Tamil Nadu HSE Second Year English flashcards

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

Flat character

A flat character shows a single dominant trait and does not change through the story; exam answers should name that trait and support it with one incident from the text.

Round character

A round character is built from several traits and contradictions and can change; a good answer traces the change from the opening situation to the closing one.

Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is a hint planted early in a narrative about something that happens later; identifying it lets an answer show how the writer prepares the reader for the ending.

Theme versus plot

Plot is the sequence of events; theme is the idea those events explore, such as sacrifice or loyalty. Theme answers must state the idea instead of retelling the story.

Narrative point of view

First person uses I and limits knowledge to the narrator; third-person omniscient enters several minds; third-person limited stays inside one character's perceptions throughout.

Simile

A simile compares two unlike things using like, as, than or resembles; the answer should quote both halves of the comparison to secure the device mark.

Metaphor

A metaphor states that one thing is another without like or as, carrying the comparison through a whole line or poem rather than marking it explicitly.

Personification

Personification gives human qualities, feelings or actions to non-human things, such as a wind that whispers or a sun that stares down at the field.

Alliteration

Alliteration repeats the same initial consonant sound in words close together; it differs from assonance, which repeats vowel sounds inside words.

Rhyme scheme

A rhyme scheme records end-sound patterns with letters, so abab means lines one and three rhyme while lines two and four rhyme with each other.

Tone versus mood

Tone is the attitude the speaker or poet takes towards the subject; mood is the feeling the poem creates in the reader. Answers should name both separately.

Plot arc

Exposition introduces setting and characters, rising action builds conflict, the climax is the turning point, falling action unwinds it and the resolution closes the story.

Static versus dynamic character

A static character stays unchanged to the end; a dynamic character is altered by the central conflict, and that alteration usually carries the story's value message.

Value-based question

A value-based answer names the human value at stake, shows one character acting for or against it, and judges the outcome in the final sentence.

Foil character

A foil is a character whose contrasting qualities throw the protagonist's traits into relief, so comparing the pair sharpens any character-based answer.

Internal versus external conflict

Internal conflict pits a character against their own fear, guilt or divided loyalty; external conflict sets them against another person, society, nature or fate.

Main idea position

The main idea is usually stated in the first or last sentence of a paragraph; the remaining sentences supply examples, so summary answers generalise from them.

Inference

An inference is a conclusion the passage supports but never states outright; it must be traceable to the text rather than to the reader's own experience.

Context clue

A context clue is a nearby definition, synonym, contrast or example that fixes a word's meaning; substituting each option back into the sentence tests it.

Scanning for facts

Scanning means moving the eye quickly in search of a specific target such as a name, date or number instead of reading every word, which speeds factual retrieval.

Distractor option rule

An option can be true in general yet fail to answer the question asked; reject options supported only outside the passage or only partly supported inside it.

Present perfect rule

Use present perfect for a past action whose result still matters now, and simple past when a finished time marker such as yesterday or in 1999 appears.

Passive transformation

The active object becomes the subject, the verb becomes a form of be plus past participle, and the original subject moves into a by-phrase or disappears.

Backshift in reported speech

When the reporting verb is past, shift the reported verb one step back; do not shift universal truths, habitual facts or forms already in past perfect.

Reported question form

Reported questions use if or whether for yes/no items, keep statement word order, drop the question mark and drop do-support entirely.

Third conditional

If plus past perfect in the if-clause and would have plus past participle in the result clause; it describes an unreal past and its imagined consequence.

Defining relative clause

A defining clause identifies which person or thing is meant and takes no commas; a non-defining clause adds extra information, needs commas and never uses that.

Formal letter order

Sender address, date, receiver's designation and address, subject line, salutation, body in short paragraphs, complimentary close and signature, in that order.

Notice format

A notice is boxed and headed by the issuing body, carries a date and bold heading, answers who, what, when, where and whom to contact, and stays under fifty words.

Precis rules

A precis runs about one-third of the original, in the writer's own words, third person, past tense, one paragraph, with no examples, repetition or personal comment.

Report structure

A report opens with a headline and byline, states place and date, narrates events in past tense and third person, and closes with the outcome or action taken.

Email subject line

The subject line states the purpose in about six words; a formal email uses a salutation, short paragraphs, no contractions and a sign-off with the full name.