Reading Strategies: Context Clues and LA Terms

Reading Strategies: Context Clues

Practice Recognizing and Using Context Clues

Poll

Synonym clues are words that appear to have a similar meaning in the sentence. Take a look at the sentence below and note the synonym that appears.

In children’s stories the prince is usually a gallant hero who saves the princess from certain danger

• gallant

• hero

• saves

• danger

Poll

Antonym clues are words that appear to have an opposite meaning in the sentence. Identify the antonym signal phrase in the sentence:

Usually the clerk in the grocery store is chatty and friendly, however today he was very brusque and short with me

• usually

• chatty

• friendly

• however

Poll

Explanation and example clues are self-explanatory. Look for the explanation or examples that appear in the sentence and identify the type of context clue in the sentence:

When I received my essay back my teacher had circled the words "gonna", "wanna " and " jk" and commented that my writing was too colloquial.

• explanation clue

• example clue

Multiple Choice

Choose the best SYNONYM for the underlined word:

Zach wanted to play football with the other kids but, with his horrible deficiencies in coordination, he couldn’t catch or throw the ball.

• diseases

• lack of

• directions

• movement

• confusion

Multiple Choice

Choose the best SYNONYM for the underlined word:

The children in the orphanage might have starved had it not been for the benevolence of the nuns, who sacrificed their own small salaries to provide food for the children.

• sacrifices

• adaptability

• profitibility

• beckoning

• charity

Multiple Choice

Choose the best SYNONYM for the underlined word:

I wouldn't mind sharing with Patrick if he didn't act like being a part of the Witherspoon family entitled him to a piece of everything on campus.

• grant

• praise

• access

• steal

• own

Multiple Choice

Choose the best SYNONYM for the underlined word:

Angela did not want to go to the party. She wanted to study for the exam, but her sister nagged her so much that Angela finally acquiesced and agreed to go

• argued

• wanted

• conceded

• whined

• lied

Multiple Choice

Choose the best DEFINITION for the underlined word:

When Bobby asked Kelly to give him one reason why they shouldn't go, Kelly enumerated a list long enough to quiet Bobby.

• cite examples

• list arguments

• calculate totals

• itemize responses

• provide excuses

Multiple Choice

Choose the best DEFINITION of the underlined word:

Bruce did not want to help clean up the trash by the river, but the principal told him that since he chose to skip classes on Friday, his participation in the event would be compulsory.

• not required

• student's choice

• strongly encouraged

• potentially optional

• completely mandatory

Multiple Choice

The type of narrator that is an all-knowing, outside observer

• Third person objective

• Second Person

• Third Person Omniscient

• First Persoh

Multiple Select

Which factors may cause an narrator to be unreliable?

• Their young age

• Their naive perspective

• Their friends

• Their appearance

Multiple Choice

The type of irony where the audience knows more than the characters than the characters

• Dramatic Irony

• Situational Irony

• Verbal Irony

• Sarcasm

Multiple Choice

Characters which have contrasting personalities are often referred to as:

• Enemies

• Villains

• Opposite Characters

• Character Foils

Multiple Choice

The word denotation refers to:

• The dictionary definition of a word

• The emotional associations with a word

Multiple Choice

The word connotation refers to:

• The dictionary definition of a word

• The emotional associations with a word

Multiple Choice

Which literary device is used in the following sentence: Typically I eat a healthy diet but chocolate is my kryptonite.

• Simile

• Personification

• Allusion

• Alliteration

Multiple Choice

Which literary device is used in the following sentence: Their families buys a new car each year, it must cost them an arm and a leg to keep updating their cars.

• Hypergbole

• Idiom

• Metaphor

• Personification

Multiple Choice

Which type of irony is present in this scene: The police thought that he was a criminal. Property owners felt that he was menace. But Noodles considered himself an artist. He painted huge murals with his spray cans. Noodles' artwork was everywhere. His name blazed on water towers, billboards, overpasses, and anything else that he could reach. One day, Noodles painted his name in big block letters over the window of the local grocery store. When the storeowner arrived the next day, as he attempted to remove the paint, he was heard to utter, "Oh! Thank you. How nice of you, Noodles, to paint your name over my store window like that. I really appreciate it." He never got to thank Noodles personally, though he often wished that he had.

• Dramatic

• Situational

• Verbal

Multiple Choice

Which type of irony is present in this scene: Tom has always liked Lucy, but Lucy has always thought Tom was annoying and unattractive. One day, Lucy comes home to find an eviction notice on her door. Apparently, her roommate had been spending the rent money that Lucy was giving her on other things. Lucy only has 24 hours to get all her stuff over to her mom’s house, and Lucy doesn’t even have a car. But Tom has a truck. So Lucy calls up Tom and asks him how he’s doing. She tells him that she’s always thought he was funny, and that they should hang out sometime. Tom thinks that Lucy has finally come around is beginning to like him. He also thinks that his jokes are funny because she is laughing after everything that he says.

• Dramatic

• Situational

• Verbal