Fiction
This is the central message, lesson, or "big idea" the author wants the reader to take away from a story.
What is Theme?
This is the main point or position that an author is trying to prove in an argumentative text.
What is a Claim (or Thesis)?
This is the "paragraph" of a poem, a group of lines separated by a space that helps organize the poem's ideas.
What is a Stanza?
These are the instructions in a play (usually in italics or parentheses) that tell the actors how to move or speak.
What are Stage Directions?
This is the most important sentence in your ECR; it clearly states your answer to the prompt and sets the roadmap for the rest of your essay.
What is a Thesis Statement (or Claim)?
In the plot of a story, this stage occurs after the climax and shows the results of the main conflict beginning to resolve.
What is the Falling Action?
This is a statement that can be proven true through observation, research, or statistics.
What is a Fact?
This sound device is the repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of words close together, like "the silently sliding snake."
What is Alliteration?
In a play, the story is divided into these large sections, which are further broken down into smaller "scenes."
What are Acts?
To get a high score on the ECR, you must include this from the text to prove that your ideas are accurate.
What is Text Evidence (or Quotes)?
Unlike the "Limited" version, this point of view features a narrator who knows the internal thoughts, motivations, and feelings of all characters in the story, regardless of where they are.
What is Third-Person Omniscient?
When an author acknowledges the "other side" of the argument before explaining why their side is stronger, they are addressing this.
What is a Counterargument?
While a story has a narrator, a poem has this "voice" that talks to the reader.
What is the Speaker?
This is the term for the items used on stage by actors, such as a wand, a briefcase, or a telephone.
What are Props?
These are the words or phrases (like "Furthermore," "In addition," or "However") used to help your ideas flow smoothly between paragraphs.
What are Transition Words?
This literary device occurs when an author gives hints or clues about what will happen later in the plot.
What is Foreshadowing?
An author uses this device by asking a question that is not intended to be answered, but is instead used to make a point or grab the reader's attention.
What is a Rhetorical Question?
This figurative language device makes a direct comparison between two unlike things by saying one thing is another.
What is Metaphor?
In a play, the playwright often uses the opening stage directions to describe the lighting, sound effects, and scenery in order to establish this emotional feeling for the audience.
What is Mood?
This is the maximum number of characters (including spaces) allowed for the Extended Constructed Response on the online STAAR test.
What is 2,300 characters?
When a character struggles with a difficult decision or a moral dilemma, they are experiencing this specific type of conflict.
What is Internal Conflict (or Person vs. Self)?
This term refers to the specific group of people an author is trying to reach or convince with their argument.
What is the Intended Audience?
In the sentence, "The classroom was a zoo during the indoor recess," the author uses a metaphor to suggest that the room was this.
What is Loud, Wild, or Chaotic?
This is a long speech made by one single character to other characters on the stage.
What is a Monologue?
This is the maximum number of points a student can earn specifically for Conventions (grammar, spelling, and punctuation) on the Extended Constructed Response rubric.
What is 2 points?