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






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






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






4. A short poem - often written by an anonymous author - comprised of short verses intended to be sung or recited.






5. Opposing elements or characters in a plot.






6. 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






7. Fiction that is intended to frighten - unsettle - or scare the reader. Often overlaps with fantasy and science fiction. Examples include Stephen King's The Shining - Mary Shelley's Frankenstein - and Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes.






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






9. 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 -






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






11. A stanza made up of two rhyming lines.






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






13. A person's account of his or hew own life.






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






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






16. 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.






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






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






19. The structure of a work of literature; the sequence of events.






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






21. Narrative fiction that is set in some earlier time and often contains historically authentic people - places - or events






22. Meter that is composed of feet that are short - short - long or unaccented - unaccented - accented - usually used in light or whimsical poetry - such as limerick.






23. A word that connects other words or groups of words. Ex. In the sentence Bob and Dan are friends - the _____ 'and' connects two nouns and in the sentence.






24. A person who opposes or competes with the main character (protagonist); often the villain in the story.






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






26. A comparison of objects or ideas that appear to be different but are alike in some important way.






27. A kind of adjective which is always used with and gives some information about a noun. There are only two _____ a and the.






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






29. The feeling a text evokes in the reader - such as sadness - tranquility - or elation.






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






31. A story about a person's life written by another person.






32. A phrase that consists of two contradictory terms






33. A method an author uses to let readers know more about the characters and their personal traits.






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






35. A story in which people (or things or actions) represent an idea or a generalization about life. Usually have a strong lesson or moral.






36. 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






37. 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






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






39. A contradictory statement that makes sense






40. The study of the meaning in language.






41. The perspective from which a story is told.






42. A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect - as in I could sleep for a year or this book weighs a ton.






43. 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






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






45. Rhyming of the ends of lines of verse.






46. A short story or folktale that contains a moral - which may be expressed explicitly at the end as a maxim. Examples include The Country Mouse and the Town Mouse - The Tortoise and the Hare - and The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing.






47. A person or being in a narrative






48. The time and place in which a story occurs.






49. A turn from the general audience to address a specific group of persons (or a personified abstraction) who is present of absent. For example - in a recent performance of Shakespeare's Hamlet - Hamlet turned to the audience and spoke directly to one w






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