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 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






2. ' U U






3. 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






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






5. A contradictory statement that makes sense






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






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






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






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






10. 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.






11. 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 .






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






13. A phrase that consists of two contradictory terms






14. 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.






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






17. A stanza made up of two rhyming lines.






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






19. 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






20. Rhyme that occurs within a line of verse.






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






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






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






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






25. 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.






26. A comparison of objects or ideas that appear to be different but are alike in some important way.






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






28. 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.






29. A reference to a familiar person - place - thing - or event






30. A short story or folktale that contains a moral - which may be expressed explicitly at the end as a maxim. Examples include The Country Mouse and the Town Mouse - The Tortoise and the Hare - and The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing.






31. The time and place in which the action of a story takes place.






32. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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. A brief story that illustrates or makes a point.






40. A category of literature defined by its style - form - and content.






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






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






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






44. 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.






45. Distinctive features of a person's speech and speech patterns.






46. Rhyming of the ends of lines of verse.






47. 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






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






49. 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






50. 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