English Language Conventions, Composition, Writing Process and Research

Affix

a morpheme (meaningful part of a word) that are attached to a root or base word

- two kinds: prefix, suffix

Prefix

a morpheme that precedes the root or base part of the word

- disconnect

Suffix

a morpheme that alters the end of a word

- walked

Inflectional Suffix

doesn't change the meaning of the base word but changes the word's number and tense

- dogs (noun --> noun)

Inflectional Suffix added to Nouns

- plural words ("s", "es")

- posessive ("s")

Inflectional Suffix added to Verbs

- verb tense ("s", "es", "ed", "en", "ing")

Inflectional Suffix added to Adjectives/Adverbs

- comparatives ("er")

- superlatives ("est")

Derivational Suffix

doesn't change the base of a word but can affect a word's grammatical function or the word's semantic meaning

("ly," "ate", "ion")

- sadness (adjective --> noun)

Separator Comma

used to separate three or more elements in a series

Delimiter Comma

used to set off or set apart elements in a sentence

(ex: introductory clause)

Pronoun Subjective Case

refers to pronouns used as sentence subjects

("I", "you", "he", "she", "it", "we", "they", "who")

Pronoun Objective Case

refers to pronouns used as objects of verbs or prepositions

("me", "you", "him", "her", "it", "us", "them", "whom")

Pronoun Possessive Case

refers to pronouns which express ownership and thus show possession

("my/mine", "your/yours", "his/her/hers", "it/its", "their/theirs", "whose")

Antecedent

a word for which a pronoun replaces

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

a singular pronoun must replace a singular now, a plural pronoun must replace a plural noun

Present Progressive Tense

describes an ongoing action that is happening at the same time the statement is written

- ex: "The researcher is examining the effects that racial discrimination has on society"

Past Progressive Tense

describes a past action which was happening when another action occurred

- ex: "The explorer was explaining the latest discovery in physics when protests began on the street"

Future Progressive Tense

describes an ongoing or continuous action that will take place in the future

- ex: "Dr. Payne will be presenting ongoing research on community-school engagement next week"

Present Perfect Tense

describes an action that happened at an indefinite time in the past or that began in the past and continues in the present

- ex: "Women have voted in presidential elections since 1921"

Past Perfect Tense

describes an action that took place in the past before another past action

- ex: "By the time the surge of soldiers arrived, the war had ended"

Future Perfect Tense

describes an action that will occur in the future before some other action

- ex: "By the time the surge of soldiers arrives, the combat group will have spent several weeks waiting"

Present Perfect Progressive Tense

describes an action that began in the past, continues in the present, and may continue into the future

- ex: "The business owner has been considering a transfer to the state of Texas where profits would be larger"

Past Perfect Progressive Tense

describes a past, ongoing action that was completed before some other past action

- ex: "Before the budget cuts, the students had been participating in many extracurricular activities"

Future Perfect Progressive Tense

describes a future, ongoing action that will occur before some specified future time

- ex: "By the year 2020, linguists will have been studying and defining the Indo-European language family for more than 200 years"

Run-On Sentence

a sentence in which two or more independent clauses are joined without appropriate punctuation or conjunction

Dangling Modifier

an error in sentence structure where a grammatical modifier (word, phrase, or an entire clause) is associated with a word other than the one the author intended or with no particular word at all

Misplaced Modifier

a modifier is misplaced if readers can't easily relate it to the word it modifies

Descriptive Essay

- characterized by sensory details, which appeal to a reader's physical senses (taste, touch, feel, etc.) and details that appeal to a reader's emotions and intellect

- rhetorical strategies: determining purpose, considering audience, organizing the description, creating a dominant impression, using descriptive or metaphorical language

Narrative Essay

- events are often arranged in chronological order

- rhetorical strategies: flashbacks, flash-forwards, transitions that built to the writer's climactic scene

Compare-and-Contrast Essay

identifies similarities and differences between events, instances, objects, or ideas

Definition Essay

examines a term's (or idea's) meaning

Persuasive Essay

-takes a position or makes a claim about one or more events or ideas and supports that claim with evidence, statistics, anecdotes, citations, and references

Exploratory Research Writing

investigates an area or issue on which little or no previous work has been done

Predictive Research

develops and writes about the likely course of events in a given situation or circumstance

- ex: predict/research whether studying with headphones increases grades

Evaluative Research

attempts to evaluate the impact that something has, like a new policy, event, law, or treatment regime

Editorial

- an article that presents a newspaper's (or magazine's) opinion of an issue, develops that idea in the body of the writing, and offers a solid and concise conclusion that summarizes the writer's opinion

- often include opinions of the writer, good writing with commentary that is engaging to readers, and alternative solutions to the problems or issues being criticized

Editorial (explain/interpret)

explain the way the newspaper/magazine has covered a sensitive or controversial subject

Editorial (criticize)

presents constructive criticism of actions, decisions, or situations

Editorial (persuade)

- from the first paragraph, readers will be encouraged to take specific, positive action

- political endorsements are good examples of this

Editorial (praise)

commend people or organizations for something done well

Brainstorming

process of generating a lot of information within a short amount of time

- often looks like a list

Freewriting

- process of generating information by instructing students to write without stopping or without lifting the pen from the paper

- allows students to write ideas quickly without distractions of revising their work

Clustering

-strategy that allows students to explore relationships between themes or ideas

-aka mind mapping or idea mapping

Venn diagram (graphic organizer)

-simple structure that show the differences and similarities between subjects

Story mapping (graphic organizer)

-focus on key elements of character, setting, conflict, and resolution

Tree diagram (graphic organizer)

-shows how items are related to one another

-the "trunk" is the main topic, the branches are relevant facts/traits/people/outcomes

Plot pyramid (graphic organizer)

-a pyramid/triangle shape used to map the events of a story or text

-main central point/person (top)

-resolutions/accomplishments (bottom)

Convergent question (research project)

-questions that students can answer by putting together information

-like using clues to solve a case

-"who", "what", "where", "when", "in what ways"

Divergent questions (research project)

-questions that students can answer by generating their own ideas or by approaching a topic from a different angle

-"what if", "imagine", "how might"

Evaluative questions (research project)

-questions about quality, value, and point of view

-require thinking like a judge

-"defend", "judge", "justify"

Subjective Research Topic

-a topic that is biased or personal and, because of that bias, it also lacks the objectivity of a so-called "disinterested party"