Grade 3 – English Language Arts Terminology and Definitions
Act – a main part of a play, such as the beginning, middle, or end
Adjective – a word that describes a noun
Adverb – a word that describes a verb
Antonyms – words that have the opposite meaning
Article – a word that tells you whether a noun is definite or indefinite
Capital Letter – and “upper-case” letter
Capitalize – to make the first letter in a word a capital letter
Cause – the reason something happens; leads to an effect
Character – a person in a story
Comma – a special mark used to separate items in a list
Compare – look for things that are the same about two sentences, passages, or topics
Concluding Sentence – a sentence that ends a paragraph and sums up its main point
Context – the text surrounding a word or sentence
Contrast – to find things that are different about two sentences, passages, or topics
Definite Article – tells you exactly which person, place, or thing you are talking about
Detail – a sentence or bit of information that supports the main idea of a paragraph or passage
Dialogue – the spoken lines characters say to each in a drama
Drama – a story that is written to be performed on a stage, such as a play
Effect – the result of a cause
Exaggeration – saying that something is more than what it is
Fact – a statement that is always true
Fiction – stories that are made-up; events in fictional stories did not really happen
Heading – a word or phrase that comes before a page or paragraph, and tells you the topic
Homographs – words that are spelled the same, but that have different meanings
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Homophones – words that sound the same, but that have different meanings and spellings
Indefinite Article – an article that does not tell you exactly which person, place, or thing you are talking
about
Inference – a conclusion that make, based on the information you have
Main Character – the person a story is mostly about
Main Idea – what a story or passage is mostly about
Metaphor – a suggested comparison of two like things that does not use “like” or “as”
Nonfiction – a type of writing that contains facts and teaches you something
Noun – a person, place, or thing
Opinion – a belief about a subject
Pattern – something repeated over and over again
Period – a special mark used to show that a statement has ended
Plot – the main action in a story
Poem – a type of writing that includes stanzas, rhythm, and rhyme
Prefix – a group letters added to the beginning of a root word to form a new word
Pronoun – a word that takes the place of a noun
Rhyme – a set of words or lines that sound very much alike
Rhythm – the way the lines in a poem sound when you read them; when the lines of a poem sound like
a song when you read them
Root word – a simple word that becomes a new word by adding more letters at the beginning or end
Scene – a small part of a play; part of an act
Sequence – the order in which events in a passage happen
Setting – the time and place in which the events of the story happen
Simile – a comparison of two like things, using the words “like” or “as”
Stage Directions – the instructions in a drama that tell you what the characters are doing before, during,
and after dialogue is spoken
Stanza – a set of lines in a poem
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Subject – the noun that is the subject of a sentence
Suffix – a group of letters added to the end of a root word to form a new word
Supporting Sentence – a sentence in a paragraph that supports the topic sentence; usually any sentence
other than the first and last sentences in a paragraph
Synonyms – words that have the same, or almost the same, meaning
Tense – tells you when a sentence is happening
Theme – the author’s general message in a story
Topic – the main subject of a nonfiction passage
Topic Sentence – sentence that tells you the topic of a paragraph; usually the first sentence in the
paragraph
Verb – the action word in a sentence
Grade 4 – English Language Arts Terminology and Definitions
Act – a main part of a play, such as the beginning, middle, or end
Adjective – a word that describes a noun
Adverb – a word that describes a verb
Alliteration – use of words that start with the same sound
Antonyms – words that have the opposite meaning
Article – a word that tells you whether a noun is definite or indefinite
Author – person who wrote something
Author’s Purpose – why an author wrote something
Bar Graphs – graphics that group information using bars
Beat – one sound in a line of a poem
Capitalization – use of capitals, or upper case letter, to set words apart and write proper sentences
Cause – a person, a thing, or an event that makes something happen
Character – a person in a story
Commas – marks used to add pauses in sentences or separate items in a series
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Comparison – act of finding the qualities two items share
Concluding Sentence – sentence that ends a paragraph
Content-Specific Words – words with special meanings, that apply to certain subjects
Context Clues – hints from other words in a piece of writing
Contrast – act of finding the ways in which two items differ
Definite Article – the word the
Details – pieces of information, usually specific that relate to and support, the main idea
Dialogue – set of words, or lines, actors say in a play
Effect – result; the thing that happens
Exaggeration – act of making something seem more that it is
Fact – something you can prove
Fiction – type of writing that is made up
Headings – short titles in a piece of writing that tell you what’s coming
