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






2. 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






3. 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 -






4. A short narrative - usually between 50 and 100 pages long. Examples include George Orwell's Animal Farm and Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis.






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






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






7. 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.






8. A type of Japanese poem that is written in 17 syllables with three lines of five - seven - and five syllables - respectively. Expresses a single thought.






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






10. The repetition of a line or phrase of a poem at regular intervals - particularly at the end of each stanza.






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






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






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






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






15. A person or being in a narrative






16. A humorous verse form of five anapestic (Composed of feet that are short - short - long or unaccented - unaccented - accented) lines with rhyme scheme of aabba.






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






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






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






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






21. The perspective from which a story is told.






22. 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






23. Rhyming of the ends of lines of verse.






24. ' U






25. 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






26. 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






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






28. 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.'






29. Language widely considered crude - disgusting - and oftentimes offensive.






30. A contradictory statement that makes sense






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






32. The telling of a story.






33. 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






34. The study of the structure of words.






35. Unrhymed verse - often occurring in iambic pentameter.






36. A division of poetry named for the number of lines it contains...Couplet: Two - lines - Triplet: Three - lines - Quatrain: Four - lines - Quintet: Five - lines - Sestet: Six- lines - Septet: Seven - lines - Octave: Eight - lines.






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






38. Persuasive writing.






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






40. The study of the orgin of words






41. A text or performance that imitates and mocks an author or work.






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






43. A word which shows action or state of being. Ex. In the sentence The dog bit the man - bit is the ____.






44. 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.






45. A rhythmical pattern in verse that is made up of stressed and unstressed syllables.






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






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






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






49. An extended fictional prose narrative.






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