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






2. 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






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






4. 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.






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






6. 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.






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






8. The study of the orgin of words






9. 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.






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






11. A document organized in paragraph form that can be long or short and can be in the form of a letter - dialogue - or discussion. Examples include Politics and the English Language by George Orwell - The American Scholar by Ralph Waldo Emerson - and Mo






12. A figure of speech in which a comparison is implied but not stated - such as 'This winter is a bear.'






13. A break in the rhythm of language - particularly a natural pause in a in a line of verse - maked in prosody by a double vertical line ( || ). Ex. Arma virumque cano - || Troiae qui primus ab oris .






14. 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






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






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






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






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






19. A phrase that consists of two contradictory terms






20. A person or being in a narrative






21. Rhyme that occurs within a line of verse.






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






24. 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






25. 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.






26. A narrative about human actions that is perceived by both the teller and the listeners to have taken place within human history and that possesses certain qualities that give the tale the appearance of truth or reality. Washington Irvin's The Legend






27. A wise saying - usually short and written.






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






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






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






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






32. 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






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






34. A novel set in the western U.S. featuring the experiences of cowboys and frontiersmen. Examples include Zane Grey's Riders of the Purple Sage and Trail Driver - Larry McMurty's Lonesome Dove - Conrad Richter's The Sea of Grass - Fran Striker's The Lo






35. 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.'






36. A short poem about personal feelings and emotions.






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






38. The telling of a story.






39. 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






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






41. The main section of a long poem.






42. The writer says one thing and means another






43. 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.






44. ' U






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






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






47. 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.






48. Opposing elements or characters in a plot.






49. 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.






50. Expressions that are usually accepted in informal situations or regions - such as 'wicked awesome.'