Homographs – words that are spelled the same but mean different things
Homophones – words that sound the same but are spelled differently
Indefinite Article – the words a or an
Index – lists pages where you can find subjects
Inference – guesses drawn from facts
Main Idea – main thing a piece of writing is about
Maps – pictures of where things are and how to find them
Metaphor – compare two things directly using a form of the verb is
Meter – how the lines of a poem sound when read aloud
Nonfiction –piece of writing that is based on facts
Noun – person, place, or thing
Novel – A long piece of writing that is made up
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Opinion – a personal thought
Paragraphs – main building blocks of writing
Periods – marks that mean “stop” in sentences; they come at the ends of sentences
Personification – act of giving human qualities to something that isn’t human
Play – piece of writing that is meant to be acted out
Plot – set of events that make up a story
Poem – piece of writing set in groups of lines called stanzas; sometimes uses rhyme
Prefix – group of letters that area added to the beginning of a root word to change its meaning
Prior Knowledge – something you already know
Problem – challenge; something to fix
Pronouns – words that replace nouns
Rhyme – to sound alike
Root word – main piece of a word
Scenes – units that make up an act in a play
Sentence tense – when a sentence takes place (in past, present or future)
Setting – time and place of a piece of writing
Sequence – order in which things happen
Simile – compares two things using the word like or as
Solution – answer to a problem
Stage Directions – tell actors what to do in a play
Story – short piece of writing that is made up
Subject – person, place, or thing that does something in a sentence
Summarizing – act of briefly describing a story
Synonym – word with the same or similar meaning as another word
Suffix – group of letter that are added to the end of a root word to change its meaning
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Supporting sentences – sentences that support the topic
Table of Contents – lists all the book’s sections, or chapters, in order
Tables- graphics that show words in columns and rows
Theme – main lesson of a passage
Title- name of a piece of writing
Topic – what a piece of writing is about
Topic Sentence – sentence that tells what the paragraph’s about
Traits – qualities of characters
Venn Diagram- graphic that uses circles to show how things are alike and how they differ
Verb – action word in a sentence
Grade 5 – English Language Arts Terminology and Definitions
Actions – the things that a character does
Adjective – a word that describes a noun
Adverb – a word that describes a verb
Affix – a group of letter added to the beginning or ending of a root word
Antonyms – words that mean opposite things
Article – a word that comes before a noun, telling you whether the noun is definite or indefinite
Author - the person who wrote the story, article, play, drama, or other passage
Cause - the reason why something happens
Capitalization – the process of making the first letter in a word an Upper-Case letter
Chapter – a section of a book that discusses a particular topic
Characters – the people (or equivalent) in a story
Climax – the part of plot with the most exciting or important events of a story, and which often comes
near the end of a story
Comma- a special kind of punctuation that is used to indicate a pause or separation in writing
Compare – a process in which you look for things that are the same
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Concluding Sentence – the sentence that ends the paragraph
Conflict – the part of plot, usually in the beginning of a story, that sets out the main problem or struggle
Conjunction- a joining word, such as “and” or “or”, used to link two or more ideas or phrases in a
sentence
Context – what is happening in the sentence of paragraph
Contrast – a process in which you look for things that are different
Cycle Diagram – a type of graphic used to show a circular process
Definite Noun- a specific person, place, thing or idea
Detail – a sentence or fact that gives you information about a topic
Dialogue – the spoken conversation between characters in any type of writing
Drama – a type of writing that is meant to be performed, such as a play
Effect – something that happens as the result of a cause
Emotions – what a character feels
Fact – information that can be proven
First Person – a narrative style told from the viewpoint of a character in a book
Flowchart – a type of graphic used to show how one step in a process leads to another, also called a
graphic organizer
Heading – a short title that comes before a page or paragraph, telling you what the topic of the page or
paragraph will be
Indefinite Noun – A person, place, thing, or idea that is not specific
Index – an alphabetically arranged list of key terms, with page numbers, found in the back of a book
Inference – a kind of guess you make about what is happening, based on what the narrator tells you
Informational Passage – a passage that gives you facts without trying to make you feel a certain way
Main Idea – what a story or passage is mainly about
Metaphor - a figure of speech that compares two different things without using the words “like” or “as”
Meter – a pattern of rhythm in a poem
Motives – the reasons why a character does something
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Narrative – a type of writing that describes a sequence of events; a story
