The House of the Scorpion

Unit Review Sheet

Facts and Definitions

Lesson 1: Cloning

• When researching a topic in order to write about it, you must record information about your source in order to properly give credit.
• There are several style formats, each with its own rules about how to record and cite sources. MLA format is one of those styles.
• Pathos is an appeal to your reader's emotions.
• Ethos is the creation of a personal tone.
• Kairos is a sense of urgency.
• A counterargument is an opposing point of view.
• A five-paragraph persuasive essay begins with an introductory paragraph that ends with a strong, clear thesis statement.
• The body paragraphs of the persuasive essay provide evidence and arguments that support the thesis.
• The conclusion paragraph of the persuasive essay begins with a restatement of the thesis statement and then concludes the essay.

Lesson 2: Revising and Editing

• disconsolately: in grief-stricken loneliness
• caches: a collection of items of the same type stored in a hidden place
• furtively: in a stealthy way, to avoid being noticed
• harangued: lectured in an aggressive or critical way
• servile: showing an excessive willingness to serve others
• rite: a religious or solemn ceremony
• malevolence: the state of exhibiting ill will or showing harm to others

Lesson 3: Cast of Characters

• Creating a final draft is the last step in the writing process.

Lesson 4: Rhetorical and Logical Fallacies

• fallacy: an error that undermines an argument
• loaded terms: words that evoke strong feelings with the purpose of manipulating someone to agree with you
• caricature: writing that exaggerates certain features of a person to create a desired effect
• leading questions: questions designed to make people think a certain way
• false assumption: the argument puts forth something as a truth without sufficient evidence
• incorrect premise: an incorrect or incomplete idea that leads to an incorrect conclusion

Lesson 5: Arguing the Issue

• Review the terms for fallacies from Lesson 4.

Lesson 6: Societal Comparisons

• A utopia is an ideal, perfect society.
• A dystopia is an imagined place where everything is actually negative although there is an image of success because of strict controls placed on people.

Lesson 7: One-Act Play

• Setting, characters, action, and dialogue are all important components of a scene.
• A cliffhanger is a dramatic moment that leaves the reader wanting to know what will happen next!

Lesson 8: Family Crest

• A family crest is a symbol that, during medieval times, knights used to identify themselves. Over time, these symbols came to represent the knight's family.

Lesson 9: Science Fiction

• Irrelevant evidence is a rhetorical fallacy in which a writer attempts to sway the opinion of a reader by presenting evidence that, while persuasive, does not pertain to the issue at hand.
• Science fiction is a genre of literature characterized by its setting in the future, space, or another world; by the use of science and technology extended from current day use to imagined future development; by a consideration of how this science and technology might affect people; and by a desire to make a comment on current-day society. It often presents a utopian or dystopian view.

Lesson 10: Opium and Aztlán

• A pronoun is a word used in the place of a noun, noun phrase, or another pronoun.
• Pronoun types include personal, interrogative, relative, and indefinite.
• Each personal pronoun must have a clear antecedent — the word to which the pronoun refers.
• A pronoun's case refers to how the pronoun functions in a sentence. The three types are subjective, objective, and possessive.
• Demonstrative pronouns point out or demonstrate a specific thing in relation to the speaker. (Those are my mittens.)
• Reflexive pronouns end in "-self" or "-selves" and indicate that a noun in the sentence is doing something to itself. (She congratulated herself for completing her homework.)
• Intensive pronouns end in "-self" or "-selves" and are used to emphasize a noun in the sentence. (The president himself led the tour.)

Lesson 11: Wisdom and Love

• In an active-voice sentence, the subject of the sentence is performing the action described by the verb.
• In a passive-voice sentence, the action of the verb happens to the subject of the sentence, but the subject of the sentence does not perform the action.

Lesson 12: El Día de los Muertos

• El Día de Los Muertos is a holiday celebrated in Mexico and in many Latin American cultures around the time Halloween is celebrated in America. It is a time to remember and honor family members who have passed away.

Lesson 13: Unit Test and Essay Reflections

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