click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
4th ELA Vocabulary
Flashcards for review
Term | Definition |
---|---|
act | a main section of a drama, sometimes made up of scenes |
adjective | a word that describes a noun or a pronoun |
adverb | a word or phrase that describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb |
affix | a word part, such as a prefix or suffix, added to the beginning or end of a word to make a new word |
alliteration | the repetition of consonant sounds |
antecedent | a word or phrase represented by another word |
antonyms | words that mean the opposite of each other |
author's purpose | the reason an author writes a text, usually to inform, entertain, or persuade the reader |
autobiography | a personal account of the author's life written by the author |
biography | an account of a person's life written by someone else |
caption | a phrase, sentence, or paragraph that tells what a photograph or other graphic is about |
cause | the reason that something happens |
cause-and-effect structure | text organization in which the author explains what happened (effect) and why it happened (cause) |
character | a person, an animal, or an object that takes part in the action of a story |
chronological structure | a text organization in which the author presents events in the order in which they happened; also called sequence/ sequential order |
claim | a statement that an author makes about an idea, event, or observation |
clause | a group of words that contains both a subject and a verb |
comma | the punctuation mark used to separate elements within a sentence |
compare-and-contrast structure | a text organization in which the author points out how two or more things or ideas are alike and different |
complete sentence | a sentence that forms a complete thought, using a subject and a verb |
compound sentence | a sentence made up of two or more independent clauses connected by conjunctions |
conclusion | the end piece of writing in which the author restates his or her position and sums up the text's main points |
conflict | a problem that the characters solve in a fictional narrative |
contrast | to show how objects, ideas, people, places, events, or passages are different |
coordinating conjunctions | a word such as: and, or, so, or but, that joins two independent clauses in a sentence |
detail | information that supports the main idea in a piece of writing |
diagram | a drawing with labels that shows the different parts of an object or how something works |
dialogue | the words that characters speak in a drama; in fiction stories, a conversation between characters, with their speech in quotation marks |
drama | a story that is performed on a stage by actors; a play |
effect | a result of a cause |
ellipsis ( ... ) | a series of spaced periods showing a trailing thought or that text has been omitted |
essay | a type of writing that presents a main idea or claim supported by reasons and details |
evidence | information, or facts, used to support a main idea or claim |
exclamation point ( ! ) | an end punctuation mark that shows excitement, shock, or surprise |
fact | information that is true and can be proven |
fiction | writing about made-up people and events |
figurative language | words or phrases that mean something different from their dictionary definitions |
firsthand account | a text in which the author describes an event that he or she is observing or has observed |
first-person point of view | tge perspective in which the narrator is a character in the story and uses the pronoun I |
folktale | a story from long ago that has been repeated for many years |
free verse | a poem that does not follow fixed rules of rhythm or rhyme |
grammar | a system of language used in writing and speaking |
graphic feature | a photograph, illustration, timeline, diagram, map, graph, or flowchart that adds new information or makes text easier to understand |
haiku | a very short poem, usually about nature, that has 3 lines and just 17 syllables |
heading | a word or phrase above a section of text that tells what the section is about |
historical fiction | a type of fiction about people or events in the past; is mostly made-up but may involve important people or events from history |
idiom | a word or phrase that has a different meaning from the meaning of the individual words |
independent clause | a group of words with a subject and verb that represents a complete thought and could stand alone as a simple sentence |
inference | an educated guess that a reader makes about the text; based on evidence the author provides and the reader's prior knowledge |
informal language | the type of language that people use in everyday conversation and some types of writing; may include incomplete sentences, slang, and contractions |
formal language | the type of language used in most writing; includes complete sentences, proper grammar, and well-chosen vocabulary |
informational text | nonfiction text, such as a biography, essay, speech, or textbook, in which the author presents facts about the real world |
introduction | the beginning of a piece of writing that gets the reader's attention and presents the text's main idea |
legend | a type of folktale about heroes and their brave actions |
