Language Arts Terms and Definitions
Main Idea - (or topic sentence) tells the reader what the paragraph will be about. What the reader is trying to tell you.
Supporting details - give more information about the topic. They are not as general as the main idea. Instead, they help the reader understand more about the main idea.
Plot - a chain of events that is a result of some prior events, and the cause of some subsequent events.
Theme - A broad idea in a story. This message is usually about life, society, or human nature. Themes are usually implied rather than explicitly stated.
Thesis statement – It tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper. It is usually a single sentence somewhere in your first paragraph that presents your argument to the reader.
Concluding (or Summary) Sentence - Pulls together or summarizes the main idea of the paragraph.
Sensory Detail - Appeals to one or more of the five senses.
Scrap booking - the hobby of creating compilations in scrapbook albums, such as keepsakes, pictures, periodical articles, etc.
Biography - an account of a person’s life, usually published in the form of a book or essay.
Autobiography - is information about one’s own life written by that one person.
Simile – A figure of speech in which an explicit comparison is made between two things using phrase as like, as, than, similar to, resembles, appears, or seems.
Metaphor - A figure of speech in which a comparison is made between two things usually unlike. A metaphor doesn’t use connective words such as like or as.
Personification – A figure of speech in which human attributes are given to an animal, an object, or a concept. Ex: The stars are dancing in the sky.
Hyperbole - figure of speech in which statements are exaggerated and used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression. Example: “I could eat a horse.”
Onomatopoeia – the use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning. (Ex: bang, toot)
Alliteration - is the repetition of a leading vowel or consonant sound in a phrase. A common example in English is “Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers”.
Accent - A mark used as a superscript to distinguish among variables represented by the same symbol. Rhythmically significant stress in a line of verse.
Repetition - Repetition of a sound, syllable, word, phrase, line, stanza, or metrical pattern is a basic unifying device in all poetry
Symbolism - In writing, symbolism is the use of a word, a phrase, or a description, which represents a deeper meaning than the words themselves.
Flashback - an earlier event is inserted into the normal chronological order of a narrative.
Foreshadow-the act of providing vague advance indications; representing beforehand.
Slant – A viewpoint or an opinion given that could be used to unfairly to influence.
Exposition - To convey information or to explain.
Rhyme Scheme - The pattern of rhymes used in a poem.
Internal Rhyme - a rhyme between words in the same line of a verse. Example: The grains beyond age, the dark veins of her mother”
Stanza - A group of lines of verse, usually set off from other groups by a space. The stanzas of a poem often have the same internal pattern of rhymes.
Short story - A short piece of prose fiction, having few characters and aiming at unity of effect.
Poetry (diff. poetry & prose) Poetry has a different form than prose; Prose has sentences arranged in paragraphs; Prose has paragraphs, poetry has stanzas; Prose has sentences in a paragraph coming one after another, poetry divides into shorter lines, with a group of words that join together on each line.
Fable short tale to teach a moral lesson, often with animals or inanimate objects as characters;
Analogy - the process by which words or phrases are created or re-formed according to existing patterns in the language, similarity between like features of two things, on which a comparison
Idiom - A speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements Example: It is raining cats and dogs.
Slogans - A phrase expressing the aims or nature of an enterprise, organization, or candidate; a motto.
Cause/effect - the writer tells the reasons “why” something happens (causes), or the writer tells the results (effects) of something.
Gerund – a word that is mostly used as a verb is used as a noun in a sentence.
Appositive – additional information for a sentence that is separated by commas.
Propaganda - Techniques to influence opinions and to avoid the truth, omit significant information, or distorting it. They are used to manipulate the readers’ or viewers’ reason and emotions
Testimonial - attempt to connect a famous or respectable person with a product or item.
Name-calling - Attaching a negative label to a person or a thing. People try to tear their opponent down when they are trying to avoid supporting their own opinion.
Bandwagon - An appeal to the subject to follow the crowd, that one side is the winning side, and to join in because others are doing so as well
Narrative - illustrates an idea though storytelling. The events being narrated are normally presented in chronological (time) order.