Narrator – the person telling the story
Opinion – a viewpoint or personal belief that cannot be proven true or false; opinions often vary from
person to person
Organizational Chart – a type of graphic used to show where things and/or people are situated within an
organization
Paragraph – a carefully built piece of writing used to communicate information and which consists of a
topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence
Period – a type of punctuation used to indicate that a sentence has ended; periods are only used with
statements
Personification – giving human qualities to animals and objects
Persuasive Passage – a type of passage that tries to change your mind about something or tries to make
you think or feel a certain way about something
Plot – the main series of events in a story
Poetry – a type of writing that uses expressive language written in a series of lines and stanzas
Point of View – the perspective or angle from which a story is told
Prefix – a group of letters added to the beginning of a root word
Problem – a situation in a story which is often confusing, troubling, distressing, or conflicting and which
needs a solution
Pronoun – a word used in place of a noun (usually to prevent too much repetition)
Radial Diagram – a type of graphic used to show how things are related to one another
Relationships – the dynamics of who a character gets along with or does not get along with
Resolution – the part of plot in which a story’s problems and conflicts are solved, and which often is the
final part of a story
Rhyme – the use of words that sound very much alike
Rhythm – the way the lines in a poem sound when you read them
Rising Action – the part of plot that happens after the conflict, and which consists of events leading up
to the climax
Root – a base word used to make a bigger word
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Sequence – the order in which things happen
Setting – the time and place in which the events of a story occur
Simile – a comparison of two different things that uses either “as” or “like”
Solution – the process of solving a problem, or reducing the amount of conflict or distress caused by the
problem
Stage Directions – the instructions that tell the actors what they should do before, during, and after they
speak; stage directions also help the reader understand what the characters are doing if the play is being
read and not performed by actors
Statement – a sentence that is neither a question nor an exclamation
Subheading – a heading that tells you the general topic of a paragraph located under a main heading
Subject – the person, place, thing, or idea that is doing or being something in a sentence
Suffix – a special group of letters added to the end of a root word to form a new word
Summary – a brief description of a story or event, identifying the main idea of passage and the most
important details
Supporting Sentence – A sentence that gives you more information about the topic introduced in the
topic sentence, or a sentence that provides evidence to support the point made in the topic sentence
Synonyms – words that have the same, or almost the same, meaning
Table – a type of chart that organizes similar types of information, first listing certain kinds of categories,
and then listing different things that fit into those categories
Table of Contents – list of chapters, with page numbers, found at the beginning of a book
Tense – form of a verb that tells you when the action takes place
Theme – the central idea or meaning of a story or article
Third Person – a narrative style in which the narrator is an all-knowing being, not directly involved with
the story
Title – name of a book, story, poem, article, play, etc
Topic Sentence – a sentence that appears at the beginning of the paragraph, and which tells you what
the paragraph will be generally about
Traits – a character’s qualities
Verb – the action word in a sentence
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Grade 6 – English Language Terminology and Definitions
Act – a main party of a play
Adjective – a word that describes a noun
Adverb – a word that describes a verb, and adjective, or another adverb; often end is “ly”
Alliteration – the repetition of initial sounds in the words of a line of poetry
Antonyms – words that mean opposite things
Article – a word that comes before a noun, telling you whether the noun is definite or indefinite
Author – the person who wrote the story, article, play, drama, or other passage
Bar Graph- graph with a series of vertical or horizontal bars representing information
Capitalization – the process of making the first letter in a word an upper-case letter; helps make writing
clearer
Cause – the action or event
Cause and Effect – method of organization in which an action causes a result
Climax – in fiction, the point at which the conflict is addressed by the main character(s)
Comma – a special kind of punctuation that is used to indicate a transition or separation in writing
Comparing – looking for things that are the same
Concluding Sentence – the sentence that ends a paragraph, restating the main topic of a paragraph
Conclusion – an overall opinion the reader forms after reading a passage
Conflict – the struggle or problem faced by the character in a story
Conjunction – a joining word, such as “and” or “or”, used to link two of more ideas or phrases in a
sentence
Content-specific Words – words or phrases that relate to a particular subject or area of study
Context Clues – information from the passage that identifies the meaning of a word or group of words
