1. Commonly Confused Words Set 1

2. Accept/Except Accept- (v) receive willingly; agree to Except- (v) omit; (prep) excluding; (conj) but Examples: Everyone is going to the movies (except, accept) Carlos. A waitress will gladly (except, accept) a $20 tip.

3. Affect/Effect Affect- (v) to influence; to produce an effect Effect- (n) produced by a cause; result Examples: The sad movie (effected, affected) me and inspired me to volunteer more. The movie had a lasting (effect, affect) on me.

4. Capitol/Capital Capitol- (n) a building occupied by a state legislature Capital- (n) 1) uppercase letter; 2) city that is the official seat of government; 3) punishment regarding death; 4) money in a business.

5. Capitol/Capital (ctd) The (capital, capitol) is found in Albany, which is the (capital, capitol) of New York. The (capital, capitol) that the man generously invested into my business, had the (effect, affect) he was looking to make—we were no longer in debt.

6. Principle/Principal Principal- (adj) main; most important Principle- (noun) personal rule; code of conduct Examples: The (principle/principal) dancer broke her ankle. She doesn’t date much because most college boys don’t share her (principles/principals).

7. Stationary/Stationery Stationary- (adj) to sit still Stationery- (n) paper on which to write a letter Examples: The car sat (stationery/stationary) at the stop sign. I used the purple (stationery/ stationary) to write my thank you letters.

8. Allusion/Illusion Allusion- (noun) a casual reference Illusion- (noun) something that deceives by producing a false or misleading impression of reality. Examples: The novel made a clever (illusion/allusion) to Shakespeare’s “star-crossed lovers.” The (illusion/allusion) of water in the desert tricked the thirsty, stranded man.

9. Compliment/Complement Complement- (noun) something that completes or makes perfect (verb) to complete or make perfect Compliment- (noun) an expression of praise or admiration; (verb) to praise Examples: The purple and gold earrings (complimented/complemented) her outfit. She (complimented/complemented) the choreography of the dance team.

10. Figurative Language Words

11. Looking Forward and Back Foreshadowing - When an author gives hints about something that is going to happen later in the story. Flashback – When an author tells a story from the character’s past in the middle of the on-going story.

12. Symbolism When an object, event, character, or word is used to represent meaning beyond its literal meaning. Examples: White is often symbolic of purity. A Red Rose is symbolic of love. The Raven was a symbol of death.

13. Allegory A story in which the characters and events are symbolic of:. A political or historical situation (Ex: The Crucible can be seen as an allegory about the McCarthyTrials.) Human Character Traits (Ex: Good, Evil, Pride, Jealousy, etc.)

14. Archetype A character or plot pattern that is a universal template. They are recognizable to readers because of their universal usage. Examples: Star-crossed lovers, Coming of Age The hero, the apprentice, the sidekick, the damsel in distress, etc.