FAST ELA Grade 7 key terms

The central message or insight about life that a literary work conveys, usually stated as a full sentence rather than a single word, and developed through characters, plot, and imagery.

The most important point an informational text makes about its topic, supported throughout by details; for literary texts the comparable term is theme.

A brief restatement of a text's main points written without personal opinion, judgment, or added interpretation, covering only what the text actually states.

The methods an author uses to reveal a character's personality, including direct statements about the character and indirect clues such as actions, dialogue, thoughts, and others' reactions.

The reason behind a character's behavior, such as a fear, desire, loyalty, or goal, which drives the choices that move a story forward.

The sequence of related events in a story, typically moving through exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution as a conflict is introduced and settled.

A struggle between opposing forces in a narrative, which may be internal (a character against himself or herself) or external (a character against another person, nature, or society).

The perspective from which a story is told, such as first person, third-person limited, or third-person omniscient, which shapes what information the reader receives.

The degree to which a story's teller can be trusted to report events accurately, judged by clues such as contradictions, bias, or limited knowledge of other characters.

Language that departs from literal meaning to create vivid comparisons or effects, including metaphor, simile, personification, and hyperbole.

A direct comparison that states one thing is another without using like or as, such as calling a difficult problem a wall that must be climbed.

A comparison between two unlike things using the words like or as, such as describing a voice as smooth as glass.

Descriptive language that appeals to the senses, helping readers see, hear, smell, taste, or feel what is being described.

The use of a concrete object, person, or event to stand for a larger abstract idea, such as a caged bird representing a loss of freedom.

The author's or speaker's attitude toward the subject, conveyed through word choice and details, distinct from the mood felt by the reader.

The emotional atmosphere a text creates for its readers, produced by setting details, word choice, and imagery rather than by the author's stated attitude.

A contrast between expectation and reality, between what is said and what is meant, or between what characters know and what the audience knows.

The way a text is organized, such as by chronology, comparison, cause and effect, or problem and solution, which influences how ideas connect and build.

Visual and organizational elements of informational text, such as headings, subheadings, captions, bold print, bulleted lists, and diagrams, that guide readers to key information.

The reason an author writes a text, commonly to inform, explain, persuade, or entertain, which shapes the content, tone, and structure chosen.

A statement an author asserts to be true and then supports with reasons and evidence; in argument writing it is the position being defended.

Facts, examples, statistics, quotations, or other details used to support a claim or to answer a question about a text.

To point to the specific source of information, such as a page number, paragraph, author, or title, so that a reader can locate the original material.

Information in the surrounding words, sentences, or passage that helps a reader infer the meaning of an unfamiliar word.

The basic part of a word that carries its core meaning and to which prefixes and suffixes may be attached, as in the shared root of transport and portable.

A word part attached to a root or base word: a prefix comes before it, and a suffix comes after it, changing meaning or grammatical function.

The emotional or cultural association a word carries beyond its dictionary meaning, such as the difference between inexpensive and cheap.

The literal, dictionary meaning of a word, separate from the feelings or associations it may suggest to readers.

A comparison that explains how two things are alike in a specific way, often expressed in the form A is to B as C is to D, used to clarify relationships between ideas.

A group of related words that functions as a single unit within a sentence but lacks both a subject and a finite verb, such as in the morning or running quickly.

A group of words containing both a subject and a verb; an independent clause expresses a complete thought, while a dependent clause cannot stand alone.

A word, phrase, or clause that describes or limits another word, such as an adjective or adverb; a misplaced or dangling modifier attaches to the wrong word and confuses meaning.

The practice of mixing sentence lengths and structures, such as simple, compound, and complex sentences, to make writing clearer and more engaging.

Joining two or more independent clauses of equal importance with a coordinating conjunction such as and, but, or so, or with a semicolon.

Combining ideas by making one less important than another, as when a dependent clause is attached to an independent clause to show cause, time, or condition.

A word or phrase such as however, therefore, or in addition that signals the relationship between ideas and helps readers follow the flow of a text.

Presenting someone else's words or ideas as one's own without quotation marks or proper credit, whether done deliberately or by careless copying.

Restating a source's meaning in one's own words and sentence structure while keeping the original ideas intact and still crediting the source.

A source whose author, publisher, and evidence can be trusted, judged by factors such as expertise, currency, accuracy, and freedom from obvious bias.