NB G7 PIF Reading cheat sheet

Plot follows exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution; the climax is the turning point of highest tension, not the final event.

Conflict types: person vs. person, person vs. self, person vs. nature, person vs. society; identify which force the protagonist struggles against.

Characterization is direct when the narrator states a trait and indirect when readers infer it from speech, actions, thoughts, or others' reactions.

Theme is a universal message about life stated as a full sentence; it differs from a topic, which is a single word such as 'loyalty'.

Setting includes time, place, and social conditions; a shift in setting often signals a change in mood or a new stage of the plot.

Point of view: first person uses I/we; third-person limited stays inside one character's mind; third-person omniscient knows all characters' thoughts.

Foreshadowing plants hints about later events; suspense creates uncertainty about outcomes; both depend on details the reader must connect.

Figurative language: simile uses like/as, metaphor states one thing is another, personification gives human traits to nonhuman things.

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

Central idea is the main point of the whole text; a supporting detail explains, illustrates, or proves that point rather than restating it.

An objective summary states main ideas and key details in neutral language, omitting personal opinion and minor examples.

Text evidence must be quoted or paraphrased accurately and then explained; a quotation alone does not count as reasoning.

Author's purpose is usually to inform, explain, persuade, or entertain; the purpose shapes which details are included and which are left out.

An inference is a conclusion drawn from text evidence plus background knowledge; it is never stated directly in the passage.

In an argument, the claim is the position taken, reasons justify it, and evidence supports the reasons; anecdotes are weaker evidence than data.

Comparing two informational texts on one topic: check whether they agree on facts, differ in emphasis, or rely on different kinds of evidence.

Graphic and text features such as headings, captions, timelines, and diagrams add information that the body text may not repeat.

Context clues include definition, example, synonym, antonym, and inference clues; locate the clue words in surrounding sentences before choosing a meaning.

A prefix attaches to the start of a base word and changes meaning: un-/non- (not), re- (again), pre- (before), mis- (wrongly), sub- (under).

A suffix attaches to the end and often changes part of speech: -tion (noun), -able (adjective), -ly (adverb), -ize (verb).

Common Greek and Latin roots: bio (life), graph (write), tele (far), port (carry), aud (hear), spect (look), dict (say), struct (build).

Denotation is a word's dictionary meaning; connotation is its emotional shading, so 'skinny' and 'slender' differ in tone though not in basic sense.

Words with multiple meanings require checking which sense fits the sentence's grammar and topic, not just the most familiar sense.

A figure of speech such as an idiom cannot be decoded literally; its meaning must be inferred from the whole sentence.

Reference aids: a glossary sits inside a book and defines its terms; a thesaurus supplies synonyms and antonyms rather than definitions.

Common structures: chronological, cause-effect, compare-contrast, problem-solution, and description; signal words such as 'because', 'however', and 'first' reveal which is used.

Chronological order can be scrambled by flashbacks or flash-forwards; track time-shift words like 'years earlier' to reconstruct sequence.

Compare-contrast texts use clue words such as 'both', 'unlike', 'similarly', and 'in contrast' to mark similarities and differences.

Cause-effect chains may have multiple causes for one effect; distinguish the immediate cause from underlying or contributing causes.

Transitions signal relationships between ideas; removing a transition can reverse or blur the logic of a sentence.

Sentence variety, repetition, and short or long sentences are deliberate craft choices that control pace and emphasis.

Headings, bold print, bulleted lists, and sidebars guide the reader's attention and signal importance or hierarchy of information.

An author's argument is strengthened by relevant, sufficient, and credible evidence and weakened by overgeneralization or unsupported claims.

When comparing texts, identify the shared topic first, then compare each author's main point, evidence, and treatment of the subject.

Multimedia versions of a text, such as film or audio, may emphasize different details; evaluate what each medium adds or omits.

Corroboration means checking whether two sources agree on a fact; disagreement signals a need to weigh the quality of each source.

A primary source is a firsthand account from the period; a secondary source interprets or summarizes primary material.

Evaluate source credibility by author expertise, publication purpose, date, and whether claims are supported by cited evidence.

Synthesize rather than summarize: combine ideas from several texts into a new, coherent point that no single text states alone.

Conflicting evidence does not automatically invalidate a claim; weigh which source is more specific, recent, or methodologically sound.

Tracing an idea across texts means following how one concept is introduced, developed, or contradicted from one passage to the next.