Context Clues – What Are They? Context clues are bits of information from the text that, when combined with prior knowledge, allow you to decide the.

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Context Clues – What Are They?

Context clues are bits of information from the text that, when combined with prior knowledge, allow you to decide the meaning of unknown words in the story or article you are reading.

As a reader you must act similar to a detective and put together clues from sentences surrounding an unknown word in order to make an intelligent “guess” as to what the definition of a word is.

Inference

Making an inference is basically reading between the lines

Draw personal meaning from text (words) or pictures.

When you think about that hidden information on your own and understand what the author has written, you’re making an inference!

Make an Inference!

What does this image tell me?

Dramatic Irony A contradiction

between what a character thinks and what the reader/audience knows to be true

Verbal Irony Words used to suggest

the opposite of what is meant

Functions a lot like sarcasm

Situational Irony An event occurs that

directly contradicts the expectations of the characters, the reader, or the audience

Direct Characterization

Direct characterization is when the author TELLS the audience what the personality of the character is.

Example: “The patient boy and quiet girl were both at the game.”

The author is telling us that the boy is patient and the girl is kind.

Indirect Characterization

Indirect characterization is when the author SHOWS things that reveal the personality of the character.

Mood

*The writer may carefully select details such as descriptive words, dialogue, imagery, and setting to create a mood.

*May also use symbolism to create mood

*Symbol: something that stands for something else

Tone

*Tone: attitude the author takes toward the subject

*The language and details the writer chooses to describe the characters, setting, and events help to create the tone.

*Tone often reflects the author’s purpose.

Tone can be…

Informal/Formal Serious/Humorous Literal/Sarcastic Objective/Biased Playful, Naïve, Condescending or many

other possibilities

To Sum Up…

Tone is how the author feels Mood is how YOU feel while reading Both are INFERRED from the text

AUTHOR’S PURPOSE

3 Main Purposes

To inform To persuade To entertain

To Inform Share knowledge or information Author will provide you with facts, NOT

opinions This type of writing is straightforward and

unbiased The author’s tone is neutral (neither good

nor bad) Non-fiction Think:

Biographies, text books, the news, charts, research papers,

To Persuade

Get the reader to believe something or try something

This type of writing often mixes fact AND opinion

Author will take a stance that something is good or bad, right or wrong

Think:Commercials, editorials, campaign

speeches, advertisements

To Entertain

To talk about a theme, event or story Think:

Fiction, movie, novel, short story, poetry

DenotationThe denotation of a word is

its dictionary meaning.

ConnotationThe connotation of a word is the set of

ideas associated with it in addition to its explicit meaning

Denotation versus Connotation

Some examples –

Cheap is “low in cost” (denotation) but “stingy” or “poorly made” are the connotations of cheap

ImageryImagery is words or phrases

that appeal to one or more of the five senses. Writers

use imagery to describe how their subjects look,

sound, feel, taste, and smell.

PLOTLINE

ExpositionResolution

Ris

ing

Act

ion

Climax

Falling Action

Conflict Introduced

ExpositionThe Exposition is the

introduction. It is the part of the work that introduces the characters, setting, and basic situation.

Rising ActionRising Action is the part of the

plot that begins to occur as soon as the conflict is introduced. The rising action adds complications to the conflict and increases reader interest.

ClimaxThe Climax is the point of

greatest emotional intensity, interest, or suspense in the plot of a narrative. The climax typically comes at the turning point in a story or drama.

Falling Action

Falling Action is the action that typically follows the climax and reveals its results.

Resolution

The Resolution is the part of the plot that concludes the falling action by revealing or suggesting the outcome of the conflict.

Conflict

Conflict is the struggle between opposing forces in a story or play. There are two types of conflict that exist in literature.

External Conflict

External conflict exists when a character struggles against some outside force, such as another character, nature, society, or fate.

Man vs. Man

Man vs. Nature

Man vs. Society

Internal Conflict

Internal conflict exists within the mind of a character who is torn between different courses of action.

