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English Skills with Readings, 5/e
John Langan, Atlantic Community College


Glossary


abbreviations  shortened forms of words, often used for convenience in writing. Certain abbreviations (such as Mr., a.m., e.g., etc.) are acceptable in formal writing; in general, however, the complete form of words is preferred.
abstract  the reduction of material in an original work to its main points and key supporting details; also called a précis or summary
active verb  a verb that shows the subject of the sentence doing something (e.g. Hakim turned on the computer); active verbs are distinguished from passive verbs, which show something being done to the subject of the sentence (e.g. The computer was turned on by Hakim).
active voice  mode of expression in which the subject performs the action expressed by the verb. Ex.:The boy threw the ball.
adequate details  details that provide enough support for a thesis: to support a claim about a friend's habitual tardiness, for example, more than one example should be provided in order to provide adequate support
adjectives  words that describe nouns or pronouns. Ex.: Yoko is a wise woman.
adverbs  words that describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Ex.: I walked quickly to the store.
apostrophe  a punctuation mark generally used in order 1) to show the omission of one or more letters in a contraction, and 2) to show ownership or possession
argument  a position or an assertion usually controversial in nature and supported by reasoned evidence
argumentation  a pattern of essay development in which a writer attempts to support a controversial point or to defend a position on which there is difference of opinion
assertion  a claim; in writing, a point or thesis
audience  the group of readers for whom the writer writes; purpose and audience must always be kept in mind when writing (to write effectively), and when analyzing pieces of writing (to understand correctly)
auxiliary verbs  verbs that work with the main verb to make up the complete verb in a sentence; also called helping verbs. Ex.: The woman is working.
bookmark  the saved address of a URL to which you wish to return
brainstorming  a prewriting technique: making a list of details and ideas related to your subject
call number  a code indicating where a book or other item can be located in a library's collection; the two primary systems of organization are the Library of Congress system and the Dewey decimal system
capital letters  upper-case letters that denote first words in sentences, proper nouns, etc.
cause and effect  a pattern of essay development in which the causes and/or effects of an event are analyzed; a form of exposition
cause and effect essay  an essay that seeks to explain something by examining its origins (causes) or its consequences
chronological order  one method of organizing an essay: details are listed as they occur in time. Also known as time order.
classification  the process or outcome of categorizing the constituent parts of a subject according to a single principle
clause  a word group that contains a subject and a verb. Ex.: The dog ran.
cliché  an expression that has been worn out through constant use. Ex.:"short but sweet"
clustering  a (visual) prewriting technique: using lines, boxes, arrows and circles to show relationships among ideas and details that occur to you; also called diagramming or mapping
cohere  stick together; all the details in an essay must cohere so that the reader can move smoothly from one bit of supporting information to the next
coherence  one of the four bases of good writing: the quality that results from organizing and connecting the specific evidence that supports your point
colon  punctuation mark used at the end of a complete statement to introduce a list, a long quotation, or an explanation
comma  punctuation mark used to separate items in a series; set off introductory material or words that interrupt the flow of thought in a sentence; join two complete thoughts (together with a conjunction); set off direct quotations, etc.
comma splice  incorrect use of a comma to connect ("splice" together) two complete thoughts. Ex.: I go to school, my brother stays home.
comparison and contrast  an essay that seeks to explain something by showing how it is different from something else
comparison essay  an essay that seeks to explain something by showing how it is similar to something else
compound subject  two subjects separated by a joining word such as 'and'. Compound subjects generally take a plural verb.
concise writing  simple and clear writing; the opposite of wordiness
conjunction  a word (e.g., and, but, for, or, not, so, yet) used to join two complete thoughts; also called a joining word
consistency  an important feature of good writing: verb tense (past/present/future, etc.) and pronouns expressing point of view (I, you, he/she/it, etc.) should be kept consistent in order to avoid confusing the reader.
contraction  the combination of two words through omission of one or more letters and use of an apostrophe. Ex.: hasn't (for has not)
contrast essay  an essay that seeks to explain something by showing how it is different from something else
controversial  generating argument or debate; characteristic of a position (for example) that some people will be inclined not to accept
controversy  debate; argument; matter that generates difference of opinion
count nouns  words that name people, places, things, or ideas that can be counted and made into plurals, such as teacher, restroom, and joke
dangling modifiers  descriptive words that open a sentence but do not describe what the writer intended them to describe. Ex.: While reading the newspaper, my dog sat with me on the steps. (The sentence literally states that the dog was reading the newspaper. The phrase should be altered so that the meaning is clear: While I was reading the newspaper, my dog sat with me on the steps.)
