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. The main section of a long poem.






2. A genre that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot - theme - and/or setting. Examples include J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings - C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia - and William Morris' The Well at the World's E






3. 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.






4. 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






5. The study of the structure of words.






6. The study of the structure of sentences.






7. 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.






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






9. An extended fictional prose narrative.






10. Literature - often drama - ending in a catastrophic event for the protagonist(s) after he or she faces several problems or conflicts.






11. A person - place - thing - or event used to represent something else - such as the white flag that represents surrender.






12. 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.'






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






20. A narrative form - such as an epic - legend - myth - song - poem - or fable - that has been retold within a culture for generations. Examples include The People Couldn't Fly retold by Virginia Hamilton and And Green Grass Grew All Around by Alvin Sch






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






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. 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






24. 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.






25. The study of the meaning in language.






26. A contradictory statement that makes sense






27. 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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






37. 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






38. 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.






39. The narrator shares the thoughts and feelings of one (or a few) character(s).






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






41. A wise saying - usually short and written.






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






43. 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






44. A person or being in a narrative






45. The use of words to create pictures in the reader's mind.






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






47. 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






48. 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.






49. The reader sees a character's errors - but the character does not






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