Stress is the degree of emphasis given a sound or syllable in speech, also called

lexical stress or word stress. Unlike some other languages, English has variable (or
flexible) stress. This means that stress patterns can help distinguish the meanings
of two words or phrases that otherwise appear to be the same.

For example, in the phrase "every white house," the words white and house receive
roughly equal stress; however, when we refer to the official home of the American
president, "the White House," the word White is usually stressed more heavily than
House.

1. Stress the first syllable of:

o Most two-syllable nouns (examples: CLImate, KNOWledge)
o Most two-syllable adjectives (examples: FLIPpant, SPAcious)
2. Stress the last syllable of:
o Most two-syllable verbs (examples: reQUIRE, deCIDE)
3. Stress the second-to-last syllable of:
o Words that end in -ic (examples: ecSTATic, geoGRAPHic)
o Words ending in -sion and -tion (examples: exTENsion, retriBUtion)
4. Stress the third-from-last syllable of:
o Words that end in -cy, -ty, -phy and -gy (examples: deMOCracy,
unCERtainty, geOGraphy, radiOLogy)
o Words that end in -al (examples: exCEPtional, CRItical)

Consonance is a pleasing sounding caused by the repetition of consonant sounds

within sentences, phrases, or in poems. Typically this repetition occurs at the end
of the words, but may also be found within a word or at the beginning.

Pairs of Consonance Examples

 Blank and think

 Spelled and scald
 Sent and went
 Dawn goes down
 Laughed and deft
 Cheer and beer
 Strong and swing
 Far and jar
 Hard and ward
Diphthong literally means "having two sounds." More specifically, diphthongs
deal with vowels. Every vowel has its own short sound and long vowel sound.
However, diphthongs come into play whenever a vowel makes a new and different
sound, usually because it's working in conjunction with another vowel.

One of the best diphthong examples is the word "oil." Here, we have two vowels
working side by side and, together, they create a sound different than anything "O"
or "I" alone can produce.

This diphthong uses letters and letter combinations like /i/, /igh/, and /y/ to form
sounds similar to "eye." Here are a few more examples:

 Cry
 My
 Like
 Bright
 Lime

/eɪ/

This diphthong uses letters and letter combinations like /ey/, /ay/, /ai/ and /a/ to
form sounds similar to "great." Here are a few more examples:

 Bake
 Rain
 Lay
 Eight
 Break

A purpose statement is a declarative sentence which summarizes the specific

topic and goals of a document. It is typically included in the introduction to give
the reader an accurate, concrete understanding what the document will cover and
what he/she can gain from reading it. To be effective, a statement of purpose
should be:

 Specific and precise - not general, broad or obscure

  Concise - one or two sentences
 Clear - not vague, ambiguous or confusing
 Goal-oriented - stated in terms of desired outcomes

Some common introductory phrases for purpose statements include:

 "The purpose of this paper/letter/document is to..."

 "In this paper, I will describe/explain/review/etc. the..."
 "My reason for writing is to..."
 "This paper will discuss the..."
 "The purpose of this paper is twofold: to ___ and ___"

A vowel is a particular kind of speech sound made by shaping the upper vocal
tract. In English it is important to know that there is a difference between a vowel
sound and a letter in the alphabet. In English there are five vowel letters in the
alphabet, but there are many more vowel sounds.

The sounds of English are written with letters in the English alphabet, as either
vowels or consonants. All English words are written with vowel letters in them.

These letters are vowels in English:

A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y.