dash  punctuation mark used to signal a pause longer than that of a comma but not as long as that of a period
definite article  the; a "noun marker" - a signal that a noun will follow
definition  the meaning of a term; also, a pattern of essay development in which a term or concept is defined; a form of exposition
definition essay  an essay in which one makes clear one's understanding of a term, and illustrates that meaning with a series of details
demonstrative pronouns  pronouns that point to or single out a person or thing: the four demonstrative pronouns are this, that, these, and those.
dependent clause  a group of words having a subject and a verb that does not express a complete thought and is not able to stand alone; also called a subordinate clause. Ex.: Whenever I go to school.
dependent word  a word (such as when, because, if, etc.) that introduces a group of words having a subject and verb but not able to stand alone. Ex.: Whenever I go to school.
description  a pattern of essay development: a verbal picture of a person, place, or thing
diagramming  a (visual) prewriting technique: using lines, boxes, arrows and circles to show relationships among ideas and details that occur to you; also called clustering or mapping
direct quotation  a passage reproduced exactly as it appears in an original work
division  breaking a subject down into smaller parts according to a single principle
division and classification  a pattern of essay development; form of exposition
division-classification essay  an essay in which one explains a subject by dividing it or by classifying its parts according to a single principle
drafting  a stage of the writing process: roughing out a first version of a piece of writing
editing  a stage of the writing process: carefully re-reading a near-finished draft, checking for errors of grammar, style, spelling, punctuation, and format
ellipsis  three spaced periods that indicate an omission from a quoted passage
emphatic order  one method of organizing an essay in which details are listed in the order of importance; sometimes described as "saving the best until last." Placement last in the paragraph or essay places emphasis on that (most important) detail.
essay  a paper with a thesis; typical college essays consist of an introduction, paragraphs that offer support to the thesis, and a conclusion
essay exam  a test that includes one or more questions to which you must respond in detail, writing your answers in a clear, well-organized manner
examples  details, particulars, and specific instances; also, a pattern of essay development in which a writer provides examples that support his/her point; form of exposition
examples essay  an essay that uses a series of examples to support a thesis
explanatory examples  details, particulars, and specific instances used to illustrate the truth of a statement
exposition  an essay form in which the writer provides information about and explains a certain subject; examples, process, cause and effect, comparison and contrast, definition, and division and classification are forms of exposition
first-person point of view  writing of one's own experience and speaking in one's own voice, using "I" and "we"; often considered too informal for college writing, except in narration
format  the formal characteristics of a manuscript, comprising such things as paper size, margins, spacing, font, etc.
fragment  a word group that lacks a subject or a verb and/or one that does not express a complete thought. Ex.: Whenever I go to school. ("Whenever," a dependent word, cannot introduce a complete thought, so it cannot stand alone.)
freewriting  a prewriting technique: jotting down in rough sentences, words, or phrases-everything that comes to mind about a possible topic
fused sentence  a run-on with no punctuation to mark the break between thoughts. Ex.: I go to school my brother stays home.
general subject  a broad topic, such as "marriage"; in prewriting, writers often begin here, and then narrow their topic to a limited subject (such as "honeymoon"), and finally to a thesis (such as "A honeymoon is perhaps the worst way to begin a marriage").
generalities  ineffective support for a thesis (e.g., "People are often messy"): specific details (e.g., "Teenagers toss their gum wrappers to the floor, and young parents allow their toddlers to shower their seatmates with popcorn") should be provided
gerund  a verbal; the -ing form of the verb used as a noun. Ex.:I love dancing.
helping verbs  1. three common verbs that can either stand alone or be combined with ("help") other verbs: be, have, and do. Ex.:"I was angry" ("was" stands alone); "I was helping Sue" ("was" acts as helping verb). 2. nine verbs (also known as modals or modal auxiliaries) that are always used in combination with other verbs: can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must
homonyms  words such as brake and break that have the same sounds but different meanings
hyphen  punctuation mark used with two or more words that act as a single unit or to divide a word at the end of a line
idiomatic  particular to a certain language
indefinite article  a or an; a "noun marker" -a signal that a noun will follow
indefinite pronoun  a word that refers to people and things that are not named or are not specific. Many indefinite pronouns (e.g., one, nobody, nothing, each, etc.) take a singular verb; others, such as both or few, take plural verbs.
independent clause  a group of words having a subject and a verb that expresses a complete thought and is able to stand alone. Ex.: I go to school.
infinitive  a verbal; "to" plus the base form of the verb. Ex.: I love to dance.
