Summary
- Should accurately define the main idea of the passage.
- lays out the most important supporting details or arguments from the passage.
Paraphrase
- Putting what you have read into your own words by rephrasing what the author has written, or translating all of what the author shared into your words by including as many details as you can.
Inference
- A piece of information that is implied but not written outright by the author.
- Based on evidence.
- To make an educated guess
Implication
- Things that the author does not state directly, but readers can assume based on what the author does say.
- Must be well supported by the text.
- In order to draw a solid conclusion, readers should have multiple pieces of evidence.
Topic
- Subject of text
- Expressed in a few words
- Usually in the first sentence.
Main idea
- Most important point being made
- Expressed in a full sentence
- Stated directly
- Usually at the beginning or end of a text.
Supporting details
- Provide evidence and backing for the main point.
- Only classified when they serve to reinforce some larger point.
- Usually uses "for example" or "for instance"
- Also usually uses "first, second, and last
Topic Sentence
- Author will place this at the beginning of each section as a means of preparing the reader for what is to come.
- Will be clear and not contain any jargon.
Sequence
- Usually Indicated with signal words like "first, then, next, and last" but not always.
Fact
- Can be subjected to evidence
- Can be either proved or disproved.
Opinion
- Author's personal thoughts or feelings which may not be alterable by research or evidence.
- May be indicated by words like: Believe, think, or feel.
- You have to be aware that this may also be supported by facts.
Bias
- Demonstrated when an author ignores reasonable counterarguments or distorts opposing viewpoints.
- Evident when an author is unfair or inaccurate in his or her presentation.
Stereotype
- Applied specifically to a group or place.
- The practice promotes negative generalizations about people.
Descriptive Text
- Describes events, ideas, or people to the reader.
- Focuses on a particular subject and attempts to depict the subject in a way that will be clear to readers.
- Contains many adjectives and adverbs.
Comparison
- Used when two things are alike.
- May have indicating terms such as: both, same, like, too, and as well.
Contrast
- Used when two things are different.
- May have terms like: but, however, on the other hand, instead, and yet.
Cause
- An act or event that makes something happen.
- Terms used: since, because, and due to.
Effect
- The thing that happens as a result of the cause.
- Terms used: Consequently, therefore, this lead to, etc.
- A noun
Affect
- A verb
- Means to influence.
Narrative Passage
- Story that can be fiction or nonfiction.
- The text must have a plot.
- The text must have characters.
- Often contains figurative language, to stimulate the imagination of readers by making comparisons and observations.
Expository Passage
- Aims to inform and enlighten readers.
- Passage is nonfiction and usually centers around a simple, easily defined topic.
- Contains helpful organizing words, like: first, next, for example, and therefore.
Technical passage
- Written to describe a complex object or process.
- Common in medical and technological fields.
- Often have clear headings and subheadings, passage divides sections up with numbers or letters, and looks more like an outline.
Persuasive passage
- Meant to change the mind of readers and lead them into agreement with the author.
- It is successful when this passage can make a convincing argument and win the trust of the reader.
Metaphor
- Equates one thing with a different thing.
- The point is to encourage the reader to consider the item being described in a different way.
- Example: "The bird was an arrow arcing through the sky.
Simile
- Requires the use of the distancing words "like, or as."
- Authors explicitly indicate that the description is not the same thing as the thing being described.
- Example: "The sun was like an orange, eager as a beaver, and nimble as a mountain goat.
Personification
- The description of a nonhuman thing as if the item were human.
Denotative meaning
- The literal meaning of a word.
- used mostly in non-fiction.
Connotative meaning
- Goes beyond the literal meaning of a word.
- Includes the emotional reaction that a word may invoke.
- used mostly in fiction
to inform
if the author makes his or her main idea clear from the beginning, then the likely purpose of the text is:
to persuade
If the author begins by making a claim and provides various arguments to support that claim, then the purpose is probably:
to entertain
If the author tells a story or seems to want the attention of the reader more than to push a particular point or deliver information, then his or her purpose is most likely:
Primary source
-Documentary evidence closest to the subject being studied.
- Should be credible, and recent.
- Could be things like: Photographs, Accounts of people first hand, artifacts, documents, diary, etc.
Secondary source
- Created later by someone who did not experience it first hand.
- Could be things like: Books, reviews, articles, biographies, etc.
Foreshadowing
- Uses hints in a narrative to let the audience anticipate future events in the plot.
Theme
- An issue, idea, or a question raised by the text.
- A passage may have many.
- They raise more questions than they answer.
Dialectical approach
To dramatize themes by using characters to express opposing viewpoints.
-Self Control
- Independence
Similar themes in The Odyssey, and Hamlet
- Struggles to maintain personalities and dignity.
Similar themes in Native Son, the Aeneid, and 1984
- Journey where a person must overcome obstacles to gain greater knowledge, power, and perspective.
Similar themes in the Epic of Gilgamesh, Dante's Divine Comedy, and Cervantes' Don Quixote
Text Evidence
- Refers to information that supports a main point or minor points and can help lead the reader to a conclusion.
- Precise, descriptive, and factual.
Credible
when the author is knowledgeable and objective, or unbiased.
Line graph
A type of graph that is typically used for measuring trends over time.
Bar graph
A type of graph used to illustrate sets of numerical data.
Pie chart
A type of graph useful for depicting how a single unit or category is divided.
Bar graph
A type of graph used to illustrate sets of numerical data.
Pie chart
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Bar Graph
A type of graph used to illustrate sets of numerical data.
Bar Graph
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