Test your basic knowledge |

Praxis Middle School Language Arts

Subjects : praxis, english
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. A fourteen - line poem - usually written in iambic pentameter - with a varied rhyme scheme. Two main types are Petrarchan (or Italian) and the Shakespearean (or English). A Petrarchan opens with an octave that states a proposition and ends with a ses






2. Literature - often drama - ending in a catastrophic event for the protagonist(s) after he or she faces several problems or conflicts.






3. A reference to a familiar person - place - thing - or event






4. An author's choice of words based on their clearness - conciseness - effectiveness - and authenticity.






5. Distinctive features of a person's speech and speech patterns.






6. Rhyme that occurs within a line of verse.






7. How the author uses words - phrases - and sentences to form ideas.






8. The story is told from the point of view of one character.






9. A pair of lines of poetic verse written in iambic pentameter.






10. The reader sees a character's errors - but the character does not






11. The use of sound words to suggest meaning - as in buzz - click - or vroom.






12. A literary technique in which the author gives hints or clues about what is to come at some point later in the story.






13. A brief fictional prose narrative. Examples include Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery -' Washington Irving's 'Rip van Winkle' D.H. Lawrence's 'The Horse Dealer's Daughter -' Arthur Conan Doyle's 'Hound of the Baskervilles -' and Dorothy Parker's 'Big Bl






14. A group of words containing a subject and a predicate and forming part of a compound or complex sentence.






15. A type of pun - or play on words - that results when two words become mixed up in the speaker's mind






16. A short poem about personal feelings and emotions.






17. The act or an example of substituting a mild - indirect - or vague term for one considered harsh - blunt - or offensive.






18. A narrative that is made up of fantastic characters and creatures - such as witches - goblins - and fairies - and usually begins with the phrase 'Once upon a time...' Examples include Rapunzel - Cinderella - Sleeping Beauty - and Little Red Riding Ho






19. The telling of a story.






20. A metric line of poetry. Its name is based on the kind and number of feet composing it ('foot').






21. The narrator shares the thoughts and feelings of one (or a few) character(s).






22. A word that gives more information about a noun or pronoun. Ex. Sue runs very fast - very describes the ____ fast and gives information about how fast Sue runs.






23. The use of a word or phrase to mean the exact opposite of its literal or expected meaning. There are three types....Dramatic - Verbal - Situation.






24. A literacy device in which the author jumps back in time in the chronology of narrative.






25. The analysis of how sounds function in a language or dialect.






26. A comparison of two unlike things - usually including the word like or as.






27. Old - fashioned words that are no longer used in common speech - such as thee - thy - and thou.






28. A word which describes or gives more information about a noun or pronoun. Ex. The lazy dog sat on the rug - the word lazy is an ____ which gives more information about the noun dog.






29. The role of context in the interpretation of meaning.






30. A literary device in which animals - ideas - and things are represented as having human traits.






31. U '






32. A word which can be used instead of a noun. Ex instead of saying John is a student - the ____ he can be used in place of the noun John and the sentence becomes He is a student.






33. The narrator records the actions from his or her point of view - unaware of any of the other characters' thoughts or feelings. Also known as the objective view.






34. A wise saying - usually short and written.






35. A person or being in a narrative






36. The overall feeling created by an author's use of words.






37. Narrative fiction that involves gods and heroes or has a theme that expresses a culture's ideology. Examples of Greek ______ include Zeus and the Olympians and The Trojan War. Roman ______ include Hercules - Apollo - and Venus.






38. A metrical ______ is defined as one stressed syllable and a number of unstressed syllables (from zero to as many as four). Stressed syllables are indicated by the ? symbol. Unstressed syllables are indicated by the ? symbol. There are four possible t






39. Literature that makes fun of social conventions or conditions - usually to evoke change.






40. During the mid -19th century in New England - several writers and intellectuals worked together to write - translate works - and publish. Their philosophy focused on protesting the Puritan ethic and materialism. They valued individualism - freedom -






41. The repetition of initial consonant sounds in words - such a 'Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.'






42. The use of words to create pictures in the reader's mind.






43. Informal language used by a particular group of people among themselves.






44. The time and place in which the action of a story takes place.






45. The set of associations implied by a word in addition to its literal meaning.






46. A brief story that illustrates or makes a point.






47. U U '






48. The story is told by someone outside the story.






49. The most specific or direct meaning of a word - in contrast to its figurative or associated meanings.






50. Rhyming of the ends of lines of verse.