Internet  a vast network that connects computers at tens of thousands of educational, scientific, government, and commercial agencies around the world
in-text citation  a method of documenting source material by including key information in parentheses following the material's appearance in the text
irregular verb  a verb that has an irregular form in the past tense and past participle. Ex.: choose, chose, chosen
joining word  a word (e.g., and, but, for, or, not, so, yet) used to join two complete thoughts; also called a conjunction
library catalog  a list of all the holdings (books, periodicals, and other documents) available in a library; traditionally a file of cards arranged in drawers, catalogs today are typically computerized
limited subject  a topic, such as "honeymoon" that is narrower than a general topic, but broader than a thesis (such as "A honeymoon is perhaps the worst way to begin a marriage")
linking sentences  sentences that are used between paragraphs to help tie together the supporting paragraphs in an essay. Also known as transitional sentences.
linking verbs  verbs that help describe a subject by connecting it to another word. Ex.: The man is handsome.
manuscript  literally, a paper written by hand; in this text, any paper handed in for a grade
mapping  a (visual) prewriting technique: using lines, boxes, arrows and circles to show relationships among ideas and details that occur to you; also called clustering or diagramming
misplaced modifiers  words that, because of awkward placement, do not describe what the writer intended them to describe. Ex.: George couldn’t drive to work in his sports car with a broken leg. (The sentence attributes the broken leg to the car. The phrase should be moved so that it is closer to "George": With his broken leg, George couldn’t drive to work in his sports car.)
MLA style  a set of rules for documenting source material formulated by the Modern Language Association
modal auxiliaries  see modals
modals  nine verbs (also known as helping verbs) that are always used in combination with other verbs: can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must
modem  a device that sends or receives electronic data over a telephone line. A personal computer needs a modem in order to connect to the Internet.
narration  a pattern of essay development: a story told of a past event in which the teller makes a point clear by relating in detail something that has happened (usually) to him/her
narrative  (n.) a story; writing in which details are presented in the order in which they happened; (adj.) having the qualities of a story
noncount nouns  words that refer to things or ideas that cannot be counted, such as water, bravery, or snow
nonspecific noun  words that refer to things or ideas whose specific identity the reader does not know; these nouns are introduced with the indefinite articles a or an. Ex.: Today our cat brought a baby bird into the house.
nonstandard forms  forms of verbs used in the dialect of a particular community; these are generally not acceptable in written English or in formal contexts. Ex.: Yesterday I fix the car.
nouns  words that name persons, places, or things
object pronouns  pronouns that function as the objects of verbs or prepositions. Ex.: Tony helped me.
one-three-one essay  the traditional college essay, consisting of one introductory paragraph, three supporting paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph
paragraph  a short piece of writing of around 150 to 200 words
parallelism  balance; parallel structure, or balanced structure, is important in order to make your writing read smoothly.
nonparallel (imbalanced)  Ex.: My job includes checking the inventory, initialing the orders, and to call the suppliers.
parallel (balanced)  Ex.: My job includes checking the inventory, initialing the orders, and calling the suppliers.
paraphrase  restatement of a passage in one's own words; differs from summary in that paraphrase can be as long as the original
parentheses  punctuation marks used to set off extra or incidental information from the rest of a sentence
participle  a verbal; the -ing or -ed form of the verb used as an adjective. Ex.: I love dancing bears.
passive voice  mode of expression in which the subject receives the action instead of performing it. Ex.: The ball was thrown by the boy.
past participle  one of the principal parts of every verb: formed by adding -d or -ed to the present; used with the helping verbs have, has, or had, or with a form of be (with passive verbs)
peer review  evaluation of a student's piece of writing by a classmate or other student
periodicals  magazines, journals, and newspapers (from the word periodic, which means "at regular periods")
periodicals index  a listing of the articles in periodicals. Some of the most widely used are the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature, Magazine Index Plus, and Ebscohost.