Contrasting – looking for things that are different
Couplet – two successive rhyming lines that appear together
Definite Article – the word “the”, which indicates a specific person, place, thing, or idea
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Dialogue – the spoken conversation between characters in a drama
Drama – a type of writing that is meant to be performed, such as a play
Effect – what happens as a result of the event or action
Fact – a piece of true information that can be independently proven
First Person – a narrative style told from the viewpoint of a character in a book
Heading – a short title that comes before a page or paragraph, which tells you what the topic of a page
or paragraph will be
Homographs – words that look alike but have different meanings
Homophones – words that sound alike but are spelled differently, such as “their” and “there”
Indefinite Article – words such as “a”, “an”, “any”, or “some, that indicate an unspecific person, place,
thing, or idea
Index – section at the back of a book listing of topics and their page location within a text
Inference – a determination that the reader make about what is happening, based on information and
evidence provided in the passage
Informational Passage – a passage that gives the reader facts without trying to make him or her feel a
certain way
Main Character – the character the writer focuses on in a written work
Main Idea – what a story or passage is mainly about
Maps – graphics showing actual physical locations, as well as political divisions, resource distribution,
and location of roads
Metaphor – an implied comparison of two different things without using the words “like” or “as
Meter – a pattern of rhythm in a poem
Narrative Passage – a type of writing describes a sequence of events; a story
Opinion – a viewpoint or personal belief that cannot be proven true or false; opinions often vary from
person to person
Paragraph – groups of sentences that relate to one topic; the main building block of writing
Period – a type of punctuation which is used to indicate that a sentence has ended; periods are only
used with statements
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Personification – figurative language that gives human qualities to animals and objects
Persuasive Passage – a type of passage that tries to change the reader’s mind about something or that
tries to convince the reader to do or believe something
Plot – the main series of events in a story
Poetry – also Poetic Passage; a type of writing that uses expressive language written in a series of lines
and stanzas
Prefix – a group of letters added to the beginning of a root word
Problem/Solution – an organizational structure in non-fiction texts in which the author typically
presents a problem and possible solutions to it.
Pronoun – a word used in place of a noun (usually to present too much repetition
Resolution – in fiction, how the conflict is resolved and what happens to the character afterward
Rhyme – the use of words that sound very much alike
Rhythm – the way the lines in a poem sound when you read them
Rising Action – in fiction, events following the introduction of the conflict and leading up to the story’s
climax; often the bulk of the story
Root Word – a base word that is used to make a bigger word with the addition of affixes
Scene – a division of an act in a play; usually described in stage directions
Sequence – the order in which things happen
Setting – the time and place in which the events of a story occur
Simile – a direct comparison of two different things, using either “as” or “like” as a connecting word
Stage Directions – the writer’s instructions to the actors and those setting up the play. They tell the
actors what they should do before, during and after they speak, and also indicate music and lighting
changes. Stage directions also help the reader understand what the characters are doing (if the play is
being read, and not performed by actors)
Statement – a sentence that is neither a question nor an exclamation
Subject – the person, place, thing, or idea that is doing or being something in a sentence
Suffix – a special group of letters added to the end of a root word to form a new word and alter the
meaning of the root word
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Supporting Sentence – a sentence that gives you more information about the topic introduced in the
topic sentence or that provides evidence to support the point made in the topic sentence
Synonyms – words that have the same, or almost the same, meaning
Table – a visual representation of information broken down into columns under headings or categories
Table of Contents – an index in the front of a book that provides the chapter number and titles, as well
as the page number they begin on
Tense – form of a verb that tells you when the action takes place
Theme – the central idea or meaning of a story or article
Third Person – point of view of a narrator outside the story
Title – part of a book found on its cover that tells the reader what the book is about or what it contains
Topic Sentence – a sentence that appears at the beginning of the paragraph that tells you what the
paragraph will be generally about
Verb – the action word in a sentence
Grade 7 – English Language Terminology and Definitions
Adverbs – words that describe actions
Allusion – reference to familiar people, places, things, or events
Antonym – opposite of a word
Apostrophe – punctuation mark used to form contractions or show possession
Ballad – poem that tells a story in rhythmic verse; usually rhymes, (most folk songs, for example.)
