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Language and Vocabulary

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do you read the feeling a word carries, its connotation, and recognize when a word is used figuratively rather than literally?

Denotation, connotation, and figurative meaning: distinguishing a word's literal definition (denotation) from the feeling it carries (connotation), explaining how connotation shapes tone and an author's purpose, and recognizing and interpreting figurative (non-literal) word use, on a TNReady English I or II passage.
How to analyze connotation and figurative meaning on a TNReady English I or II passage: telling denotation from connotation, explaining how connotation shapes tone and purpose, and recognizing figurative versus literal word use. Connotation is a key clue to an author's attitude.
9 min answer →

How do you catch the grammar and usage errors the EOC tests most, subject-verb and pronoun agreement, verb tense, and misused modifiers?

Grammar and usage conventions: applying the conventions of standard English that the EOC tests most often, including subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement and clear reference, consistent verb tense, and correct use of modifiers, on a TNReady English I or II editing item, and on the essay.
How to apply standard-English grammar and usage on TNReady English I or II editing items and the essay: subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement and clear reference, consistent verb tense, and correct modifiers. The conventions also score the writing rubric's third dimension.
9 min answer →

How do you punctuate sentences correctly, especially commas, joining clauses, and apostrophes, and recognize complete sentences from fragments and run-ons?

Punctuation and sentence structure: applying the conventions of standard English punctuation (commas, semicolons, colons, apostrophes, and quotation marks) and recognizing and correcting fragments, run-ons, and comma splices, on a TNReady English I or II editing item, and on the essay.
How to apply punctuation and sentence structure on TNReady English I or II editing items and the essay: commas, semicolons, colons, apostrophes, and quotation marks, and recognizing and fixing fragments, run-ons, and comma splices. These conventions also score the writing rubric.
9 min answer →

How do you work out the meaning of an unfamiliar word from the words around it, rather than from a definition you half-remember?

Vocabulary in context: determining the meaning of an unfamiliar or multiple-meaning word from context clues (definition, synonym, antonym, example, and inference clues), and confirming the meaning by substitution, on a TNReady English I or II passage.
How to determine word meaning from context on a TNReady English I or II passage: using definition, synonym, antonym, example, and inference clues, handling multiple-meaning words, and confirming a meaning by substitution. The most common vocabulary item type on the EOC.
9 min answer →

How do you use a word's parts, its root, prefix, and suffix, to unlock the meaning of a word you have never seen?

Word parts: using roots, prefixes, and suffixes to determine or confirm the meaning of unfamiliar words, recognizing how a prefix or suffix changes meaning or part of speech, and combining word-part analysis with context, on a TNReady English I or II passage.
How to use word parts on a TNReady English I or II passage: roots, prefixes, and suffixes to determine or confirm word meaning, recognizing how affixes change meaning or part of speech, and combining word-part analysis with context clues for unfamiliar words.
9 min answer →