VCLA STUDY GUIDE

CREATED 4/3/2021
QUIZLET: https://quizlet.com/38131150/vcla-flash-cards/?
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Synonym: Words that mean the same or almost the same.
Homophone: Words that are pronounced the same but have different meanings.
Antonym: Opposites
Homonym: Spelled the same, pronounced the same, different meaning. (ex. Mean: unkind; Mean: to intend)
Heteronym: Spelled the same, different pronunciations and meanings (ex. Desert: dry region, Desert: Abandon)
Capitonyms: Spelled the same, different meanings when capitalized. May not mean the same when capitalized (ex.
polish, Polish).
Dashes and Italics: Denotes sudden breaks in thought.
Semicolons: Separate two or more closely related independent clauses when the second clause is introduced by a
transitional verb. (ex. “Jennifer likes eggs; John does not.” “The cat slept through the storm; the dog cowered under the
bed”)
Colons: Can be used to connect two sentences when the second sentence summarizes, sharpens, or explains the first
(ex. “Mrs. Morris preaches this concept: Second place is first loser”)
Comparative Form: To compare two things (-er).
Superlative: Compares more than two things (-est)
Demonstrative Pronouns: Singular: “This” “That” Plural: “These” “Those”. Represents a noun and expresses its position
as near or far. Point to specific things. “This” and “These”: Nearby in space and time. “That” and Those” : Farther away
in space and time.
Demonstrative Pronouns Point: Point out particular pronouns.
Personal Pronouns: I, You, He, She, It, We, They. Observe number, gender, and refer to specific people or things.
Relative Pronouns: Who, Whom, Which, Whose, What, Whomever, Whichever, Whatever. Connect dependent clause to
a sentence.
Case: A noun or prounouns’ grammatical role in a sentence.

Author’s Purpose: Why the author is writing the material.

Descriptive Writing (Author’s Purpose): Centers on a person, place, or thing using concrete sensory words that create
mood or impression. Arranges details in chronological order.
Narrative Writing (Author’s Purpose): Written using an incident. Chronology of 5 W’s, topic sentence and conclusion are
important.
Persuasive Writing (Author’s Purpose): Writing arranged to direct the opinion of the reader. May include expository or
narrative writing.
TYPES OF PERSUASIVE SPEECH:
1) Fact: Seeks to find answer when there isn’t a clear one.
2) Value: Convinces you if something is good or bad. Focuses more on values and beliefs.
 3) Policy: Call to action speech, action from audience. Speaker wants something to be done/changed.
Journalistic Writing (Author’s Purpose): Free of author’s bias. Factual relying on info.
Bias: Based on opinion, feeling influence that favors one side of the argument.
Outline: Summarize using headings, subheadings, and topics to include in a paper.
Mapping: Map of reading material using key words and ideas to reference w/ chunks of info.
Main Idea: Basic message of text
Implied Main Idea: Suggested by the reading selection. Not clearly stated but inferred by supporting details.
Stated Main Idea: Directly expressed in a sentence or two.
Sequence of Events: Organize events or steps.
Expository Writing: Gives info not previously known about topic; uses facts, examples, statistics, cause and effect.
Supporting Details: Expand the main idea using facts, examples, illustrations.
Point of View: The focus of the writer assumes in relation to topic.
Person: How a person is speaking in a text (1 st? 2nd? 3rd?)
-First Person: Talking about yourself. “I, We, My, Our, Me, Us”
- Second Person: When talking to/about another person “You, Your”
- Third: Can disrupt continuity “He, She, It, His, Her, Him, Its, They, Their, Them.
Refer to Human Beings: “Who, Whom, Whose”
Refers to Things Other Than Human Beings: “That”
Antecedent: Specific noun that a pronoun replaces and to which it refers. Must agree in person, number, and gender.
