8th Grade Academic Vocabulary
July 2009 Revision List, with “old list” incorporated
Language Arts
Compiled by Beth Price,
SCMS Literacy and Reading Coach
Spring 2010
Acronym
a word formed from the initial
letters or groups of letters of
words in a set phrase or series
of words, as Wac from
Women's Army Corps,
OPEC from Organization of
Petroleum Exporting
Countries, or loran from longrange navigation.
What are some common
acronyms that you can think
of? Make a list with your
classmates.
allusion
A casual reference to a
person,
place,
event, or
another passage of
literature,
often without explicit
identification.
Allusions can originate in
mythology,
biblical references,
historical events,
legends,
geography, or
earlier literary works.
“Except they meant to bathe
in reeking wounds,
Or memorize another Golgotha,
I cannot tell.”
From Macbeth, Act 1, scene 2
Macbeth is fighting such a bloody
battle, the soldier compares the
battle scene to Golgotha,
the place where Jesus was crucified.
antecedent
The antecedent of a pronoun
is the word which the
pronoun stands for.
Auntie see dent?
Examples:
1. Mark read the letter and
then tore it up.
2. The judge informed the
twins that they had won
the contest.
bias
A bias is a preference or
inclination.
for example. . . .
A biased newscast on the
nightly news may present only
one side of an issue, or it may
downplay information in favor
of the other side.
Can you think of a recent
example of bias, in the
reporting of local, state, or
national news?
clincher sentence
The last sentence of the
body paragraph.
It concludes the paragraph
by tying the concrete details
and commentary back to the
major thesis.
Therefore, before his wife
gets to the door, the old man
takes the monkey’s paw and
wishes for his son
to be dead again,
causing his wife
to lose her
beloved son
a second time.
coherent order
If your essay has coherence,
one idea flows logically and
smoothly to the next idea.
Think about the progression,
or order, of your ideas.
Coherence is achieved by
organizing your details in
one of the following
patterns:
1. order of importance
(starting with least
important & saving most
important until last—or
the reverse)
2. chronological order
putting details in the order
in which they occur
3. spatial order
presents details according
to their location in space
4. logical order
groups similar or related
details together
composition structure
A composition, or essay, is
made up of paragraphs and
has three main parts:
the introduction,
the body, and
the conclusion.
The introduction has two
jobs.
It must catch the reader’s
attention and make him
want to read the essay.
It must present the main
idea or thesis of the essay.
The body should provide
information that supports or
explains your thesis
statement.
There are several ways
that you can support your
main idea.
Ways to Support Your Thesis:
1. facts and examples
2. define key words
3. specific sensory details
4. tell a story to clarify an idea
5. share an experience
6. examples of how two
things are alike
The conclusion should:
1. summarize the main points,
or
2. restate the focus or main
idea, or
3. say something that will
keep the reader thinking
about the subject.
cross reference
A cross reference refers you
to other materials in that
specific book that are
related to the a topic /
subject that you happen to
be viewing at the time.
You can also have several
kinds of cross references on
the Internet.
1. When you are reading an
article, often a word will
have a link and you can
click for more information.
FIND
ID
CARDS
FIND
ARTICLES
CONTE
NTS
PR
IN
T
COMME
NTS
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Illustration from a
children's book.
The headlines say
"Jews are our
misfortune" and
"How the Jew
cheats." Germany,
1936.
See more
photographs
NAZI
PROPAGAN
DA
RELATED
ARTICLES
E-MAIL THIS
PAGE
RELATED
LINKS
"Propaganda tries to force a doctrine on the whole people...
Propaganda works on the general public from the standpoint of an
idea and makes them ripe for the victory of this idea." Adolf Hitler
wrote these words in his book Mein Kampf (1926), in which he first
advocated the use of propaganda to spread the ideals of National
Socialism -- among them racism, antisemitism, and antiBolshevism.
Following the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Hitler established a
Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda headed by
Joseph Goebbels. The Ministry's aim was to ensure that the Nazi
message was successfully communicated through art, music,
theater, films, books, radio, educational materials, and the press.
"Propaganda tries to force a doctrine on the
whole people... Propaganda works on the
general public from the standpoint of an idea
and makes them ripe for the victory of this idea."
Adolf Hitler wrote these words in his book Mein
Kampf (1926), in which he first advocated the
use of propaganda to spread the ideals of
National Socialism -- among them racism,
antisemitism, and anti-Bolshevism.
