English Semester Test – Flashcards
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Alliteration
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The repetition of begining sounds of words in poetry or prose.
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Allusion
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A reference to a historical or literary person, place, event, or aspect of culture.
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Analogy
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A comparision used to explain an idea or support an argument.
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Anecdote
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A brief story told to illustrate a point.
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Argument
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Speaking or writing that expresses a position or states an opinion with supporting evidence.
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Audience
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One's readers or listeners.
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Autobiography
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A biography told by the person whose life it is.
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Bias
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A leaning toward one side in an argument.
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Bibliography
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A list of sources in a paper or report.
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Body
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The main part of a composition, in which its ideas are developed.
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Brainstorming
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A way of generating ideas that involves quickly listing ideas as they occur.
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Cause and Effect
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The realationship between an event (the cause) and an event it helps to bring out (the effect).
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Characterization
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The way people (characters) are portrayed by an author.
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Chronological
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Organized according to time sequence.
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Cliche`
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An overused expression.
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Clustering
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A brainstorming technique that involves creating an idea or topic map made up of circled groupings of related details.
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Coherence
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A paragraph has coherence when its sentences flow logically from one to the next. A composition has coherence when its paragraphs are connected logically.
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Comparison and Contrast
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A pattern of organization in which two or more things are related on the baisis of similarities and differences.
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Conclusion
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A judgment or a decision that is reached based on evidence, experience, and logical reasoning.
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Connotation
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An idea or feeling associated with a word.
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Context
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The setting or situtation in which something happens.
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Critical Thinking
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Thinking that goes beyond the facts to organize, analyze, evaluate, or draw conclusions from them.
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Deductive Reasoning
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The process of arriving at a specific conclusion by reasoning from a general premise or statment.
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Denotation
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The dictionary definition of a word.
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Descriptive Writing
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An account of what it is like to experience some object, scene, or person.
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Dialect
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A form of a language (usually regional) that has a distinctive pronunciation, vocabulary, and word order.
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Dialogue
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Spoken conversation of fictional characters or actual persons.
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Documentation
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The identification of documents or other sources used to support the information reported in an essay or other types of analysis.
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Elaboration
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The support or development of a main idea with facts, statistics, sensory details, incidents, examples,quotations, or visual representations.
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Expository Writing
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Writing that explains an idea or teaches a process.
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Fiction
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Made-up or imaginary happenings as opposed to statments of fact or nonfiction.
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Figurative Language
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Language that displays the imaginative and poetic use of words.
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Formal Language
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Language in which rules of grammar and vocabulary standards are carefully observed.
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Generalization
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A statement expressing a principle or drawing a conclusion based on examples or instances.
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Graphic Device
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A visual way of organizing information.
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Imagery
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Figurative language and descriptions used to produce mental images.
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Inductive Reasoning
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A method of thinking or organizing in which a general conclusion is reached by reasoning from specific pieces of information.
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Inference
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A logical guess that is based on observed facts and one's own knowledge and experience.
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Introduction
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The opening section of a composition, which presents the main idea, grabs the reader's attention, and sets the tone.
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Irony
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A figure of speech in which the intended meaning is the opposite of the stated meaning.
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Jargon
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The special language and terminology used by people in the same profession or with specialized interests.
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Literary Analysis
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Critical thinking and writing about literature.
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Media
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Various forms of mass communication, such as newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and the internet.
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Metaphor
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A figure pf speech that makes a comparision without using the word like or as.
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Mood
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The feeling about a scene or a subject created by a writer's selection of words and details.
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Narrative Writing
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Writing that tells a story - either made up or true.
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Onomatopeia
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The use of words (usually in poetry) to suggest sounds.
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Order of Degree
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A pattern of organization presented in rank order on the basis of quantity or extent.
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Paraphrase
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Arestatement in one's own words.
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Personification
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A figure of speech in which an object, event, abstract idea, or animal is given human characteristics.
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Persuasive Writing
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Writing that is intended to convince the reader to believe a particular point of view or to follow a course of action.
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Plagiarism
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The act of dishonestly presenting someone else's words as one's own.
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Point of View
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The angle from which a story is told, such as first-, second-, or third-.
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Proofreading
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The act of checking work to discover typographical and other errors.
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Propaganda
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Any form of communication aimed at persuading an audience.
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Prose
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The usual language of speech and writing.
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Sensory Details
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Words that appeal to any of the five senses.
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Sequential Order
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A pattern of organization in which events are presented in the order in which they occur.
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Style
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The distinctive features of a literary or artistic work that collectively characterize the work of a particular individual, group, peroid, or school.
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Sumnary
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A brief restatement of the main idea of a passage.
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Symbol
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Something (word, object, or action) that stands for or suggests something else.
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Theme
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The central idea or message of a work of literature.
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Thesis Statement
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A statement in one or two sentences of the main idea or purpose of a piece of writing.
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Tone
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A writer's attitude or manner of expression.
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Topic Sentence
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A sentence that expresses the main idea of a paragraph.
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Transition
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A connecting word or phrase that clarifies relationships between details, sentences, or paragraphs.
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Unity
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A paragraph has unity if all its sentences support the same main idea or purpose; s composition has unity if all its paragraphs support the thesis statement.
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Voice
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An expression of a writer's personality through such stylistic elements as word choice and tone.
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Simile
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A figure of speech that uses the word like or as to make a comparison.
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Spatial Order
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A pattern of organization in which details are arranged in the order that they appear in space.