Descriptive – An attempt to create an impression of a person, place, or thing. It relates to sensory details to allow the reader to visualize the subject.
Expository – An attempt to explain the subject to the audience. Explaining a process, comparing and contrasting two items, or identifying a cause-effect relationship may accomplish this.
Persuasive – An attempt to change the reader’s attitude or to motivate the reader to engage in a specific action by appealing to reason and/or appealing to emotion. Supporting details are normally presented in the order of importance.
Point of View – The point from which the story is told (1st, 2nd, or 3rd)
First Person - A point of view in which an “I” or “we” serves as the narrator of a piece of fiction. The narrator may be a minor character, observing the action.
Second Person - In second person point of view, the narrator tells the story to another character using “you,” so that the story is being told through the addressee’s point of view.
Third Person - A method of storytelling in which a narrator relates all action in third person, using third person pronouns such as “he” or “she.”
Omniscient – A method of storytelling in which the narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of all of the characters in the story,
Limited - The narrator knows only the thoughts and feelings of a single character, while other characters are presented externally.
Foreign phrases (bon voyage – French ‘have a nice trip), (mi casa es su casa – Spanish ‘my house is your house) (bon jour – French ‘good day’ or ‘good morning’;, (hasta la vista – Spanish ‘bye’ ‘see you later’, ‘until tomorrow’)
Language Arts Terms | Comments OffLanguage Arts Terms and Definitions
Main Idea - (or topic sentence) tells the reader what the paragraph will be about. What the reader is trying to tell you.
Supporting details - give more information about the topic. They are not as general as the main idea. Instead, they help the reader understand more about the main idea.
Plot - a chain of events that is a result of some prior events, and the cause of some subsequent events.
Theme - A broad idea in a story. This message is usually about life, society, or human nature. Themes are usually implied rather than explicitly stated.
Thesis statement – It tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper. It is usually a single sentence somewhere in your first paragraph that presents your argument to the reader.
Concluding (or Summary) Sentence - Pulls together or summarizes the main idea of the paragraph.
Sensory Detail - Appeals to one or more of the five senses.
Scrap booking - the hobby of creating compilations in scrapbook albums, such as keepsakes, pictures, periodical articles, etc.
Biography - an account of a person’s life, usually published in the form of a book or essay.
Autobiography - is information about one’s own life written by that one person.
Simile – A figure of speech in which an explicit comparison is made between two things using phrase as like, as, than, similar to, resembles, appears, or seems.
Metaphor - A figure of speech in which a comparison is made between two things usually unlike. A metaphor doesn’t use connective words such as like or as.
Personification – A figure of speech in which human attributes are given to an animal, an object, or a concept. Ex: The stars are dancing in the sky.
Hyperbole - figure of speech in which statements are exaggerated and used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression. Example: “I could eat a horse.”
Onomatopoeia – the use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning. (Ex: bang, toot)
Alliteration - is the repetition of a leading vowel or consonant sound in a phrase. A common example in English is “Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers”.
Accent - A mark used as a superscript to distinguish among variables represented by the same symbol. Rhythmically significant stress in a line of verse.
Repetition - Repetition of a sound, syllable, word, phrase, line, stanza, or metrical pattern is a basic unifying device in all poetry
Symbolism - In writing, symbolism is the use of a word, a phrase, or a description, which represents a deeper meaning than the words themselves.
Flashback - an earlier event is inserted into the normal chronological order of a narrative.
Foreshadow-the act of providing vague advance indications; representing beforehand.
Slant – A viewpoint or an opinion given that could be used to unfairly to influence.
Exposition - To convey information or to explain.
Rhyme Scheme - The pattern of rhymes used in a poem.
Internal Rhyme - a rhyme between words in the same line of a verse. Example: The grains beyond age, the dark veins of her mother”
Stanza - A group of lines of verse, usually set off from other groups by a space. The stanzas of a poem often have the same internal pattern of rhymes.
Short story - A short piece of prose fiction, having few characters and aiming at unity of effect.
