This literary device makes a brief reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art to add meaning or context.
What is an allusion?
This Latin root, found in words like “immortal” and “mortality,” means “death.”
What is mort
This part of a persuasive essay reinforces the main argument and leaves the reader with a strong final impression or call to action.
What is a persuasive conclusion
These are the ways authors organize information in a text, such as cause and effect, problem and solution, or chronological order, to help readers understand the content.
What are text structures
This term refers to a central idea, message, or lesson that appears across different cultures, time periods, and types of stories because it reflects experiences or truths shared by people everywhere. Common examples include love, justice, courage, and the importance of family.
What is Universal Theme.
This figure of speech compares two different things to highlight a similarity, often using the format “A is to B as C is to D.”
What is an analogy
This storytelling device interrupts the present timeline to show an event from the past, helping readers better understand a character or situation.
What is a flashback
This term refers to an argument that opposes the main claim in a piece of writing, which writers often address and refute to strengthen their own position.
What is a concession/counterclaim
This critical thinking skill involves using clues from the text plus your own background knowledge to figure out something the author doesn’t directly state.
What is making an inference
This literary element refers to the methods an author uses—such as actions, dialogue, and description—to reveal what a character is like.
What is characterization?
This figurative language technique gives human qualities—like emotions or actions—to animals, objects, or ideas.
What is personification
This text structure shows how one event or action leads to another, helping readers understand reasons and results in a story or informational text.
What is cause-and-effect?
This statement expresses the main argument or claim of an essay, guiding the direction and focus of the entire piece.
What is a thesis
This skill involves using clues from the text along with your own knowledge to guess what will happen next in a story.
What is a prediction
This type of narrative follows a young character as they grow, mature, and learn important life lessons, often transitioning from childhood to adulthood.
What is a coming-of-age narrative
This figure of speech uses a part of something to represent the whole—or the whole to represent a part—such as saying “all hands on deck.”
What is a synecdoche
In persuasive writing, this term refers to when a writer acknowledges a point made by the opposing side to show fairness or strengthen their own argument.
What is a concession/counterargument
This term refers to why an author writes a text—such as to inform, persuade, or entertain—and the central idea or lesson they want the reader to understand.
What is the author’s purpose and message
This skill involves combining information from multiple sources or parts of a text to form a new understanding or insight.
What is synthesizing
This rhetorical device intentionally omits conjunctions between words or phrases to create a fast-paced or dramatic effect, as in “I came, I saw, I conquered.”
What is asyndeton
This voice occurs when the subject of the sentence performs the action rather than receiving it, as in “The dog chased the ball.”
What is active voice
This term refers to the most important point or main concept that an author wants readers to understand in a text.
What is the author’s key idea