Team:
Homeroom:
Front of Card Back of Card
Elements of the Short Story / BlankSS1
Theme / *The central idea(s) in a piece of literature
ex: the importance of individuality is a theme in Lois Lowry’s The Giver
SS2
Style / *The way or method the author uses to tell the story
*Includes voice, characters, setting, and other elements
SS3
Genre / *A distinctive type of literary writing
Ex: romance, mystery, fiction, non-fiction
SS4
Plot / *The sequence of events that take place
*How the story unfolds
*What happens in the story
*Includes exposition, rising action, conflict, falling action, climax, denouement (resolution)
SS5
Exposition / *The story’s beginning where characters, setting, mood, and point of view are established
*plunges the reader into the story
SS6
Characters / *People in the story
SS7
Protagonist / *Main character
*Often the “good guy”
SS8
Antagonist / *The person or thing against the main character
SS9
Characterization / *The author uses what people say about them, what the characters say, themselves, and what the narrator says to depict a character
SS10
Setting / *The place and time of the story
*Determined by styles of clothing, technology, historical occurrences, customs, manner of speaking, and more
SS11
Mood or Tone / *The feeling the author intends the reader to get/feel during the exposition
*Sad, happy, suspenseful
SS12
Point of View / *The way in which the story is told
*Who is telling the story
*It includes various types of narrators
SS13
Types of Narration / *1st person narrator: Uses “I” or “we”
*3rd person narrator: Uses “he” “she” or “it”
*Omniscient: Reveals the thoughts of several characters
*Limited Narrator: Tells the thoughts of one character
SS14
Rising Action / *Events that lead to the climax of the story
*Includes the conflicts that evolve and where the author builds suspense
*90% of the story
SS15
Conflict
(part of the rising action) / *Problems that occur between two characters or opposing forces
*Internal: in conflict with himself/herself
*External: in conflict with an outside force
SS16
Types of Conflict / *Man VS. Man
*Man VS. Nature
*Man VS. Supernatural
*Man VS. Society
*Man VS. Technology
*Man VS. Self
SS17
Climax / *The point of the highest suspense in the story where the major conflict reaches a peak
*Problem usually resolved
*While some stories build suspense and have mini-climaxes, the Climax happens right before the End of the story
SS18
Falling Action / *The few events that happen at the end of the story
SS19
Denouement
(Final Resolution) / *Where the author’s story resolves a final conflict
*This occurs during the end of the story
Front of Card Back of Card
FCS & What to Avoid/Include When Writing / BlankFCS1
Proper Heading / Name
Teacher
Period
Date
FCS2
General Requirements / *Use spell check
*create an original title which is catchy but connected to the theme
*title 3 SINGLE spaces after heading – don’t underline, quote or italicize
*Skip three single spaces after title
FCS3
Typed Final Copy Requirements / *12 pt. font
*double-space entire paper (no extra spaces between paragraphs!!)
*no cursive or italicized fonts
*1 inch margins on all sides
*print on ONE side of paper
*indent each paragraph
*black ink only
FCS4
What to Avoid / *slang, clichés, jargon, informal speech
*overused words – stuff, things, a lot, good
*spelling and grammar errors
*preps at end of sentence
*split infinitives
*starting a sentence with but, and, so, nor, for, yet
FCS5
What to Avoid / *contractions
*abbreviations
*announcements
*use of first person (unless it is a personal essay)
*use of second person
FCS6
What to Include / *sentence Variety
*consistent verb tense
*write out all numbers below 100
*complete sentences
*appropriate verbs
trudged/walked
*Descriptive adjectives (thesaurus)
Front of Card Back of Card
Parts of Speech / 1. Noun2. Pronoun
3. Verb
4. Adjective
5. Adverb
6. Preposition
7. Conjunction
8. Interjection
PS 1
Noun / *Names a person, place, thing or idea
*Used as the subjects of sentences
*Used as the objects of verbs and prepositions
Common Noun: refers to any person, place, thing, or idea
Ex: boy, house, water , town, religion, teacher, despair, beach, mystery
*Proper Noun: refers to specific persons, places, things or ideas and are capitalized
Ex: George, the White House, London, Hershey Park, Mrs. Burke, Harry Potter
PS 2
Pronoun / *A word that takes the place of a noun
*Ex: John called his mother as soon as he got home from work
PS 3
Verb / *A word that shoes the action or state of being
*Indicates the time of action or being
He walked into class ten minutes ago. (Past)
I need your report now. (Present)
You will enjoy the movie a lot. (Future)
PS 4
Adjective / *A word that describes a noun
*Specifies size, color, number, etc.
*Functions as a modifier
*A small light showed in an upper window of the old factory.
*The two old ladies lived in the big stone house.
PS 5
Adverb / *A word that describes a verb, adjective and other adverb
*Specifies in what manner/how, when, where, and how much
*Adverbs often tell HOW something is Done
*Ex: The child screamed loudly as the doctor prepared an injection. (HOW did the child scream?)
*Ex: It is much later than I thought.
(HOW MUCH later is it?)
PS 6 (a)
Prepositions / *A word that comes before a noun/pronoun and relates the noun/pronoun following it to another word
*Often indicate time, space or location
*Will always be part of a prepositional phrase
*Prep phrases begin with a preposition and end with a noun
*Ex: The dog came running (into the room).