“Alexis and David” are the antecedent in the sentence: “Alexis and David bought 10 Yankee candles, 5 for her and 5 for
him”
Pronoun: “I, Me, He, She, Herself, You, It, That, They, Each, Few, Many, Who, Whoever, Whose, Someone, Everybody,
etc.” A word that takes the place of a noun. Ex. “Joe saw Jill, and he waved at her” Pronouns “he” and “her” take the
place of Joe and Jill.
Infinitive: Usually begins w/ the word “to” and is followed by the base form of a verb. Ex. “I like to run” “I wanted to
cook”
Fragments occur when a sentence is missing wither a subject or a verb.
Syntax: Sentence Structure. Grammar.
Diction: Word Choice
Inference: Educated guess based on presented info.
Tense: Important to stick with the same tense as much as possible.
3 TYPES OF TENSES:
1) Past Tense: Describes things that have already happened.
2) Present Tense: Things that are happening now
3) Future Tense: Describes future activity
Tone: Varies with purpose of essay. The general character or attitude of a place, piece of writing, situation, etc.
TIPS FROM GROUP MEMBERS:
- Know when to use who/which, which/that,who/whom,who/that.
-Know when to add “ly” to an adjective.
-What incorrect sentence structures look like (run-ons, comma splices, fragmented sentences, etc.)
-If something doesn’t sound right, make a note of it.
- Write notes about each paragraph’s main point. This will help you answer questions about how the passages are
organized.
- Know the grammar rules. Understand the reasoning behind the answers gives you a feel for what type of answers
they are looking for. (20 grammar rules listed on following pages)
- Know how to decipher the author’s opinion from the passage. Not factual, what the author thinks/feels.
-Know how to decipher the author’s argument within a passage. What is the author arguing within the passage?
-Know how to decipher the author’s main purpose within a passage. Why is the author writing this?
-Know how to summarize a passage’s main idea.
Know the definition of synonym.
- Understand the influence of purpose and audience in written communication. The purpose of your paper is why you
are writing your paper (convince, inform, instruct, analyze, review, etc.) The audience of you paper are those who will
read what you write. A writer’s audience will influence his purpose, while his purpose will influence which audience the
writer chooses to address. Knowing you audience helps you make decisions about what info. you should include, how
you should arrange that info. and what kind of supporting details will be necessary for the readers to understand what
you are presenting. It also influences the tone and structure of the document.
- Apply principles of unity, focus, and development in writing. UNITY in writing refers to the focus of ideas in sentences
and paragraphs that work together to make the document easy to understand. It means that each paragraph has only
one main idea (expressed in the topic sentence) and each sentence in that paragraph must be focused on the same
topic, and each paragraph must be focused on the same message to create consistency.
- Apply principles of organization in writing. When things are laid out in order we can work with them more easily. If we
can impose some kind of order on info., the info. is easier to talk about, to understand, and to remember. Principles of
Organization: 1) Chronological Order: Order of time. How events, items, or ideas are arranged in the order in they
occur. 2) Spatial Order: How details are presented as they are (or were) located in space—from left to right, top to
bottom, etc. Can include transitions such as just to the right, a little further on, to the south of Memphis. 3) Climatic
Order: Order of importance. 4) Characters are arranged from least-most important. Transitions include: More
importantly, most difficult, by far the most expensive, etc. Topical Order: Organization that emerges from the topic itself.
For example, if you were to describe a computer you would say the processing unit, monitor, keyboard, while a
discussion of a computer purchase may include price, product, needs, service. Transitions may include: the first element
of, another key part, a third common attribute, etc.
- Apply principles of sentence and paragraph construction in writing. PARAGRAPHS:  develops ONE main idea through
a series of related sentences. This main idea is usually introduced in the first sentence of the paragraph, called the
topic sentence. ... Paragraphs play an important role in writing because they provide a framework for organizing your
ideas in a logical order. Paragraphs provide structure and flow to your text. They allow you to move from one thought to
another. When you start a new paragraph you are telling your reader that the topic is over and you are moving on.
