Welcome to Mrs. Detwiler's and Faith’s class!
7th Grade Reading Assessment Notes
Please study these periodically until State Assessments.
You’ll be glad you did!
Plot: is the sequence of events in a story.
Conflict: is a struggle between opposing sides or forces.
Climax: is the point at which the conflict is the greatest.
Resolution: is the outcome of the conflict.
Internal conflict: a conflict which occurs within a person. (EX: making a choice between right and wrong; when you can’t decide what to wear to school, etc).
External conflict: a struggle between two characters or a character and a force of nature or a character and an animal. (EX: two people fighting; being stranded in a blizzard, etc).
Suspense: is the quality of the story that makes you want to keep reading.
Point of View: refers to the angle or position from which the story is told.
1st person: one of the characters is telling the story like he/she is actively involved.
3rd person: action is observed through the eyes of only one character.
Omniscient: the all knowing vantage point.
Character traits: are the qualities that make people individuals or different from one another. (REMEMBER: these are the qualities that can’t be seen such as neat freaks, slobs, laziness, courageous, etc).
Motivation: the reason behind the actions.
Setting: is the time and place of a story.
Theme: is the truth about life revealed through literature. Also, the lesson in life the author is conveying. (REMEMBER: this must be expressed in at least one sentence—not in one word). (EX: the grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence; don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today; never give up, etc).
Foreshadowing: clues that hint at what will happen later in the story.
Inference: is an educated guess, a conclusion that makes sense because it’s supported by evidence/facts.
Symbols: in literature are persons, places, or things that function as themselves but that can also stand for a larger idea such as love, glory, and honor.
Metaphor: a comparison of two different things by saying one is the other. (REMEMBER: metaphors do NOT use the words “like” or “as”). (EX: the hose is a serpent with its tail in the flower garden).
Onomatopoeia: the use of words whose sounds echo their meaning. (EX: quack, tlot-tlot, boom, etc).
Similes: the comparison of two unlike things using the words “like” or “as”. (EX: the bright light is like the sun burning against my closed eye lids.)
Cause: makes something happen. (Goes hand-in-hand with effect.) (EX: lots of rain caused flooding).
Effect: what happens as a result of some event. (Goes hand-in-hand with cause). (EX: an effect of the flooding was roads were washed away, houses/basements filled with water, people couldn’t get in or out of their homes, etc).
Figure of speech: a word or phrase that describes one thing in terms of something else and is not literally true. (EX: referring to a garden hose as being a snake.)
Personification: giving human or living qualities to nonhuman or nonliving things. (EX: animals talking in the movie “Homeward Bound”, “Beauty and the Beast” movie where dressers, candlesticks, brooms, tea pots and cups talk, walk, etc.).
Alliteration: is the repetition of consonant sounds in words that are close together. (EX: Silly Sally sat stupidly slurping soda).
Analogies: is a point-by-point comparison made between two things to show how they are alike. (EX: creeping is to slow as zooming is to fast).
Idioms: an expression that can not be translated literally. (EX: “by the skin of your teeth” means your barely did or achieved something and NOT that your teeth has skin; “don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched” means don’t count on having something before you actually have it).
Hyperbole: is an exaggeration, which often is meant to add humor. (EX: I’m so hungry I could eat a horse; He’s 900 years old!; I’ve told you a million time to stop exaggerating!”).
Compare: looking for ways that things are similar. (Goes hand-in-hand with contrast).
Contrast: looking for ways that things are different. (Goes hand-in-hand with compare).
Main idea: the most important point or focus of a story/passage.
Narrative reading/writing: is simply the telling of a story.
Expository reading/writing: is to inform, to give facts, to give directions, to explain, or to define.
Persuasive reading/writing: is getting other people to see things your way.
Technical reading/writing: is following or writing instructions. (EX: how to bake a cake, how to build a computer desk, how to play a video game, etc.).
Author’s purpose: the reason(s) an author has for writing a particular work. Is it to entertain, inform, persuade.
PREFIXES, SUFFIXES, AND ROOT WORDS
PREFIXES:
1. a – not; without
2. be – thoroughly
3. mid – middle
4. post – after
5. semi – half
6. super – above
SUFFIXES:
7) ant/ent – one who does something
8. ess – female
9. ism – the belief in something
10. ist – one who believes in something
ROOT WORDS:
11. aero – air; atmosphere 20. meter – measure
12. aqua – water 21. Micro – small
13. biblio – book 22. Migr – to move; travel
14. bio – life 23. Mim – copy; imitate
15. chron – time 24. Mort – death
16. dem – people 25. Phon – sound
17. geo – earth 26. Photo – light
18. graph – write 27. Script/scrib – to write
19. hemi – half 28. Tele – distance; from afar
29. test – to witness; affirm