Bar Graphs – graphics that group information using bars
Bias – unfair preference for, or dislike of, something
Cause – a person, a thing, or an event that makes something happen
Characters – people or animals in a story
Clause – a group of words that contains a subject and a predicate
Climax – point in a story at which the conflict is addressed; usually the most exciting part of the story
Colon- punctuation mark most commonly used to separate hours and minutes when giving the time
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Comedy – light-hearted play that’s usually written to make the audience laugh
Comma – a punctuation mark that indicates a transition or separation
Comma Splice – run-on sentence in which a comma, but no conjunctions, separates that clauses
Comparison – act of finding the qualities two items share
Complex Sentence – two or more simple sentence put together; has two subjects and two predicates
Conclusion – overall opinion of a piece of writing
Conflict – main problem or struggle in a story
Context Clues – hints from other words in a piece of writing
Contraction – word that results when a letter or letters are left out
Contrast – act of finding the ways in which two items differ
Couplet – two lines of verse next to each other that rhyme; work together in a poem to create a unit.
Dependent Clause – words that do not express a complete thought; also called a subordinate clause
Dialogue – the words spoken by actors in a play
Effect – result; the thing that happens
Elegy – lyric poem that expresses sadness over a death or the passing of time; traditionally songs for
funerals
Fact – something that can be proven to be true
Fiction – type of writing that is made up, such as stories and poems
First-Person Perspective – story told from the “I” perspective; story is limited to the narrator’s
perspective
Flowcharts – illustrations that show sequence of events
Fused Sentences – sentence with clauses that run together without punctuation
Generalizations – broad statements
Graphic Organizers – visual images and headings that organize information
Headings – short titles in a piece of writing that tell you what’s coming.
Homonyms – words that are spelled the same but mean different things and often have different
pronunciations
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Homophones – words that sound the same but are spelled differently
Hyperbole – exaggeration or overstatement
Idioms – expressions whose meanings cannot be taken literally
Imagery – art of using words to create an experience otherwise perceived through the senses of sight,
hearing, smell, touch, and taste.
Independent Clause – words that could be their own sentence; a complete thought.
Inference – a form of reasoning in which a reader comes to a conclusion based on evidence from the
text
Line Graphs – graphs that are simple versions of bar graphs, lines only
Lyric – relatively short poem with one speaker who expresses thought and feeling; sonnet, elegy, and
ode are examples
Main Idea – main thing a piece of writing is about
Metaphor – compares two things directly using a form of the verb is
Nonfiction – a factual piece of writing
Novel – a long piece of fictional writing
Ode – lyric poem that praises an important person, place, or thing
Opinion – a person’s belief that can’t be proven
Personification – act of giving human qualities to an object or abstract idea
Pie Charts – graphics that show, by the size of each piece of the graphic, or “slice”, the relative
importance, or size, of each slice
Play – piece of writing that is meant to be acted out
Plot – set of events that make up a story
Poem – piece of writing set in groups of lines called stanzas; sometimes uses rhyme
Point of View – perspective of a story; narrator’s perspective
Possessives – words that show ownership
Predicate – describes something the subject is or does
Prefix – group of letters that start a word
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Problem – a challenge; something to fix
Proofread – to look for errors in spelling, grammar, and structure
Propaganda – information spread to influence how people think; may display extreme bias.
