THE FUNDAMENTALS OF ENGLISH
M S . DARLEN E C AM POS
TEXAS SUCCESS INITIATIVE (TSI) - WHAT ON EARTH IS
IT AND WHAT’S GOING TO BE ON IT?
• The TSI measures 4 major areas – Literary Analysis,
Main Idea & Supporting Details, Making Inferences,
and Use of Language
• There is a writing portion as well
• Okay, that’s great, so what does all that lovely stuff
mean? Let’s learn about them!
LITERARY ANALYSIS
• Read the text, then re-read if you need to
• Look for ideas and elements within the text – imagine yourself as
a detective searching for clues
• It’s not always easy to find an element. Some texts have subtle
language and you have to think deeply about what the author is
trying to say
• Once you’ve spotted an element, you can determine why the
author used it, which is – TA DA! – a literary analysis!
LET’S TRY IT OUT
“Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy
weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the
courthouse sagged in the square.…There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to
go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the
boundaries of Maycomb County. But it was a time of vague optimism for some of
the people: Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear
but fear itself.”
From To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
What is Lee’s character, Scout Finch, trying to say with this passage?
LET’S TRY IT OUT
•
Maycomb is an outdated town – but how we do know?
•
Scout says Maycomb is “old” and “tired”
•
She also mentions “nothing to fear but fear itself”
•
There’s “nothing to buy” and “no money”
•
So, Maycomb is a town that is not progressing at all
•
We can assume the story takes place during the Depression because there’s no
money and nothing to fear but fear itself is a quote from then-president Franklin D.
Roosevelt
•
Hooray! We just analyzed a passage!
MAIN IDEA
• What’s the point of this text?
• Finding the main idea is usually easy because the
author will use explicit details to give you the point
• Think of persuasive essays, articles, and research
papers – they all use details, quotes, and information
to state their purpose
• If you get stuck, try re-reading the passage slowly and
carefully
LET’S TRY IT OUT
“The meat would be shoveled into carts, and the man who did the shoveling would
not trouble to lift out a rat even when he saw one…There was no place for the
men to wash their hands before they ate their dinner, and so they made a
practice of washing them in the water that was to be ladled into the
sausage….and cartload after cartload of it would be taken up and dumped into
the hoppers with fresh meat, and sent out to the public’s breakfast.”
From The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
LET’S TRY IT OUT
•
Sinclair says the workers don’t remove the rats from the meat
•
There’s no place for the workers to wash their hands
•
The workers wash their hands in the same water used to clean the
sausages
•
Then, after a long day’s work, the meat is sent out to the public
•
Therefore, the main idea of this passage is Conditions in
Slaughterhouses are Disgusting and Need to be Reformed
•
Fun fact! This book was so grossly written that President Theodore
Roosevelt established the FDA because of it. The main idea worked!
MAKING INFERENCES
• Sometimes an author may not be direct, so you have
to assume what he or she is trying to say
• It might also help to find a connection between two or
more passages
• Inferences may use certain words or sentence
structure
LET’S TRY IT OUT
“The people had done it so many times that they only half listened to the
directions: most of them were quiet, wetting their lips, not looking
around…They grinned at one another humorlessly and nervously. Then
Mr. Adams reached into the black box and took out a folded paper. He
held it firmly by one corner as he turned and went hastily back to his
place in the crowd, where he stood a little apart from his family. not
looking down at his hand.
From “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
LET’S TRY IT OUT
• We can infer that something about this lottery isn’t right – why?
• It is clear no one in this village is happy about the lottery
• Nobody’s jumping for joy – they’re “not looking around,” “grinning
nervously,” and Mr. Adams does not dare to look at the paper he
drew and stands away from his family
• So, we readers can assume something is up and there’s no way
this is a Mega Millions lottery at all
• TA DA! You just made an inference!
USE OF LANGUAGE
•
There’s different ways to saying certain things through text
•
For example, you can either say “That person smells rather unpleasantly,
I wish he would consider a good bath” or “That person needs to take a
shower, he’s stinking up the entire school!”
•
Both sentences have the same meaning, but are said very differently
•
If you don’t know what a word means, you can use context clues to help
you find the definition
•
Use of language can include, but is not limited to, tone, organization,
and rhetorical strategies (i.e. imagery, personification, symbolism, etc.)
