hyperbole
extreme exaggeration, not meant to be taken literally
counterargument
an argument made in opposition to a claim presented in persuasive
... [Show More] writing
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topic
the subject of a piece of writing
main idea
the writer's interpretation of the subject of a piece of writing
credibility
the believability or trustworthiness an author creates with his or her audience
active reading
engaging with the text by taking notes, paraphrasing, questioning the text, or outlining the main ideas
summarizing
condensing the main ideas of a piece of writing down to the most basic components
paraphrasing
rewording a text into your own words without shortening it
a. to entertain
b. to persuade
c. to describe
d. to inform or explain
the four main purposes an author may have in his or her writing
pun
a play on words that sound alike or have multiple meanings; they create a tone of humor or sarcasm
mood
describes the feelings aroused in an audience based on the tone set by the author
alliteration
the repetition of initial consonant sounds in words that are close together in a sentence or passage
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infer
to read between the lines and piece together the clues given by an author in order to make a reasonable, educated guess and draw a logical conclusion
narrative
writing that tells a story
supporting details
provide evidence to back up an author's claims - they answer who, what, when, where, why and how for a reader
emotional appeals / pathos
appeals made to an audience's feelings
comma splice
the joining of two independent clauses using only a comma between them
rhetoric
the use of language to persuade or convince an audience
dependent clause
group of words containing a subject and a verb but which does not express a complete thought - cannot stand alone as a sentence
modifier
a word, phrase, or clause that describes or gives more information about a word in the sentence
transition
word or phrase that helps shift the reader from one idea to the next or from one sentence to the next in a piece of writing
sentence fragment
a group of words pretending to be a sentence, but missing a subject, verb, or a complete thought
precision
using exact words that give the reader a specific image or feeling to help make your point
parallel structure / parallelism
using the same pattern or words to help give equal levels of importance to multiple ideas in a sentence
coherence
everything in the sentence, paragraph, or essay is working together to create a unified whole [Show Less]