STUDY GUIDE
Unit 2
StudySync Skills
7th Grade Language Arts
Mrs. Fiorentino
Theme
Theme is the central idea or message an author expresses in a work of fiction, poetry, or drama.
Sometimes an author explicitly states a theme through a title, the words of a character, or a
descriptive line. For example, the theme of most fables is stated at the end of the text as a moral.
More often, though, themes grow and develop over the course of a text, and they are not directly
stated at all. In this case, you will have to infer the theme. When readers try to infer the theme of
a story, novel, poem, or play, they usually ask themselves: What is this text really about? Often,
though, readers confuse the subject (or topic) of a text (what the text is about) with the text’s
theme. A topic can often be summed up in a word or two, while a theme is usually stated in a
sentence. For example, the topic of Aesop’s fable, “The Tortoise and the Hare,” is a road race. But
the theme is “Slow and steady wins the race,” or Perseverance is more important than speed.
In order to infer the theme, or themes, of a text, you’ll need to look closely at the structure and
all elements of a story, poem, or drama. Depending on the genre of literature you’re reading,
anything from the title to the stage directions to the stanza length could be a clue to the text’s
theme. You’ll have to look closely at the structure and all elements of a story, poem, or drama
(and sometimes even consider what an author has left out!) to determine the theme, or themes,
and how they develop over the course of a text.
Identification and Application:
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Themes are not usually stated directly, except in fables.
One or more themes may recur across an entire text or a significant part of it.
Multiple related themes can appear in a single work.
Themes can be inferred by looking at many aspects of a work of literature, including:
o a narrator’s or speaker’s tone
o a pattern of images throughout the work
o the thoughts and actions of a narrator, speaker, or characters
o the central problem in a poem or conflict in a story or play
o the title and other headings, including subtitles, chapter titles, and so on
Word Meaning
A writer’s choice of words is never random. In fact, writers have always chosen their words
carefully, to achieve a specific effect. Consider poets, for example. In the late seventeenth
century, some poets chose flowery language, such as “keeper of the fleecy people” instead of
“shepherd,” to avoid using ordinary words. Today, although the language of poetry may sound
more like the language we speak, poets still use figures of speech, such as similes and
metaphors, to make the reader stop to understand something in an unexpected way.
Now consider the relationship between word choices and informational texts. These days, many
writers are using technical terms--words with specialized meanings--to educate readers, make
their writing more precise, or to explore a scientific or technical subject. But technical terms
need to be read in context. The word bus, for example, has a very different meaning in a text
about spacecraft (where it may mean “a craft that carries a detachable device”) than it does in a
short story (where it describes the sort of vehicle that may take you to school).
Variations in word meaning are reminders that, when in doubt about any unfamiliar word or
phrase, readers need to look for context clues or consult a dictionary or other reference source.
Identification and Application:
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Think about why a writer makes the word choices he or she does.
Consider why certain words or phrases, such as figures of speech or idioms, are used in
a text. What is their effect on the tone or meaning?
Examine each word or phrase that is difficult to understand. Use context clues, the word’
s function in the sentence, the placement of the word in the text, or a dictionary to figure
out the meaning.
Textual Evidence
Any time you’re explaining something about a text, you need to cite, or point out, textual
evidence to support your ideas. Any word, phrase, sentence, or paragraph from a text can be
used as textual evidence. When you cite textual evidence, someone else can look back at the
same text you read and understand how and why you came to your conclusions about it. Textual
evidence is very important for explaining your inferences about and analysis of a text.
When you make inferences while reading, you use the text and your own background
knowledge to make logical guesses about what is not directly stated by the author. When you
are explaining these inferences to someone else, it is important that you use textual evidence to
show the specific words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs that led you to make the inferences.
Textual evidence supports analysis in a similar way. When you analyze a text, you look very
closely at it to gain a greater understanding or develop an idea about something that might not
be explicitly, or directly, stated by its author. Text analysis often tries to explain the themes or
ideas in a text. Textual evidence is essential when analyzing texts because you must show how
and why you analyzed a text in the way that you did.
Whether you’re making inferences from a short passage or drawing conclusions based on an
entire text, textual evidence is the most important tool for helping you explain your ideas.
