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






2. 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






3. The story is told from the point of view of one character.






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






5. 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.






6. Persuasive writing.






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






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






9. A method an author uses to let readers know more about the characters and their personal traits.






10. 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






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






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






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






14. 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.






15. The perspective from which a story is told.






16. 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






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






18. 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.






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






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






21. A short poem about personal feelings and emotions.






22. 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






23. 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.






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






25. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






33. The main character or hero of a written work.






34. Unrhymed verse - often occurring in iambic pentameter.






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






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






37. Rhyme that occurs within a line of verse.






38. The repetition of initial consonant sounds in words - such a 'Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.'






39. Opposing elements or characters in a plot.






40. 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






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






42. ' U






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






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






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






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






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






48. The study of the orgin of words






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






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