Nonfiction Signposts

When you see "___" around spoken words, you are looking at...

• Quoted Words

• Contrasts and Contradictions

• Numbers that explain

• Numbers and Stats

Answer explanation

Quoted words are surrounded by quotation marks to show that someone is speaking or that you are using words that are not your own.

When you read a word you are unfamiliar with, you should ask yourself...

• Why did the author quote this person?

• Can I find clues around the word to help me infer the meaning?

• What is the difference and why does it matter?

• Does this surprise me?

Answer explanation

Using words around an unfamiliar word to figure out its meaning is called using context clues. Most authors provide this helpful information for their readers.

When you see the words "all" "none" "forever" or "always" you are looking at...

• Contrasts and Contradictions

• Word Gaps

• Numbers and Stats

• Absolute Language

Answer explanation

Absolute means there is no wiggle room. Watch out for this type of language because very few things in life are this certain.

Numbers and Statistics are...

• 100%

• 3 out of 10

• The boy was 10 years old.

• All of these are Numbers and Statistics.

When you notice numbers and amounts, you should as yourself...

• Why did the author use these numbers?

• Where am I?

• What is the difference and why does it matter?

• What does this make me wonder?

True or False: You should always try to determine the meaning of word gaps.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

TRUE! How will you be able to understand what the author is trying to tell you if you don't know what the words mean? You can use the dictionary for definitions, the thesaurus for synonyms and antonyms, or context clues in the surrounding words and sentences.

In nonfiction, when you find a contrast and contradiction, you have noticed a ...

• difference in two ideas

• word you don't know

• quotation

• lyric of a song

All students dress very casually.

This sentence is an example of...

• Absolute Language

• Contrasts and Contradictions

• Quoted Words

• Numbers and Statistics

Answer explanation

"All" means every single one. Do ALL students really dress casually?

Absolute Langue is...

• language that possibly exaggerates

• when an author curses

• unfamiliar words

• numbers or statistics

Nonfiction means...

• Real

• Fake

• False

• Fictional

Answer explanation

Remember this:

Fiction = Fake

NON = Not

Not fake = Real

Nonfiction = Real