AP Prep English - Keystone Preparation

Fiction vs Nonfiction

Fiction is literature based on imagination, while nonfiction is literature based on facts.

Author’s Purpose

The reason the author is writing a peace of text; what they are trying to portray

Figurative Language

A way of expressing oneself that does not use a word or phrase’s strict, realistic meaning.

Purpose of Figurative Language

Figurative language is used to help the reader better understand what the writes is describing or trying to portray.

Purpose of personification

To give non-human things human-like characteristics in order to provide a more in-depth understanding of such element for the reader.

Purpose of simile

To compare two things to help the reader to better understand the original thing.

Purpose of a metaphor

To compare in terms of absolute to express how alike one thing is to another by saying it is that other thing

Purpose of hyperbole

Exaggerates the point of the author to emphasize tone, and allow the reader to better understand what is occurring in the story.

Purpose of imagery

To set the scene and describe the setting of a story. Uses 5 senses to paint a picture of what is occurring in a scene.

Purpose of satire

Used to criticize a topic to bring about change.

Purpose of flashback

Used to tell the main characters past experiences so the reader can build knowledge about the character and their motivations/goals.

Purpose of dialect

The way a character speaks. Used to show a characters origin/background and helps bring them to life.

Purpose of allegory

A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning. Used to express complex ideas in a simple manner.

Purpose of forshadowing

To help ensure plot development/give the story a cohesive flow, by allowing readers to predict what happens next.

Purpose of irony

Used to enhance the story and keep it dynamic. It is an unexpected turn of events.

Purpose of allusion

Used to increase the readers understanding of the text by referencing something they are already familiar with.

Purpose of symbolism

Used to further emphasize/make reference to complex ideas.

Keystone Exam: Constructed Response Grading

* CCARS - Complete, clear, accurate, relevant, specific


* Include 2 pieces of evidence from the passage


* Prompt always asks 2 things


* ANSWER THE PROMPT

Main Idea

* The key information that the author wants you to know after reading
* The main idea is the central point or message that the author wants to convey in a piece of writing. It is the most important thought or concept that the reader should take away from the text.

Main Idea vs Theme

The main idea is what the book is mostly about. The theme is the message, lesson, or moral of a book.

Finding the main idea

* Ask what or whom the writing is about
* Ask “What does the author want me to know about this topic?”
* Ask yourself what the characters are learning
* Authors often explicitly state the main idea in the intro or conclusion
* Look for reversal transitions…words like but, otherwise, however…
* Look for ideas that are repeated in different ways

Connotation

* The way a word feels; the context around it


* The feeling that a word evokes
* Helps to understand the tone of a passage

Denotation

The dictionary definition of a word

Satire

* Poking fun in order to provide humor while criticizing the object to evoke change
* The use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice or folly
* A joke to highlight comedy/humor and social activism

Purpose of satire

To promote change through comedy

Affix

One or more letters occurring as a bound form attached to the beginning, end, or base of a word and serving to produce a derivative word or an inflectional form (e.g., a prefix or suffix).

Allegory

A form of extended metaphor in which objects, persons, and actions in a narrative are equated with meanings that lie outside the narrative itself. The underlying meaning may have moral, social, religious, or political significance, and characters are often personifications of abstract ideas such as charity, greed, or envy.

Alliteration

The repetition of initial sounds in neighboring words.

Analysis

The process or result of identifying the parts of a whole and their relationships to one another.

Antonym

A word that is the opposite in meaning to another word.

Argument/Position

The position or claim the author establishes. Arguments should be supported with valid evidence and reasoning and balanced by the inclusion of counterarguments that illustrate opposing viewpoints.

Author’s Purpose

The author’s intent either to inform or teach someone about something, to entertain people or to persuade or convince his/her audience to do or not do something.

Bias

The subtle presence of a positive or negative approach toward a topic.

Biography

A written account of another person's life.

Character

A person, animal or inanimate object portrayed in a literary work.

Characterization

The method an author uses to reveal characters and their various traits and personalities (e.g., direct, indirect).

