English I Study Guide of Skills for Reading NCFE

Citing Textual Evidence

● Read + understand
● Look at what the questions asking you
● Go back to the text
● Read the ____________ and whats surrounding them
● Make a conclusion

Determining Theme/Main Idea/Central Claim

● Theme is finding the lesson or moral of the story
● How to find the theme: Read the story to figure out what the __________ of the
story is and then the theme is what the __________ is saying about the topic.
● The theme of Romeo & Juliet is “Love will rule out hate if the love is strong
enough”

Analyzing Characterization
● When analyzing Characterization you are analyzing how a character is shaped in the
story.
● Think ___________
○ Speech
○ _________
○ _________ on others
○ _________
○ Looks
● An example of Characterization will be how Romeo changed throughout the story, from
falling in love with Rosalind to falling in love with Juliet, and so on.

Using Context Clues

● To use context clues you have to use hints that the author gives you to understand a
unusual word
● Replace the word ____________ to see if it makes sense
● We use context clues to find out how Desiree died in “Desiree’s Baby”

Figuring Out Figurative Language❤️

● Simile - A comparison of two things using ______ or as.
● __________ - Comparing two things without using like or as.
 ● Hyperbole - An extreme exaggeration that's not true.
● ___________ - Giving objects human traits.
● ___________ - Referencing a famous place, person or event.

Analyzing Text Structure

● How to do the task: Look at the format of the passage Using formatting such as
___________ or the title you can annotate then answer the questions.
● Clues: Words that signal time - after, before, at (time), finally, during, first second third.
● _____________ - Author lists two different things and tells the differences and
similarities of both objects.
● _____________ - Author describes an event and then tells the outcome of the event and
what it caused.
● Plot structure: ____________, rising action, climax, falling action, __________.
● Example: A Text structure example for Romeo and Juliet could be the way plot
progressed throughout the story. They were introduced in the exposition through their
respected families, Capulets and Montagues rivalry. Romeo was upset through his
unfortunate love interest and depressed until he finally met his forbidden love at the
party. Eventually the climax changed everything an ended up with them dying for their
each other.

Determining Author’s Stance or Purpose

● How to do the task - By analyzing the text fully and also try to find reasoning behind the
meaning.
● Clues for the answer - ___________________ (Logos (persuading by use of reasoning),
Pathos (appeals to emotion), and Ethos (appeals to credibility)). Examples of LOGOS are
facts, statistics, and logic. Examples of Ethos are convincing someone of the character or
credibility of the persuader.
● The purpose of the book “Night” was for Elie Wiesel to inform the audience about his
experience in the Holocaust.