Identification and Application:
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Inferences are logical guesses about what is not directly, or explicitly, stated by the auth
or. To make an inference:
o Read closely and critically. Consider why an author gives particular details and i
nformation.
o Think about what you already know. Use your own knowledge, experiences, and
observations to help figure out things that the author doesn’t directly state.
Readers should cite the specific words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs from a text tha
t led them to make an inference. This is the textual evidence that supports their inferenc
e.
o Find the most relevant textual evidence that supports your inference.
Poetic Structure
You can probably identify poetry when you see it, but how would you define it? Poetry, unlike
most prose, is a formal and intentional arrangement of words on a page. In poetry, every word,
every line break, every use (or lack) of punctuation is carefully chosen so that the poem
expresses a certain theme, tone, or mood.
In terms of structure, a poem may be arranged in lines of different lengths, and the lines may be
grouped into stanzas with differing numbers of lines. Well known poetic structures are called
poetic forms. Some forms that you might already be familiar with include haiku, limerick,
sonnet, and villanelle. In addition to these well known forms, though, poetic structure can refer
to any principle of order that a poet gives to a piece. A poet writing about a dog might arrange
the lines to actually look like a dog! As strange as that might be, it’s poetic structure, too.
Sometimes, though, a poet might abandon a poetic form entirely. When poets write without
consistent meter, rhyme, or stanza length, it’s called open form. When analyzing an open form
poem, it’s important to remember that not having a regular structure is still a choice that the
poet has made for his or her work.
Identification and Application:
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Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurat
ive and connotative meanings.
Analyze the impact of the repetition of sounds in a poem.
Analyze how a poem’s structure (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet) or lack of it (free verse) contrib
utes to the theme, content, and meaning of the poem.
The meaning of the poem (what it says) connects with the structure (how the poem says
it).
Here are some steps to keep in mind when determining the form or structure of a
poem:
o Before looking at specific lines or groups of lines, scan the whole poem to see if i
t uses the same structure throughout. Is it a short poem or a long poem? Are the
lines all the same length? Are the groupings of lines all the same size? A quick gl
ance over the poem can provide a lot of information before you even begin readi
ng.
o Analyzing a section of the poem can provide clues to the poem’s overall structur
e.
Poetic Elements
Have you ever wondered why you can still remember a nursery rhyme you learned as a small
child? Or why cartoon characters often have names like Daffy Duck, Mickey Mouse, or Fred
Flintstone? Or why someone who’s hesitating about a decision is said to have “cold feet”? We
may not read poetry every day, but poetic elements are part of our everyday lives. Their uses
just aren’t limited to poetry. The elements, or features, of poetry include figurative language,
such as metaphors and similes, which compare unlike things in startling ways. Figurative
language in turn creates imagery, or vivid pictures in the reader’s imagination. Sound is another
powerful poetic tool. Rhythm, rhyme, and repetition—of consonants (alliteration and
consonance), vowels (assonance), and whole words—are all elements that help to create a
particular mood or tone, and make a poem memorable.
Identification and Application:
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Look for key poetic elements, such as figurative language and the sound devices of rhyth
m, rhyme, and repetition.
Read the poem aloud to get the sense of the rhythm, rhyme, repetition, and imagery.
Identify examples of sound repetition, such as alliteration, consonance, and assonance.
Identify types of figurative language, such as similes and metaphors.
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Look for the ways the poem combines these elements to create an emotional response t
o its theme.
Figurative Language
Whenever you describe something by comparing it to something else, you are using figurative
language. This is language writers use to produce images in readers’ minds and to express ideas
in fresh, vivid, and imaginative ways. To create figurative language writers use figures of speech.
These are words and phrases whose connotations go beyond their literal meanings.
When writers use literal language, they are stating facts as they are. Figurative language, by
contrast, often uses comparison or exaggeration to make a point, and to help readers imagine
something in an unexpected way. For example, in the sentence, The dancer glided like a swan, the
writer uses a figure of speech (“glided like a swan”) to produce an image that tells more about
the dancer's movement than the literal sentence, The dancer danced. Figurative language is very
common in poetry, though it is also used in prose (both fiction and nonfiction). It can help you
understand or imagine something in a way you would not otherwise.
Identification and Application:
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Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurat
ive and connotative meanings.
Figurative language comes in many forms, including
o comparisons, such as similes and metaphors.
o personification, which gives human qualities to something that isn’t human
o allusions to literature, history, mythology, religious texts, or works of art or mus
ic.
