Pre-AP English II: Study Notes

Below are the notes we discussed in class. As with the Ghost of Christmas Yet-to-Come, these are based on how things might be, rather than how they will be.

Reading/Comprehension Skills. (10/45)
Make complex inferences about text and use textual evidence to support understanding.

Understanding and Analysis of Informational Texts. (7/10)
Make and defend subtle inferences and complex conclusions about the ideas in text and their organizational patterns.

• Main Idea/Thesis
• Author’s Purpose
• Audience
• Conclusion
• Prediction/hypothesis
• Cause --> Effect

Writing/Writing Process 1. (6/45)
Revise drafts to improve style, word choice, figurative language, sentence variety, and subtlety of meaning after rethinking how well questions of purpose, audience, and genre have been addressed.

Sentence combination

• (usually) one of 2 shortest
• never 2 sentences joined by comma

Choose between words that are "correct" and words that are "correct and have the same meaning"
"letted" => able
or => permitted/allowed

Informal : the book is about family, wealth, and stuff
Formal : the book is about family and wealth, among other things

Add a sentence = look for clues to show where the sentence should be inserted.

Writing/Writing Process 2. (6/45)
Edit drafts for grammar, mechanics, and spelling.

Like bellringers, but only 1 problem in each sentence

Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Literary Nonfiction. (6/45)
Evaluate the role of syntax and diction and the effect of voice, tone, and imagery on a speech, literary essay, or other forms of literary nonfiction.

Syntax = word order
Diction = word choice
Denotation/connotations

(in)formality
tone
clarity

Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Poetry. (4/45)
Analyze the structure or prosody (e.g., meter, rhyme scheme) and graphic elements (e.g., line length, punctuation, and word position) in poetry.

Sonnet: 14 lines, rhymes
Blank Verse: Unrhymed iambic pentameter
Free Verse: No structure

Enjambment: lines don’t end with punctuation

Reading/Vocabulary Development. (3/45)
Analyze textual context (within a sentence and in larger sections of text) to distinguish between the denotative and connotative meanings of words.

Denotative = dictionary definition
Connotative = emotional “feel” of word

Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Sensory Language. (3/45)
Students understand, make inferences and draw conclusions about how an author’s sensory language creates imagery in literary text and provide evidence from text to support their understanding.

Touch, Taste, Sight, Smell, Sound