Climax

The turning point in a narrative; the moment when the conflict is at its most intense. Typically, the structure of stories, novels, and plays is one of rising action, in which tension builds to the climax.

Compare/Contrast

Place together characters, situations, or ideas to show common and/or differing features in literary selections.

Conflict/Problem

A struggle or clash between opposing characters, forces, or emotions.

Connotation

The range of associations that a word or phrase suggests in addition to its dictionary meaning.

Context Clues

Words and phrases in a sentence, paragraph, and/or whole text, which help reason out the meaning of an unfamiliar word.

Cultural Significance

The generally accepted importance of a work representing a given culture.

Defense of a Claim

Support provided to mark an assertion as reasonable.

Dialect

A variety of a language distinct from the standard variety in pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary.

Dialogue

In its widest sense, dialogue is simply conversation between characters or speakers in a literary work; in its most restricted sense, it refers specifically to the speech of characters in a drama.

Diction

An author’s choice of words, phrases, sentence structures and figurative language, which combine to help create meaning and tone.

Differentiate

Distinguish, tell apart, and recognize differences between two or more items.

Drama

The genre of literature represented by works intended for the stage; a work to be performed by actors on stage, radio, or television; play.

Dramatic Script

The written text of a play, which includes the dialogue between characters, stage directions and often other expository information.

Draw Conclusion

To make a judgment or decision based on reasoning rather than direct or implicit statement.

Elements of Fiction

Traits that mark a work as imaginative or narrative discourse (e.g., plot, theme, symbol).

Elements of Nonfiction

Traits that mark a work as reportorial, analytical, informative or argumentative (e.g., facts, data, charts, graphics, headings).

Rhyming pattern

A sequence of words that end with the same sound. Used in poetry to create a sense of rhythm and musicality

Meter

Refers to the rhythm and structure of a poem, which is determined by the number of syllables per line and the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.

Commonly used in poetry to create a musical or rhythmic effect.

Prose

Prose is a form of written or spoken language that does not follow a metrical structure, unlike poetry. It is the most common form of language used in everyday communication, including novels, essays, articles, and other forms of literature. Prose is typically organized into paragraphs and follows a natural flow of thought and conversation.

Stanza

A stanza is a group of lines in a poem, typically separated from other stanzas by a blank line. It is often compared to a paragraph in prose writing.

Syntax

Syntax refers to the set of rules that govern the structure of sentences and phrases in a language. It includes the arrangement of words, phrases, and clauses to create well-formed sentences. Syntax is an important aspect of language as it helps to convey meaning and clarity in communication.

Free Verse

Free Verse is a type of poetry that does not follow any specific rhyme scheme or meter. It is characterized by its lack of traditional structure and often relies on the natural rhythms of speech.

Sonnet

A sonnet is a type of poem that consists of 14 lines and follows a specific rhyme scheme. The most common type of sonnet is the Shakespearean sonnet, which has three quatrains (four-line stanzas) and a final couplet (two-line stanza). The rhyme scheme for a Shakespearean sonnet is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. Sonnets are often used to express love or other intense emotions, and they require careful attention to meter and structure.

Ballad

A poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas.

Heroic Couplet

A heroic couplet is a pair of rhyming lines in iambic pentameter, often used in epic and narrative poetry. It was popularized by poets such as John Dryden and Alexander Pope in the 17th and 18th centuries. The form is characterized by its use of end-stopped lines and a clear, concise structure, making it well-suited for conveying moral or philosophical messages.

Evaluate

Examine and judge carefully. To judge or determine the significance, worth or quality of something; to assess.

Explain

To make understandable, plain or clear.

Explicit

Clearly expressed or fully stated in the actual text.

Exposition

A narrative device, often used at the beginning of a work that provides necessary background information

about the characters and their circumstances.

Fact

A piece of information provided objectively, presented as true.

Falling Action

The part of a literary plot that is characterized by diminishing tensions and the resolution of the plot’s

conflicts and complications.