Man vs. Himself

ForeshadowingForeshadowing is the author’s use of clues

to hint at what might happen later in the story. Writers use foreshadowing to build their readers’ expectations and to create suspense. This is used to help readers prepare for what is to come.

Point of View

Point of View is the perspective, or vantage point, from which a story is told. It is the relationship of the narrator to the story.

First Person is told by a character who uses the first-person pronoun “I”.

Third-person limited is the point of view where the narrator uses third-person pronouns such as “he” and “she” to refer to the characters. The narrator knows the thoughts, feelings and motivations of ONE character

Third person omniscient is the point of view where the narrator knows the thoughts, feelings and motivations of MULTIPLE characters

ThemeThe theme of a literary work is its central

message, concern, or purpose.

A theme is always GENERAL. It applies to anyone, anywhere, at any point in time

MetaphorA Metaphor is a type of speech that compares

or equates two or more things that have something in common. A metaphor does NOT use like or as.

Example: Life is a bowl

of cherries.

SimileA Simile is another figure of speech that

compares seemingly unlike things. Simile’s DO use the words like or as.

Example: Her voice was like nails on a chalkboard.

PersonificationPersonification is a figure

of speech in which an animal, object, force of nature, or idea is given human qualities or characteristics.

Example: Tears began to fall from the dark

clouds.

AlliterationAlliteration is the repetition of sounds,

most often consonant sounds, at the beginning of words. Alliteration gives emphasis to words.

Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers

POETRY FORM

FORM - the appearance of the words on the page

LINE - a group of words together on one line of the poem

STANZA - a group of lines arranged together

METER

A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.

Meter occurs when the stressed and unstressed syllables of the words in a poem are arranged in a repeating pattern.

When poets write in meter, they count out the number of stressed (strong) syllables and unstressed (weak) syllables for each line. They they repeat the pattern throughout the poem.

METER cont.

FOOT - unit of meter. A foot can have two or three syllables. Usually consists of one stressed and

one or more unstressed syllables.

TYPES OF FEET

The types of feet are determined by the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables.

METER cont.

TYPES OF FEET (cont.)

Iambic - unstressed, stressed

Trochaic - stressed, unstressed

FREE VERSE POETRY

Unlike metered poetry, free verse poetry does NOT have any repeating patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables.

Does NOT have rhyme.

Free verse poetry is very conversational - sounds like someone talking with you.

A more modern type of poetry.

BLANK VERSE POETRY

Written in lines of iambic pentameter, but does NOT use end rhyme.

from Julius Ceasar

Cowards die many times before their deaths;

The valiant never taste of death but once.

Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,

It seems to me most strange that men should fear;

Seeing that death, a necessary end,

Will come when it will come.

RHYME

Words sound alike because they share the same ending vowel and consonant sounds.

(A word always rhymes with itself.)

LAMP STAMP

Share the short “a” vowel sound Share the combined “mp” consonant

sound

END RHYME

A word at the end of one line rhymes with a word at the end of another line

Hector the Collector Collected bits of string.

Collected dolls with broken heads And rusty bells that would not ring.

INTERNAL RHYME

A word inside a line rhymes with another word on the same line.

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary.

From “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe

NEAR RHYME

a.k.a imperfect rhyme, close rhyme

The words share EITHER the same vowel or consonant sound BUT NOT BOTH

ROSE LOSE

Different vowel sounds (long “o” and “oo” sound)

Share the same consonant sound

RHYME SCHEME A rhyme scheme is a pattern of rhyme

(usually end rhyme, but not always).

Use the letters of the alphabet to represent sounds to be able to visually “see” the pattern.

CONSONANCE

Similar to alliteration EXCEPT . . .

The repeated consonant sounds can be anywhere in the words

“silken, sad, uncertain, rustling . . “

ASSONANCE

Repeated VOWEL sounds in a line or lines of poetry.

(Often creates near rhyme.)

Lake Fate Base Fade (All share the long “a” sound.)

REFRAIN

A sound, word, phrase or line repeated regularly in a poem.

“Quoth the raven, ‘Nevermore.’”