Vocabulary

Shared Vocabulary unifies our evaluation of student writing.   

Conventions:    This is an umbrella term that includes correct use of grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure.

Evaluate:  Often the prompt will ask the student to form an opinion about an issue.  The student is expected to analyze both the good and bad aspects of his argument. The student will need to provide evidence, specific reasons, and examples to support his stance.

Grammar and usage:  This includes an understanding of agreement between subject and verb, between pronoun and antecedent, and between modifiers and the word modified; verb formation; pronoun case; formation of comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs; and idiomatic usage.  16% of the ACT questions cover grammar and usage.

ITHBOCON:  This is another English term that is short for Introduction, Thesis, Body, and Conclusion.  It is used to represent how an essay should be organized. 

MELCON:  This is the English Department’s language for Main Idea, Elaboration, and Conclusion.  It refers to how one should write a paragraph using a topic sentence, supporting evidence such as examples and quotes, and a conclusion that wraps up the paragraph. 

Organization:  This includes how well the student arranges his/her ideas and judges the relevance of statements in context (making decisions about order, coherence, and unity). Essays should have a definite introduction, body, and conclusion.  15% of all ACT questions deal with organization. 

Point of View:  Point of view refers to the stance or position that the author takes towards the prompt.  We often refer to this as the thesis statement or focus; however, the ACT Board uses the phrase “point of view”.  The student needs to have a clear purpose in mind throughout his writing.  The student should avoid extraneous or non-relevant material.

POISE:  A reading strategy that promotes Paraphrasing , Organizing, Inferencing, Synthesizing, Evaluating

the Prompt:  The prompt is the actual assignment, the question or topic that the student has been asked to address.  It may consist of several paragraphs or a single sentence.  It is the driving force behind the entire assignment.  

Proofreading:  This is something most students need to work on.  It entails rereading the writing and looking for errors in spelling, sentence structure, word choice, and syntax.

Punctuation:  This includes an understanding of the conventions of internal and final punctuation, with emphasis on the relationship of punctuation to meaning (for example, avoiding ambiguity, indicating appositives).  13% of all ACT questions deal with punctuation.

Revision:  Revision entails going over the first or even second draft of a paper and looking for ways to improve it.  This may mean inserting additional support or eliminating irrelevant ideas.  It may also involve combining sentences, changing word choice, changing verb tense, or even having someone else look over the paper prior to submission.

Sentence Structure:  This includes an understanding of relationships between and among clauses, placement of modifiers, and shifts in construction.  It also includes whether the student has produced a sentence, a fragment, or a run-on.  24% of all ACT questions deal with sentence structure.

Strategy:  This involves how well a student develops a given topic by choosing expressions appropriate to an essay’s audience and purpose; judging the effect of adding, revising, or deleting supporting material; and choosing effective opening, transitional, and closing sentences.  16% of all ACT questions deal with strategy. 

Style:  Style involves how one selects precise and appropriate words and images, maintaining  a level of style and tone in an essay, managing sentence elements for rhetorical effectiveness, and avoiding ambiguous pronoun references, wordiness, and redundancy.  16 % of all ACT questions deal with style.

Take a position:  This requires the student to actually pick a side and argue why we should believe that opinion.  The ACT does not want students to vacillate or straddle the middle of the road.  When taking a position, the student should present evidence as to why we should believe him as well as refuting the opposition.  

Topic Sentences:  A topic sentence states the main idea of a paragraph.  It is often found as the first sentence of a paragraph.  It tells the reader what to expect to find out in the paragraph.

Transitions:  Transitions are linking words that connect ideas. They may be used to connect sentences or paragraphs.  They help the reader understand the movement from one idea to another.  Some transitions are first, second, third, however, consequently, on the other hand, in contrast to, therefore.