To interpret figures of speech, such as similes and metaphors, in context, ask yourself th
ese questions: What two things are being compared? Why are they being compared? Wh
at image do they create that appeals to one or more of the reader’s five senses?
To interpret an allusion, think of its source. To what is it referring? Is it a work of literat
ure, history, mythology, and so on? Remember: An allusion is used to clarify something
new or unfamiliar by relating it to something that readers already know.
Connotation and Denotation
Every word has a literal or an exact meaning that appears in the dictionary. But in addition to
these dictionary definitions, some words also have what is called an implied or associated
meaning. The denotation of a word refers to its literal meaning, while the connotation of a
word is based on the emotional association it has for many people depending on the way it is
used. The denotation of the word greasy is simply “something covered with oil,” and it’s
perfectly innocent on its own, or when used to describe a car engine or a door hinge. But when
greasy is used to describe someone’s hair or a platter of food, it takes on a negative connotation.
Writers use the exact, or denotative meaning of a word to construct literal meaning, and the
connotations associated with some words to create a certain tone or theme.
Identification and Application:
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Denotation is the dictionary definition of a word.
Connotation refers to the implications or associations a word may have, even if they are
not the same as the word’s exact meaning.
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Connotations may be positive, negative, or neutral depending on the context. For exampl
e, saying that someone’s clothes look “interesting” may be interpreted as either a negati
ve or positive comment.
When you’re analyzing connotative and denotative meanings, it’s important to remembe
r that authors make specific, intentional choices with the words they use.
If you don’t know the denotation of a word, first try to figure it out from the context and
then check your guess in a dictionary.
Pay careful attention to the connotations of words with similar denotations. For exampl
e, “house” and “home” have the same basic definitions but produce different feelings an
d associations. Similarly, “polite” and “diplomatic” have the same basic denotations, but
somewhat different connotations. Both words refer to cordial behavior or statements, b
ut “diplomatic” suggests that someone is not just being nice but is making an effort to a
void saying something unpleasant.
Arguments and Claims
When people express opinions, they often find themselves in arguments—though hopefully not
the noisy kind! An argument, whether it’s spoken or written, is really an attempt to persuade
someone to share a point of view. But, as you probably know from experience, an effective
argument does more than state opinions. Let’s say you’re reading an informational text, such as
a persuasive essay, that contains an argument. To evaluate the argument, or determine whether
that argument is convincing, you’ll need to examine the writer’s claims and how well he or she
has supported them with evidence. That evidence can include facts, details, examples, or logical
reasons from outside sources.
Identification and Application:
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Find the central idea or topic to identify the argument in a text (Background
Information)
Identify the claim (Thesis) the author makes to build his or her argument and the
reasons.
Evidence appears in a text as a series of facts, statistics, or quotes from a reliable source.
Each author builds their argument through claims based on evidence,
in an effort to persuade the reader to adopt his or her point of view.
Author’s Purpos and Point of View
An author's purpose for writing might be to inform, persuade, or entertain. Many times an
author writes for a combination of reasons. Of course, there are times when discovering an
author's purpose for writing is simple. You pick up a magazine and find an article with the title
“Why Organic Farming is the Future.” You can tell from the title alone that the writer really likes
the idea of organic farming. He promotes his idea with facts and details that help you know that
the purpose of the article is to persuade readers to support this kind of farming. Other times
identifying the author's purpose can be more difficult. It involves reading closely and paying
attention to the information an author presents on a topic. It is often necessary to identify the
author's point of view, or perspective, on the subject he or she writes about, and how it is
conveyed in the text, in order to fully understand an author’s purpose or intention. For example,
the writer of the magazine article might state that organic foods are healthier and taste better,
which reflects the writer's favorable view of organic foods.
Identification and Application:
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An author might compare and contrast two ideas or events. Look for compare-andcontrast words and phrases, such as like, unlike, in comparison,or by contrast.
An author who wants to persuade an audience should present reasons and evidence in t
he form of facts, examples, statistics, and quotes.
A writer may intensify an emotion or argument with persuasive language (e.g., in my opi
nion, should, must)or with figurative language—
words or phrases that reveal the author’s point of view toward the topic. So, for example
, an archaeological discovery might be described not just as “a great find,” but as “an Ala
ddin’s cave of priceless treasures.”
