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PSSA Terms

Quiz yourself by thinking what should be in each of the black spaces below before clicking on it to display the answer.
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Term
Definition
Alliteration   the repeating of beginning consonant sounds in words in a sentence.Ex. sweet smell of success, a dime a dozen, bigger and better, jump for joy  
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Antonym   a word that is the opposite of another word.  
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Antagonist   main character working against the protagonist. Sometimes not a person but an obstacle such as a force of nature, society or inner conflict.  
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Author's purpose   the author's reason or intention for writing the selection. Always ask youself- is the purpose to entertain, to inform, or persuade.  
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Autobiography   the story of a person's life written by the person  
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Biography   the story of a person's life written by another person  
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Characterization   the method an author uses to communicate information about the characters.  
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Climax   the moment when the action of the story comes to its highest point. This usually occurs at the end of the story just before the resolution.  
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Conclusion   the end of the selection  
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Conflict   struggle between opposing forces in literature.  
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Context clues   information within the reading selection that helps the reader figure out the meanings of challenging words  
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Dialogue   the actual words/ conversation that the character says to another character.  
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Evaluate   the examine and judge; to say if something is good or bad  
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Expository text   text written to explain and convey information about a specific topic.  
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Fable   a narrative intended to convey a moral or lesson to the reader  
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Fiction   any story that is a product of imagination rather than fact  
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Figurative language   language that cannot be taken literally since it was written to create speacial effect  
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Flashback   technique in which the author interrupts the plot of the story to recreate an incident of an earlier time  
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Foreshadowing   technique in which the author provides the reader with clues about events that will happen later in the story  
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Generalizations   when you make assumptions about different events and/or characters apply them to new situations.  
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Genre   catagories of literature such as biography, mystery, historical, sports, and romance.  
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Homophone or homonym   two or more words that are pronounced alike but have a different meaning  
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Hyperbole   an exxaggerated statement used to make a stong effect.  
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imagery   words and phrases used specifcally to help the reader to imagine each of the senses.  
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inference   reading between the lines. taking what the author worte and adding it to what you already know to make an assumption.  
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irony   a difference between what is expected and what actually happens.  
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Metaphor   a comparison between two unlike things without using the word like or as.  
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Mood   the overall feeling created by the author's words.  
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Narrator   the speaker of the story  
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nonfiction   writing that is true and the purpose is to inform.  
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onomatopoeia   words whose sounds express their meaning. Ex. buzz crash cland hiss boom hush  
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plot   the events that occur in the story beginning with the setting and ending with the resolution  
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point of view   perspective from which the story is being told  
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prefix   letters added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning.  
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protagonist   the central character in a story that is the good guy or the one with whom the reader identifies  
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personification   giving lifelike characteristics to inanimated objects  
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resolution   occurs at the end of a story and includes how the conflict is solved  
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setting   the time and place where the action of a story occurs.  
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simile   a comparison between two unlike things by using the word like or as .  
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suffix   letters placed at the end of a word to change its meaning  
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summary   retelling what happened in order in your own words  
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supporting details   details that support or back up the main idea of the passage.  
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symbol   an image, object, character, or action that stands for an idea beyond its literal meaning.  
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synonym   two or more words that have highly similar meanings.  
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theme   the underlying message of the selection that the author is trying to convey or communicate to the reader.  
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tone   the clues of the story that suggest the writer's own attitude toward elements in the stoy.  
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voice   the author's style the quality that makes his or her writing unique  
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Compare and contrast   compare means to show similarities, contrast means to show differences  
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Conflict: character vs. character   a conflict between characters, such as a family feud, trouble with a bully, or romantic difficulties  
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Conflict: character vs. nature   conflict between a character and a force of nature, such as a tornado  
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Conflict: character vs. self   an internal conflict that takes place in a character's mind. (character may have to decide between right and wrong or between 2 solutions to a problem.)  
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fact vs. opinion   a fact can be proven to be true, an opinion is someones feelings  
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point of view (limited 3rd Person)   the story is told from the viewpoint of a character. As a result the reader is only exposed to what that character experiences.  
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point of view (1st person)   the narrator uses I, me, we and other first-person pronouns to relate his thoughts, experiences, and observations in a work of fiction or nonfiction.  
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root word   a word to which prefixes and/or suffixes are added  
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analyze   to explain in great detail  
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essay   a multi-paragraph writing  
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text structure: compare and contrast   the author organizes the text by telling how two or more things are alike and different  
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text structure: problem and solution   the author presents a problem and provides steps that lead to the solving of the problem; the solution  
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text structure: sequential   the author tells all events in order from first to last  
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text structure: desciption   the author gives great detail about a topic  
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text structure: cause and effect   the author presents something that causes something else to happen  
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line   a series of words in a poem  
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stanza   a group of lines in a poem  
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prose   writing made up of sentences and paragraphs (not poetry)  
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chronological   when events happen in order from earliest to the last (like sequential)  
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revision   to make something better by changing it  
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