Essay Grammar Unit Test Review Flashcards
What is active voice?
When the subject does the action.
What is passive voice?
When the subject is acted upon.
What are homophobes?
Words that have the same sound but different spellings and meanings.
What are verb tenses?
They tell the time of the action or the state of being of a verb.
What is the present tense?
Tells what is happening now.
What is the past tense?
Tells about something that happened in the past.
What is the future tense?
Tell about something that will happen in the future.
When do you use apstrophes?
To form singular and possessive nouns.
What do you do when a noun ends in an s or z sound and adding an s to form the possessive makes it difficult to pronounce?
You may just add an apostrophe.
When do you use apostrophes?
To show that letters or numbers have been ommitted
Does till meaning “until”, though, and round require apostrophes?
No, they do not, but ‘til does.
Is using too many apostrophes a common error?
Yes.
What are two things you need to remember about apostrophes?
That plural words do not require an apostrophe unless they are also possessive and the possessive pronoun “its” does not require an apostrophe.
What is an essay?
The author’s thoughts and reflections on a subject.
What is the thesis paragraph of an essay?
The opening paragraph of the essay. In it, you state the topic of the essay and your opinion of it. Then, narrow your focus and state one main opinion in your essay. This main idea is your thesis statement.
What if your essay is based on a work, such as a book, film, or television show?
Then your first paragraph should include the title of the work and the name of the author or director.
What do you do for the body of the essay?
You present reasons and facts to support or prove your thesis. Each paragraph should contain one major fact, which is introduced in the opening sentence. The rest of the paragraph explains how that reason or fact supports your thesis statement.
What should the paragraphs in the body of the essay be about?
They should develop in a logical way. For example, you might present your arguments in order of importance, leading up to the most important reason or fact.
What is the last paragraph of the essay called?
The conclusion.
What do you do in the conclusion of the essay?
You summarize the main points you have made (your thesis). Then, restate the key ideas in each of the topic sentences from the body paragraphs. Your last sentence should be a concluding statement that relates to your selected topic (a final thought).
How can you support your opinion in two ways?
By appealing to reason or by appealing to emotion.
How can you appeal to reason?
By providing facts, statistics, and expert opinions that support your opinion.
What does appealing to reason ask readers to use?
Their intelligence.
What does emotional appealing speak to?
Readers’ feelings.
What does personal approach do?
Makes readers want something.
What does bandwagon approach do?
Makes readers want to be a part of a group.
What does flattery do?
Makes readers think they are special.
What does testimonial do?
Makes readers want something because an expert or celebrity claims to use it.
What are the writer’s purposes when it comes to writing an essay?
- To inform (to give the reader facts)
- To convince (to persuade the reader of the rightness of thought)
- To impress (to give the reader what he or she considers to be important, religious, philosophical, ethical, or political ideas)
- To describe (to show the reader a place, or places, a person or persons, through his or her eyes and with his or her opinions)
- To amuse (to entertain)
- A combination of the above (most essays are!!)
An essay is written with what?
A particular audience in mind.
What will the audience influence in
your essay writing?
This will influence various aspects of the style (such as sentence structure, vocabulary choice, level of language usage, use of examples, etc.). A good writer determines his/her audience before beginning to write.
What are the two types of essays?
Formal (literary essays based on literature) or the Personal/Persuasive (informal/personally rooted).
What is the formal essay?
They are usually longer than the personal/persuasive essay. It follows a carefully prepared structure/plan. In content, it is factual and logical. In style, it is orderly and dignified. The writer’s personality does NOT enter.
What is the personal/persuasive essay?
It is usually briefer, less formal, and more personal in nature. The author’s treatment of the subject is more subjective as opposed to objective, like the formal essay. The diction is often conversational and the tone is less authoritative. The reader receives a strong impression of the personality of the writer (ie: likes, dislikes, mood, opinion).
What are the four types of essays?
Personal, literary, persuasive, and expository.
What is included in personal essays?
They have 2 sub-types: narrative (tells a story) and descriptive (uses 5 senses), has an informal tone, less authoritative, casual diction (word choice), less structures, often anecdotal (little stories/ ‘moments in time’ shared), and getting into writer’s head (see personality).
What is included in literary essays?
They are based on literature (uses literature details (quotes) to prove thesis), analytically proves a thesis, formal tone, authoritative, strong diction (word choice), highly structured, not anecdotal-factual instead, and no sense of writer’s personality.
What is included in persuasive essays?
They try to PERSUADE/SWAY you towards their opinion on an issue, appealing to emotion (4 ways!) and/or reason and often try to push towards action (shock you, make you sad, etc.)
What is included in expository essays?
Try to EXPOSE/explain an issue to the reader, often use definitions, facts, examples, details, and statistics, and use compare/contrast and cause/effect to organize ideas.
What is a modifier?
A word or group that modifies or describes another word or group of words in a sentence.
Where should a modifier always be located?
It should appear next to the word or words it modifies.
What happens when you misplace a modifier?
It can completely change the intended meaning of the sentence.
What is a pronoun?
A pronoun agrees with its antecedent in number, gender, and person.
What if the antecedent is singular?
Then a singular pronoun is required.
What does a plural antecedent require?
A plural pronoun.
Name some antecedents that are referred to by singular pronouns.
Anybody, anyone, each, either, everybody, everyone, neither, nobody, one, somebody, and someone.
Singular antecedents are joined by “or” or “nor” are referred to by what?
A singular pronoun.
What is a collective noun?
A collective noun names a group of people or things. Examples include family, mob, club, squad, or platoon.
What do collective nouns do?
