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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 time and place in which a story occurs.






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






3. A narrative about human actions that is perceived by both the teller and the listeners to have taken place within human history and that possesses certain qualities that give the tale the appearance of truth or reality. Washington Irvin's The Legend






4. 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.






5. 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






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






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






8. Unrhymed verse - often occurring in iambic pentameter.






9. 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.






10. An expository piece written with eloquence that becomes part of the recognized literature of an era. Often reveal historical facts - the social mores of the times - and the thoughts and personality of the author. Some have recorded and influenced the






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






12. Persuasive writing.






13. 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






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






15. 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.






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






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






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






19. A wise saying - usually short and written.






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






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






22. The narrator records the actions from his or her point of view - unaware of any of the other characters' thoughts or feelings. Also known as the objective view.






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






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






25. The study of the orgin of words






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






27. 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.






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






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






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






31. Rhyming of the ends of lines of verse.






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






33. 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






34. The specialized language of a particular group or culture. Ex. in the field of education...rubric - tuning protocol - and deskilling.






35. A short poem about personal feelings and emotions.






36. 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






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






38. 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.






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






40. 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






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






42. An extended fictional prose narrative.






43. 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






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






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






46. 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 -






47. 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.






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






49. 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






50. A contradictory statement that makes sense