personal review  self-evaluation of writing, using (for example) the guidelines on the four bases of good writing (unity, support, coherence, sentence skills)
personal spelling list  a list of words you misspell written on the back page of a frequently used notebook or on a separate sheet of paper
plural subject  a word or words denoting more than one person or thing that performs the verb or receives the main action of the verb (in passive constructions)
point  the main idea of a piece of writing; an assertion; a thesis
point of view  the stance or approach a writer takes in writing. There are three different points of view in writing: first-person, second-person, and third-person
possessive pronouns  pronouns that show ownership or possession. Ex.: The keys are mine.
précis  the reduction of material in an original work to its main points and key supporting details; also called a summary or abstract
preposition  one of a group of words that precede a noun or pronoun and indicate direction, position, placement, duration, or another kind of connection to the other words in the sentence. Exs.: about, above, through, under, with.
prepositional phrase  a group of words that begins with a preposition. Ex.: in the house.
present participle  one of the principal parts of every verb: formed by adding -ing to the present
pretentious language  artificial or stilted expressions that more often obscure meaning than communicate it clearly. Ex.: "It was a splendid opportunity to obtain some slumber" could be more simply expressed as: "It was a good chance to get some sleep."
prewriting  first stage of the writing process: techniques that help writers think about and develop a topic, and get words on paper; also known as idea generation
principal parts of verbs  the four parts of every verb: present, past, past participle, and present participle
process  a series of steps carried out in a definite order; also, a pattern of essay development in which the procedure for doing or making something is detailed; form of exposition
process essay  an essay that explains clearly how to do or make something
pronoun  words (e.g., he, she, it, you, they) that take the place of nouns; pronouns (literally "for a noun") are shortcuts that keep you from unnecessarily repeating words in writing. Like transitions, pronouns can be used to connect specific evidence in a paper.
pronoun agreement  correspondence in number between the pronoun and the noun it replaces. Ex.: Students enrolled in the art class must prove that they can paint.
pronoun reference  the relationship between the pronoun and the noun in the sentence to which it refers. A sentence may be confusing if a pronoun appears to refer to more than one noun or does not appear to refer to any specific noun. Ex.:Miriam was annoyed when they failed her car for a faulty turn signal. ( In this case, "they" should be replaced by a specific noun, such as "the inspectors.")
proofreading  a stage of the writing process: carefully re-reading the near-finished draft, checking for errors of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and format.
proofreading symbols  shorthand notation intended to call attention to typographical and other errors
proper nouns  words that name particular people, places, things, or ideas and are always capitalized
purpose  a writer's reason for writing; the three most common purposes in writing are to inform, to persuade, and to entertain
qualifier  a word that expresses the quantity of a noncount noun. Ex.: "some water"
questioning  a prewriting technique: coming up with ideas and details by asking questions about your subject
quotation marks  punctuation marks that indicate exact words or the titles of short works
regular verb  a verb that has a regular form in the past tense and past participle. Ex.: shout, shouted, have shouted
repeated words  like transitions, repeated words can be used to connect specific evidence in a paper
report  a paper recording your response to a book or an article, typically consisting of a summary and a detailed reaction/evaluation
résumé  a summary of your personal background and your qualifications for a job
revising  a stage of the writing process: re-thinking and re-writing draft versions of a piece of writing in order to make it stronger
run-on  two complete thoughts that are run together with no adequate sign given to mark the break between them. In this text, the term "run-on" denotes both comma splices and fused sentences; some instructors prefer to use "run-on" as a synonym of fused sentence alone.
scratch outline  a prewriting technique: a plan or a blueprint of your writing, which puts the main point and supporting details in a logical order
search directory  an online listing of websites organized by categories (e.g., Yahoo)
search engine  an online tool for finding websites that uses keywords to comb through the vast amount of information on the Web for sites or articles on particular topics (e.g., AltaVista)
second-person point of view  writing directly to the reader, using "you"
semicolon  punctuation mark used to mark a break between two complete thoughts or to mark off items in a series when the items themselves contain internal punctuation (such as commas). Sometimes called a strong comma, a semi-colon signals more of a pause than a comma alone, but not the full stop of a period.