*Ex: He parked (behind the truck).
PS 6 (b)
Prepositions
(1-10) / 1. About
2. Above
3. Across
4. After
5. Against
6. Along
7. Amid
8. Among
9. Around
10. At
PS 6 (c)
Prepositions
(11-20) / 11. Before
12. Behind
13. Below
14. Beneath
15. Beside
16. Besides
17. Between
18. Beyond
19. But
20. By
PS 6 (d)
Prepositions
(21-30) / 21. Concerning
22. Despite
23. Down
24. During
25. Except
26. For
27. From
28. In
29. Inside
30. Into
PS 6 (e)
Preposition
(31-40) / 31. Like
32. Near
33. Of
34. Off
35. On
36. Onto
37. Opposite
38. Out
39. Outside
40. Over
PS 6 (e)
Prepositions
(41-50) / 41. Past
42. Since
43. Through
44. Throughout
45. Till
46. To
47. Toward
48. Under
49. Underneath
50. until
PS 6 (f)
Prepositions
(51-55) / 51. up
52. upon
53. with
54. within
55. without
PS 6 (g)
Prepositions
(Compound) / 1. according to
2. ahead of
3. apart from
4. aside from
5. as of
6. because of
7. by means of
8. in addition to
9. in back of
10. in front of / 11. in place of
12. in regard to
13. in spite of
14. instead of
15. in view of
16. next to
17. on account of
18. out of
19. owing to
20. prior to
PS 7 (a)
Conjunctions / *A word that connects words, phrases or clauses
PS 7(b)
Coordinating Conjunctions / *Connects sentence elements of the same value
*FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
*Be careful to check HOW the word is being used because yet and so are also used as adverbs, and for is a common preposition
*Ex: This is a useful rule, but it is difficult to remember.
PS 7 (c)
Subordinating Conjunctions / *Joins an independent clause with a dependent clause
*Ex: although, even though, since, wherever, once, whenever
*Be careful to check HOW the word is being used because some subordinating conjunctions are also prepositions.
PS 8
Interjections / *A word or group of words that expresses a strong emotion
*Functions independently of a sentence
*Ex: Yes! I love Mrs. Burke’s English class.
PS 9 (a)
Infinitives / * to + a verb
*Do not function as verbs!
*Can be used as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs
*Ex: She always brings a book to read.
PS 9 (b)
Split Infinitives / *Happens when a word comes between “to” and the verb
Incorrect / Sara hopes to quickly finish her chemistry homework.
Correct / Sara hopes to finish her chemistry homework quickly.
PS 10
Articles / *Combine with nouns to make references
*Function as adjectives
*Definite Article: the
Ex: Did you see the show?
*Indefinite Articles: a, an
Ex: She bought a kitten.
Front of Card Back of Card
PH1Phrase / *group of words in a sentence that functions as a single part of speech
*does NOT contain a subject and verb
*can NOT stand alone
*When used at the beginning of the sentence, it often needs a comma
*When used in the middle, it often needs comma on both sides
PH2
Prepositional Phrase / *Begins with a prep and ends in a noun
*I entered through the doors.
*When used at the beginning of a sentence, it gets a comma if it is more than three words.
*Beyond the green hills, a rainbow shined down.
PH3
Appositive Phrase / *A noun or pronoun placed after another noun or pronoun to identify, describe, rename or explain the word before it.
*Adds information or details
*Stands next to the noun or pronoun
The antique car, a Corvette, is red.
PH4
Participial Phrases / *Form of a verb that acts as an adjective
*Usually ends in “ing”
*The baby, crying loudly, kicked his legs.
*The sleeping giant snored.
CL1
Independent Clause / *Has a subject and verb
*Is a complete thought
*Can stand alone
*She ate an apple.
CL2
Dependent Clause
(Also called “subordinate”) / *Has a subject and verb
*Is NOT a complete thought
*When used at the beginning of a sentence, it often takes a comma.
While the stove was on, the hot was hot.
Since you studied, you will do well on the test.
CL2 (A)
Subject / *The subject of a sentence is the word or group of words that answers the question Who? or What? before the verb.
The cheerleaders formed a pyramid.
CL3
Elliptical Clause / *Some words in a sentence are left out and are meant to be understood
*Mrs. Parkin cooks almost as well as Mrs. Connelly.
*Inferred: Mrs. Connelly cooks
Front of Card Back of Card
BP1Body Paragraph / Topic Sentence
Race 1 (example 1)
Race 2 (example 2)
Clincher
BP2
Topic Sentence / State the entire topic of the body – not just the first RACE.
BP3
RACE / *Restate the specific example
*Answer with additional scene info
*Cite the direct quote
*Elaborate – what new info or what effect
BP4
Direct Quote / *Comes directly from the text
*Includes speaker and citation
Citation / *Includes author’s last name & pg number in parenthesis
*NO comma between last name & pg. number
*Comes BEFORE the period
* Hugo said, “You can fix it” (Selznick 117).
BP6
Clincher / *Wrap up the ENTIRE body, not just the second example.
*Try to end with something catchy or clever.
*Do NOT lead into the next example!!
BP7
Transitions / Words used to lead the reader from one sentence to the next and one paragraph to the next
Usually followed by commas