active voice the subject of the verb carries out some action (e.g., He hit the ball.)

ad hominem appealing to feelings or prejudices rather than intellect

aesthetic appreciating the beauty of the author’s ideas and styles of expression

affix a prefix or suffix

allegory a story in which the characters, settings, and events stand for abstract or moral concepts

alliteration repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close to one another (e.g., fine feathered friends)

alphabetic principle each speech sound or phoneme of a language has its own distinctive written representation

analogy an extended comparison in which one thing, usually more familiar, is compared to something less familiar

antecedent a word or phrase that restates or modifies an immediately preceding noun (e.g., In My son Jake is 12 years old the appositive is Jake.)

antonym a word opposite of another word: light is the antonym of dark

appositive a word or phrase that restates or modifies an immediately preceding nominal, as Enrico in My son Enrico is 12 years old. NOTE: an appositive is often useful as a context clue for determining or refining the meaning of the word(s) to which it refers

archetype the original pattern or model of which all things of the same type are representations or copies (e.g., Romeo and Juliet is the archetype for a tragic love story.)

assonance resemblance of sound, especially in the vowel sounds of words (e.g., school and pool)

blend to combine the sounds represented by letters to pronounce a word (e.g., /gr/ in grow, /spl/ in splash)

brainstorming a learning technique involving open group discussion intended to expand the range of available ideas

concrete image literal representations of an abstract concept

connotative/connotation meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests

context clues information from the text that helps identify a word or word group

conventions the generally accepted standards of (written) language including grammar, spelling, punctuation, language usage, capitalization, legibility, sentence structure and paragraphing; a collection of accepted knowledge

declarative sentences that make a statement (e.g., Sara skipped all the way home.)

decoding to analyze spoken or written symbols to ascertain their intended meaning

deductive reasoning the process of logical reasoning based in giving information

denotative/denotation the literal dictionary definition of a word

description one of the four traditional forms of composition in speech and writing meant to give a mental picture of characters and events

diphthong two vowel sounds joined in one syllable to make one speech sound

environmental print print and other graphic symbols, in addition to books, that are found in the physical environment (e.g., street signs, television commercials, billboards)

exclamatory sentence a sentence that makes a strong statement or conveys strong or sudden emotion (e.g., Stop! or It’s hot!)

exposition/expository one of the four traditional forms of composition in speech and writing intended to set forth or explain

figurative language language that displays the imaginative and poetic use of words (e.g., My love is like a red, red rose.)

figures of speecha word or phrase that describes one thing in terms of another (e.g., I’m at the end of my rope.)

fluency the clear, easy, written or spoken expression of ideas

genre a type or category of literature (e.g., fairy tales, poetry, mysteries)

graphophonic referring to the relationship between the written symbol and the speech sound

high frequency word a word that appears many more times than most other words in spoken or written language

homograph a word that is spelled the same as another word but differs in meaning and origin and may differ in pronunciation and syllabication [e.g., bow (and arrow) vs. bow (bend at the waist)]

homophone a word that sounds like another word but has a different meaning [some and sum, scale (of a fish) and scale (to climb)]

hyperbole extravagant exaggerations used as a figure of speech (e.g., This book weighs a ton!)

idiom an expression that does not mean what it literally says (e.g., You’re driving me up a wall.)

imagery figurative description in speech or writing

inductive reasoning the process of thinking in which a conclusion is made based on observation

interrogative sentence a sentence that asks a question (e.g., Are you going to Disneyland?)

intonation the distinctive patterns of pitch and tone that contribute to the meanings of spoken phrases and sentences

irony the use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meeting

main idea the central thought of the passage

metaphor a figure of speech that makes a comparison of two unlike things without using the words like or as (e.g., All the world’s a stage.)

narration/narrative one of the four traditional forms of composition in speech and writing, that tells a story or gives an account of something

pace tempo or speed

parallelism the phrasing of language to balance ideas of equal importance

parody a work, often humorous, that imitates another work, usually serious

participial phrase a group of words containing a participle that acts as an adjective (e.g., Foolishly wasting time, he looked out the window.)

pattern book a book with a predictable plot, structure, and often written in predictable language

persona a character in a written work

persuasion one of the four traditional forms of composition in speech and writing meant to change the way a reader or listener thinks or acts

personification endowment of inanimate objects or qualities with human attributes (e.g., The tree reached high with outstretched arms.)

phoneme a minimal sound unit of speech that, when contrasted with another phoneme, affects the naming of words in a language (e.g., /b/ in book contrasts with /t/ in took, /k/ in cook, /h/ in hook)

phonemic awareness the awareness of the sounds (phonemes) that make up spoken words. In order to learn the correspondences between letters and sounds, one must have some understanding of the notion that words are made up of phonemes

phonics a method of teaching beginning readers to read and pronounce words by learning the sound of letters, letter groups and syllables

predictable text a narrative that enables the reader to foretell how it will develop and end

prefix a syllable attached before a base word (e.g., un in unhappy)

prepositional phrases a preposition and the noun phrase that follows it (e.g., over the river)

primary source a firsthand account or document

roots/ root words the basic part of a word that usualy carries the main component of the meaning (e.g., In unreadable, the root word is read.)

rhythm a form or pattern of words in which accents or beats come at certain fixed intervals

satire the use of ridicule or scorn, often in a humorous or witty way, to expose vices and follies

semantics the study of meaning in language

simile a figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared using the words like and as (e.g., The moon is like a balloon.)

structural analysis the identification of word meaning elements (e.g., roots, affixes, hyphenated forms) to help understand meaning of a word as a whole

style the characteristic way in which a person (the artist or writer) conceives or expresses ideas through language

suffix a letter or letters added to the end of a word or root to form a new word

syllogism a deductive scheme of formal argument consisting a of a three-part statement? major premise, minor premise, and the conclusion

syntactic/syntax the pattern or structure of word order in sentences, clauses, or phrases

theme a major idea or proposition broad enough to cover the entire scope of a literary or other work of art

thesis the basic argument advanced by a speaker or writer who then attempts to prove it; the subject or major argument of a speech or composition

tone the attitude that a writer takes toward the audience, a subject, or a character

topic sentence a sentence intended to express the main idea in a paragraph or passage

voice the distinctive qualities of a writer’s style, including diction, attitude, sentence style, and ideas

word wall a posted list of words usedfor reference during writing, to tie writing and reading together, and to reinforce vocabulary