sense impressions  the effect on a reader's sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch provided by description; specific details should be as rich in sense impressions as possible
sensory details  descriptive evidence that appeals to a reader's sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch
sentence skills  one of the four bases of good writing: the ability to write clear, error-free sentences
singular subject  a word or words denoting one person or thing that performs the verb or receives the main action of the verb (in passive constructions)
slang  nonstandard language particular to a time and often to a specific locale; acceptable in everyday speech, slang should be avoided in formal contexts and, with few exceptions, in writing. Ex.: Someone ripped off Ken's new Adidas.
specific details  concrete, specific evidence (e.g., "Teenagers toss their gum wrappers to the floor, and young parents allow their toddlers to shower their seatmates with popcorn") that provides support for a thesis
specific nouns  words that refer to things or ideas whose specific identity the reader does know; these nouns are introduced with the definite article "the." Ex.: Today our cat brought a baby bird into the house.
subject  who or what a sentence speaks about; usually a noun or pronoun that acts, is acted upon, or is described. Ex: The boy cries.
subject pronouns  pronouns that function as the subjects of verbs. Ex.: He is wearing an artificial arm.
subject-verb agreement  the correspondence in number between the subject and the verb of a sentence: plural subjects take plural verbs, and singular subjects take singular verbs. Ex.: The crinkly lines (plural) around Joan's mouth give (plural) her a friendly look.
subordinate clause  a group of words having a subject and a verb that does not express a complete thought and is not able to stand alone; also called a dependent clause. Ex.: Whenever I go to school.
subordination  a method of joining to complete thoughts that shows that one thought is not as important than the other thought; subordinate clauses begin with a dependent word (e.g., because, when, if, etc.)
summary  condensed restatement of a passage in one's own words, including its main points and key supporting details; also called a pr飩s or abstract
support  one of the four bases of good writing: supporting your point with specific evidence
synonyms  two words that mean approximately the same thing; like transitions, synonyms can be used to connect specific evidence in a paper
thesis  the main idea of an essay; the point of a piece of writing; an assertion
too broad  a statement too broad to be supported adequately in a student essay. Ex.: "My parents have been very influential in my life."
too narrow  a statement so narrow that no support is necessary. Often a statement of fact (not acceptable as a thesis). Ex.: "My parents had only one child."
more than one idea  too many ideas to be adequately developed in a single essay; often two theses in one (e.g. "My parents helped me grow in important ways, although in other respects I was limited").
announcement  stating the topic ("The subject of this paper will be my parents"), rather than a claim or assertion about the topic ("Parents who spank their children are guilty of a serious error in childrearing").
third-person point of view  writing without making direct reference either to oneself or to the reader, using "he,""she,""it,""they," etc.; the most common
time order  one method of organizing an essay: details are listed as they occur in time. Also known as chronological order
topic sentence  the main point or assertion of a paragraph
transitional sentences  sentences that are used between paragraphs to help tie together the supporting paragraphs in an essay. Also known as linking sentences.
transitions  words such as first of all, finally, however, for example, and therefore, that signal the direction of a writer's thought
transitive verbs  verbs that need direct objects to complete their meaning. Ex.: The boy threw the ball.
unity  one of the four bases of good writing: advancing a single point and sticking to that point
URL  Universal Resource Locator; the electronic "address" of a website (e.g., www.mhhe.com)
verb  what the sentence says about the subject; a word that shows what a subject does or that helps describe the subject by linking it to an adjective.
verb tense  the times shown by verbs (present, past, future, etc.)
Present  Ex.: I work.
Past  Ex.: I worked.
Future  Ex.: I will work.
Present perfect  Ex.: I have worked.
Present perfect progressive  Ex.: I have been working.
Present progressive  Ex.: I am working.
Past perfect  Ex.: I had worked.
Past perfect progressive  Ex.: I had been working.
Past progressive:  Ex.: I was working.
Future perfect  Ex.: I will have worked.
Future perfect progressive:  Ex.: I will have been working.
Future progressive:  Ex.: I will be working.
verbals  words formed from verbs that often express action: these include infinitives, gerunds, and participles
wordiness  using more words than necessary to express meaning
Works Cited  a list of works (books, articles, websites, and other sources) actually quoted, paraphrased, or otherwise borrowed from in a paper
World Wide Web  a part of the Internet: a global information system that drew its name from the many links among sites that form a kind of "web"