Glossary / 439flashback the introduction into the events of a story or an episode that took place
earlier.
focus in writing, a narrowed topic suitable for development into a paragraph or
multi-paragraph paper.
foreshadowing a sign of something to come, a device used especially in short
stories, plays, and novels.
formal language English usage that employs traditional rules of grammar and
vocabulary; as distinguished from colloquial language.
formal style a characteristic manner of writing that incorporates formal language
and avoids colloquialisms.
format 1. the physical layout of a paper. 2. a general arrangement, as of a televi-
sion program.
fragment an incomplete sentence used improperly, as if it were complete.
Example: Running repeatedly around the track.
function the manner in which a part of speech behaves in a given sentence.
Example: The girl is tall. (Tall, as an adjective, functions as a predicate adjective
after the linking verb is.) Note: A word may function one way in one sentence and
differently in another. [See Parts of Speech in Chapter 42, Classification of Words,
for a complete discussion of function.]
fused sentence two sentences joined improperly into a single sentence. Exam-
ple: Glacial ice acted like a giant bulldozer it leveled hills and ridges as it moved
south (two sentences fused into one). Sometimes called a run-on sentence. [See
run-on sentence and comma fault.]
future perfect tense a form of verb that shows action in the future, prior to the
completion of some other future action. Example: By the time I finish waxing
the car, I will have used every good polishing rag we have. [See also verb.]
future tense a form of verb that shows action beyond the present, signaled by the
auxiliaries will or shall. Example: He will park the car for us.
gender the classifying of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives into groups regarded as
masculine, feminine, or neuter; in English, only some nouns (such as actor and
actress) and all pronouns in the third person singular (as he, she, and it) are clas-
sified into these groups. [See Pronoun Usage in Chapter 43, Usage.]
generalization a statement that refers to a genus, kind, class, or order. General-
izations should be avoided unless well supported with specific details. [See Chap-
ter 3, Revising, for a discussion of specific details.]
genre a kind or type. Literary genres include short story, poetry, nonfiction, novel,
and drama.