GLA 10 key terms

A conclusion a reader reaches by combining clues in a text with prior knowledge. Inferences are not stated outright, so they must be supported by specific evidence from the passage.

The single most important point a text develops about its topic, usually expressible in a sentence or two. Supporting details throughout the passage should all connect back to it.

A broad message about life or human nature that a literary work conveys through events, characters, and imagery. Themes are implied rather than stated as a moral or summary.

The attitude a writer expresses toward the subject or audience, created through word choice, sentence structure, and details. Tone differs from mood, which describes the reader's emotional response.

The feelings, associations, and cultural overtones a word carries beyond its literal meaning. Words such as home or house share denotations but suggest different emotional shades.

The literal, dictionary meaning of a word, stripped of emotional associations. Distinguishing denotation from connotation helps readers explain why an author chose one word over another.

Specific quoted or paraphrased details from a passage, such as facts, statistics, examples, or dialogue, used to support an interpretation or claim in analysis and constructed responses.

The reason a writer produces a text, commonly to inform, persuade, entertain, or explain. Purpose shapes choices about structure, evidence, tone, and the details an author includes or omits.

A persuasive strategy that works by building credibility (ethos), stirring emotion (pathos), or relying on logic and evidence (logos). Identifying appeals helps readers evaluate how an argument tries to convince them.

A rule that assigns each input value exactly one output value. Functions can be described with equations, tables, graphs, or words, and their behavior can be analyzed over a domain.

The domain is the complete set of allowable input values for a function; the range is the complete set of resulting output values. Both can be described with inequalities, sets, or interval notation.

A number describing a line's steepness and direction, calculated as the change in y divided by the change in x between two points. Slope also represents a constant rate of change.

A relationship whose graph is a straight line and whose rate of change is constant. It can be written in the form y = mx + b, where m is the slope and b the y-intercept.

Two or more equations considered together, solved by finding values that satisfy every equation at once. Methods include graphing, substitution, and elimination; solutions appear as intersection points.

A function of the form y = ax squared plus bx plus c whose graph is a parabola. Its highest or lowest point is the vertex, and its solutions correspond to the x-intercepts.

A pattern in which a quantity increases by a constant percentage each period, modeled by an equation with a base greater than one. Its graph curves upward rather than forming a straight line.

A relationship in which two figures have identical angle measures and proportional side lengths. Similar figures share shape but may differ in size, allowing unknown lengths to be found with ratios.

A rule stating that in a right triangle the sum of the squares of the two legs equals the square of the hypotenuse. It is used to find missing side lengths and distances.

A testable, specific prediction about the relationship between variables, stated before data collection. A good hypothesis can be supported or refuted by evidence rather than proven absolutely.

The factor a researcher deliberately changes or manipulates in an experiment. Its effect on the dependent variable is what the investigation is designed to measure.

The factor that is measured or observed in an experiment and that responds to changes in the independent variable. Careful measurement of it determines whether a hypothesis is supported.

The process by which plants, algae, and some bacteria use light energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose, releasing oxygen. It is the foundation of most food chains.

The principle that matter is neither created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction. The total mass of the reactants therefore equals the total mass of the products.

The process by which organisms with inherited traits well suited to their environment survive and reproduce more successfully, causing those traits to become more common over generations.

A community of organisms interacting with one another and with the nonliving environment, such as soil, water, and climate, in a defined area, with energy flowing through its food webs.

An original document or artifact created during the period being studied, such as letters, photographs, diaries, or official records. Historians use them as direct evidence alongside secondary accounts.

A system of government in which power is divided between a central government and smaller regional units, such as states or provinces, with each level holding defined authority.

The division of government authority among separate branches, typically legislative, executive, and judicial, so that each can limit the others and no single group holds all power.

Conditions that drive people away from a place (push), such as conflict or unemployment, and conditions that attract them elsewhere (pull), such as jobs or safety. Together they explain migration patterns.

The economic relationship in which the quantity of a good producers offer and the quantity consumers want jointly determine market price; higher prices usually reduce demand and encourage supply.

A strong sense of loyalty and identity attached to one's nation, often emphasizing shared culture, language, or history. It can inspire independence movements or, in extreme forms, exclusion and conflict.

A single sentence that states the central argument of an essay and previews how the essay will support it. Everything in the body should connect to and develop that claim.

The sentence, usually first in a paragraph, that names the paragraph's main point and ties it to the essay's thesis. The sentences that follow supply evidence and explanation.

A formal reference identifying the source of a quotation, statistic, or idea, giving the author, title, date, and location so readers can locate the original material.

Presenting another person's words, ideas, data, or creative work as one's own without adequate attribution, whether intentional or accidental. It is a serious academic offense.

An opposing view that a writer acknowledges and then answers. Addressing counterarguments makes an argument more credible by showing the writer considered alternative positions.

A word, phrase, or sentence that connects ideas and signals the relationship between them, such as cause, contrast, or sequence, helping readers follow the logic smoothly.