Print › PSSA Glossary - Part 3

Reading critically: Reading in which a questioning attitude, logical analysis and inference are used to judge the worth of text; evaluating relevancy and adequacy of what is read; the judgement of validity or worth of what is read, based on sound criteria.
Reading rate: The speed at which a person reads, usually silently.
Research: A systematic inquiry into a subject or problem in order to discover, verify or revise relevant facts or principles having to do with that subject or problem.
Satire: A literary tone used to ridicule or make fun of human vice or weakness.
Secondary Sources: Text and/or artifacts used when researching that are derived from something original.
Self-monitor: Know when what one is reading or writing is not making sense; adjust strategies for comprehension.
Semantics: The study of meaning in language.
Simile: A comparison of two unlike things in which a word of comparison (like or as) is used (e.g., She eats like a bird.).
Sources Primary: Text and/or artifacts that tell or show a first-hand account of an event; original works used when researching.
Style: How an author writes; an author’s use of language; its effects and appropriateness to the author’s intent and theme.
Subject area: An organized body of knowledge; a discipline; a content area.
Synonym: One of two or more words in a language that have highly similar meanings (e.g., sorrow, grief, sadness).
Syntax: The pattern or structure of word order in sentences, clauses and phrases.
Theme: A topic of discussion or writing; a major idea broad enough to cover the entire scope of a literary work.
Thesis: The basic argument advanced by a speaker or writer who then attempts to prove it; the subject or major argument of a speech or composition.
Tone: The attitude of the author toward the audience and characters (e.g., serious or humorous).
Voice: The fluency, rhythm and liveliness in writing that makes it unique to the writer.