Ms.

Fairbanks – Delta House English III

Reference Sheet of Commonly Used FCAT Terms

�Accuracy – freedom from mistake or error, confirmed to be true; correctness, exactness.

� Analyze – to study or determine the nature or relationship of the parts.

� Audience – a group of readers or listeners targeted by the author.

� Author’s Point of View – the author’s attitude or opinion about the subject; the
viewpoint from which something is written. A writer’s experiences and beliefs influence the
way he or she writes about a topic.

� Author’s Purpose – what the author is trying to accomplish through the writing. Usually
to persuade, inform, entertain or share.

� Cause – an event or an action that make something else happen, why something happens.

� Chart – a group of facts about something, set up in the form of a diagram, table, graph,
etc.

� Compare – to identify similarities, examine in order to observe similarities and differences.

� Con – an argument or evidence in the negative; the negative side of an issue.

� Conclusion – a judgment you form by adding up the evidence.

� Contrast – to identify the differences when two or more things are compared.

� Detail – a point made by an author that supports or extends his or her main idea(s).

� Devices of persuasion – strategies that a writer uses to convince the reader of

something.

� Diagram – a drawing that shows how an item is made and how it works.

� Difference – the way in which two things are not the same.

� Effect – the result, or consequence, of an action. It is what happens because of, or as the
result of, another event or action.

� Fact – a statement or piece of information that can be proven or tested to be true or false.

� Generalization – a broad statement that can be applied to many situations.

� Graph – an illustration of quantity (or amount) and how it relates to another variable.

� Implied – to express indirectly by inference or association rather than by direct

statements.

� Inference – an educated guess based on evidence in the text and what you already know.
� Interpret – to explain or tell the meaning of the passage or text.

� Main Idea – the most important point that the writer makes in a reading passage; it can
be stated or implied, usually found in a specific sentence (or group of sentences).

� Map –a small scale representation of an actual place.

� Opinion – a statement that cannot be proved or disproved; tells someone’s feelings or

thoughts.

� Opposing Point of View – opposite ideas or opinions on the same topic.

� Organizational Method – ways of organizing sentences and paragraphs in writing; using

certain organizational patterns can help support the main idea.

� Outcome – the result of something; the way something turns out; the effect.

� Personal Value – the way an author feels that can influence their conclusions about a
topic.

� Position – the stance or point of view taken by the author.

� Prediction – a judgment about the future or what will happen next.

� Primary Source – an informational text passage or graphic representation (such a map,

chart, graph, photo, illustration, advertisement, etc.) that is a firsthand account of the
information provided.

� Pro – an argument or evidence in the affirmative or positive; the positive side.

� Reliability – the degree of dependability of the author of the passage.

� Secondary Source – A source derived from a primary source but is not first hand;
including an encyclopedia, a documentary film, literary criticism, or a history book.

� Similarity – the way in which two or more things are the same.

� Spatial Order – used to describe how something looks or its location (up, down, left,
right).

� Stated - to express directly or particularly in words.

� Statistics – facts or data of a numerical kind with represent significant information about
a given subject.

� Strong Argument - thoughtful opinion that is supported by relevant reasons, facts, and
examples.

� Subject – the main characters or focus of an article, text passage, etc.; something thought
about or discussed.

� Supporting Details – small pieces of information that support, develop, or explain the
main idea.
� Synthesize - to bring together; make up by combining its parts or elements.

� Time Order – the discussion of events in the order they occurred (chronological).

� Validity – well grounded or justifiable; being relevant and meaningful.

� Weak Argument – personal opinions that are not supported by facts and examples