Poetry (diff. poetry & prose) Poetry has a different form than prose; Prose has sentences arranged in paragraphs; Prose has paragraphs, poetry has stanzas; Prose has sentences in a paragraph coming one after another, poetry divides into shorter lines, with a group of words that join together on each line.
Fable short tale to teach a moral lesson, often with animals or inanimate objects as characters;
Analogy - the process by which words or phrases are created or re-formed according to existing patterns in the language, similarity between like features of two things, on which a comparison
Idiom - A speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements Example: It is raining cats and dogs.
Slogans - A phrase expressing the aims or nature of an enterprise, organization, or candidate; a motto.
Cause/effect - the writer tells the reasons “why” something happens (causes), or the writer tells the results (effects) of something.
Gerund – a word that is mostly used as a verb is used as a noun in a sentence.
Appositive – additional information for a sentence that is separated by commas.
Propaganda - Techniques to influence opinions and to avoid the truth, omit significant information, or distorting it. They are used to manipulate the readers’ or viewers’ reason and emotions
Testimonial - attempt to connect a famous or respectable person with a product or item.
Name-calling - Attaching a negative label to a person or a thing. People try to tear their opponent down when they are trying to avoid supporting their own opinion.
Bandwagon - An appeal to the subject to follow the crowd, that one side is the winning side, and to join in because others are doing so as well
Narrative - illustrates an idea though storytelling. The events being narrated are normally presented in chronological (time) order.
Descriptive – An attempt to create an impression of a person, place, or thing. It relates to sensory details to allow the reader to visualize the subject.
Expository – An attempt to explain the subject to the audience. Explaining a process, comparing and contrasting two items, or identifying a cause-effect relationship may accomplish this.
Persuasive – An attempt to change the reader’s attitude or to motivate the reader to engage in a specific action by appealing to reason and/or appealing to emotion. Supporting details are normally presented in the order of importance.
Point of View – The point from which the story is told (1st, 2nd, or 3rd)
First Person - A point of view in which an “I” or “we” serves as the narrator of a piece of fiction. The narrator may be a minor character, observing the action.
Second Person - In second person point of view, the narrator tells the story to another character using “you,” so that the story is being told through the addressee’s point of view.
Third Person - A method of storytelling in which a narrator relates all action in third person, using third person pronouns such as “he” or “she.”
Omniscient – A method of storytelling in which the narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of all of the characters in the story,
Limited - The narrator knows only the thoughts and feelings of a single character, while other characters are presented externally.
Foreign phrases (bon voyage – French ‘have a nice trip), (mi casa es su casa – Spanish ‘my house is your house) (bon jour – French ‘good day’ or ‘good morning’;, (hasta la vista – Spanish ‘bye’ ‘see you later’, ‘until tomorrow’)
All Catagories | Comments OffTwelve Words
Twelve Words
1. Trace - follow, step by step, do an outline, do a timeline, sequence.
2. Analyze - identify, examine, understand it better, take it apart, look at the little pieces.
3. Infer - imply or suggest, make a reasonable guess, suggest, read between the lines, hypothesize, use your own experiences.
4. Evaluate - consider it, solve it, assess it, grade it, in your opinion, tell me the good and the bad.
5. Formulate – express, communicate, draw, create, design, devise, construct, set goals.
6. Describe - to give account of, label, outline, represent something pictorially, tell me about it, in your own words, show me, use your adjectives, give five W’s and the H. (who, what, where, why, when, and how).
7. Support - reinforce, to be in favor of something such as a cause policy or organization, justify, evidence, back it up, argue the point, give examples, give reasons.
8. Explain - to give the reason for something, put it your own words, give the 5 W’s and H (who, what, where, why, when, and how).
9. Summarize - to give a shorten version, wrap it up, the remix, put in the ‘W’s and the ‘H’ (who, what, where, when, why and how, put these into one sentence.
10. Compare - examine two or more things, similarities, show how things are alike AND different.
11. Contrast - a difference or something that is different compared with something else, all the way that they are different and alike.
12. Predict - to say what is going to happen in the future, probably, look into your crystal ball, tell us what is going to happen.
All Catagories, Twelve Words | Comments Off