line | a row of words; the basic building block of a poem |
literal language | words or phrases that use their actual meaning |
literary nonfiction | informational texts that are mostly based on fact but may have some elements of fiction, such as a plot and a narrator |
main idea | the most important idea in a piece of writing |
metaphor | a comparison that does not use the words like or as |
meter | the "beat" or pattern of rhythm in a poem |
modal auxiliary verb | a verb such as: can, might, should, could, and must that shows the possibility or necessity of an action |
myth | a traditional story from a certain place; may give reasons for how something works or how it was created |
narrative poem | a poem that tells a story |
narrator | the person or character who tells a story |
nonfiction | writing that tells about the real world with facts about people, places, event, and things; also called informational text |
noun | a word that names a person, place, or thing |
opinion | a statement based on feelings or beliefs that cannot be proven true; a type of writing in which the author states a personal belief and tries to [persuade others to agree |
personification | the type of figurative language in which hum qualities are given to nonhuman things |
plot | the series of events in a story that includes the character's actions, a conflict, and a resolution |
plot structure | the organization of the events in a story, including the beginning, middle, end, problem, and solution |
poetry | writing that uses words in lines and stanzas to create a strong feeling, image, or message through meaning, sound, and rhythm |
point of view | how a story or poem is told by a narrator; how an author feels about a topic |
predicate | the part of a sentence that contains a verb and tells what the subject does |
prefix | a word part of affix, added to the beginning of a word or root to change the word's meaning |
preposition | a word that comes before a noun or pronoun to show direction, location, or time |
prepositional phrase | a phrase that shows time, space, or position; begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun |
problem | a difficult situation, obstacle, or challenge; also called conflict |
problem-and-solution structure | text organization in which the author states a problem and suggests a way to solve the problem |
progressive tense | the tense that shows action in progress, using a form of the verb "be" with the main verb |
pronoun | a word that takes the place of a noun |
proper adjective | an adjective that comes from the name of a specific person, place, or thing , such as Ferris wheel or Brussels sprouts |
proper noun | a noun that names a specific person, place, or thing |
quotation marks | punctuation used to show the exact words of a speaker |
realistic fiction | the type of fiction that has characters, events, and a setting that could exist in the real world |
repetition | the repeating of a word, phrase, or line |
scene | a smaller section of an act in a drama |
sensory descriptions | details that tell how things look, feel, sound, smell, and taste |
sentence fragment | an incomplete sentence, lacking either a subject or a verb |
setting | where and when a story takes place |
sidebar | a text feature that gives additional information but is set off from the main part of the text |
simile | a comparison that uses like or as |
speaker | the narrator of a poem |
stage directions | the words in a drama that tell the actors how to speak their lines or how to move; includes information about sound, lighting, props, and costumes |
stanza | a group of lines that make up a section of a poem |
subheading | a text feature that breaks down the sections of a text into even smaller parts |
subject | The part of a sentence that tells what or whom the sentence is about |
suffix | a word part, or affix, added to the end of a word or root to change the word's meaning |
summarize | to retell in your own words the most important plot events of a story or the main ideas and key details of a nonfiction text |
synonyms | words that have the same or almost the same meaning |
tense | refers to when the action of a verb takes place |
text-dependent analysis | A type of writing in which the author states a position, or gives an opinion, about one or more texts; must be supported with text evidence |
text evidence | the details and information from a text that are used to support inferences or ideas |
text feature | an element, such as a heading, bulleted list, or caption, that helps readers find and follow facts and ideas |
text structure | the way in which text is organized, such as by sequence, cause and effect, compare and contrast, or problem and solution |
theme | the lesson or message that the author of a story or poem wants to share |
third-person point of view | the perspective in which the narrator is not a character in the story and describes people and their actions using words such as : he, she, and they |
timeline | a graphic that shows the dates and order of events over a specific time period |
topic sentence | a sentence that explains the main idea of either a paragraph or nonfiction text |
transition | a word or phrase that connects sentences, paragraphs, or ideas to help writing flow |
verb | a word that shows action or state of being |