Punctuation – marks used in writing to accentuate something, indicate a pause or an end, or indicate
some special feature about a phrase or numbers
Quotation Marks – mark of punctuation that look like a pair of apostrophes; most commonly used to
enclose the words of a speaker
Rhyme Scheme – pattern of rhyming lines in a poem
Resolution – way in which a conflict is addressed in a story
Rising Action – events after the conflict is revealed but before the conflict must be faced
Root Word – main piece of a word
Run-on Sentence – sentences with two or more main clauses
Second-Person Perspective – story told from the “You” perspective
Semicolon – mark of punctuation that looks like a combination of a colon and a comma; used to indicate
transitions
Sentence Fragment – part of a sentence that fails to express a complete thought
Setting – time, place, and social context of a piece of writing
Sequence – order in which things happen
Simile – compares two things using the words like or as
Simple Sentence – most basic kind; expresses just one thought and has just one subject and just one
predicate
Solution – answer to a problem
Sonnet – rhymed lyric poem consisting of 14 lines
Stage Directions – tell actors what to do before, during, and after they speak in a play
Story – short piece of writing that’s made up
Subject – who or what a sentence is about
Subject-Verb Agreement – placing the right verb with the subject
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Suffix – Group of letters added to the end of a word
Summarizing – act of briefly describing a story
Supporting Details – sentence that support the topic
Synonym – word with the same, or similar, meaning as another word
Tables – graphics that show words in columns and rows
Theme – main lesson of a passage
Third-Person Perspective – story told from the perspective of someone outside the story
Tone – a way of speaking or writing that shows a certain feeling or attitude
Topic Sentence – sentence that tells what the paragraph is about
Tragedy – play that usually deals with serious subjects and doesn’t often haven a happy ending
Traits – qualities of characters
Viewpoint – perspective, how someone looks at something
Grade 8 – English Language Vocabulary
Affix – syllables added to the beginning or ending of a root word.
Alliteration – when two or more words have the same beginning sound
Allusion – reference to a familiar person, place, thing, event, or literary work in writing
Antonyms – words that mean opposite things
Apostrophe – punctuation used to form the possessive of nouns (John’s car), to form a contraction
(isn’t), and to form the plural of a lowercase letter (p’s).
Argument – in a persuasive text, the writer’s opinion or position on an issue
Author’s Purpose – the reason an author has for writing a text
Ballad – a poem that tells a story in rhythmic verse
Bias – unfair preference for or dislike of something
Cause – the person, action, or event that makes something else happen
Cause and Effect – a way or organizing writing that tells what happens and why
Characters – the people, animal, or objects in a story
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Characterization – the method an author uses to reveal characters and their carious personalities
Chart – a type of illustration showing relationship between pieces of information using geometric
shapes or a format of rows and columns
Clause – a group of words with a subject and a predicate that expresses a thought
Colon – punctuation (:) most commonly used to indicate time (5:30 pm); also used to introduce lists
Comedy – drama written to amuse its audience that ends happily
Comma – a punctuation mark that is used to indicate a transition or separation in writing
Compare – a process in which you look for things that are the same about two or more things
Compare and Contrast – a way of organizing writing to show how things are alike and different
Complex Sentence – a sentence that contains two or more independent clauses
Compound-Complex Sentence – a sentence that contains at least two independent clauses and a
dependent clause
Conclusion – an overall opinion that you form after reading a passage
Conflict – the problem facing a story’s main character or characters
Content-Specific Words – words that are used to discuss specific areas of knowledge
Context – the words, phrases, and sentence that come before and after a particular word in a passage
Context Clues – the words and sentences in a piece of writing that help you figure out the meaning of an
unfamiliar word
Contrast – a process in which you look for things that are different
Couplet – two successive lines of verse that rhyme
Dialogue – the spoken conversation between characters in a drama or story
Drama – a type of writing that is meant to be performed, such as a play
Effect – what happens as a result of the event or action
Elegy – a mournful lyric poem of lament for the dead
Fact – a piece of true information that can be independently proven
Fiction – a story that is the product of imagination rather than a documentation of fact
Figurative Language – language used in writing to make it more expressive
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First Person – a point of view in which the narrator is a character in a story and the reader’s knowledge