Following the Nazi seizure of power in 1933,
Hitler established a Reich Ministry of Public
Enlightenment and Propaganda headed by
Joseph Goebbels. The Ministry's aim was to
ensure that the Nazi message was successfully
communicated through art, music
2. At the end of an article,
you will often have a list of
links where you can get
additional information.
Recommended sites
Travel Tips 24: hotels, hostels, travel
forum and tourist attractions
Profesionales Peruanos en el extranjero:
Blog sobre las proyecciones
profesionales de los migrantes.
Insurance Quotes LA - Los AngelesGuide
to Insurance quotes in Los Angeles
Spanish-Teachers.org: Learn spanish,
language teachers, academies &
resources directory.
Want to be here? Contact-us!
debate
a formal contest in which
the positive and negative
sides (good & bad) of a
proposition are presented
(argued / debated) by
opposing speakers
Here, Joe Biden and Sarah Palin
debate political issues during the
2008 Presidental race.
derivation
Derivation is the source from
which something is derived;
the origin of something.
The most basic, or original
form of a word would be its
derivation. The derivation of
“infect” from “infection”
“serve” from “service.”
drama
A drama is a type of
literature that uses a lot of
dialogue and is meant to be
performed in front of an
audience; also is called a
play.
Sam is sitting in chair, with
another chair next to him.
Lyle enters.
Sam: Well, hi, there.
Lyle: Hello.
Sam: Am I glad to see you!
Lyle: (sits) Why's that?
dramatization
Dramatization can mean two
things:
1. conversion into
dramatic form;
The play was a
dramatization of a short
story.
2. the act of dramatizing
This actors in this
dramatization are very
believable.
elaboration
Elaboration is the addition
of extra material,
illustrations, examples,
or clarifying details.
For example, when you are
writing an essay, your
teacher may say, “You have
a good idea in this
paragraph, but you need to
elaborate on it.”
This means you need to
write more examples or
details to “prove” or
support your idea.
Example: The car went down the
highway.
Example with elaboration:
The old, smashed, soda-can of
a car slowly crept down the icy
highway on its way to the
police station, where its owner
worked.
Endnote
A note placed at the end of
an article, chapter, or book
that comments on or cites a
reference, or gives other
additional information for a
designated part of the text.
For example, on page 247 in
your literature book, you are
told that there is a biography
of the writer of this story on
page 80. This isn’t exactly
an endnote, but it is similar.
Bring your science and
social studies books with
you tomorrow. See if you
can find endnotes in them.
facilitator
A person that is responsible
for leading or coordinating
the work of a group, as one
who leads a group
discussion.
Every day, your teacher acts
as a facilitator in your class.
He / she coordinates
activities that help you learn
skills in your study of
English grammar and
literature.
When you meet in small
groups, your teacher may
appoint someone as the
facilitator. That person will
lead your group
in completing all
the activities
that have been
assigned to it.
Footnotes
Footnotes, in an article or
book, give the details and
additional information that
are left out of the main
documents. They generally
are located at the bottom
of the page.
For example, on page 372, in your
literature book, footnote #5
explains what the “yellow stars”
were during World War II.
Footnotes usually provide
additional information that
can be easily used or
digested--helpful
information that a reader
can use.
gerund
A gerund is a verb form
ending in --ing that is used
as a noun.
1. Singing is her main
interest.
2. His favorite sport in the
summer is swimming in the
lake.
3. Reading at night can make
me sleepy.
gerund phrase
A gerund phrase consists of
a gerund and its modifiers
and complements. Identify
how the following gerund
phrases are being used in
the sentences.
1. They improved the
insulation of the house by
adding solar
screens to
the windows.
2. Swimming in the lake
is his
favorite
sport in the
summer.
3. Reading at night can
make me sleepy.
infer
When you infer, you draw
meaning from a combination
of clues in the text without
explicit reference to the text.
jargon
Jargon is technical terms,
acronyms, and language
used by people of the same
profession or specialized
interest group.
String the side of the stair where treads,
risers, and balusters are fitted
Rafter the structural member
of a roof which supports
the weathering materials
underneath
Riser the vertical part of a stair step
Shakes splits in wood, usually running
with the grain, caused by shrinkage
through excessive or rapid drying
logic
Logic is the science of
reasoning. Logic uses
reasons,
facts, and
examples
to prove or support a point.
