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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 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.'






2. 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






3. 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






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






5. 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.






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






7. 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






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






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






10. 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.






11. Verse that contains an irregular metrical pattern and line length; also known as vers libre.






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






13. A stanza made up of two rhyming lines.






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






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






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






17. 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






18. 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






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






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






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






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






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






24. Rhyme that occurs within a line of verse.






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






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






27. 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.






28. 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






29. A group of words containing a subject and a predicate and forming part of a compound or complex sentence.






30. 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.






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






32. The telling of a story.






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






34. Opposing elements or characters in a plot.






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






36. 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






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






38. 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.






39. 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






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






41. 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.






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






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






44. A pair of lines of poetic verse written in iambic pentameter.






45. A literacy device in which the author jumps back in time in the chronology of narrative.






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






47. The main section of a long poem.






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






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






50. 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.