PSSA Review

the repeating of the beginning sounds of words in a sentence. Ex: sweet smell of success, a dime a dozen, bigger and better, jump for joy.

a word that means the opposite of another word.

the author’s reason for writing the selection. Always ask yourself “is the purpose to entertain, to inform, or to persuade?”

a storyof a person’s life written by the person

a story of a person’s life written by another person

the method an author uses to tell us information about the characters

the moment when the action of the story comes to its highest point

the endof the passage/story

the struggle between different  forces in astory/passage

information within the story/passage that helps you figure out the meanings of challenging words

the actual words/conversation that the character says to another character.“   “

to examineor to judge; example would be to decide if something is good or bad

text written to explain and convey information about a specific topic

a narrative intended to teach a moral or a lesson

the partof the story following the climax where there is a sharp decline of drama

any story that is imaginary or not real

language that cannot be taken literally

when the author disrupts the plot of the story to re-create or remember an earlier time

when the author provides you with clues about events that will happen later in thestory

when you make assumptions about different events and/or characters

categories of literature such as biography, mystery, historical, sports, and romance

an organizational picture such as a Venn diagram or writing web that helps you identify important details of the story

two or more words that sound the same but have different meanings example:  pair/pear

an extreme exaggeration for strong effect example:I’m so hungry I could eat a horse

• words that help you imagine each of the senses
• *you can really see/hear/feel what’s going on

reading between the lines. taking what the author wrote and adding it to what you already know to make an assumption

a difference between what is expected and what actually happens

a comparison between 2 things without using like and as

ex: I was a tornado when I got ready for school today.

the overall feeling created by the author’s words

happy, sad, excited, eerie

the speaker of the story

writing that is true and the purpose is to inform

sound words

•  
• examples: buzz, crash, crunch, boom, clang

the events that occur in the story beginning with the setting and end with the resolution

perspective from which the story is being told

A character in the story is telling the story. uses words such as me, mine, we, I

The story is being told from the author’s/narrator’s point of view useswords such as  they, them, he, she

making an educated guess about what will happen next

letters added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning ex:start/restart, pack/unpack

the “good guy” in the story

giving objects/animals human-like qualities

ex: The flames danced through the  dry forest.

occurs at the end of the story and includes the story’s action after the climax

events in the correct order/step by step

the environment, time, and place that the story occurs

a comparison between two objects using like or as ex.  tough as nails

letters placed at the end of a word to change its meaningex: run/running, pretty/prettiest

a shortened explanation of the story/passage with the most important events and main ideas

details that support the main idea of a story/passage

an image, object, character, or action that stands for an idea beyond its actual meaning

a word that means the same as another word

the message of the story/passage that the author is trying to communicate to you

the clues of the story that suggest the author’s attitude toward the story/passage

the ability to imagine or see what you are reading

the author’s style and the quality that makes his/her writing unique

compare means to show similarities (what is the same), contrast means to show the differences (what is different)

good vs.evil, a family feud, trouble with a bully

a fact can be proven as true, an opinion is how someone feels about something

a word which prefixes and/or suffixes are added to

person, place, thing, or idea

common: teacher, dog, school 

proper:  Mrs. Smith, Max, Northern Potter Children’s School

action words run, talk, skip, feel, stomp

take the place of nouns 

he, she,they, I, we, me

describe verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs

often end in –ly 

happily, quickly, often

describe nouns and pronouns bright, many, huge, yellow, soft