Deductive Reasoning
Deductive reasoning is one
of the two basic forms of
valid reasoning. Deductive
reasoning argues from the
general to a specific
instance.
The basic idea is that if
something is true of a class
of things in general, this
truth applies to all legitimate
members of that class.
For example, Be careful of
that wasp: it might sting. is
based on the logic that
wasps as a class have
stingers; therefore each
individual wasp will have
a stinger.
This conclusion is freeing in
that we do not have to
examine each and every
wasp we ever encounter to
ascertain what
characteristics it may have.
Syllogism
One of the most common
and useful forms of
deductive reasoning is the
syllogism. The syllogism is
a specific form of argument
that has three easy steps.
1. Every X has the
characteristic Y.
2. This thing is X.
3. Therefore, this thing has
the characteristic Y.
Frogs are amphibians.
The coqui is a frog native to
Puerto Rico.
The coqui is an amphibian.
I know Dana is taller than Chris,
and Chris is taller than Joe.
I deduce that Dana is taller
than Joe.
Dana
Chris
JOe
Inductive Reasoning
Inductive reasoning, or
induction, is reasoning from
a specific case or cases and
deriving a general rule. It
draws inferences from
observations in order to
make generalizations.
Inference can be done in
four stages:
1. Observation: collect facts,
without bias.
2. Analysis: classify the facts,
identifying patterns o of
regularity.
3. Inference: From the
patterns, infer
generalizations about
the relations between the
facts.
4. Confirmation: Testing the
inference through further
observation.
An excellent example of this process in action is the
discoveries and works of the great Charles Darwin. He
made some observations about how the Darwin
Finches vary from each other across the Galapagos
archipelago.
After some thought and reasoning, he saw that these
populations were geographically isolated from each
other and that the variation between the sub-species
varied over distance.
He therefore proposed that the finches all shared a
common ancestor, and evolved and adapted, by
natural selection, to exploit vacant ecological niches.
This resulted in evolutionary divergence and the
creation of new species, the basis of his ‘Origin of
Species’.
Read more: http://www.experimentresources.com/inductivereasoning.html#ixzz0lGtFU9zi
We observe gravity pulling
objects together everywhere
in the visible universe. We
induce that gravity behaves
the same in the entire
universe, even in the parts we
can't see.
mnemonic device
A mnemonic device is a
device, such as a formula or
rhyme, used as an aid in
remembering something.
It is a “memory” trick.
Order of Operations
The order of mathematical
operations:
* Parentheses
* Exponents
* Multiplication/Division
(left to right)
* Addition/Subtraction
(left to right).
PEMDAS Mnemonics
Please
Excuse
My Dear
Aunt Sally
(Parenthesis, Exponents,
Multiplication, Division,
Addition, Subtraction)
Mood
Mood is the overall emotion
created by a work of
literature--its emotional
atmosphere.
Some adjectives that describe
mood:
sad
scary
hopeful exiting
negative optimistic
suspenseful
depressing
Think of several selections
you have read this year. What
was the mood
in
each selection?
Tone
Tone is the attitude that a
writer takes toward the
audience, a subject, or a
character. Tone is conveyed
through the writer’s choice
of words and details.
oral language techniques
Oral language techniques
are characteristics of your
speaking voice.
They include: inflection,
rate, pitch, and enunciation.
enunciation: pronunciation
Speak so that your audience
will be able to hear and
understand your words easily.
Inflection: changes in pitch or in
volume of the voice
Speak loudly enough so the
people in the back of the room
can hear you. Raise and lower
your voice to stress certain
points or words.
rate: how fast you speak
You should speak slowly so
your audience can keep up with
what you are saying. When
necessary, pause to catch your
breath. You also may want to
pause after a major point or
question to give the audience
time to think about what
you have said.
pitch: the highness and lowness
of sound
A flat voice can lull an audience
to sleep. Varying your pitch—
how high or how deep your
voice is—will help you keep
the audience interested
in your speech.
participle
A participle is a verb form
that can be used as an
adjective.
1. Ava calmed the snarling
dog.
2. Cory gave a moving
performance in the
production of The Diary of
Anne Frank.
participial phrase
A participial phrase consists
of a participle and any
complements and modifiers
it has.