LET’S TRY IT OUT
“I also had a stutter and a lisp. Or maybe I should say I had a st-st-st-st-stutter and a
lissssssssththththp. You wouldn't think there is anything life threatening about
speech impediments, but let me tell you, there is nothing more dangerous than
being a kid with a stutter and a lisp. A five-year-old is cute when he lisps and
stutters. Heck, most of the big-time kid actors stuttered and lisped their way to
stardom. And, jeez, you're still fairly cute when you're a stuttering and lisping six-,
seven-, and eight-year-old, but it's all over when you turn nine and ten. After that,
your stutter and lisp turn you into a retard. And if you're fourteen years old, like
me, and you're still stuttering and lisping, then you become the biggest retard in
the world.”
From The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
LET’S TRY IT OUT
•
What’s the language like in this passage?
•
We know it’s an adolescent because the narrator says he’s 14
•
Notice the narrator’s use of language – he uses “jeez,” “let me tell you,” and
“heck,” which are informal phrases, like he’s talking to a friend
•
Because the narrator is 14, the author uses typical words a 14 year old would say
•
So, the author’s use of language correlates to the narrator’s age
WRITING FOR THE TSI
TSI WRITING COMPONENTS
You will be tested on 4 content areas in your writing portion
• Essay Revision
• Agreement
• Sentence Structure
• Sentence Logic
ESSAY REVISION
• Coherence – can a reader understand what is going on the text?
• Organization – is the text in order?
• Word choice – does the text use proper word choice?
• Use of evidence – if it’s an informative text, does it have evidence
to back up its statements?
• Effectiveness – does this text have a powerful message?
LET’S TRY IT OUT
One night I came home from work and my cat used my briefcase as a litter box. Did
you know that Canada has palm trees? I really love to eat my fruits and
vegetables. By the way, my brother is a teacher. My car is green.
• This excerpt has no organization at all – it is not in chronological order
• There is no coherence because a reader can’t determine what’s going
on
• The text is not effective because it has no powerful messages
• Lack of evidence – it is said that Canada has palm trees, but there is
no supporting information
AGREEMENT
• Think of agreement as ‘fine tuning’ a text
• Subject-verbs must match
• Pronouns are used correctly
• Verb tenses equal the situation
LET’S TRY IT OUT
“Hey, Brandine! I think I done busted my stinkbone!”
-Cletus Spuckler from TV show The Simpsons
• By looking at this sentence, we can tell it is not grammatically correct
• Rather than say ‘I done,’ the proper way is ‘I have’
• With ‘fine tuning,’ this sentence can become more coherent and have
agreement
SENTENCE STRUCTURE
• Commas and run on sentences – are, the commas, where,
they’re supposed to, be?
• Improper punctuation – you know, when something? Is totally.
Out? Of Place!
• Fragments and parallelism – Joe likes driving. Popcorn. And
movies.
• Subordination and coordination – joining sentences together with
words such as “and,” “yet,” “but,” “or,” etc.
• Think of yourself as a construction worker and you’re building
perfect sentences
LET’S TRY IT OUT
A few years ago there, was a man with a huge pimple on. His nose.
One day the pimple, got, bigger. And soon? enough, it exploded.
The explosion was heard in, Zimbabwe. But the man, was, not
hurt. The. End.
• The text is filled with comma splices
• There are also fragments and improper punctuation
• The sentences have the opportunity to be combined correctly
SENTENCE LOGIC
• The use of logical transitions
• Transitions include words like – then, after,
however, in conclusion, etc.
• Think of these as ‘commercial breaks’ within a
text
LET’S TRY IT OUT
Every morning, I eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast. Then I get into my car
and drive to work. After I arrive to my office, I walk to my cubicle. When
that’s all done, I sit at my desk, pretending to be working, but I’m
actually watching funny cat videos until it’s time to clock out. Then I go
home and go to bed.
•
Transitions in sentences help a passage flow
•
Without transitions, a passage would be choppy and possibly incoherent
as well
TEST TAKING SKILLS
•
Take your time – if you rush through, you might make careless mistakes
•
If you get stuck, move on and come back to the question later
•
Don’t let a test scare you. Remember, there is nothing to fear but fear
itself.
•
If you fail, do not think of yourself as a failure. You are human. You are
not perfect. It’s okay to fail and try again.
•
If you still feel bad about yourself, watch an episode of Jerry Springer.
You’ll feel better in no time.
•
Focus and be prepared. When you go to a job interview, you dress well
and bring resumes. It’s no different with a test.
•
GOOD LUCK!!!!