OST Prep. Vocabulary

A/B Question

A question with two parts. It combines a traditional question with a second question that asks students to show evidence from the text that supports the answer they provided to the first question.

according

As stated by or in.

account

A report or description of an event or experience.

actions

The fact or process of doing something, typically to achieve an aim.

alliteration

The repetition of speech sounds at the beginning of nearby words (e.g., Sally Sells Seashells)

allusion

A brief, usually indirect reference to a person, place, or event—real or fictional.

analogy

A relationship created between new and familiar words, concepts, or ideas.

analyze

Break something down into parts and see how they are related.

argument

Express a position on a problem and support it with reasons or evidence.

assess

To evaluate the nature, ability, or quality of.

audience

The intended target group of a message.

author's purpose

The motive or reason for which an author writes, as to entertain, inform, or persuade.

avoid

Keep away or stop oneself from doing.

based

Have as the foundation of something.

between

Indicating a connection or relationship.

boxes

The area or space for your answer choice.

central idea

The chief topic of a passage expressed or implied in a word or phrase.

character

Persons represented in a dramatic or narrative work.

characteristic

A feature or quality belonging typically to a person, place, or thing.

claim

An arguable statement.

clarify

To make meaning more transparent and easy to understand.

clues

The fact or idea that serves as a guide or aid in a task or problem.

compare

To detect similarities between two or more ideas, objects, concepts, and other elements from a text.

compose

Arranging ideas and details in a clear and coherent way to create an effective message.

conclusion

A final statement of belief based on evidence, experience, and reasoning.

conflict

A struggle or an opposition. Two characters may go against or disagree with one another.

consider

Think carefully about something.

context

The circumstances that form an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood.

contrast

Different from something else.

contribute

Help to cause or help bring about.

counterclaim

Arguable statements intended to dispute other claims.

demonstrate

To make evident or prove.

describe

To convey the appearance, nature, and/or attributes.

description

A spoken or written representation or account of a person, object, or event.

detail

Small parts of the text that add up to the whole.

develop

Elaborate or expand.

development

Grow or cause to grow.

dialogue

The verbal interaction between two or more characters.

differing

Be unlike or dissimilar.

drama

A literary genre designed for performance in the theater in which actors take on roles.

edit

The correction of mechanical features of writing, such as spelling, punctuation, and capitalization, in order to prepare materials for presentation.

effect

The power to bring about a result.

emphasize

To make something important.

encounter

Experience or be faced with something.

evaluate

To make judgements about the value of ideas, purposes, or claims of a text based on criteria and standards.

evidence

Facts, figures, details, quotations, or other sources of data that provide support for claims.

excerpt

A part taken out of a literary work.

explanation

To make clear by describing in more detail or giving relevant facts or ideas.

fictionalized

To make into fiction; give a somewhat imaginative or fictional version.

figurative language

Words or expressions with a meaning other than the literal interpretation.

genre

A type or class of literature (e.g., fiction, drama, poetry)

historical account

Retelling events of the past.

include

Comprise or contain as part of the whole.

infer

A conclusion logically drawn from presented material.

informative/explanatory writing

Writing that represents knowledge originating from instruction, study, or research and that is meant to further clarify by describing in more detail.

interpret

Understand and explain the meaning of.

introduction

The beginning of a written piece of work introducing the subject.

key detail

Points of information in a text that strongly support the meaning or tell the story.

literal

Taking words in their most usual or basic sense without metaphor or allegory.

message

The main idea or lesson the author is trying to get across to the reader.

mood

The emotion(s) expressed by an author in his or her work.

multi-paragraph

A piece of writing on a specific topic longer than one paragraph.

narrative writing

A story involving events, characters, and what the characters do and say.

narrator

The person in a fictional narrative who tells the story.

opinion

A personal view, attitude, or appraisal.

overall

In all parts, taken as a whole.

over relying

Depending on too heavily.

passage

The written text the questions are based on.

perspective

A particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; point of view.

phrase

A group of words not containing a subject and a predicate. (e.g., running in the rain)

plan

Part of the prewriting process, to find ideas, build ideas, and structure them together.

plot

The events and actions of a narrative work.

point of view

Who is telling the story. (e.g., 1st person: I and me; 2nd person: you; 3rd person: he, she, it; Limited—only they see omniscient—knows all)

present

To show or offer to consider.

provide

To give or make available.

purpose

The goal a reader or writer seeks to attain.

quotation

Something that is repeated from the text or the exact words of someone else.

relate

To make or show a connection between.

repetition

The recurrence of an action or event.

reveal

Make known to others.

review

To examine or assess.

revise

The part of writing and preparing written material focused on reconsidering and reworking text relating to task, purpose, and audience.

scene

The parts of acts in a play in which there is no change of place or in time.

selected

Carefully choose as being the best or most suitable.

sensory language

The use of details from the five senses to appeal to the reader.

sequence of events

The structure of the action of a story in its chronological order.

setting

The general place, historical time, and social circumstances in which action occurs in a story or play.

significant

Sufficiently great or important to be worthy of attention.

simile

Compare two unlike things using like or as. (e.g., Her hand is as cold as ice.)

stanza

A grouping of lines of verse in a poem often set off by a space.

structure

Organization of a text.

summary

Condensing a text into its general theme(s) and major points.

supports

Helps prove your point or claim.

text features

Printed features, as well a graphic, informational, and organizational aids. (e.g., bold print, italics, maps, charts, labels, headings).

theme

An abstract concept broad enough to cover the entire scope of a literary work.

tone

The author's attitude reflected in the style or written word.

word choice

The writer's selection of words as determined by many factors. (e.g., meaning, tone, diction)

word meaning

Intending to communicate.