TASC English Inquiry flashcards
TASC English Inquiry · Build recall with a focused review session.
32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Main idea
- The central claim that the entire passage supports. It must be broad enough to cover every paragraph yet specific enough to exclude unrelated topics.
- Supporting detail
- A fact, example, statistic, or quotation that backs up one part of the main idea. It answers a question about a specific portion of the text.
- Valid inference
- A conclusion that the stated evidence makes necessary or highly likely. It goes beyond literal restatement but stays within what the text logically permits.
- Summary criteria
- A good summary keeps the central claim and main reasons, omits examples and repetition, and adds no new information or personal opinion.
- Chronological order
- Organization by time sequence, signaled by words such as first, then, after, meanwhile, and by dates. Events are arranged in the order they occurred.
- Context clue types
- Definition, contrast, example, and cause-effect clues. Contrast clues use but or unlike to signal that the unknown word means the opposite of a nearby word.
- Author's tone
- The attitude conveyed through word choice, such as objective, critical, nostalgic, ironic, or urgent. Loaded adjectives reveal tone even when facts stay neutral.
- Text structure signals
- Words that reveal organization: because and led to for cause-effect; whereas and both for comparison; thus and remedy for problem-solution; dates for chronology.
- Simile versus metaphor
- A simile compares using like or as; a metaphor states that one thing is another. Both create figurative meaning rather than literal description.
- Claim versus evidence
- A claim is the assertion the writer wants accepted; evidence is the statistic, example, study, or quotation offered to support it. They are never the same statement.
- Correlation versus causation
- Correlation means two variables change together; causation means one produces the other. A chart showing correlation does not by itself prove cause.
- Evaluating evidence strength
- Judge evidence by relevance to the claim, sufficiency of amount, and reliability of source. A single anecdote illustrates but cannot establish a general trend.
- Rebuttal
- The part of an argument that answers an opposing view. It follows the counterclaim and explains why the author's position still holds.
- Thesis statement
- A one- or two-sentence statement of the essay's arguable claim. It must be specific enough that a reader could disagree with it.
- Evidence sandwich
- A paragraph pattern: introduce the source, present the quotation or data, then explain how it supports the paragraph's point and the thesis.
- Topic sentence
- The sentence that states a body paragraph's main point and connects it to the thesis. All other sentences in the paragraph support it.
- Narrative writing elements
- Sensory detail, dialogue, a clear sequence of events, a conflict, and a resolution. Narrative writing tells a story rather than arguing a claim.
- Logical transitions
- Connectors that match the relation between ideas: however for contrast, therefore for result, for example for illustration, similarly for comparison.
- Revision versus editing
- Revision changes ideas, evidence, and organization. Editing corrects grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Revising first prevents polishing text that may be cut.
- Paragraph unity
- The property of a paragraph in which every sentence supports the topic sentence. A sentence on a new topic belongs in a separate paragraph.
- Sentence combining
- Joining short sentences with subordinating conjunctions such as because or although so the combined sentence shows the logical relation between ideas.
- Wordiness reduction
- Replacing noun-heavy phrases with verbs (made a decision becomes decided) and cutting redundant pairs such as each and every or basic fundamentals.
- Source reliability
- The trustworthiness of a source, judged by author credentials, publisher, publication date, cited evidence, and whether the page aims to inform or to sell.
- Proper paraphrase
- Restating a source's idea in your own words and sentence structure, with a citation. Changing only synonyms while keeping the sentence pattern is still plagiarism.
- Citation requirement
- Direct quotations need quotation marks and an in-text citation with a page or paragraph number. Common knowledge and your own original analysis need no citation.
- Research question
- A narrow, answerable question that guides inquiry, such as how a specific event changed a specific policy, rather than a broad topic label.
- Subject-verb agreement rule
- The verb agrees with the true subject, ignoring prepositional phrases between them. Indefinite pronouns such as each and everyone are singular.
- Comma splice
- Two independent clauses joined by only a comma. It is fixed with a period, a semicolon, or a comma plus a coordinating conjunction.
- Restrictive clause punctuation
- A clause essential to the sentence's meaning takes no commas. A nonrestrictive clause, which adds extra information, is set off by commas on both sides.
- Who versus whom
- Who is a subject pronoun, used where he or she would fit. Whom is an object pronoun, used after prepositions or where him or her would fit.
- Connotation versus denotation
- Denotation is a word's dictionary meaning; connotation is its emotional shading. Cheap and inexpensive denote similar cost but carry different attitudes.
- Morphology clues
- Prefixes and suffixes that reveal a word's meaning and part of speech, such as un- (not), re- (again), -tion (noun), and -ous (adjective).