HiSET Reading Study Guide: Informational Texts Part 2
This section of the study guide covers additional skills for informational texts. These include:
- Drawing conclusions
- Choosing the right word or phrase
- Identifying the point of view and tone
Drawing Conclusions
When you examine the back of a bag of potato chips, you’ll likely see that a single serving has a lot of calories, fat, and salt. This information helps you conclude that the potato chips are not a healthy snack.
Similarly, in an informational text, you’ll need to read the entire thing to draw a conclusion — an idea you develop after absorbing all the information.
Hint
Make sure not to skip any part of the passage, even if you’re a master at skimming. If you do this, the conclusion you draw may not be correct.
Choosing the Right Word/Phrase
You’ve probably heard about synonyms — words that have the same or a similar meaning to other words. The large number of synonyms in the English language gives writers a powerful tool to convey their message. They may want to convey a particular emotion (e.g., worry, excitement, anticipation), or make their writing sound poetic.
Figurative language is another way writers enhance their writing. Here are five ways writers can use figurative language to make an impact and convey meaning.
Simile: Comparing two unalike things using ‘like’ or ‘as’.
- My stomach felt as heavy as a boulder after eating all that pasta.”
Metaphor: Comparing two unalike things without using ‘like’ or ‘as’
- She is a wizard when it comes to computer programming. She can make a fun computer game in less than a week!”
Allusion: A reference to a person, place, or event, or idea.
- My teacher is a real dictator. She never lets anyone go to the bathroom!”
Idiom: A phrase where the conveyed meaning is not the same as the literal meaning.
- I told my friend to break a leg before he performed in the play.”
Hyperbole: Using extreme exaggeration to make a point.
- I am so hungry that I could eat a horse!
Similes, metaphors, allusions, idioms, and hyperbole are things we pick up through daily conversation and reading books. They can be very tricky for English language learners, so consider yourself lucky that you grew up around them.
Identifying Point of View and Tone
An author’s point of view is how they feel about their subject. Many things affect a writer’s point of view, such as their education and life experiences.
Point of view affects an author’s tone, the attitude they express on the page.
What you should look out for on the HiSET Reading test is whether the author speaks about their subject in a neutral, positive, or negative way. Many scientific tests are written in a neutral way, as the author is trying to convey content without bias or emotion. However, many newspaper opinion writers use their conservative or liberal point of view to convey a positive/negative tone about their subject.
In short, focus on how the author treats their subject.
Hint
These tips are also great things to know when reading fiction!
Informational Texts Part 2 Review Quiz
Terrorism and American Values
The events of September 11, 2001, inarguably changed the American sense of safety. Prior to these attacks, it was easy for Americans to feel geographically, and therefore logistically, separated from the problems of the world. In the aftermath of the attacks, Americans were understandably scared and anxious. As a result, our citizens have willingly given up many of our freedoms in the name of safety, a relinquishment that we will very soon regret, if we haven’t already.
While it’s extremely important that America does its best to avoid another tragedy like the events of September 11, 2001, we need to also keep in mind the ideas that this country was built upon, chief among which is our personal freedom. When we allow the government to freely monitor its citizens without warrant or just cause, we are giving up these personal freedoms.
People like to think that the government is only watching “the bad guys,” but the problem with this logic is that we are leaving important judgmental decisions to flawed people rather than our appointed court systems. Under the guise of “safety,” the government is able to take away our civil liberties. This doesn’t necessarily mean that we will all be targeted, but it does give the government permission to profile people based on race, religion, or association rather than actual wrongdoing.
America was built on personal freedom, and the more we are willing to give up that freedom in the name of a false sense of safety, the more we allow our government to control our actions. We cannot allow an ungrounded belief in safety to be the death of our country.