KSEAB SSLC English (First Language 14E) key terms

A conclusion drawn from evidence in a passage rather than stated outright; readers combine clues with prior knowledge to work out meaning, motive, or outcome.

The central point a paragraph or passage communicates about its subject; every supporting detail is meant to develop or illustrate it.

A sentence, usually opening a paragraph, that announces the paragraph's controlling point and signals what the following sentences will explain or support.

The writer's attitude towards the subject or reader as revealed by word choice, sentence rhythm, and detail, such as ironic, nostalgic, urgent, or detached.

The feeling a text creates in the reader through setting, imagery, and diction; it differs from tone, which is the writer's own attitude.

Reading quickly to locate a specific fact, name, number, or date without reading every line; the eye moves down the page hunting for a match.

Reading rapidly for the gist of a passage, glancing at headings, first sentences, and key words to grasp the overall drift before detailed study.

The quality that makes ideas hold together logically, achieved through ordered points, linking words, and consistent focus rather than abrupt jumps between topics.

The surface linking of sentences through pronouns, conjunctions, and repeated or substituted words, so that each sentence is visibly tied to the previous one.

The relationship between a pronoun or pointing word (he, this, those) and the earlier noun or clause it stands for, which a reader must resolve to follow meaning.

The underlying idea about life or human experience that a literary work explores, such as the cost of ambition, conveyed through character, action, and symbol rather than stated directly.

The arranged sequence of events in a narrative, built from exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution, each causing the next.

The point of greatest tension or decision in a story, after which the outcome becomes inevitable and the action turns towards resolution.

The closing stage of a narrative in which the conflict is settled and remaining questions about the characters' fates are answered.

The techniques an author uses to build a character: direct description, dialogue, action, other characters' comments, and the character's own thoughts and choices.

The chief character around whose fortunes and decisions the narrative is organised; not necessarily admirable, but always central to the action.

The reason, shown or implied, behind a character's behaviour; identifying it converts a list of actions into an understandable pattern of choice.

An object, person, or action that carries meaning beyond its literal sense, such as a locked gate standing for opportunity denied.

Language that appeals to the senses to create vivid pictures or sensations, often through comparison and concrete detail rather than abstract statement.

A figure of speech that states one thing is another without using like or as, transferring qualities from a familiar object to the subject being described.

A comparison between two unlike things introduced by like, as, or than, used to clarify or heighten an impression through a familiar likeness.

Giving human qualities or actions to an animal, object, or abstract idea, as when dawn is said to tiptoe over the hills.

The repetition of the same initial consonant sound in nearby stressed words, used for rhythmic emphasis and to bind phrases together in verse or prose.

The repetition of similar vowel sounds within nearby words, usually in stressed syllables, producing a subtle musical echo without full rhyme.

The pattern of end rhymes in a poem, conventionally labelled with letters so that alternating rhymes appear as abab and couplets as aa.

A group of lines in a poem set off by spacing, functioning like a paragraph and often carrying a single stage of the poem's argument or scene.

A line or phrase repeated at intervals in a poem or song, often at the end of stanzas, to emphasise a feeling or mark a turn in the poem.

A gap between what is said or expected and what is meant or actually happens; it may be verbal, situational, or dramatic, and invites the reader to see the discrepancy.

Writing that ridicules folly or vice in order to correct it, using wit, exaggeration, and irony rather than direct condemnation.

A direct address to an absent person, a dead figure, or an abstract quality as though present and able to hear, common in lyric and elegiac poetry.

A poem of mourning for someone dead, moving typically from grief and praise through reflection on mortality to consolation or acceptance.

A short narrative told to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, whose concrete events are meant to be applied beyond the story itself.

A narrative in which characters, settings, and events consistently stand for abstract ideas or moral truths, so the surface story carries a second, systematic meaning.

The voice that tells a story; whether first-person, third-person limited, or omniscient, the narrator's knowledge and reliability shape what the reader can know.

The perspective from which a narrative is told, such as first person (I), third person limited (he/she, one mind), or omniscient (all minds and events).

A fixed expression whose meaning cannot be worked out from its individual words, such as to bury the hatchet meaning to end a quarrel.

A group of words functioning as a single unit within a sentence but lacking a subject and finite verb together, as in in the nick of time.

A group of words containing its own subject and finite verb; it may stand alone as a sentence or be joined to others as subordinate or coordinate.

A word that joins words, phrases, or clauses, either coordinating equals (and, but, or) or subordinating one clause to another (because, although, while).

A sentence construction in which the subject performs the action, as in the committee approved the plan, generally producing direct and vigorous prose.

A construction in which the subject receives the action, formed with a form of be plus the past participle, as in the plan was approved.

The rendering of someone's words indirectly, with tense, pronouns, and time or place words shifted back, as when I am tired becomes he said he was tired.

The grammatical marking of time and aspect on a verb, showing whether an action is past, present, or future and whether it is completed, ongoing, or habitual.

A word such as in, on, under, or despite that links a noun or pronoun to another element, expressing relations of place, time, or manner.

A word close in meaning to another, though rarely identical in use; choosing between them depends on register, collocation, and nuance.

A word opposite in meaning to another, often formed by a negative prefix such as un-, dis-, or in-, but sometimes a wholly different word.

The habitual pairing of words that native users expect together, such as heavy rain or make a decision, where a near-synonym would sound wrong.

A meaningful element attached to the front of a root word to change its sense, as un- in unhappy or pre- in preview.

A meaningful element added to the end of a word to change its meaning or grammatical class, as -ness turning kind into a noun.

A restatement of a passage's meaning in different words, preserving the sense and length roughly while changing the wording and structure.

A condensed account of a text's main points in the writer's own words, omitting examples and repetition while keeping the essential argument or narrative.

A formal, tightly compressed summary that keeps the order and proportion of the original and is usually written in a single paragraph without comment.

A formal letter stating a grievance, giving relevant facts and evidence in a measured tone, and requesting a specific remedy within a stated time.

A letter following conventional layout and an impersonal, courteous register, with sender's address, date, salutation, structured body, and closing.

The level of formality and kind of language suited to a situation, ranging from colloquial speech to official prose, chosen to fit audience and purpose.

A plan listing a piece's main points and subpoints in hierarchical order, using headings rather than full sentences, to test structure before drafting.

A unit of writing developing one point, marked by indentation or spacing, with a topic sentence, supporting detail, and a link to what follows.

Information surrounding an unfamiliar word, such as definition, example, contrast, or cause, that lets a reader infer its meaning without a dictionary.