Basic Writing Guidelines and Grammar + Literary
Devices – Grade 8 – semester 1
Stated below are some simple and basic Key literary writing concepts that need to be noted for writing any
piece of literature whether answers, stories, articles…...
RECAP (NOT CONCEPTS)
Noun - a word that refers to a thing (book), a person (Noah Webster), an animal (cat), a place (Omaha), a
quality (softness), an idea (justice), or an action (yodelling).
*
*
*A proper noun is a specific (i.e., not generic) name for a particular person, place, or thing.*
Pronoun - a word that stands in for a noun, often to avoid the need to repeat the same
noun over and over*
Article –
Verb- A verb is a word that indicates a physical action (e.g., “drive”), a
mental action (e.g., “think”), or a state of being (e.g., “exist”).
Adverb - An adverb is a word that modifies (describes) a verb (he sings
loudly), an adjective (very tall), another adverb (ended too quickly), or even a
whole sentence (Fortunately, I had brought an umbrella). Adverbs often end in –ly,
but some (such as fast) look exactly the same as their adjective counterparts.
Adjective - An adjective is a word that modifies or describes a noun or
pronoun. Adjectives can be used to describe the qualities of someone or something
independently or in comparison to something else. Examples: Adjectives in a sentence
I like old houses. The boy is tall and skinny. Jane is smarter than her brother.
RECAP [Continued]
(Not Concepts)
1. Explicit and Implicit Meaning and Inference
2. Types of Sentences & Speech
• Refer to PPT for Simple, Compound, Complex Explanations
• Minor Sentence –
•
• Effects of the Following Sentences
❖ Simple sentence -
❖ Compound Sentence –
❖ Complex Sentence -
Can also be used to show relation and Cause/effect
❖ Minor Sentence
✓ Can be used to ask questions.
✓ Can be used to create a conversation like feel !
•
Direct/Indirect Speech
3. Punctuation and connecting Sentences
Apostrophe’s: a mark ' used to indicate the omission of letters or figures, the
possessive case (as in "John's book"), or the plural of letters or figures (as in "the
1960's") In the contraction "can't," the apostrophe replaces two of the letters in the word
"cannot.".
Uses of a Hyphen
Use a hyphen at the end of a line to divide a word where there is not enough
space for the whole word. Follow the rules for dividing words correctly.
•
Divide a word between syllables. Never divide a one-syllable word.
Correct:
For effective proofreading, certain strategies are recommended.
Incorrect:
After taking the workshop on proofreading, it really seems that I am better at editing my own papers.
•
Do not divide a word between syllables if only one letter remains alone or if only
two letters begin a line.
Incorrect:
It was difficult to determine whether she was totally afraid of the dark or just trying to gain sympathy.
We realized she was trying to get attention, so we simply ignored her.
In this case, simply move the entire word (afraid or simply) to the next line.
•
Always divide a hyphenated compound word at the hyphen.
Incorrect:
She was relieved to have the innocuous title of president-elect rather than to have real responsibility.
Correct:
She was relieved to have the innocuous title of presidentelect rather than to have real responsibility.
or
She was relieved to have the innocuous title of
president-elect rather than to have real responsibility.
•
Divide compound words between the words that form the compound.
Incorrect:
For Steve's birthday, Annie bought him an electric coffeemaker.
Correct:
For Steve's birthday, Annie bought him an electric coffeemaker.
or
For Steve's birthday, Annie bought him an electric
coffeemaker.
2. Use a hyphen to indicate a word spelled out letter by letter.
The correct way to spell that word in English is h-e-l-l-o.
3. Use a hyphen to join two or more words to form compound adjectives that
precede a noun. The purpose of joining words to form a compound adjective is to
differentiate the meaning from the adjectives used separately, such as up-to-
date merchandise, copper-coated wire, fire-tested material, lump-sum payment,
and well-stocked cupboard.
He was proud of his well-stocked cupboards. (The adverb well describes stocked rather
than cupboards.)
