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Reading Week 2

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11 views

Reading Week 2

Uploaded by

sweet girl
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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READING WEEK 2

Contextual Clues.
Contextual clues are hints that an author gives to help define a difficult
or unusual word within books, essays, passages, newspapers, and etc.
Using Contextual Clues:
Step 1: Read and reread.
Stop and reread the words that come before and after the unfamiliar word.
Step 2: Identify context clues.
Think about the meaning of the words in the text that surround the unfamiliar
word.
Step 3: Decide on a meaning
Use what you know from the context to make an educated guess about the
meaning of the unfamiliar word.
Step 4: Check that meaning in the context
The meaning you decided on should make sense in the sentence and in relation to
the main idea of the text.
Types of Contextual Clues:
Synonym/restatement
The author says the same thing twice: once with the more difficult
word, and then again in a more simple way, often right in the same
sentence
E.g.: In class, Julia was so cantankerous that her grumpy behaviour
negatively affected everyone.
Cont.
Antonym/contrast
Give us hints to the meaning of words by telling us what they are not.
Often the word “but” is included in the sentence to tell us that an
opposite thought is about to be presented. That opposite is the
antonym we are looking for
E.g.: Unlike Kyle, who is a conformer and a follower, Jeremy is a
maverick.
Cont.
Definition/explanation
Definition of the word is literally given to the reader in the form of an
explanation. Sometimes the author will add very specific words to tell
us an explanation is upcoming. These can include phrases like “which
means” or “that is” or “in other words.”
E.g.: The ranivorous hawk, an animal that eats frogs, is found in
central and eastern Africa.
Cont.
General/inference
These types of context clues are a little more subtle. They usually
require readers to look beyond the sentence they are reading for
understanding, sometimes even at the entire passage, the topic of the
piece or the illustrations
E.g.: Since it was raining outside, I used my bumbershoot to keep from
getting wet.
Cont.
Punctuation/font
The clues hidden here are found in capitalization, italicization,
quotation marks and even parentheses. These clues tell the reader that
the word could be a name, a book title or even that, in the case of
parentheses, the word is being defined for us.
E.g.: George was vexed at the referee’s decision – he yelled until his
coach had to calm him down.
Cont.
Tone/mood
Sometimes the mood that the author has set for us helps us guess at a
word’s meaning.
E.g.: If the setting is a ghost story for instance, and the protagonist is
“brooding,” we can be pretty sure it doesn’t mean he’s happy.

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