Study Guide

Section 7: Glossary
WEST–B

Reading and Writing

• adjective: a word that modifies, or describes, a noun or a pronoun
• adverb: a word that modifies, or describes, a verb, adjective, or adverb
• antecedent: the word or phrase to which a pronoun refers
• antonym: a word that is the opposite in meaning to a particular word
• audience: the intended readers of a written work
• bias: a personal tendency to judge a person, people, or ideas favorably or negatively
• clarity: freedom from confusion and extraneous information
• coherence: logical connection and adherence of ideas
• colloquial language: conversational or informal language
• concise: free from elaboration and unnecessary detail
• context clues: the words or ideas that surround an unfamiliar word and provide clues to its
• meaning; clues may be in the form of examples, definitions, restatements, or explanations
• conventions: established practices, methods, and rules
• credibility: believability, trustworthiness
• deductive reasoning: drawing a specific conclusion from a general premise
• demonstrative pronoun: a pronoun used to indicate a particular person or thing
• explicit: clearly or directly stated
• extraneous: not essential or pertinent
• fallacy: a false or mistaken idea
• figurative language: language that has a meaning that is not literal or exact
• fluent: smooth and flowing
• focus: the point of concentration or emphasis
• graphic representation: a table, chart, graph, or other non-text-based form of representing
• information
• implications: ideas expressed indirectly
• implicit: suggested without being directly stated
• infer: to derive a conclusion by reasoning from evidence
• intent: a clearly formulated aim
• main idea: the central idea on which a paragraph or selection is based
• modifier: a word that describes another word in the sentence (i.e., adjective, adverb)
• noun: a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea
• objective: dealing with facts without distortion by personal feelings or interpretations
• occasion: the circumstance for which an action is taken
• organized: structured as a coherent, unified whole
• paragraphing: dividing writing into paragraphs
• phrase: two or more words forming a distinct part of a sentence
• point of view: a technical term in writing that refers to the person (i.e., first, second, third) in
• which a piece of writing is presented; or the opinion, viewpoint, or stand taken by a writer
• precise: defined exactly
• preposition: a word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in
• the sentence (e.g., in, over, with, before, of)
• pronoun: a word that takes the place of a noun (e.g., I, her, theirs, everyone)
• pronoun-antecedent agreement: a correct match between the number (e.g., singular, plural) and
• gender of a pronoun and the antecedent to which it refers
• purpose: a reason or goal
• qualifying language: language, including adjectives and adverbs, used to explain or describe other
• words in the sentence (e.g., "They, the boys and girls, were excited about their vacation."; "The
• speaker was quite adamant about her point.")
• redundancy: needless repetition or excessive use of words in an explanation or description
• relative pronoun: a pronoun that introduces a clause
• relevant: applicable to the matter at hand
• run-on sentence: two or more sentences written and punctuated as one sentence
• sentence fragment: an incomplete sentence punctuated as a complete sentence
• structural analysis: the identification of prefixes, suffixes, and bases to help with word
• identification
• subject-verb agreement: a correct match between the number (e.g., singular, plural) of the subject
• and verb in a sentence
• supporting information: details, anecdotes, and other information provided to support a main idea
• synonym: a word with the same meaning as or similar meaning to a particular word
• syntax: the way in which words are arranged to form meaningful phrases, clauses, and sentences
• theme: a subject or topic of discussion
• thesis: a point set forth and defended in writing
• transitions: words or phrases that serve to link ideas in a clear order
• valid: both relevant and meaningful
• verb: a word that expresses action or a state of being or becoming
• verb tense: the form a verb takes to show time (e.g., past, present, future)
• voice: individual distinction of form or expression