They may take either a singular or plural pronoun, depending on the meaning of the sentence.
What happens when a writer refers to a group acting together as one unit?
The collective noun is used with a singular noun.
What happens when the writer refers to the individuals in the group acting separately?
The collective noun is used as a plural verb.
What are nouns plural in form?
Nouns that are plural in form are singular in meaning.
What are some examples of nouns plural in form?
Molasses, news, and mumps.
What are examples of words ending in -ics that may be singular or plural?
Aesthetics, athletics, and geophysics. These words are singular when used to refer to a subject or a practice.
What are the most common words that are often misused?
Accept and except, advice and advise, affect and effect, allusion, illusion, and delusion, and alumna and alumnus.
What is unity in paragraphs?
A paragraph has unity when all of its sentences are related to the main idea.
What is abnormal word order?
It gives variety and emphasis to your writing by changing the usual subject-verb sentence pattern.
Give an example of a comparison between normal word order (subject-verb) and abnormal word order (verb-subject).
Normal word order (subject-verb): “The actor’s worst nightmares stood laughing at him from the shadows.”
Abnormal word order (verb-subject): “Laughing at him from the shadows stood the actor’s worst nightmare
What is an allegory?
A narrative in which the characters and sometimes the setting represent general concepts and ideas.
What is an example of an allegory?
Fables in which personified animals are used allegorically to teach lessons of human conduct (e.g., “The Hare and the Tortoise”)
What is an alliteration?
It draws attention to a string of words through repetition of their initial sounds.
What is an example of an alliteration?
“The monster rambled, raged, and roared.” “She sells sea shells…” “Peter Piper picked…”
What is an allusion?
An indirect reference to a well-known event, person, thing, place, or quality.
What is an example of an allusion?
“Atticus Finch is a a Christ-like figure; My dad rules the house with an iron fist; His romantic overtures rival those of Cupid”.
What is an analogy?
It helps the reader understand something unfamiliar by comparing it to something well-known.
What are two examples of an analogy?
Comparing an anthill to an urban center helps to convey the fact that anthills are heavily populated, busy, and have regular patterns of movement (like an urban center).
Comparing the human mind to a computer allows the complexity of a mind to be better understood by showing a computer’s similar functions.
What is a denotation?
The thing or situation to which the word specifically refers.
What is a connotation?
The associated meanings it implies or suggests.
What are two examples of denotation and connotation?
Home denotes the place where a person lives (a structure), but home also connotes safety, privacy, and coziness.
Referring to a new tree as immature is denotative, versus a person’s behavior as such is connotative.
What is an exaggeration (hyperbole)?
It emphasizes a fact.
What are two examples of an exaggeration (hyperbole)?
“I had thirty hours of homework last night”.
“I shed an ocean of tears”.
What is a metaphor?
It compares two unlike things without the use of “like” or “as”; it is more subtle than the simile and thus requires more interpretation.
What are some examples of a metaphor?
“The sword shaped moon”.
“Love is madness”.
“Fair is foul and foul is fair”.
“She is a jewel”.
What are opposites?
They compare two opposing ideas.
What is an example of an opposite?
“Clint Eastwood, a star in front of the camera, has also had a successful career behind the camera as a director.”
What is an onomatopoeia?
It draws attention to the sound of the word by imitating or suggesting sounds that correspond to its meaning.
What are some examples of an onomatopoeia?
“Buzz”, “splash”, and “slurp”.
What is an oxymoron?
It places words that mean the opposite of one another side by side so that they create a new meaning.
What are some examples of an oxymoron?
“Jumbo shrimp”, “wise fool”, and “heavy lightness”.
What is a personification?
It gives human traits to an inanimate object or animal.
What are two examples of a personification?
“The fingers of ice scraped the window.”
“The dandelions danced in the field”.
What is a pun?
A play on words with the same sound but different meanings.
What are two examples of a pun?
“Sticks float”.
“They would.”
What is a rhetorical question?
One whose answer is already known or implied.
What is an example of a rhetorical question?
“Can anyone deny that the internet has revolutionized communication?”
What are staccato sentences?
They place emphasis on key words to create an overall effect, such as humor or suspense.
Give an example of staccato sentences.
“A cold room. A lonely room. A bare room. No place to spend twenty years of a life.”
What is a simile?
It points out a similarity between two unlike things using “like” or “as”.
What are two examples of a simile?
“The cold stabbed like a driven nail through the parka’s fold”.
“Her voice is like a breeze”.
What is a symbol?
An object or action that represents something other than what it is.
What is an example of a symbol?
The green light at the end of the dock in The Great Gatsby represents the verdant hope of the new world and is therefore associated with the American Dream.
What is an understatement?
It creates the reverse effect and adds a touch of irony by making the fact seem less significant.
What is an example of an understatement?
“Bruce Willis’ onscreen characters frequently find themselves in a bit of a jam.”
What is the subject of “Going Home to Auschwitz?”
This essay describes the author’s visit to Poland, to see the concentration and death camps built there by Nazi Germany during its occupation during World War 2.
What is the thesis of “Going Home to Auschwitz?”
The thesis is split because there are 2 sentences, not in succession, with text in between them.
What is the subject of “Dead Students Society?”
High school teaches kids to associate learning with mind-numbing boredom.
What is the thesis of “Dead Students Society?”
The thesis is split because there are 2 sentences, not in succession, with text in between them.
What is the subject of “My Body is My Own Business?”
The essay is centered on judging people based on appearance.
What is the thesis of “My Body is My Own Business?”
The thesis is both explicit and 2-part because explicit can highlight it, which is obvious, and 2-part can have 2 sentences one after another.
