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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. Fiction that is intended to frighten - unsettle - or scare the reader. Often overlaps with fantasy and science fiction. Examples include Stephen King's The Shining - Mary Shelley's Frankenstein - and Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes.






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






3. 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 .






4. 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.






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






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






7. Language widely considered crude - disgusting - and oftentimes offensive.






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






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






10. 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






11. 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.






12. The study of the meaning in language.






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






14. 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






15. 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






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






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






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






19. 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






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






21. A person or being in a narrative






22. The study of the structure of words.






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






24. 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






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






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






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






28. Persuasive writing.






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






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






31. A phrase that consists of two contradictory terms






32. 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






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






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






35. A contradictory statement that makes sense






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






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






38. ' U






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






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






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






42. U '






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






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






45. An extended fictional prose narrative.






46. 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.






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






48. 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.






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






50. 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.