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ELA
Practice for the PSSA
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Alliteration | The repetition of initial sounds in neighboring words. (Sarah sells sea shells by the seashore) |
| Author's point of view | The author’s opinion or feelings as evident or detailed in a text about a topic. Not to be confused with first-person, second-person, etc., point of view. |
| Author's purpose | The author’s reason or intention for writing a text ( to inform, to entertain, etc.) |
| Cause and effect | A relationship between actions or events that are the result of the other. |
| Central idea (also called Controlling point or Main idea) | The unifying element of a piece of a text. |
| Claim | The thesis statement or main point that forms the basis for an argument within a text. The author's viewpoint or "where they stand" on an issue (for or against). |
| Compare and Contrast | To place characters, situations, or ideas together to show common and/or differing features in literary selections. |
| Connection | A relationship or association between one or more individuals, ideas, or events. |
| Convey | To communicate by explaining or make known. |
| Demonstrate | To make evident, show or prove. |
| Dialogue | Conversation between characters or speakers in a literary work, referring specifically to the speech of characters in a drama. |
| Evaluate | To examine and judge carefully. To judge or determine the significance, worth, or quality of something; to assess. |
| Evidence | Facts, statistics, details, quotations, or other sources of data and information that provide support for claims or an analysis. |
| Focus | The center of interest or attention. |
| Generalization | A conclusion drawn from specific information that is used to make a broad statement about a topic or person. |
| Genre | A category used to classify literary works, usually by form, technique, or content. |
| Hyperbole | An exaggeration or overstatement (e.g., I had to wait forever). |
| Inference | A judgment based on reasoning rather than on a direct or explicit statement. A conclusion based on facts or circumstances; understanding gained by “reading between the lines.” |
| Interpret | To give reasons through an explanation to convey and represent the meaning or understanding of a text. |
| Key concept/detail | An important point or idea in a text. |
| Key event | An important occurrence within a text. |
| Personification | An object or abstract idea given human qualities or human form (e.g., Flowers danced about the lawn). |
| Plot | The structure of a story. The sequence in which the author arranges events in a story. The structure often includes the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and the resolution. |
| Recount | To provide a brief retelling of key events in the order of occurrence. |
| Relevant | Evidence that is pertinent and that supports a claim. |
| Sequence | The order in which events take place within a story. |
| Setting | The time and place in which a story takes place. |
| Simile | A comparison of two unlike things in which a word of comparison (like or as) is used (e.g., The ant scurried as fast as a cheetah). |
| Stanza | An arrangement of lines of verse in a pattern usually repeated throughout a poem. Usually, each stanza has a fixed number of verses or lines, an overall meter, and a consistent rhyme scheme. |
| Story element | One of the essential components of a story (e.g., character, setting, plot). |
| Structure | How information within a text is organized (e.g., chronology,comparison/contrast, cause/effect, problem/solution, question/answer). |
| Style | The author’s choices regarding language, sentence structure, voice, and tone in order to communicate with the reader. |
| Summarize | To capture all of the most important parts of the original text (paragraphs, story, poem) but express them in a much shorter space and as much as possible in the reader’s own words. |
| Text feature | Print features as well as graphic, informational, and organizational aids (e.g., bold print, italics, maps, charts, labels, headings). |
| Theme | A topic of discussion or work; a major idea broad enough to cover the entire scope of a literary work. A theme may be stated or implied. |
| Tone | The attitude of the author toward the audience, the characters, the subject, or the work itself (e.g., serious, humorous). |
Created by:
amy_hines
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