Without this structure, your brilliant ideas and your sound argumentation will be difficult to follow. Just like all the
paragraphs in your paper should connect to your thesis statement, all the sentences in your paragraph should connect
to the topic sentence. If you look at this paragraph, for example, you will see that it starts with a clear topic sentence
letting you know that paragraphs follow a structure similar to that of papers. The next two sentences explain how a
paragraph is like a paper, and then two more sentences show how this paragraph follows that structure.  All of these
sentences are clearly connected to the main idea. If you ever notice your sentences no longer relate to the topic
sentence or that your paragraph has suddenly switched to a new idea, you likely have two paragraphs that need to be
split up.
“The topic sentence that starts your paragraph should serve two purposes: first, it lets your reader know what the
paragraph is going to be about; and, second, it highlights the connection between the present paragraph and the one
that came before. The topic sentence of this third paragraph tells the reader that I am now going to explain what a topic
sentence does, thus fulfilling the first function. It also tells you that this paragraph is going to talk about one particular
aspect of the previous paragraph’s main idea: we are now moving from the general structure of the paragraph to the
particular role of the topic sentence. Typically, topic sentences should not be quotations but rather should be written in
your own words. They should clearly explain what your main idea for the paragraph is. Sometimes, you may want to
include transition words or phrases—such as moreover, nonetheless, additionally, in contrast—to help relate your new
paragraph to the previous one. Do not feel pressured to always use a transition word or phrase, though. If the train of
thought connecting the paragraphs is clear without one, a transition word may not be necessary. As you can see, I did
not use one in this paragraph. In the next paragraph, I will use a brief transitioning phrase to introduce a new topic: the
role of the other sentences in a paragraph.
After your first sentence introduces the main idea, the remainder of the sentences in a paragraph should support or
explain your topic. You may use these additional sentences to detail your position on the topic.  You might also provide
examples, statistics, or other evidence that proves your point.  At the end of the paragraph, you may include some sort
of conclusion or a transition that sets up the next idea you will be discussing (for example, you can see this clearly in the
last sentence of the first paragraph).  Overall, making sure your reader knows how each sentence in the paragraph
relates back to the topic sentence will greatly improve the quality of your writing, as does highlighting the connection
between each paragraph and your thesis statement in a longer paper.” (CUNY: School of Professional Studies. (n.d.)
Paragraph contruction and topic sentences. Retrieved at https://bacwritingfellows.commons.gc.cuny.edu/paragraph-
construction-and-topic-sentences/
- Produce a written summary of a given informational or persuasive passage. A short summary is about 1/3 of the
original text. To summarize, you must read a passage closely, finding the main ideas and supporting ideas/evidence. Put
together a thesis based on those main ideas/evidence.Then you must briefly write down those ideas in a few sentences
or a paragraph. It is important to understand the difference between a summary and a paraphrase. A paraphrase is
simply a rewriting of a passage in your own words. If the passage ends with a main message, this should not be left out.
DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR OPINIONS.
What are the Characteristics of an Effective Summary?
 An effective summary captures the most important information. ...
 An effective summary is highly readable. ...
 An effective summary can stand on its own. ...
 An effective summary is faithful to the original. ...
 An effective summary is as concise as possible.
- Know when to use who/which which/that who/whom who/that when to add “ly” to an adjective what incorrect
sentence structure looks like (run ons, comma splices, fragmented sentences etc) When to use however, moreover,
therefore, etc
 20 GRAMMAR RULES
Retrieved from: https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/rules.htm
(NOTE THE BOLD PARTS IN THE EXAMPLES)
1) 1. A sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a period/full stop, a question mark or an exclamation
mark. see Punctuation
 The fat cat sat on the mat.
 Where do you live?
 My dog is very clever!
2) The order of a basic positive sentence is Subject-Verb-Object. (Negative and question sentences may have a
different order.)
 John loves Mary.
 They were driving their car  to Bangkok.
3)  Every sentence must have a subject and a verb. An object is optional. Note that an imperative sentence may have
a verb only, but the subject is understood.
 John teaches.
 John teaches  English.
 Stop! (i.e.  You stop!)
