NB Grade 7 FI Reading flashcards

33 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Main idea

The central claim a whole passage supports. It is broad enough to cover every paragraph and is often stated in the introduction, conclusion, or title.

Supporting detail

A fact, example, statistic, or quotation that explains or proves the main idea. It answers who, what, when, where, how much, or why.

Text structure

The organizational pattern of a passage, such as cause-effect, comparison, chronological sequence, or problem-solution. Signal words reveal which pattern the author chose.

Author's purpose

The reason the author wrote the text: to inform, explain, persuade, or entertain. Steps, data, and neutral verbs point to informing or explaining.

Heading versus main idea

A heading names the topic of the section beneath it. The main idea is the full claim the passage makes about that topic.

Objective versus persuasive tone

Objective tone uses neutral reporting verbs and balanced facts. Persuasive tone uses evaluative words such as shocking, must, or only to push a choice.

Graphic aid information

Tables, captions, and diagrams may carry facts absent from the body text. A question about a graphic is answered from the graphic itself.

Chronological order signals

Dates, times, and words such as first, then, next, and finally mark events arranged in the order they happened.

Plot arc

The sequence of exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. The climax is the turning point where the central conflict peaks.

Conflict types

Person against person, nature, society, or self. The type is decided by what the protagonist struggles against, not by the setting.

Direct characterization

The narrator openly states a character's trait, as in naming someone generous. Indirect characterization shows traits through speech, action, thoughts, or others' reactions.

Theme

A statement about life that the whole story supports, expressed as a sentence such as trust must be earned, never as one word.

First-person narration

The narrator uses I and reports only what that character knows, sees, and feels. The reader shares the narrator's limits and possible bias.

Foreshadowing

Hints planted early that prepare the reader for later events. They create anticipation without stating the outcome outright.

Setting's effect on plot

Weather, time period, or location can limit or enable what characters do, so setting sometimes drives the conflict rather than merely decorating it.

Symbol in literature

A concrete object that stands for an abstract idea and recurs at key moments, such as a locked door standing for lost opportunity.

Inference formula

Text evidence plus background knowledge produces an inference. An answer without textual support is a guess, not an inference.

Tone versus mood

Tone is the narrator's or author's attitude toward the subject. Mood is the feeling the text creates in the reader.

Connotation

The feeling a word carries beyond its literal meaning. Thrifty and stingy both mean careful with money but carry opposite connotations.

Simile and metaphor

A simile compares using like or as. A metaphor states that one thing is another. Both must be read non-literally.

Personification

A figure of speech giving human traits to a non-human thing, such as wind that whispers or a road that waits patiently.

Testing an interpretation

The stronger interpretation is supported by more separate details and contradicts no stated fact. Weak readings rest on a single ambiguous line.

Context clue types

Definition clues follow a dash or the word means; example clues follow such as; contrast clues follow but or unlike; cause-effect clues follow so or because.

Prefix meanings

Common prefixes: un-, in-, dis- mean not; re- means again; pre- means before; sub- means under; inter- means between; trans- means across.

Suffix parts of speech

The ending signals the word's job: -tion and -ment form nouns, -able and -ful form adjectives, -ly forms adverbs, and -ize forms verbs.

Common Greek and Latin roots

Bio means life, graph means write, tele means far, port means carry, spect means look, dict means say, and aqua means water.

Homophones

Words that sound alike but differ in spelling and meaning, such as their, there, and they're, or its and it's.

Subject-verb agreement

A singular subject takes a singular verb even when a prepositional phrase separates them, as in the box of tools is heavy.

Pronoun antecedent

The noun a pronoun replaces. The pronoun must match it in number and gender, and the nearest possible antecedent is usually intended.

Claim-evidence-commentary

The three-part response structure: state a claim, supply a direct quotation or precise detail, then explain how that evidence proves the claim.

Quoting versus paraphrasing

Quote exact words in quotation marks when the wording matters. Paraphrase the idea in your own words when it matters more than the phrasing.

Evidence quality test

Evidence must be relevant to the claim, sufficient in amount for a broad claim, and accurately quoted from the text.

Naming author's technique

When asked how an author supports a point, name the technique used, such as statistic, example, expert quotation, or anecdote, and cite where it appears.