Fiction

Any story that is the product of imagination rather than a documentation of fact. Characters and events in such

narratives may be based in real life but their ultimate form and configuration is a creation of the author.

Figurative Language

Language that cannot be taken literally since it was written to create a special effect or feeling.

First Person

The “first person” or “personal” point of view relates events as they are perceived by a single character. The

narrating character may offer opinions about the action and characters that differ from those of the author.

Flashback

An organizational device used in literature to present action that occurred before current (present) time of

the story. Flashbacks are often introduced as the dreams or recollections of one or more characters.

Focus

The center of interest or attention.

Foreshadowing

An organizational device used in literature to create expectation or to set up an explanation of later

developments.

Generalization

A conclusion drawn from specific information that is used to make a broad statement about a topic or

person.

Genre

A category used to classify literary works, usually by form, technique or content (e.g., prose, poetry).

Headings, Graphics and Charts

Any visual cues on a page of text that offer additional information to guide the

reader’s comprehension. Headings typically are words or phrases in bold print that indicate a topic or the theme of a

portion of text; graphics may be photographs, drawings, maps or any other pictorial representation; charts (and tables or

graphs) condense data into a series of rows, lines or other shortened lists.

Hyperbole

An exaggeration or overstatement (e.g., I had to wait forever.)

Imagery

Descriptive or figurative language in a literary work; the use of language to create sensory impressions.

Inference

A judgment based on reasoning rather than on a direct or explicit statement. A conclusion based on facts or

circumstances; understanding gained by “reading between the lines.”

Informational Tex

Nonfiction written primarily to convey factual information. Informational texts comprise the majority

of printed material adults read (e.g., textbooks, newspapers, reports, directions, brochures, technical manuals).

Interpret

To give reasons through an explanation to convey and represent the meaning or understanding of a text.

Irony

The use of a word or phrase to mean the exact opposite of its literal or usual meaning; incongruity between the

actual result of a sequence of events and the expected result.

Key/Supporting Details

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

that define, describe, or otherwise provide information about the topic, theme, or main idea.

Key Words

Specific word choices in a text that strongly support the tone, mood, or meaning of the text.

Literary Device:

Tool used by the author to enliven and provide voice to the text (e.g., dialogue, alliteration).

Literary Element:

An essential technique used in literature (e.g., characterization, setting, plot, theme).

Literary Form

The overall structure or shape of a work that frequently follows an established design. Forms may refer to

a literary type (narrative, short story) or to patterns of meter, lines, and rhymes (stanza, verse).

Literary Movement:

A trend or pattern of shared beliefs or practices that mark an approach to literature (e.g., Realism,

Naturalism, Romanticism).

Literary Nonfiction

Text that includes literary elements and devices usually associated with fiction to report on actual

persons, places, or events. Examples include nature and travel text, biography, memoir and the essay.

Main Idea

The author’s central thought; the chief topic of a text expressed or implied in a word or phrase; the topic

sentence of a paragraph.

Metaphor

The comparison of two unlike things in which no words of comparison (like or as) are used (e.g., The speech

gave me food for thought.)

Monologue

An extended speech spoken by one speaker, either to others or as if alone.

Mood

The prevailing emotions or atmosphere of a work derived from literary devices such as dialogue and literary

elements such as setting. The mood of a work is not always what might be expected based on its subject matter.

Motif: A recurring subject, theme, or idea in a literary work.

Multiple‐meaning Words

Words that have several meanings depending upon how they are used in a sentence.

Narrative

A story, actual or fictional, expressed orally or in text.

Narrator

A person, animal, or thing telling the story or giving an account of something.

Nonfiction

Text that is not fictional; designed primarily to explain, argue, instruct or describe rather than entertain. For

the most part, its emphasis is factual.

Opinion

A personal view, attitude, or appraisal.

Personification

An object or abstract idea given human qualities or human form (e.g., Flowers danced about the

lawn.)

Plot

The structure of a story. The sequence in which the author arranges events in a story. The structure often includes

the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and the resolution. The plot may have a protagonist who is opposed by an

antagonist, creating what is called conflict.