Cathy drove her seven-year-old son to school every morning. (If the adjectives were written
separately, they would describe her son as seven, year, and old. It is only when the words
are joined together with a hyphen that they make sense as a single adjective.)
4. Use a hyphen to avoid awkward doubling of vowels.
semi-independence without a hyphen would be written semiindependence
re-elect without a hyphen would be written reelect
pre-eminent without a hyphen would be preeminent
5. Use a hyphen to prevent misreading of certain words.
Re-collect means to collect again; without a hyphen the word recollect has a different
meaning.
Re-creation means to create again; without a hyphen, the word recreation has a different
meaning.
Co-respondent without the hyphen could be confused with correspondent.
6. Use a hyphen to join a prefix to a capitalized word.
un-American, pre-Christmas
7. Always use a hyphen with the prefixes all-, ex-, and self-, and with the suffix elect.
all-inclusive, ex-president, self-righteous, governor-elect
8. Use a hyphen with all compound numbers between twenty-one through
ninety-nine, and when writing fractions as words.
fifty-six, two-thirds
9. Use a hyphen to indicate stammering or sobbing.
"I d-d-didn't m-mean it."
Connectives - connectives are used as connecting words within a
sentence.
They are generally used to indicate different purposes, such as : Addition, sequence,
consequence and/or
Conjunctions - Conjunctions are parts of speech that connect words,
phrases, clauses, or sentences.
Differentiation
4. Understanding the Main Idea and the Audience of a text and the
factors required to identify them with, emphasis on the use of
language and words .
•
The main idea of a paragraph is the author's message about the topic. It is often
expressed directly or it can be implied.
•
Audience in writing can be identified by considering whom a writer wishes would
read their work, whom a writer knows will be reading their work, or to whom a
writer wants their work to appeal.
➢ Audience and
Purposes of writing
➢
Word choice
➢
Word Choice and use of Language depending on the suited audience.
Checklist for Identifying the audience of a text
❑
❑
❑
❑
Identifying the structure of the text .
Deciding the Tone, Mood, Register, Level of Vocab of the text
Checking for any special use of Vocabulary and extreme punctuation
Identifying Repetition and the root topic of the text
TO NOTE : Complexity of the first to points indicates that the text is for adults whereas, simplicity indicates that
the text is for Children/ Youngsters
5. Summarising Texts , and differentiating between Facts and
Opinions
➢ Summarising
➢
Leave out Examples !!
➢ Fact vs. Opinion
Look around at the
sentences to confirm
your view on whether
it is a Fact or a
Opinion !
6. Identifying Context Clues to interpret Vocabulary and Identifying
Key literary features such as the Mood, Tone and Register of a text.
Synonym
A word or phrase that means exactly
or nearly the same as another word
or phrase in the same language, for
example shut is a synonym of close.
➢
Finding the meaning of words
by using context clues.
And shape your
understanding
accordingly.
Authors may sometimes give definitions or phrases/ quotes which may help to understand
the exact meaning of the word or understand in which context it is being used
Authors often give Indirect Examples of the word through situations, feelings, objects or events that
may be related with the word !
Most widelyapplicable
➢
Understanding Literary Elements such
as a text’s mood, register, tone .
Helpful in understanding
the Audience of a text
intended by a writer.
Mood of a text – The mood or the
atmosphere the reader gets while
reading a piece of text.
•
Although they have some similarities, getting the key differences between tone and register is
important.
•
At its core, tone refers to the attitude or emotion expressed in your writing, while register is
more about the level of formality or informality used.
•
Tone can be informal, formal, serious, humorous, etc., depending on the context of your writing
and what you’re trying to convey.
•
Register deals mainly with whether you’re using formal or informal language. We often reserve
formal writing for academic or professional articles, while informal language is more
appropriate for texts or everyday emails.
•
Another key difference between tone and register is that tone focuses on how you want your
readers to feel when reading your work. Register focuses more on how you want them to
understand it!
7. Literary Devices
Listed on the next page are some of types of figurative techniques ( figurative
types) that are very important out of numerous others in the world !
to
Metonymy
writer