To analyze how an author distinguishes his or her position from that of other writers by
quoting them, it is usually either to share a similar point of view or to point to an area w
here they disagree.
Informational Text Structure
Text structure is the organizational pattern that an author uses to present ideas in an
informational text. Some of the most common text structures include: sequential, problem and
solution, cause and effect, and comparison and contrast.
Sequential: Authors present information about events or steps in a process, in the order in
which they take or have taken place. So look for words that signal time or steps in a process.
Problem and Solution: A writer presents a problem or a series of problems, and offers solutions
on how to solve them.
Cause and Effect: Writers who specialize in history or science topics often use this structure to
explain how or why something happened.
Comparison and Contrast: Authors use this structure to present information about things that
are different but have something in common, such as two points of view on a subject.
Look for clues, such as transition words, to determine the text structure an author uses to organi
ze the text. Here are some transition words or phrases for specific text structures:
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Sequential: first, next, then, finally, before, not long after, soon, meanwhile
Problem and solution: problem, solution, the question is, one answer is
Cause and effect: cause, effect, because, since, as a result, so, if . . . then
Comparison and contrast: alike, in the same wayto compare; unlike, but, yetto contrast
Description: for example, such as, most important
Parts of an Essay:
Introduction
The introduction is the opening paragraph or section of a nonfiction text. The introduction
should provide readers with essential pieces of information. It contains a “hook” that is
intended to engage readers’ interest and keep them reading. It should identify the topic/main
idea in background information and state the thesis (CLAIM + REASONS), which allows
readers to preview the ideas that will follow in the body of the text. The introduction is also the
place where the writer wants to make a good first impression.
Transition
Transitions are connecting words and phrases that clarify the relationships among ideas in a
text. Transitions also provide cohesion in a text showing connections among ideas within and
across sentences and paragraphs. The transitions tell readers how the ideas in a new sentence
or paragraph are connected to the ideas in the sentences or paragraphs that surround them.
Also, by adding transition words or phrases to the beginning sentences and end sentence of a
paragraph, authors guide readers smoothly through the text.
In addition, transition words and phrases help authors make connections between (or among)
words within the same sentence. Conjunctions such as and, or, and but and prepositions such
as with, beyond, inside, and others show the relationships between (or among) words.
Transitions help readers understand how words fit together to make sense.
Body Paragraphs
In the body of essays, writers use the following structure in all body paragraphs:
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Transition: Allows paragraphs to flow from one idea to the next
Point: One of the reasons given in the thesis statement
Evidence: Explicit evidence taken from the text or sources provided; proves the point.
Explain: Tells the reader how the evidence given supports the point; make a connection.
Closing Sentence: Begins with a transition and ties all ideas together and prepares the
reader to move into the next set of ideas (reasons).
Counterclaim
A counterclaim is a claim that negates or disagrees with the thesis/claim. When writing the
body of your essays, don't avoid the opposing side of an argument. Instead, include the opposing
side as a counterclaim. Find out what the other side is saying and respond to it within your own
argument. This is important so that the audience is not swayed by weak, but unrefuted,
arguments. Including counterclaims allows you to find common ground with more of your
readers. It also makes you look more credible because you appear to be knowledgeable about
the entirety of the debate rather than just being biased or uninformed. Remember, you must
include evidence to back up your counterclaim.
Ex. Dogs may be smarter than cats because you can train them, but they have to be trained
expending time and energy from its owner.
Conclusion
The conclusion is the final paragraph or section of a nonfiction text. The conclusion brings the
discussion to a close. It follows directly from the introduction and body of the text by referring
back to the ideas presented there including a restated thesis statement and summary of
points (reasons). Many conclusions try to connect with readers by encouraging them to apply
what they have learned from the text to their own lives – Real world connection. Lastly, they
must close with their closing statement, bringing the reader back to the main idea.
Citations/Sources
When writing an essay (informational or argumentative), writers cannot simply make up
information or rely on their own subjective experiences or opinions. To thoroughly support the
treatment and analysis of their topics, writers need to include information from relevant,
accurate, and reliable sources and cite, or acknowledge, them properly. Writers should keep
track of these sources as they research and plan their work. When it comes time to write, they
can use this information to acknowledge the sources they’ve used within the text. Failure to
acknowledge those sources is plagiarism, or stealing someone else’s words and ideas. All
information taken from texts need to be cited using internal citations.