Abigail Adams

Unit Review Sheet

Facts and Definitions

Lesson 1: Getting to Know Abigail Adams

• Abigail Adams (1744-1818) was a fascinating historical figure. The wife of president John Adams and mother to president John Quincy Adams, she was both a strong advocate for women's rights and a devoted wife and mother who took great pride in her domestic role.
• Abigail Adams wrote thousands of letters over her lifetime, many of which survive today and allow historians to understand her life and the times in which she lived.
• confidences: secrets or private matters shared only with those one trusts
• lucrative: producing profit
• wistfully: showing a feeling of longing
• foreboding: a fear that something bad will happen
• affliction: something that causes suffering or pain
• fortitude: strength or courage
• entail: to involve something necessarily

Lesson 2: John and Abigail Adams

• The sentences in a paragraph should all connect to and provide support for its main idea.
• A topic sentence states the main point of the paragraph.
• A transition connects one part of a piece of writing to another in a logical and seamless way.
• Supporting sentences or supporting evidence provide proof that the main point of the paragraph is valid, deepen the reader's understanding of the topic, or provide necessary background information.
• A concluding observation in a paragraph summarizes the paragraph and/or connects the ideas covered in one paragraph to the ideas that will come later in the larger body of writing.
• Authors provide citations when sharing information that they learned from another source and when quoting directly from other writings to allow readers to view the same sources that the author used when writing the book, allowing them to more accurately assess the validity of the author's interpretation and/or pursue their own research on the topic.

Lesson 3: Unrest and War

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

Lesson 4: Continental Congress

• Verb moods typically express attitude (such as a question or command).
• The indicative mood is used for statements, the interrogative mood for questions, and the imperative mood for commands.
• The conditional mood is used to describe situations that might be true under a certain set of conditions.
• The subjunctive mood is used to describe hypothetical situations.

Lesson 5: Remember the Ladies

• Biographers rely on a wide variety of sources to help them tell the life story of the person about whom they are writing. They may consult other books and articles about the same person written by other authors as well as primary sources like letters, diaries, newspaper accounts, government documents, images, or material objects.
• Biographers usually have to strike a balance between using their own words to tell the reader about the person they are describing and showing the reader evidence that supports their account by using quotations from primary sources and specific examples that support the points that biographers are trying to make.

Lesson 6: Separation

• protocol: conventions or formal customs
• abolish: eliminate or put an end to
• destitute: impoverished
• sedition: provoking rebellion
• apprehension: a fear about something bad happening
• abhorrence: something looked upon with disgust
• disconsolate: unhappy
• impudence: impertinence, not showing propriety or respect

Lesson 7: Education

• Verbals are words that are forms of verbs that function as other parts of speech.
• Gerunds are verbals ending in "-ing" that function as nouns.
• Participles are verbals that function as adjectives. They usually end in "-ing" or "-ed."
• Infinitives are verbals that use "to" and the basic or simple form of a verb. Infinitives can function as a noun, adjective, or adverb.

Lesson 8: Genre

• A genre is a category of literature that is defined by similarities in theme, style, or structure.
• Adventure stories focus on exciting quests or perilous situations and are usually full of action, danger, and thrills.
• Historical fiction stories are set in a real time and place in the past and often feature people, places, and events that really happened. Unlike nonfiction historical works or biographies, the author may also invent new characters, imagine new situations, or make up details that are not verifiable in the historical record.
• Mysteries usually focus on the solving of a crime or puzzle, with secrets and clues revealed throughout the story.
• Myths are legends and are often handed down from generation to generation. They tend to explain historical events or natural phenomena and may involve deities or mythical creatures.
• Science fiction stories are driven by events related to real, imagined, or theoretical science. Many science fiction stories take place in the future or on other planets.
• Realistic fiction stories could actually happen. These stories seem real to the reader and often include details of daily life.
• Satire is a form of literature that uses ridicule or sarcasm to show the shortcomings and vices of a person, organization, or institution. Often, satire is used to make a point about a public figure or government in an effort to make a political or social statement.
• A parody is related to satire in that it is ridicule-based, but whereas satire is usually making a social or political point, parodies are sometimes just for fun. In a parody, another work is imitated, usually in a way that pokes fun at the original.
• Graphic novels tell a story using both written words and sequential art, often similar to comic books, but they can be more complex and experimental in their design. Japanese manga is a well-known form of graphic novel.
• Readers can interpret allegories to find a hidden meaning in the text. The story may be a simple one on the surface, but embedded in the story is another meaning, usually a life lesson, that can be teased out.

Lesson 9: The Vice Presidency

• John Adams was the first vice president of the United States of America.

Lesson 10: Presidential Politics

• The Federalists and Republicans offered dramatically different visions for American government in the 1790s.

Lesson 11: Later Life

• John Adams served as President from 1797-1801.

Lesson 12: Remembering Abigail Adams

• Abigail Adams died October 28, 1818. She was seventy-four years old.

Final Project: A One-Person Play

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