ELA CONCEPTS

PARTS OF SPEECH

• Noun – Person, place, thing, or idea (e.g., dog, school)

• Pronoun – Replaces a noun (e.g., he, they, it)

• Verb – Shows action or state of being (e.g., run, is)

• Adjective – Describes a noun (e.g., red, tall)

• Adverb – Describes a verb, adjective, or another adverb (e.g., quickly, very)

• Preposition – Shows relationship between nouns or pronouns (e.g., under, before)

• Conjunction – Connects words, phrases, or clauses (e.g., and, but)

• Interjection – Expresses emotion or reaction (e.g., wow!, oh no!)

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

• Simile – Comparison using “like” or “as” (e.g., brave like a lion)

• Metaphor – Direct comparison (e.g., time is a thief)

• Personification – Giving human qualities to nonhuman things (e.g., the wind whispered)

• Hyperbole – Exaggeration for effect (e.g., I’ve told you a million times)

• Alliteration – Repetition of beginning sounds (e.g., slippery slithering snake)

• Onomatopoeia – Words that sound like their meaning (e.g., buzz, crash)

• Idiom – Expression with a meaning different from the literal one (e.g., break a leg)

• Imagery – Descriptive language that appeals to the senses

• Symbolism – An object or action that represents something bigger (e.g., a heart for love)

• Irony – When the opposite of what you expect happens

• Oxymoron – Two opposite words together (e.g., jumbo shrimp)

• Pun – A play on words (e.g., Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.)

• Allusion – A reference to something well-known (e.g., “He’s a real Romeo.”)

TEXT STRUCTURES

• Chronological Order – Events in time order

• Cause and Effect – Why something happened and its result

• Compare and Contrast – Shows similarities and differences

• Problem and Solution – Describes a problem and how it’s solved

• Description – Provides details about a topic

POINT OF VIEW

• First Person – Narrator is a character in the story (uses “I,” “we”)

• Second Person – Narrator addresses the reader directly (“you”)

• Third Person Limited – Narrator knows only one character’s thoughts

• Third Person Omniscient – Narrator knows all characters’ thoughts

• Third Person Objective – Narrator only describes actions and dialogue (no thoughts)

AUTHOR’S PURPOSE (P.I.E.)

• Persuade – Tries to convince the reader

• Inform – Gives facts or explains something

• Entertain – Tells a story or provides enjoyment

TYPES OF CONFLICT

• Character vs. Character – Conflict between people

• Character vs. Self – Internal struggle

• Character vs. Society – Fighting against rules, laws, or norms

• Character vs. Nature – Battling elements like weather or animals

• Character vs. Technology – Struggle with machines or science

• Character vs. Supernatural – Conflict with ghosts, gods, fate, etc.

TYPES OF SENTENCES

• Declarative – Makes a statement (e.g., I like books.)

• Interrogative – Asks a question (e.g., Do you like pizza?)

• Imperative – Gives a command (e.g., Sit down.)

• Exclamatory – Shows excitement (e.g., That’s amazing!)

GRAMMAR CONCEPTS

• Subject and Predicate – Who/what the sentence is about + what they do

• Simple Sentence – One independent clause (e.g., She ran.)

• Compound Sentence – Two independent clauses (e.g., She ran, and he walked.)

• Complex Sentence – One independent + one or more dependent clauses

• Sentence Fragment – Incomplete sentence (missing subject or verb)

• Run-on Sentence – Two or more sentences incorrectly joined

• Verb Tense Consistency – Keeping the same tense throughout writing

• Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement – Pronouns must match the noun they replace

• Subject-Verb Agreement – Singular subjects use singular verbs, plural with plural

• Direct/Indirect Object – Who or what receives the action

• Active Voice – Subject does the action (e.g., The dog ate the bone.)

• Passive Voice – Subject receives the action (e.g., The bone was eaten by the dog.)

• Parallel Structure – Using the same pattern of words for related ideas

READING STRATEGIES

• Main Idea – What the passage is mostly about

• Supporting Details – Facts or examples that explain the main idea

• Summarizing – Brief restatement of main points

• Making Inferences – Reading between the lines

• Drawing Conclusions – Making judgments based on evidence

• Context Clues – Using nearby words to understand unknown words

• Theme – The deeper message or lesson

• Tone – The author’s attitude (e.g., serious, funny)

• Mood – The feeling the reader gets (e.g., sad, excited)

• Characterization – How the author shows a character’s traits
  

  • Direct: Author tells you

  • Indirect: Shown through actions, dialogue, etc.

• Setting – Time and place

• Plot Structure – Sequence of events
  

  • Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, Resolution

• Flashback – A look into a character’s past

• Foreshadowing – Hints about what will happen later

WRITING ELEMENTS

• Hook/Lead – First sentence to grab attention

• Thesis Statement – Main idea of an essay

• Topic Sentence – Main idea of a paragraph

• Transition Words – Help ideas flow (e.g., however, next, for example)

• Supporting Evidence – Quotes, facts, or examples

• Explanation/Analysis – Shows how the evidence supports your point

• Conclusion – Wraps up your writing

• Editing and Revising – Fixing errors and improving ideas