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 verb form that usually ends in - ing or - ed.






2. A method by which trained readers evaluate a piece of writing for its overall quality. There is no focus on one aspect of the writing.






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






4. A long narrative poem detailing a hero's deeds. Examples include The Aenied by Vergil - The Illiad and The Odyssey by Homer - Beowulf - Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes - War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy - Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - and Hiawath






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






6. The study of the structure of words.






7. A contradictory statement that makes sense






8. A stanza made up of two rhyming lines.






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






10. A poem that is a mournful lament for the dead. Examples include William Shakespeare's 'Eligy' from Cymbeline - Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Requiem -' and Alfred Lord Tennysone's 'In Memoriam.'






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






12. The multiple use of a word - phrase - or idea for emphasis or rhythmic effect.






13. The regular or random occurrence of sound in poetry.






14. Deals with current or future development of technological advances. Examples are Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse - Five - George Orwell's 1984 - Aldous Huxley's Brave New World - and Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.






15. Specialized language used in a particular field or content area






16. An expository piece written with eloquence that becomes part of the recognized literature of an era. Often reveal historical facts - the social mores of the times - and the thoughts and personality of the author. Some have recorded and influenced the






17. The narrator shares the thoughts and feelings of all the characters.






18. 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.






19. 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






20. Occurs when there are two or more possible meanings to a word or phrase.






21. Language that shows disrespect for others or something sacred.






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






23. A novel comprised of idealized events far removed from everyday life. This genre includes the subgenres of gothic ____ and medieval ____. Examples include Mary Shelly's Frankenstein - William Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida - and King Horn (anonym






24. The purpose of a particular action differs greatly from the result






25. Repetition of the final consonant sound in words containing different vowels






26. The perspective from which a story is told.






27. Simple - compound (conjunctions) - complex (subordination) - compound - complex (conjunctions and subordination).






28. A word which names a person - place or thing. Ex. boy - river - friend - Mexico - triangle - day - school - truth - university - idea - John F. Kennedy - movie






29. The specialized language of a particular group or culture. Ex. in the field of education...rubric - tuning protocol - and deskilling.






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






31. A category of literature defined by its style - form - and content.






32. 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.






33. Persuasive writing.






34. The perspective from which the story is told - four choices: first person; 3rd person (dramatic - objective); 3rd person omniscient; 3rd person limited omniscient.






35. 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






36. A narrative technique in which the main story is composed primarily for the purpose of organizing a set of shorter stories - each of which is a story within a story. Examples include Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales - Ovid's Metamorphoses - and Em






37. A lesson a work of literature is teaching.






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






39. A philosophy that values human freedom and personal responsibility. A few well known _______ writers are Jean - Paul Satre - Soren Kierkegaard ('the father of _______') - Albert Camus - Freidrich Nietzche - Franz Kafka - and Simone de Beauvoir.






40. Language that is intended to be evasive or to conceal. Ex. 'downsized' actually means fired or loss of job.






41. A person or thing working against the hero of a literary work (the protagonist).






42. U '






43. A variation of a language used by people who live in a particular geographical area.






44. Also known as a run - on line in poetry - _____ occurs when one line ends and continues onto the next line to complete meaning. For example the first line in Thoreau's poem 'My life has been the poem I would have writ -' and the second line completes






45. An expression that has been used so often that it loses its expressive power






46. 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






47. 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






48. Two or more words in sequence that form a syntactic unit that is less than a complete sentence.






49. A short poem about personal feelings and emotions.






50. The outcome or resolution of plot in a story.