FTCE GK flashcards
FTCE GK · 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.
- Thesis statement
- A single sentence, usually in the introduction, that states the writer's main claim and the reasons supporting it, thereby controlling the organization of the entire essay.
- Topic sentence
- The first sentence of a body paragraph that names the one reason or point the paragraph will develop and connects it back to the essay's thesis.
- Counterargument
- A brief acknowledgment of the opposing viewpoint followed by a refutation; including one shows the writer weighed other positions and strengthens the overall persuasion.
- Holistic scoring
- A grading method in which trained readers assign one overall score for the whole essay based on focus, organization, development, and conventions rather than counting individual errors.
- Concrete evidence
- Specific examples, facts, or scenarios that support a claim; detailed evidence earns higher scores than vague generalization because it demonstrates genuine development of ideas.
- Transitional words
- Connectors such as however, therefore, furthermore, and consequently that signal the relationship between ideas and guide a reader through the argument.
- Subject-verb agreement
- A verb must match its subject in number; phrases between them do not change it, so 'the box of pens is' is correct, not 'are'.
- Comma splice
- An error joining two independent clauses with only a comma; repair it with a period, a semicolon, or a comma plus a coordinating conjunction.
- Who versus whom
- Use who for a subject, testable by substituting he or she, and whom for an object, testable by substituting him or her, in clauses and questions.
- Dangling modifier
- An introductory phrase that does not logically modify the subject of the main clause, as in 'Walking home, the rain started.'
- Parallel structure
- Items in a list, series, or pair of correlative conjunctions must share the same grammatical form, such as all gerunds or all infinitive phrases.
- It's versus its
- It's is the contraction of it is or it has; its is the possessive form, as in 'its color,' and never takes an apostrophe.
- Affect versus effect
- Affect is usually a verb meaning to influence, while effect is usually a noun meaning result, as in 'the effect of the policy.'
- Nonessential clause commas
- A clause or phrase removable without changing the sentence's core meaning is set off by commas, while essential information takes no commas at all.
- Semicolon use
- A semicolon joins two closely related independent clauses without a conjunction, or separates list items that already contain internal commas.
- Main idea
- The central point a passage conveys about its topic; it may be stated in the first or last sentence or require synthesis across several paragraphs.
- Inference
- A conclusion readers draw by combining textual evidence with logical reasoning; it is supported by the passage but never stated directly in words.
- Author's purpose
- The reason a text was written, typically to inform, persuade, entertain, or explain, revealed by its content, tone, and structural choices.
- Tone
- The author's attitude toward the subject, conveyed through word choice and connotation and described with words like critical, nostalgic, or amused.
- Fact versus opinion
- A fact can be verified with evidence, while an opinion expresses a judgment, belief, or evaluation and often contains value words like best or should.
- Context clue
- Surrounding words, definitions, examples, or contrasts in a sentence that reveal the meaning of an unfamiliar word without requiring a dictionary.
- Cause and effect pattern
- An organizational structure showing why something happened and what resulted, signaled by words such as because, therefore, leads to, and as a result.
- Loaded language
- Words carrying strong emotional connotations that are used to sway readers, a common indicator of bias in persuasive or argumentative text.
- Order of operations
- Evaluate parentheses first, then exponents, then multiplication and division left to right, and finally addition and subtraction left to right.
- Percent change formula
- Percent change equals the new value minus the original value, divided by the original value, times 100; a negative result indicates a decrease.
- Slope formula
- Slope m equals the change in y divided by the change in x between two points; parallel lines share a slope and perpendicular lines have negative reciprocal slopes.
- Pythagorean theorem
- In a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares of the other two sides: a squared plus b squared equals c squared.
- Area of a triangle
- One half times base times height, where the height must be measured perpendicular to whichever side is chosen as the base.
- Circumference of a circle
- The distance around a circle, calculated as two times pi times the radius, or equivalently as pi times the diameter.
- Median versus mean
- The mean is the sum of values divided by the count; the median is the middle value of an ordered list and is less affected by extreme outliers.
- Quadratic formula
- For an equation in the form a x squared plus b x plus c equals zero, solutions are negative b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus four a c, all over two a.
- Simple interest
- Interest earned equals principal multiplied by the annual rate multiplied by the time in years, commonly written as the formula I = P r t.