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. ' U






2. An extended fictional prose narrative.






3. The study of the orgin of words






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






5. 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






6. 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 -






7. 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






8. A lesson a work of literature is teaching.






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






10. A wise saying - usually short and written.






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






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






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






14. The main section of a long poem.






15. 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






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






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






18. 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.






19. Rhyme that occurs within a line of verse.






20. The telling of a story.






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






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






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






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






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






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






27. 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 .






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






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






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






31. 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






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






33. The perspective from which a story is told.






34. 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.'






35. A person or being in a narrative






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






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






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






39. 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.






40. 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.






41. The regular or random occurrence of sound in poetry.






42. 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.






43. The story is told by someone outside the story.






44. A contradictory statement that makes sense






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






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






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






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






49. 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.






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