Primary Sources
- The “original” source
- Need to determine it if is an original source
- Examples: photographs, diaries, letters, eye-witness reports
- If it appears in a newspaper on the TEAS, it will NOT be considered a primary source
- Obituaries are NOT a primary source, they are in a newspaper
- AUTObiographies are primary sources, NOT biographies (auto=self)
Passage Types
- Scan the passage for numbers (percent, age, year)
o If you see numbers, most of the time it will be expository
- 1.) Expository
o Factual, like a textbook
o Purpose: ALWAYS to inform
o If asked where you would find an expository passage, the answer is always
encyclopedia
o If you look at the title of a passage and it says “The History of Gettysburg,” the
word history means it is expository
o Any kind of historical passage
- Scan the passage for opinion words
, o If you see words that indicate an opinion, it will be persuasive
- 2.) Persuasive
o Can be anything from an e-mail to a novel on the TEAS
o Opinion words: should, good, best, seemed, & most
o All it takes is one opinion to make the passage persuasive
o Purpose: to persuade
- 3.) Narrative
o Tells a personal story
o On the TEAS a personal story will be a narrative
o Look for personal pronouns
o When the passage uses pronouns, the majority of the time it will be a narrative
passage
o Works of fiction (ex. Harry Potter, The Hunger Games)
o If you see dialogue (in quotation marks) it means its narrative on the TEAS
o Purpose: ALWAYS to entertain
Reference Materials
- Dictionary
o On the TEAS they will ask you, “Which of the following resources is used to look
up the meaning of a word?”
- Thesaurus
o A book of words that have similar meanings -> synonyms
o Useful for varying word choice
, - Appendix
o Supplemental information that appears in the back of many books
o For example, if you were reading a book about global warming, Appendix1 might
include a list of the top five emission producing countries; Appendix 2 might have
a bar graph showing the emission values
o *Almost never the correct answer on the TEAS
- Almanac
o A book/calendar
o Used many years ago to determine when to plant crops, when to expect the first
frost
o Still used today by some
o Useful for determining the next high tide, the phases of the moon, solar eclipse
- Index
o In the very back of the book
o Similar to the table of contents, much more specific & detailed
o Includes page numbers
Key Ideas & Details
- Main Idea
o The same thing as a thesis statement
o Always the last sentence of your first paragraph
- Summary
o The first sentence of the last paragraph