Odisha BSE HSC English (FLE) key terms

The act of reading a passage and understanding its explicit meaning, so that you can answer direct questions about facts, characters, events, and stated ideas.

A conclusion you draw from clues in the passage rather than from a sentence that states it directly. The answer is implied, not quoted.

The central point a paragraph or passage is built around. Every supporting detail should connect back to it, and it is usually stated or strongly suggested in one sentence.

A sentence, usually first in a paragraph, that announces what the paragraph will discuss. The remaining sentences support or illustrate it.

Reading quickly for the general sense of a passage, letting your eyes move fast over the text. Useful for matching headings or choosing a title.

Running your eyes over a text looking only for one specific item, such as a date, name, number, or keyword, ignoring everything else.

The attitude a writer conveys through word choice, such as ironic, sympathetic, critical, nostalgic, or humorous. You identify it from the feeling of the language, not from a label in the text.

Working out what a word means from the sentences around it, since a familiar word may carry an unusual sense in a particular passage.

A word with a meaning close to another word, e.g. 'brave' and 'courageous'. Examiners often ask you to supply a synonym found in the passage.

A word opposite in meaning to another, e.g. 'generous' and 'stingy'. Questions may ask for the opposite of a word as used in the passage.

A group of sentences about one idea, separated from other groups by an indentation or a blank line. It gives a piece of writing its visible structure.

The quality that makes a piece of writing flow logically, with each sentence and paragraph following naturally from the one before, so a reader never feels lost.

The way sentences are tied together by linking words, pronouns, and repeated key terms, so that separate statements read as one connected whole.

A connecting word or phrase such as 'however', 'therefore', 'in addition', or 'on the other hand' that shows the relation between two ideas.

A letter written to an official, editor, or institution in polite, impersonal language, following a fixed layout: sender's address, date, receiver's address, salutation, body, and closing.

The greeting at the start of a letter, such as 'Dear Sir' or 'Dear Madam' in formal writing, or 'Dear Ramesh' in a personal letter.

The closing line of a letter, such as 'Yours faithfully' or 'Yours sincerely', placed above the signature. The choice depends on whether you know the reader's name.

A formal letter pointing out a fault, such as a defective product or poor service, and asking for redress. It states the problem, gives evidence, and requests specific action.

A letter addressed to the editor of a newspaper to raise a public issue, air an opinion, or draw attention to a local problem. It is formal but meant for a wide readership.

A short, formal announcement displayed on a board or circulated in an institution. It answers what, when, where, and who, and is written in the third person without a salutation.

Producing a factual account of an event, usually with a heading, reporter's name, and a clear sequence of what happened, written in past tense and impersonal style.

A piece of continuous writing on a topic, organised into an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, presenting and supporting a central position.

The verb form that shows the time of an action, such as present, past, or future. Consistency of tense is essential in narration and report writing.

The rule that a verb must match its subject in number and person, so a singular subject takes a singular verb and a plural subject takes a plural verb.

The words 'a', 'an', and 'the'. 'A' and 'an' are indefinite, used for one of many; 'the' is definite, used for something already known or unique.

A word such as 'in', 'on', 'at', 'by', or 'with' that shows the relation between a noun and another element, often place, time, or manner.

A verb combined with a particle, or particles, that together carry a distinct meaning, e.g. 'put off' meaning postpone or 'give in' meaning surrender.

The form of a verb showing whether the subject acts or is acted upon. In active voice the subject performs the action; in passive voice it receives it.

The reporting of someone's words. Direct narration quotes them exactly within inverted commas; indirect narration reports them without quotation, with changes in tense and pronouns.

A fixed expression whose meaning cannot be worked out from its individual words, such as 'to let the cat out of the bag' meaning to reveal a secret.

A short, well-known saying that expresses a general truth or piece of practical wisdom, often used to comment on a situation.

The central idea or underlying message a literary work explores, such as sacrifice, freedom, or the dignity of labour, as distinct from the events of the plot.

The methods a writer uses to build a character: description, speech, action, and the reactions of others. Characters may be round and changing or flat and fixed.

The arranged sequence of events in a story, usually moving through exposition, rising action, climax, and resolution, and shaped to hold the reader's interest.

A gap between what is said or expected and what is actually meant or happens. It may be verbal, situational, or dramatic, and it often carries a critical edge.

Writing that mocks human folly or vice in order to correct it, using humour, exaggeration, and irony rather than direct attack.

Descriptive language that appeals to the senses, creating pictures in the reader's mind and often carrying emotional or symbolic weight.

A comparison between two unlike things introduced by 'like' or 'as', such as 'her voice was like a bell'. It makes the description vivid and immediate.

A direct comparison in which one thing is described as if it were another, without 'like' or 'as', such as calling old age 'the last stage of a journey'.

Giving human qualities to a non-human thing, as in 'the wind whispered through the trees'. It is a common device in nature poetry.

The repetition of the same initial consonant sound in nearby words, such as 'silent, slow, and solemn'. It gives a line rhythm and emphasis.

The pattern of end rhymes in a poem, shown by letters such as abab or aabb, where identical letters mark lines that rhyme with each other.

A group of lines in a poem set off by a space from other groups, roughly the poetic equivalent of a paragraph. Its length and pattern shape the poem's movement.

The use of a concrete object, person, or place to stand for a larger abstract idea, such as a lamp representing hope or a caged bird representing captivity.

Reading longer works such as novels and story collections for overall understanding and pleasure, rather than for close analysis of individual sentences.

A brief account of a text's main points in your own words, leaving out minor detail while keeping the central sense and order of events.