1. The Smiths were surprised
to find their cow Daisy
grazing in their neighbors’
yard.
2. The book, given to him by
President Bush, was his
most cherished
possession.
persuasive writing techniques
Writers who use persuasive
techniques try to convince
readers to think or act in a
certain way. They may use
reasons, evidence,
propaganda, and / or appeal
to your emotions.
Read the essay excerpts
that follow, and on each
slide, identify HOW the
writer is trying to persuade
you as a reader.
(reasons, evidence,
propaganda, emotions)
From Seattle to Charleston,
praise of school uniform
policies is profuse. One of
the most often cited benefits
of requiring uniforms is
economic.
Uniforms generally cost less
than do most clothes that
students want to wear. For
instance, the yearly cost of
uniforms in Long Beach,
California, is $70 to $90 for a
set of three.
Compare that to a trip
to the mall!
Furthermore, Long Beach,
California, offers impressive
evidence that schools
where students
wear uniforms
are safer than
those where
students don’t.
Since Long Beach adopted a
uniform requirement for its
83,000 students, there have
been a third fewer assault
and battery cases, student
fights have been cut by half,
and student suspensions
are down by 32 percent.
In the school districts I interviewed,
girls report they spend as much as
two-and-a-half hours each day
selecting their clothes and getting
ready for school. These girls
describe great anxiety about their
appearance, particularly their
clothes, and report harassment
from both males and females about
how they look.
I long for a safe space for
girls that diminishes such
pressure and decreases
their anxiety. Schools that
expect all students to wear
the same type of dress offer
support to girls in their
fragile adolescent years.
Answers:
reason
evidence
reason
evidence
emotion (although some
evidence is given)
emotion
bandwagon
Bandwagon is a technique that
tries to convince people that
everyone else is doing the
same thing or using the same
product. The advertiser may
say “nine out of ten Americans
choose. . . .”
Everybody’s talking about
GooGoo Clusters!
Don’t be the only one who hasn’t
tried this delicious candy!
Find out what
all your friends
are talking about.
loaded words (loaded terms)
Loaded words are words
whose connotation is
generally accepted by the
audience at positive (or
negative) in order to create a
subconscious association.
name calling
Name calling occurs when
companies deliberately
mock each other in ads.
This is more common in
political advertisements.
A more subtle form of name calling uses
emotionally charged words in descriptions
or characterizations. For example,
Democratic candidates are always being
called “tax and spenders,” while the
Republicans characterize themselves as
“fiscally conservative.” The GOP
propaganda machine has been able to
attach the “tax and spend” label to the
Democrats, so that regardless of the facts,
the emotional response is to conjure up
visions of people who first take your
money and then spend it foolishly.
plain folks
Plain folks uses an average
person appearing in
commercials or writing
letters of praise to the
company. Politically,
candidates would go out of
their way to appear to be
“just like us.”
In 1978, Lamar
Alexander was
the Republican
candidate for
governor of
Tennessee. He
campaigned
across the state
wearing a
red plaid shirt,
his symbol of
being
a “real person,”
not a politician.
snob appeal
Snob appeal is being used
when the advertiser tries to
get you to believe that a
product is higher class
material than another
product.
• Aims to flatter
• Makes assumption/ insinuation
that this product/idea is better than
others…
• Thus, those that use it are too.
The Ultimate
driving
machine
testimonial
Testimonial is the use of
well-known people to
endorse another person,
idea, or product. The
famous person is actually
lending their good name and
reputation to that product,
person, or idea.
Jennifer Love Hewitt
A couple years ago, I was really stressed out
and tired. My skin was not responding the
way that it normally did. When they put me in
Maxim as one of the sexiest women in the
world, they had to airbrush my photo because
I had pimples on my face.
Being in front of the camera can be exciting,
but when you're not confident about how your
skin looks it can be a real nightmare.
I had never found anything that consistently
kept my skin looking great, before Proactiv.
preface
A preface is a preliminary
statement in a book by the
book's author or editor,
explaining its purpose and
scope, expressing
acknowledgment of
assistance from others, etc.
Preface
The aim of this book is to demonstrate that using
"Conventional Wisdom" and "Conventional Logic",
classical physics can explain all the observed
phenomena attributed to relativity. The arbitrary
principles of Einstein's relativity are thus useless.
