STAAR Review 6th - 8th grade Reading Part 1

author's purpose

• why an author likes the topic

• why the author wrote the text

• a text about the author's life

• information that is essential to understanding a situation or problem

claim

• why an author wrote a text

• a struggle between two forces

• help to cause or bring about

• a position on an issue or problem

climax

• description and explanation that begins a story

• the point in the plot where the story begins to draw to a close

• the point of greatest interest in a story, the turning point

• the point in the story where the conflict is resolved

dialogue

• a form of language that is spoken in a particular place or by a particular group or people

• a short speech by an actor at the end of a play

• language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense

• written conversation between two or more characters

imagery

• words or phrases that appeal to the reader's five senses

• great exaggerations used to emphasize a point

• language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense

• writing that tells an imaginary story

inference

• to make clear by describing so the reader can picture it

• a piece of information that supports your point

• to make a logical conclusion based on your knowledge and clues from the text

• stated clearly and in detail

foreshadowing

• a scene in a movie, novel, etc., set in a time earlier than the main story

• occurs when a writer provides hints that suggest future events in a story

• words that may not literally mean what they say

• an article giving opinions or perspectives

metaphor

• giving human qualities to non-human things

• great exaggerations used to emphasize a point

• a comparison using "like" or "as"

• comparing two things that are not alike (without using "like" or "as")

central idea

• the lesson the author is trying to get across to the reader

• the feeling created in the story

• the main idea of the entire text

• writing that tells about real people, places, and events

personification

• when a word make the sound if says

• great exaggerations used to emphasize a point

• a comparison of two unlike things

• giving human qualities to non-human things