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This glossary contains definitions for words used throughout the website.  If you have a suggestion of a word that should be included here, please e-mail me at tim@mr-anderson.com.



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F

fluency

:
The act of reading easily, smoothly and automatically with a rate appropriate for the text, indicating that students understand meaning.

focus

:
The center of interest or attention; in writing, the central idea.

foil

:
A character who provides a contrast to the protagonist.

foot

:
the repeating unit of meter.

foreshadowing

:

The technique of giving clues to coming events in a narrative.

Not all foreshadowing is obvious. Frequently, future events are merely hinted at through dialogue, description, or the attitudes and reactions of the characters.

Foreshadowing frequently serves two purposes. It builds suspense by raising questions that encourage the reader to go on and find out more about the event that is being foreshadowed. Foreshadowing is also a means of making a narrative more believable by partially preparing the reader for events which are to follow.

format

:

The shape, size and general makeup (as of something printed).

functional documents

:
Works of nonfiction such as "how to" books, technical manuals and instructions.

G

genre

:
An established class or category of artistic composition or literature (e.g., poetry, drama or novel).

gerund

:

A verb form that ends in -ing and is used as a noun (e.g., reading is fun).

glittering

:
A propaganda technique in which words have different positive generalities meanings for individual subjects but are linked to highly valued concepts.

graphic organizer

:
A method of organization of information which incorporates diagrams or other pictorial devices.

H

Haiku

:
a form of poetry developed in Japan; in English we use three lines, with syllable counts of 5-7-5 or 3-5-3.

Heroic couplets

:
rhymed couplets of iambic pentameter

heteronym

:
One of two (or more) words that have the same spelling, but different meaning, and sometimes different pronunciation too. (Heteronyms that are pronounced differently are also heterophones.)

Examples:
  • sewer
  • row
  • entrance
  • wind.
A heteronym is a kind of homonym.

hexameter

:
a six-foot line.

high-frequency word

:
A word that appears many more times than most other words in spoken or written language.

homograph

:

A word with the same spelling as another word, whether or not pronounced alike

Examples:

  • pen (a writing instrument) vs. pen (an enclosure)
  • bow (and arrow) vs. bow (of a ship)

homonym

:

A word with different origin and meaning but the same oral or written form as one or more other words

Examples:

  • bear (an animal) vs. bear (to support) vs. bare (exposed)
Homonyms include homophones and homographs.

homophone

:

A word with different origin and meaning but the same pronunciation as another word, whether or not spelled alike

Example:

  • hair and hare

hyperbole

:
A figure of speech which uses a deliberate exaggeration (e.g., I have told you a million times).

hypernym

:
A word that has a more general meaning than another

Examples:
  • in the relationship between chair and furniture, furniture is a hypernym
  • in the relationship between horse and animal, animal is a hypernym.
• From Greek hyper (=over).

Keyword(s):

hyponym

:
A word that has a more specific meaning than another

Examples:
  • in the relationship between chair and furniture, chair is a hyponym
  • in the relationship between horse and animal, horse is a hyponym

hypothesize

:
To make an assertion about something assumed but not positively known.

I

i.e.

:
Id est (Latin), meaning "that is."

iamb

:
a two-syllable foot with the stress on the second syllable. The English language is naturally iambic, and Shakespeare used iambs for the speeches of good and noble figures.

iambic pentameter

:
five iambs to a line of ten syllables. Sonnets, rime royal, and heroic couplets all use iambic pentameter.

idiom

:
A combination of words that is not strictly in accordance with grammatical rules and often possesses a meaning other than its grammatical or logical one (e.g., an easy test might be described as a piece of cake).

imagery

:

Words and phrases that appeal to the readers' senses.

implicit

:
To be assumed but not directly expressed.

inference

:
A general conclusion drawn from information that is given.

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