4) The subject and verb must agree in number, that is a singular subject needs a singular verb and a plural subject
needs a plural verb.
 John  works  in London.
 That monk  eats  once a day.
 John and Mary  work  in London.
 Most people  eat  three meals a day
5) When two singular subjects are connected by or, use a singular verb. The same is true
for either/or and neither/nor.
 John or Mary  is  coming tonight.
 Either coffee or tea  is  fine.
 Neither John nor Mary  was  late
6) Adjectives usually come before a noun (except when a verb separates the adjective from the noun).
 I have a  big  dog.
 She married a  handsome Italian  man.
 (Her husband is  rich.)
7)  When using two or more adjectives together, the usual order is opinion-adjective + fact-adjective + noun. (There
are some additional rules for the order of fact adjectives.)
 I saw a  nice French  table.
 That was an  interesting Shakespearian  play.
8) Treat collective nouns (e.g. committee, company, board of directors) as singular OR plural. In BrE a collective noun
is usually treated as plural, needing a plural verb and pronoun. In AmE a collective noun is often treated as singular,
needing a singular verb and pronoun.
 The committee  are  having sandwiches for lunch. Then  they  will go to London. (typically BrE)
 The BBC  have  changed  their  logo. (typically BrE)
 My family  likes  going to the zoo. (typically AmE)
 CNN  has  changed  its  logo. (typically AmE)
9) The words its  and  it's are two different words with different meanings.
 The dog has hurt  its  leg.
 He says  it's  two o'clock.
10) The words your and you're are two different words with different meanings.
 Here is  your  coffee.
 You're  looking good.
11) The words there,  their  and  they're are three different words with different meanings.
 There  was nobody at the party.
 I saw  their  new car.
 Do you think  they're  happy?
12) The contraction he's can mean he is OR he has. Similarly, she's can mean she is OR she has, and it's can mean it
is OR it has, and John's can mean John is OR John has.
 He is  working
 He has  finished.
 She is  here.
 She has  left.
 John is  married.
 John has  divorced his wife.
13) The contraction he'd can mean he had OR he would. Similarly, they'd can mean they had OR they would.
 He had  eaten when I arrived.
 He would  eat more if possible.
 They had  already finished.
 They would  come if they could.
14) Spell a proper noun with an initial capital letter. A proper noun is a "name" of something, for example Josef,
Mary, Russia, China, British Broadcasting Corporation, English.
 We have written to  Mary.
 Is  China  in  Asia?
 Do you speak  English?
 15) Spell proper adjectives with an initial capital letter. Proper adjectives are made from proper nouns, for
example Germany → German, Orwell → Orwellian, Machiavelli → Machiavellian.
 London is an  English  town.
 Who is the  Canadian  prime minister?
 Which is your favorite  Shakespearian  play?
16) Use the indefinite article  a/an for countable nouns in general. Use the definite article  the for specific countable
nouns and all uncountable nouns.
 I saw  a bird  and  a balloon  in the sky.  The bird  was blue and  the balloon  was yellow.
 He always saves some of  the money  that he earns.
17) Use the indefinite article a with words beginning with a consonant sound. Use the indefinite article an with words
beginning with a vowel sound. see When to Say  a  or  an
 a cat,  a game of golf,  a human endeavour,  a Frenchman,  a university (you-ni-ver-si-ty)
 an apple,  an easy job,  an interesting story,  an old man,  an umbrella,  an honorable man (on-o-ra-ble)
18) Use many or few with countable nouns. Use much/a lot or little for uncountable nouns. see Quantifiers
 How many dollars  do you have?
 How much money  do you have?
 There are  a few cars  outside.
 There is  little traffic  on the roads.
19) To show possession (who is the owner of something) use an apostrophe + s for singular owners, and s +
apostrophe for plural owners.
 The boy's  dog. (one boy)
 The boys'  dog. (two or more boys)
20) In general, use the active voice (Cats eat fish) in preference to the passive voice (Fish are eaten by cats).
 We use  active in preference to passive.
 Active  is used  in preference to passive.