Essays
The most common, but not the only, phrase writers should start their final paragraph with.
What is "In conclusion?"
when a reader uses clues from the text (text evidence) plus their background knowledge to draw a conclusion, or make an educated guess.
What is making an inference or inferring?
When and where the story takes place.
What is the setting?
What a piece of writing (or paragraph) is mainly about.
What is main idea?
Giving human qualities to non-human things.
Ex: The flowers danced in the wind.
What is personification?
In these paragraphs of an essay, the writer should restate their thesis, answer the prompt, cite text evidence and explain how their evidence supports their answer.
What are body paragraphs?
Clues in the text that help the reader determine (or figure out) the meaning of an unknown word
What are context clues?
This is what we call the main problem in a story.
What is the conflict?
Sentences that give the reader specific facts, descriptions & examples that help them to better understand the main idea
What are supporting details or key details?
A comparison using like or as.
Ex: She was as beautiful as the sun.
What is a simile?
What is the hook?
the central part of a story during which various problems arise, leading up to the climax
What is the rising action?
What is point of view or viewpoint?
(Point of View = Viewpoint)
The repeated message in a text that helps the reader understand more about life or human behavior. The message or moral of the story.
What is the theme?
A direct comparison of two things.
Ex: The classroom was a zoo.
What is a metaphor?
The type of essay you write that presents a clear opinion on a topic, supports it with evidence and reasoning, and aims to persuade the reader to agree with the writer's point of view.
What is an Argumentative Essay or Opinion/Opinionated Essay.
the turning point in the action of a story--the most intense or exciting point of the story
What is the climax?
Told from the viewpoint of one of the characters using the pronouns "I", "me", "my", & "we"
The narrator and a character become 'one' / they are the same person
A word that means the SAME thing, or has a SIMILAR meaning to another word.
What is a synonym?
The use of words that imitate sounds. A type of figurative language where a word actually looks or sounds like the sound it is intended to make.
Ex: buzzz, bang, mooooo
What is an onomatopoeia?
This type of essay you write about a piece of literature (a book or story), explaining what it means and why it's important, using examples from the text to back-up your ideas.
What is a literary essay?
The part of a story which follows the climax (or turning point).
When a story is told from the point of view of an outsider. The narrator talks about the characters as if they're observing them from afar. Using words like "he," "she," and "they."
What is third person point of view?
A word that means the OPPOSITE of a given word.
What is an antonym?
A type of figurative language, an expression with a meaning different from the literal meaning of the individual words.
Ex: Break a leg (wishing someone good luck)
What is an idiom?