WBCHSE HS English (Second Language - ENGB) flashcards

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

Skimming versus scanning

Skimming is a fast read for overall gist and organisation; scanning is a targeted search for a specific fact, name, date, or keyword. Use scanning to locate an answer once questions are known.

Inference in prose answers

An inference is a conclusion the passage implies but does not state. Support it with a quoted or paraphrased detail plus a because-clause; unsupported inference earns nothing.

Antecedent of a pronoun

The noun phrase a pronoun or demonstrative refers back to. For 'it', 'this', or 'such a step', name the exact preceding phrase rather than summarising the general idea.

Vocabulary in context

Meaning of a word as fixed by its surrounding sentence, not its first dictionary sense. Test a candidate synonym by substituting it back into the original line.

Writer's tone

The attitude the writer takes toward the subject, expressed through diction and imagery. Name it with one abstract noun such as ironic, nostalgic, or indignant, and justify with textual evidence.

Speaker and addressee

In verse, the voice uttering the poem and the person or thing addressed. Many questions hinge on who says 'I' and to whom 'you' refers; neither is automatically the poet.

Rhyme scheme notation

End-rhymes are labelled with lowercase letters, so abab means lines one and three rhyme and lines two and four rhyme. Mark end-rhymes only unless internal rhyme is requested.

Simile versus metaphor

A simile compares using like or as; a metaphor states one thing is another without a comparative word. Both clarify, but metaphor fuses the two terms more completely.

Personification

Giving human qualities to a non-human thing, as when a wind whispers or a road remembers. Its effect is to animate the scene and make abstract forces concrete and emotionally present.

Central idea of a poem

The human experience the poem is about plus the stance it takes on that experience. State it as theme plus attitude, not as a retelling of the poem's events.

Petrarchan sonnet structure

Fourteen lines in an octave and a sestet, rhyming abbaabba then cdecde or similar. The volta, or turn in argument, usually falls at line nine.

Shakespearean sonnet structure

Fourteen lines in three quatrains and a closing couplet, rhyming abab cdcd efef gg. The turn typically arrives at line thirteen, and the couplet delivers the resolution.

Symbol in poetry

A concrete object that stands for an abstract idea, such as a journey for life. A valid reading names the object, the idea, and the textual detail licensing the link.

Elegiac tone

A mournful, reflective attitude associated with lament for the dead or for what has passed. Identify it through diction of loss, seasonal imagery, and slow rhythm rather than by assertion alone.

Characterisation evidence in prose

A trait claim must be supported by an incident and by the character's own speech or action. Trait, incident, and quotation together form a complete answer.

Narrator versus author

The narrator is the constructed voice telling the story; the author is the real writer. In first-person texts the narrator's opinions may be limited or ironic, not the writer's own.

Significance of a title

A title answer must connect the title to the central theme and to at least one concrete episode in the text, showing how the phrase resonates beyond its literal sense.

Critical appreciation framework

A five-part structure covering theme, characterisation, setting, style and technique, and the writer's purpose. Following the order ensures full coverage within the time allowed.

Soliloquy versus aside

A soliloquy is spoken alone on stage, revealing inner thought. An aside is spoken in company but heard only by the audience, exposing hidden motive or creating complicity.

Dramatic irony

A gap between what a character believes and what the audience knows. A full answer states the character's belief, the audience's knowledge, and the resulting tension or comedy.

Function of a scene

A scene's role in the play's architecture: exposition, complication, climax, or resolution, and its contribution to theme. Name both plot function and thematic work.

Foil character

A character whose traits contrast with another's, throwing the protagonist's qualities into relief. Identify the contrasted pair and the specific quality illuminated.

Subject-verb agreement rule

The verb agrees with the head noun of the subject, not with a nearer noun inside a modifying phrase. In 'the box of pens is', the singular head noun governs the verb.

Reported speech backshift

When the reporting verb is past, shift the reported tense one step back, adjust pronouns to the reporter's viewpoint, and change time and place words such as now to then.

Third conditional form

If plus past perfect in the condition, and would have plus past participle in the result, as in 'If he had studied, he would have passed'. It describes unreal past situations.

Restrictive versus non-restrictive clause

A restrictive relative clause is essential to identify the noun and takes no commas, and may use 'that'. A non-restrictive clause adds extra information, takes commas, and never uses 'that'.

Phrasal verb particle shift

The particle changes the meaning: give in is surrender, give up is quit, give away is donate or betray, give out is distribute or fail. Learn each as a fixed unit.

Connotation versus denotation

Denotation is a word's literal meaning; connotation is its emotional colouring. 'Childlike' and 'childish' denote similar qualities but carry approving and disapproving connotations respectively.

One-word substitution

A single precise term replacing a descriptive phrase, such as astronomer for one who studies stars, or lexicographer for one who compiles dictionaries. Learn these in thematic families.

Confusable pairs affect and effect

Affect is usually a verb meaning to influence; effect is usually a noun meaning result. Effect as a verb means to bring about, as in to effect change.

Formal letter closing

Use Yours faithfully with Dear Sir or Madam, and Yours sincerely with a named recipient. The closing must match the salutation, and the subject line precedes the salutation.

Notice format

A boxed announcement headed NOTICE, with date, a short heading, a body of about fifty words covering what, when, where, and whom to contact, signed with name and designation.

Precis writing rule

Compress the original to roughly one-third of its length, keeping its argument and tone, cutting examples and repetition, and adding no opinion or outside information of your own.