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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. The study of the sounds of language and their physical properties.






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






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






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






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






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






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






8. The flaw that leads to the downfall of a tragic hero; this term comes from the Greek word hybris - which means 'excessive pride.'






9. 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.






10. The telling of a story.






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






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






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






14. 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






15. 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






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






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






18. A suspenseful story that deals with a puzzling crime. Examples include Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Murder in Rue Morgue' and Charles Dickens' The Mystery of Edwin Drood.






19. 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






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






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






22. 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






23. The study of the orgin of words






24. 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.






25. A repetition of the same sound in words close to one another






26. 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 .






27. A variety of a language used by people from a particular geographic area.






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






29. Persuasive writing.






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






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






32. A lesson a work of literature is teaching.






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






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






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






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






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






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






39. 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.






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






41. A word which shows relationships among other words in the sentence. The relationships include direction - place - time - cause - manner and amount Ex. In the sentence He came by bus - 'by' is a _____ which shows manner.






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






43. Rhyme that occurs within a line of verse.






44. A socially accepted word or phrase used to replace unacceptable language - such as expressions for bodily functions or body parts. Also used as substitutes for straightforward words to tactfully conceal or falsify meaning. Ex. My grandmother passed a






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






46. 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






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






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






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






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