to appeal to the reader's senses
What is sensory language/imagery?
200

Excerpt from The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells 

No sooner had Fearenside's dog caught sight of him, however, than it began to bristle and growl savagely, and when he rushed down the steps it gave an undecided hop, and then sprang straight at his hand.

This is the BEST meaning for bristle as it is used in this sentence.

A. soft hair

B. to stand stiffly

C. a tooth in a comb

D. to annoy or irritate


What is B: to stand stiffly?
200
The minimum number of paragraphs in a well-constructed essay
What is 5?
300
Noting how two things are either similar or different
What is comparison and contrast?
300

A question wants you to show you know the difference between these terms when it asks "Which word/phrase best expresses the connotative meaning of [insert specific word]"

What is connotation vs. denotation?
300
This term is the attitude an author or speaker has in writing or speaking about his subject
What is tone?
300

Excerpt from Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens 

1 Dombey sat in the corner of the darkened room in the great arm-chair by the bedside, and Son lay tucked up warm in a little basket bedstead, carefully disposed on a low settee immediately in front of the fire and close to it, as if his constitution were analogous to that of a muffin, and it was essential to toast him brown while he was very new. Dombey was about eight-and-forty years of age. Son about eight-and-forty minutes.

3 "The House will once again, Mrs Dombey," said Mr Dombey, "be not only in name but in fact Dombey and Son;" and he added, in a tone of luxurious satisfaction, with his eyes half-closed as if he were reading the name in a device of flowers, and inhaling their fragrance at the same time; "Dom-bey and Son!"

5 A transient flush of faint surprise overspread the sick lady’s face as she raised her eyes towards him.

6 "He will be christened Paul, my-Mrs Dombey-of course."

7 She feebly echoed, "Of course," or rather expressed it by the motion of her lips, and closed her eyes again.

8 "His father’s name, Mrs Dombey, and his grandfather’s! I wish his grandfather were alive this day! There is some inconvenience in the necessity of writing Junior," said Mr Dombey, making a fictitious autograph on his knee; "but it is merely of a private and personal complexion. It doesn’t enter into the correspondence of the House. Its signature remains the same." And again he said "Dombey and Son," in exactly the same tone as before.

9 Those three words conveyed the one idea of Mr Dombey’s life.


This sentence offers the strongest support that Dombey valued a close connection with his son.

A. Dombey was about eight and forty years of age.

B. Those three words conveyed the one idea of Mr. Dombey's life.

C. A transient flush of faint surprise overspread the sick lady’s face as she raised her eyes towards him.

D. She feebly echoed, ’Of course,’ or rather expressed it by the motion of her lips, and closed her eyes again.


What is B: Those three words conveyed the one idea of Mr. Dombey's life.

300
First, second, next, additionally, however, although, due to, as seen above...are all examples of this term in essay writing
What are transition words?
400
Providing your opinion, judgement, or own view on an idea, question, etc.
What is evaluating?
400

A question wants you to show you know how to do this when it asks "In the lines above, the author is emphasizing..."

What is use textual evidence?
400
This term is the moral, lesson, or overall importance of a text
What is theme?
400

You are writing a paper about fashion styles of the 1920's and using the following source:

Aglan, Enrique. Looking Good in the 1920's. New York: Harpers, 1975. Print.

The sentence you want to use from this source is from page 27 and listed below:

"Unaware of the impending stock market crash and future Great Depression of the 1930's, style in the 1920's was marked by an extravagant use of material both in cost and the actual amount of material used in a dress"


This answer choice smoothly and correctly integrates this source.

A. "Unaware of the impending stock market crash and future Great Depression of the 1930's, style in the 1920's was marked by an extravagant use of material both in cost and the actual amount of material used in a dress" (page 27).

B. Aglan says that the impending stock market crash and future Great Depression of the 1930's, style in the 1920's was marked by an extravagant use of material (27). 

C. In his book, Looking Good in the 1920's, Enrique Aglan marvels over how much material was used in the manufacture of women's dresses, calling its use "extravagant" (27).

D. "Unaware of the impending stock market crash and future Great Depression" Aglan claims the 1920's were a time of extravagant style and use of costly material.

What is C: In his book, Looking Good in the 1920's, Enrique Aglan marvels over how much material was used in the manufacture of women's dresses, calling its use "extravagant" (27)?

400
The acronym used to remember the 4 pieces a body paragraph should include
What is CLEE?
500
Breaking an idea down into small parts to better understand its significance
What is analyzing?
500

A question wants you to show you can do this when it asks "Which line from the text best contributes to the mood/tone of the text"?

What is draw conclusions and/or infer?
500
This term is the process an author goes through to convey a character's personality, thoughts, looks, effects on others, etc.
What is characterization?
500

Excerpt from A Night to Remember by Florence Wilmington 

3 The singer wore an iridescent peasant blouse adorned with several beaded necklaces. The lights illuminated her features from below, creating an aura of mysticism and darkening her expression in shadow. Then, Marian sang—her range was like nothing I have heard before. When she hit the “A” note, the hairs on my arm stood on end. She held it, and I knew that all doubts about her skill must have melted away with that note. I reached for my husband’s hand; it was all I could do to fight back the tears.


This strategy is what Wilmington uses in paragraph 3 to connect her audience more closely with her subject matter.

A. cause-and-effect organization

B. an appropriate attention grabber

C. biographical information on Anderson

D. the author's personal reaction 

What is D: the author's personal reaction?

500
The four non-negotiables of high-school writing
What are 1: capitalizing pronoun I's and proper nouns; 2: no comma splices; 3: ending all sentences with punctuation; and 4: completing each sentence/not leaving words out of sentences?
M
e
n
u