1. English 1 Third Quarter Vocabulary Words & Definitions
Career Research Unit, Spring 2019

2. Week 1 Nonfiction: writing that is about facts or real events
Informational text: nonfiction text whose purpose is to convey factual information about the natural or social world to someone who does not know that information yet
Persuasive text: writing that tries to make the reader agree with the writer by using both opinions and facts
Text features: parts of a nonfiction text that a writer can use to help the reader navigate the text
Heading: a title that separates one section of the text from another
Subheading: a smaller heading that further divides a section into smaller sections
Graphic: a picture that supports your comprehension of the the text. Examples: illustration, photo, graph, chart, diagram, map
Conjunction: a word that joins/connects other words/sentences together

3. Week 2 Text structure: the order of details in a text
Fact: a statement that is true and correct, no matter what, and can be proven
Opinion: a statement that reflects someone’s belief or feelings, which cannot be proven true because it does not apply to everyone
Typeface change: font change; changes to how the letters in a text look, used to signal to the reader that the words are important. Ex: bold, italics, underlining, all-caps, color
Table of contents: a list of the topics covered in the book, organized from beginning to end. Found at the beginning of a book.
Glossary: an alphabetical list of words and their definitions found in the back of a book or chapter
Index: an alphabetical list of topics in the book that tells you what page(s) discuss that topic. Found at the back of a book.
Compose: to create and write a text

4. Week 3
Main idea: the most important thought in a text. Found by reading the entire text and combining all of the ideas into one short statement. Should be a complete sentence, and should be specific. (sometimes called central idea)
Supporting detail: an idea that relates to the main idea, but is not the most important thing in a text
Summarize: to give a shorter statement of the main idea of a text in your own words
Paraphrase: to restate the text in your own words without making it shorter
Quote: to directly copy the text as someone else wrote it inside “”
skimming: quickly reading only the important parts of a text, such as topic sentences, in order to get a general sense of its main idea and/or whether it is worth reading. (Looking at a web page to see if it has information on your research topic; looking at a restaurant menu to see if it has enough variety)
scanning: running your eyes over a text quickly in order to find a single specific fact, without worrying about the main idea of the text. (looking for a word in the dictionary; looking for your test score on a chart of the whole class)
works cited page entry: a single citation listed on your works cited page, referring to one single source where you found information. In a research paper, your works cited page should include multiple entries, because your paper should cite multiple sources.

5. Week 4
search engine: an internet tool which searches for and retrieves websites containing the word(s) you are looking for. (Google, Bing)
precise: (adj) specific, exact, and accurate
keyword: the words you input into a search engine in order to find results. (also called search terms)
URL: a web address; the string of characters you type into a web browser to visit a particular page, usually starting with (Uniform Resource Locator)
bibliography: a list of the sources you have cited in your essay. In MLA format, it is called a “works cited page.”
MLA format: a set of rules for essay formatting and citations that is used in English-speaking countries. (MLA = Modern Language Association)
website: a collection of web pages on one domain, such as Analogous to a book.
web page: a single page of a website, such as Analogous to a single page of a book.
P-DOC: (parenthetical documentation) a citation inside parentheses that includes the author’s last name(s) and a page number where the information was found

6. Week 5
primary source: a record of an event made by someone who participated in or witnessed the event firsthand. (diary, personal interview, documentary)
secondary source: a record of an event made by someone who was not there. (textbooks, reenactments)
Independent clause: a complete sentence that can stand by itself because it contains a subject and a verb
Dependent clause: an independent clause that has had a subordinating conjunction added to the beginning of it, so it can no longer stand alone as a complete sentence
simple sentence: a single independent clause (1 IC)
compound sentence: two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (IC + IC)
complex sentence: one independent clause and one dependent clause; two or more independent clauses joined by a subordinating conjunction (IC + DC)
compound-complex sentence: three or more independent clauses, joined by at least one subordinating and at least one coordinating conjunction (IC + IC + DC)

7. Week 6
plagiarism: stealing someone else’s words or ideas by pretending they are your own, rather than giving credit to the place where you found them
citation: giving credit to the source where you found the words and/or ideas you are quoting or paraphrasing in your own work
Outline: a bulleted list of ideas; does not have to use complete sentences
Thesis statement: a sentence that tells the main idea of the essay; this is the last sentence of your introduction
Introduction: the first paragraph of your essay, which gets the reader’s interest and introduces your main idea
Body paragraph: one of the middle paragraphs of an essay, which includes concrete details and commentary to elaborate on the thesis statement
Concrete detail: (CD) a specific example. In English class, it’s usually a quote or paraphrase from a text, cited with P-DOC.
Commentary: (CM) a sentence analyzing why the concrete detail is important or relevant

8. Week 7
fragment: a phrase that can not stand by itself for one of two reasons:
it lacks a subject and/or verb
it has both a subject and a verb, but starts with a conjunction, making it a dependent clause.
Conclusion: the last paragraph of your essay, where you restate and sum up your ideas
Topic sentence: the first sentence of a body paragraph which tells its main idea
a word/phrase that connects one idea to another. Can occur within and/or between paragraphs in a text.
expository writing: informational writing; nonfiction writing that gives facts about something, rather than opinion
Coherent: (adj) describes writing where all the ideas are logically connected and make sense together
Rough draft: an early version of your essay that has all your ideas in it, but may include mistakes because it isn’t ready to turn in yet
Final draft: the last version of an essay, which is as perfect as you can make it, which you turn in to the teacher

9. Week 8
Formal style: language that sounds professional, highly-educated, and impersonal. Used in many serious situations, such as during speeches, interviews, and presentations, and in school essays and professional documents. Uses more complex and sophisticated vocabulary, and longer sentences. Avoids contractions, abbreviations, dialect, and slang words. Often requires you to think before speaking or writing.
Informal style: language that sounds casual, relatable, and personal. Used in more relaxed situations, such as with family, friends, and other trusted people. Uses simpler and shorter words and sentences. May include contractions, abbreviations, dialect, and slang words. Often impulsive.
Explain: to tell how and why something works
Support: to back something up with details
Analyze: to examine carefully and in great detail
Summary sentence: a sentence at the end of a body paragraph which restates its main idea. This is included to help the reader comprehend the point of the body paragraph before moving on to the rest of the essay
credible: (adj) qualified to give information on a certain topic, due to education or experience
Tone: the emotions/attitude of the writer/speaker