It is very important to recognize the
fundamental importance of the principle of massenergy conservation. It took thousands of years of
development for scientific thought to finally reject
the magic of witchcraft. During the nineteenth
century, scientists became convinced that matter
cannot be created from nothing. Conversely, matter
cannot be destroyed into nothing. It seems that even
Einstein believed this, since he is the one who, at the
beginning of the twentieth century, introduced the
equation E = mc2 implying mass-energy
conservation. However, he later developed . . . .
reliability
The reliability of a research
source is its dependability
and suitability to your topic.
For example, if you were
researching the subject of “aircraft
accidents,” which would be a more
dependable and reliable source?
article in the National Inquirer
about an alien aircraft
accident OR
Chattanooga Times Free Press
article about a plane crash in
Montana
sensory detail
Sensory details appeal to the
five senses and evoke images
of how something looks,
sounds, feels, tastes, or smells.
Sensory details may be literal
(descriptive language) or
figurative (imagery).
Be prepared to discuss the
sensory details in the
following paragraph:
My earliest childhood memory
is of the swaying limbs of
Golden Delicious apple trees.
Rows of them stood next to a
dirt road that separated our
orchard from the front yard.
The Kentucky summer sky
hung hot behind those high
twigs, their leaves leathery
green on top, soft as down
underneath.
The apples, little bigger than
shooter marbles then,
played hide-and-seek with a
child’s eyes
shades of meaning
Shades of meaning is a
phrase used to describe the
small, subtle differences in
meaning between similar
words or phrases.
For example, the words
“kid” and “youth” or “young
adult,” can all refer to
teenagers, but each word
carries a slightly different
view and idea about young
people. These examples are
closely related to denotation
and connotation.
Denotation is the “dictionary
meaning” of a word.
Connotation is the “special
meaning” the word may
have for you.
Possible words to discuss:
cancer, hurricane or
tornado, car wreck.
Sidebars
are sometimes boxed or set
in a different typeface to set
them apart. They may
appear to the side of the
original article, within it, or
at the end.
For example, in your
literature book on page 537,
how is the sidebar being
used?
How are the sidebars being
used on the sample page of
the technical manual that is
on page 828 of your
literature book?
Look in your textbooks
(maybe your science and
your social studies books)
and find other examples of
sidebars.
How are they being used?
tension
The interplay of conflicting
elements in a piece of
literature, especially a poem,
is called tension.
“Tenderness, set
Like a mousetrap or poised
like a bee,
Falls from you —”
from “Bird and Flower” by A.J.M. Smith
“Tenderness,” which usually
indicates love and sharing,
is compared to a mousetrap
and a bee (as in “bee
sting”), both objects that are
in sharp contrast to the
usual connotations of
“tenderness.”
thesis statement
The thesis is a statement
that gives the main idea or
purpose of an essay. It
usually is only one
sentence.
Identify the thesis
statements in the following
paragraphs:
The glow of fireworks, the
smell of fried chicken, the
sound of trumpets—these are
the sights, smells, and sounds
of a special day
in midsummer, July 4.
Of all the holidays,
the Fourth of July
is my favorite for
several reasons.
Four faces and 70 years ago,
Mount Rushmore became part
of South Dakota’s history. This
monument honors Goerge
Washington, Thomas Jefferson,
Theodore Roosevelt, and
Abraham LIncoln, all great
American presidents who have
earned their place in history.
(continued)
But what if we decided to add
four new faces to this
monument? Whom should we
select? My four choices are
people who have contributed
something special to others
here and around the world.
• Synthesize and analyze are on the “Larry
Bell” chart and are taught there. Writing
process is in their grammar books and is
taught all year long. Therefore, I did not
include those 3 terms in this presentation.
Bibliography
Most clip art was taken from Clip Art
Online.
Many examples and definitions were taken
from Elements of Literature, 2007 edition,
published by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
Some examples or definitions were my
own original thoughts. 
Some examples and definitions were from
Write Source 2000: A Guide to Writing,
Thinking, and Learning, 1999 edition,
published by Houghton Mifflin.
Some examples and definitions were from
Holt’s Elements of Language, 2004
edition.
Some definitions were from dictionary.com
I am sure that I have used other
resources, however, I have cited
my main sources.
I have not intentionally plagiarized any
person or company’s work, and I
apologize from the bottom of my heart
if I have committed that act!