← English Literature syllabus

GeorgiaEnglish Literature

Vocabulary and Language

4 dot points across 4 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do you read figurative and connotative word meaning, telling a word's literal denotation from its emotional connotation, and interpreting idioms and figures of speech in context?

Figurative and connotative meaning: distinguishing a word's denotation (literal meaning) from its connotation (emotional association), interpreting figures of speech and idioms in context, and analyzing how connotation shapes meaning and tone on a Georgia Milestones vocabulary and language item.
How to read figurative and connotative meaning on the Georgia Milestones American Literature EOC: telling denotation (literal meaning) from connotation (emotional association), interpreting idioms and figures of speech in context, and analyzing how connotation shapes meaning and tone.
9 min answer →

How do a writer's language choices, formality, sentence style, and word choice, create tone and voice, and how do you analyze and control register for purpose and audience?

Language, tone, and word choice: analyzing how a writer's diction, formality (register), and sentence style create tone and voice, matching language to purpose and audience, and recognizing effective language choices on a Georgia Milestones language item, a skill that also serves the writing response.
How to analyze and control language, tone, and word choice on the Georgia Milestones American Literature EOC: how diction, register, and sentence style create tone and voice, matching language to purpose and audience. Serves both reading-language items and the writing response.
9 min answer →

How do you work out the meaning of an unfamiliar or multiple-meaning word from the context of the passage rather than guessing or relying only on a dictionary definition?

Vocabulary in context: determining the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases from the surrounding text, using context clues (definition, example, contrast, inference), and choosing the meaning that fits the passage on a Georgia Milestones vocabulary item.
How to work out word meaning in context on the Georgia Milestones American Literature EOC: using context clues (definition, example, contrast, inference) to determine unknown and multiple-meaning words, and choosing the meaning that fits the passage. Vocabulary is its own reported strand.
9 min answer →

How do you use Greek and Latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes to work out an unfamiliar word, and how do you reason about word relationships such as synonyms, antonyms, and analogies?

Word parts and word relationships: using common Greek and Latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes to infer the meaning of unfamiliar words, recognizing how a suffix changes a word's part of speech, and reasoning about word relationships (synonym, antonym, analogy) on a Georgia Milestones vocabulary item.
How to use word parts and relationships on the Georgia Milestones American Literature EOC: common Greek and Latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes to infer unfamiliar words, how suffixes change part of speech, and reasoning about synonyms, antonyms, and analogies.
9 min answer →