BSEH SS English Special flashcards

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

Skimming versus scanning

Skimming is fast reading for gist and overall structure. Scanning is targeted search for a specific detail such as a date or name. The question type determines which to use.

Topic sentence

The sentence stating a paragraph's controlling idea, most often placed first or last. Supporting sentences illustrate or prove it and cannot substitute for it in main-idea questions.

Valid inference

A conclusion forced by evidence in the passage. If an option is merely plausible in real life but not supported by the text, it is a distractor and must be rejected.

Distractor types

Wrong options that are too broad, too narrow, the opposite of the text, or true but not asked. Eliminating these narrows a reading item to the single correct answer.

Formal letter order

Sender's address, date, receiver's designation and address, salutation, subject line, body, subscription, and signature. Deviating from this sequence loses format marks in writing tasks.

Paragraph unity and coherence

Unity means one controlling idea per paragraph. Coherence means sentences are linked by pronouns, repeated key terms, and connectors so the reader can follow the reasoning without gaps.

Cohesive device meanings

'However' signals contrast, 'therefore' signals conclusion, 'moreover' signals addition, and 'consequently' signals result. Using a connector with the wrong logical meaning is a common coherence error.

Precis length rule

A precis restates only the central idea in the writer's own words, usually at about one-third of the original length, omitting examples, repetition, and illustrative detail.

Third conditional form

If + past perfect, then would have + past participle, as in 'If she had studied, she would have passed.' It describes an unreal past situation and its imagined result.

Reported question word order

Reported questions use statement order and drop the auxiliary 'do'. 'Where do you live?' becomes 'He asked where I lived,' with tense shifted back one step.

Relative pronoun choice

Use 'who' for people, 'which' for things, and 'that' only in defining clauses. Non-defining clauses take commas and never use 'that' as the relative pronoun.

Subject-verb agreement traps

'Each', 'every', 'either', and 'neither' take singular verbs. 'A number of' takes a plural verb, while 'the number of' takes a singular verb.

Present perfect versus simple past

Present perfect links a past action to the present and rejects definite finished time markers. Simple past is required with 'yesterday', 'in 2019', or 'last week'.

Collocation decides vocabulary

Synonyms differ in what words they combine with and in register. English says 'make a decision' but 'do homework', and 'commence' is more formal than 'start'.

Plot versus theme

Plot is the sequence of events; theme is the idea those events convey. A prose answer must state both and show explicitly how the events generate the idea.

Narrative point of view

First-person narration is limited to one character's knowledge and may be biased. Omniscient narration stands outside the story and can comment on any character's thoughts.

Three kinds of irony

Verbal irony says the opposite of what is meant; situational irony reverses expectation in events; dramatic irony gives the reader knowledge that a character lacks.

Prose conflict types

Person against person, self, society, or nature. Identifying the conflict type locates the engine of the plot and usually points directly at the work's theme.

Iambic pentameter

A line of five iambs, each an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one, giving ten syllables. It is the standard measure of English blank verse and sonnets.

Shakespearean sonnet structure

Three quatrains followed by a closing couplet, rhyming abab cdcd efef gg. The couplet typically delivers the turn or final comment on the quatrains' argument.

Enjambment and caesura

Enjambment runs a sentence past the line ending without punctuation, speeding the reading. A caesura is a pause inside a line, slowing it and adding emphasis.

Sound devices in poetry

Alliteration repeats initial consonants, assonance repeats vowel sounds, consonance repeats closing consonants, and onomatopoeia imitates the sound it names.

Figures of speech list

Simile compares using like or as; metaphor states identity; personification gives human traits to non-human things; hyperbole exaggerates; oxymoron joins contradictory terms.

Soliloquy, monologue, aside

A soliloquy is spoken alone on stage and reveals inner thought. A monologue is a long speech with others present. An aside is a brief remark other characters do not hear.

Tragic structure

Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and catastrophe. The protagonist's hamartia, or tragic flaw, triggers the reversal of fortune that drives the ending.

Dramatic irony on stage

The audience knows something a character does not. It produces suspense and often sympathy, because the audience watches the character move toward a fate they foresee.

Verse versus prose in drama

Verse speech in drama often marks elevated status, formality, or heightened emotion, while prose tends to mark ordinary, comic, or socially lower characters.

Character arc

A character's change across a narrative, described as initial state, catalyst event, and final state. Each stage must be supported by a specific incident from the text.

Title significance argument

Connect the title first to a literal object or event in the work, then to the abstract idea it finally carries, showing how the literal meaning expands into theme.

Comparison basis

Before giving examples in a comparison item, state the basis: motive, response to crisis, or moral stance. Parallel examples under one stated basis make the comparison answerable.

Function and exponent

A language function is the communicative purpose, such as requesting or apologising. An exponent is the expression realising it, such as 'Could you...?' for requesting.

Adjacency pairs

Paired utterances such as greeting-greeting, question-answer, and invitation-acceptance or refusal. A missing second part is noticeable and signals trouble in the conversation.