Ch 5: Literary Skills & Strategies
About This Chapter
Literary Skills & Strategies - Chapter Summary
The engaging lessons in this chapter provide an overview of literary skills and strategies. You can get a clearer understanding of how to read a text with inferences and recognize explicit statements. You can also learn how to develop an objective summary when writing a story. After completing the chapter, you should be prepared to:
- Recall reading strategies that employ visualization
- Distinguish between close reading and big picture reading strategies
- Explain how predictions are made based on details in a reading selection
- Communicate how intended meaning is inferred
- Describe how to discern explicit statements
- Read a selection and draw conclusions
- Provide an example of how to paraphrase a reading selection
- Compare ideas in a reading selection
These lessons help you comprehend literary skills and strategies with greater ease and our instructors provide plenty of illustrations. You can study all the lessons in the order provided, or just focus on the topics that you don't fully comprehend. A brief and printable quiz is available for each lesson to test your knowledge.

1. Reading Strategies Using Visualization
Visualization is an effective reading strategy to support reading comprehension. This lesson will explore the definition, purpose, and benefits of visualization, as well as explain how to visualize while reading.

2. Close Reading vs. Big Picture Reading Strategies
Examining literature with close-reading and big-picture reading techniques can aid in getting a firm grasp on understanding the text. Explore these two strategies and how they can be applied to many texts, including Shakespeare's 'Romero and Juliet.'

3. How to Make Predictions Based on Information from a Reading Selection
Making predictions is a strategy in reading comprehension, involving the use of information from a reading selection to determine upcoming events. Learn the importance of making predictions, and understand how to model predictions with tools such as a three-column prediction list.

4. What is Inference? - How to Infer Intended Meaning
Inference is a conclusion or opinion that is logically formed through observation, facts, reasoning and evidence. Learn about the meaning of inference, explore how to infer an intended meaning and understand how to practice making inferences.

5. Discerning Explicit Statements from Inferences in a Text
In any informational text, there will be information stated explicitly and information you have to infer. In this lesson, you'll learn about the differences and some inference issues to watch out for.

6. Drawing Conclusions from a Reading Selection
Writers might not explicitly say everything they intend, leading readers to use clues to draw conclusions from texts. Discover how to draw conclusions from a reading selection and practice this technique through some examples.

7. How to Paraphrase: Definition & Examples
Paraphrasing can be a valuable skill to learn, especially in an academic setting. Discover important tips and learn how to avoid common mistakes when trying to convey ideas into your own words. Differentiate between good and bad paraphrasing examples.

8. Writing an Objective Summary of a Story
Writing an objective summary of a story means summarizing it while excluding one's opinions. Learn about the terms, the secret techniques, and the step-by-step procedure for writing an objective summary, and check out a summary of 'The Tell-Tale Heart' as an example.

9. How to Compare & Contrast Ideas in a Reading Selection
Explore how to compare and contrast ideas in a reading selection to understand similarities and differences. Review what compare and contrast mean, discover how to analyze a prompt, examine a method, see how to find details, and learn how to evaluate.
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Other Chapters
Other chapters within the Praxis English Language Arts - Content & Analysis (5039): Practice & Study Guide course
- Praxis English: Literary Forms and Genres
- Periods of American Literature
- World Literature Overview
- Young Adult Literature Overview
- Praxis English: Analyzing Literature
- Praxis English: Poetry Types & Analysis
- Overview of Literary Devices
- Praxis English: Themes & Main Ideas
- Praxis English: Informational Texts
- Literary Theories & Research
- Praxis English: Strategic Approaches to Teaching Reading
- Praxis English: Language Acquisition & Development
- Praxis English: History, Development & Structure of English
- Basic Semantics
- Praxis English: Approaches to Teaching Writing
- Praxis English: Discourse Aims in Academic Writing
- Praxis English: Organizing & Developing an Essay
- Praxis English: Methods of Argument & Rhetorical Strategy
- Praxis English: Writing Research & Citation
- Sentence Types, Parts & Structure
- Overview of English Grammar & Usage
- Capitalization & Punctuation in English
- Praxis English: Revising & Improving Writing
- Praxis English: Organizing a Speech
- Praxis English: Delivering a Speech
- Praxis English: Classroom Discussion Strategies
- Differentiated Instruction Basics
- Language Arts Assessments
- Using Technology to Teach Reading & Writing
- Praxis English Language Arts: Content & Analysis Flashcards