English: concepts across the years
- Theme & Central Idea
Finding what a story is really about — the message under the plot, and the evidence for it.
- Character & Characterization
How writers build people on the page — and how characters drive and reveal meaning.
- Plot & Text Structure
How a text is built — plot, setting, conflict, and the order an author chooses for effect.
- Figurative Language, Tone & Point of View
Reading between the lines — imagery, connotation, tone, mood, and who's telling the story.
- Comparative & Critical Analysis
Reading works against each other and through critical lenses — the deepest kind of literary thinking.
- Central Idea & Textual Evidence
Pinning down the main point of a nonfiction text and backing every claim with the words on the page.
- Text Structure & Author's Purpose
How nonfiction is organized and why — structure, purpose, perspective, and conflicting accounts.
- Analyzing Arguments
Taking an argument apart — claim, reasoning, evidence — and judging whether it actually holds up.
- Rhetoric & Rhetorical Analysis
How writers persuade — ethos, pathos, logos, and the devices that move an audience.
- Argument & Persuasive Writing
Building your own case — a clear claim, real evidence, sound reasoning, and answered counterclaims.
- Informative & Explanatory Writing
Explaining a topic clearly and accurately — organized, developed, and objective.
- Narrative Writing
Telling a story that works — with craft: pacing, dialogue, detail and technique.
- The Writing Process
How good writing actually happens — plan, draft, revise, edit, repeat.
- The Research Process & Evaluating Sources
Asking a real research question and judging which sources you can trust.
- Synthesizing & Citing Evidence
Weaving multiple sources into your own argument — and citing them honestly.
- The Extended Research Argument
The capstone — a long, evidence-driven argument that sustains a claim across many pages.
- Grammar & Syntax
How sentences are built — from parts of speech to the syntax that gives prose its style.
- Punctuation & Conventions
The rules that keep writing clear — punctuation, usage, and the conventions of standard English.
- Diction, Tone & Register
Choosing words for effect — matching diction, tone and register to audience and purpose.
- Vocabulary & Word-Solving
Growing word power — context clues, roots, word relationships, and academic vocabulary.