of the story is limited to the narrator’s personal perspective
Flowchart – a graphic organizer that shows sequence
Generalization – broad statement about a topic or person
Genre – a category of literature
Graph – a diagram that shows relationships between variable quantities
Graphic Organizer – a visual illustration of your ideas, used to plan out your writing
Heading – a short title that comes before a page or paragraph, which tells you what the topic of the
page or paragraph will be
Homonyms – words with the same spelling but different meanings, and often different pronunciations
Hyperbole – an exaggeration or overstatement
Idioms – expressions that cannot be understood simply bu knowing the literal meaning of the words in
them
Imagery – a word or group of words in a literary work that appeal to one or more of the senses: sight,
taste, touch, hearing, and smell
Indefinite Pronoun – A pronoun that takes the place of a noun (both, either, many, some)
Inference – a determination that you make, based on the information and evidence provided in the
passage
Literary Devices – certain aspects of literature that are used to convey special meaning
Lyric – a relatively short poem with one speaker who expresses thought and feeling
Main Heading – the most important heading, such as a title, in a passage; tells the topic of the whole
passage
Main Idea – primary focus of a passage
Map – a type of illustration showing locations and how to get from place to place
Metaphor – a figure of speech that draws on the similarities of two different things without using the
words “like” or “as”
Motivation – the reason a character does something
Multiple-Meaning Word – a word that has more than one meaning
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Nonfiction – writing that is not fictional and is designed primarily to explain, argue, or describe
Ode – a lyric poem of praise for something or someone
Opinion – a viewpoint or personal belief that cannot be proven true or false; opinions often vary from
person to person
Personification – attributing human qualities to an object or abstract idea
Pie Chart – a graphic organizer that shows proportions in relation to a whole, represented by a circle
Plot – the structure of a story; the sequence in which the author arranges events in a story
Poetry – writing that uses literary elements, such as rhyme, to present ideas or experiences to the
reader
Point of View – the vantage point from which the story is told
Prefix – syllables added to the beginning of a root word
Problem – a difficult situation, an obstacle, or a challenge
Proofread – to read a passage looking for errors in spelling, grammar and structure
Propaganda – information put forth to persuade readers of a particular view
Quotation Marks – commonly used around spoken words, in dialogue; they look like a pair of
apostrophes (“)
Resolution – the way in which a story’s main character solves the story’s problem
Rhyme Scheme – the pattern of rhyming lines in a poem
Root – a base word that is used to make a bigger word
Root Word – the central part of a word, to which prefixes or suffixes may be added
Run-on Sentence – sentence with two or more main clauses
Second Person – a point of view in which a narrator addresses the reader directly by using the word you
Semicolon – punctuation (;) used to link two different ideas or phrases when there is not a conjunction
and when making a list of items that includes commas
Sensory Imagery – words that appeal to all of the reader’s sense
Sentence Fragment – a sentence is missing its subject or predicate
Sequence – the order in which things are arranged, actions are carried out, or event happen
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Setting – the time, place, and social culture in which the events of a story occur
Simile – a comparison of two different things, using either “as” or “like” as a connecting word
Simple Sentence – sentence made up of a single independent clause
Solution – the answer to a problem
Sonnet – rhymed lyric poem consisting of 14 lines
Stage Directions – instructions for the actors and descriptions of the stage and scenery
Subheading – a heading in boldface within a passage that tells what a section of a passage that follows is
about
Suffix – syllables added to the end of a root word to form a new word
Summary – a brief description of a story or event, identifying the main idea of the passage and the most
important details, using your own words
Supporting Details – additional descriptions, explanations, and details that help to strengthen the
author’s point
Synonyms – words that have the same, or almost the same, meaning
Table – a graphic organizer that displays information in rows and columns with headings
Theme – a story’s central idea or lesson
Third Person – a point of view in a story that is given from someone not involved in the story; a point of
view in which the narrator is not a character
Tragedy – drama featuring a flawed hero who meets a tragic end
Tragic Flaw – the trait of the hero or heroine of a tragedy that brings him or her to their downfall
Trait – an example of behavior that shows a character’s personality
Viewpoint – one’s perspective on someone or something
Visual imagery – words that help the reader visualize, or see, what the author wants them to see
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