STAAR Vocab
Define Author’s Purpose
An author’s primary reason for writing a text.
Ex. persuade, inform, entertain
What can you do to improve your written responses?
Brainstorm/Use Paper/A.C.E
Define Mood
the overall feeling, emotion, or atmosphere that a piece of writing creates for the reader.
Text
Passage/Story/Excerpt/Anecdote
Define Theme
The author’s message or lesson in the story.
What does A.C.E stand for?
A- Answer
C- Cite
E- Explain
Define Tone
the author’s attitude or feeling toward their subject or audience, expressed through word choice, sentence structure, and punctuation
Main Idea
Controlling Idea/Key Idea/Central Idea
Define Dialogue
written or spoken conversation between two or more characters, typically in quotation marks
What does it mean to go back and fix your writing?
Revise and Edit
Define Word Choice
Use of language by an author for a specific purpose
Ex. to set a mood, convince a reader, evoke imagery
Convey
Communicate
Define Prefix
added to the beginning of root words to alter their meaning (e.g., un- = not)
How long should a SCR be?
4 to 6 sentences
Define Organizational pattern
How a writing is organized
Examples: chronological (time-order), cause-effect, compare-contrast, problem-solution, and classification
Word Choice
Language/Voice
Define Suffix
added to the end to change the word's meaning or function (e.g., -ly = characteristic of)
How long should an ECR be?
10 to 16 sentences
Define Root word
The fundamental unit of a word. It does not include a prefix or suffix
Support
Details/Evidence/Proof