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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 pair of lines of poetic verse written in iambic pentameter.






2. 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






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






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






5. A phrase that consists of two contradictory terms






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






7. 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






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






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






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






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 most specific or direct meaning of a word - in contrast to its figurative or associated meanings.






13. A narrative that is made up of fantastic characters and creatures - such as witches - goblins - and fairies - and usually begins with the phrase 'Once upon a time...' Examples include Rapunzel - Cinderella - Sleeping Beauty - and Little Red Riding Ho






14. A lesson a work of literature is teaching.






15. 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.






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






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






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






19. Language that shows disrespect for others or something sacred.






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






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






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






23. 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.






24. U '






25. A philosophy that values human freedom and personal responsibility. A few well known _______ writers are Jean - Paul Satre - Soren Kierkegaard ('the father of _______') - Albert Camus - Freidrich Nietzche - Franz Kafka - and Simone de Beauvoir.






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






27. A contradictory statement that makes sense






28. 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






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






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






31. 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 -






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






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






35. The study of the orgin of words






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






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






38. 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.






39. A story about a person's life written by another person.






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






41. 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.






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






43. 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






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






45. A person or being in a narrative






46. 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






47. 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.






48. A kind of adjective which is always used with and gives some information about a noun. There are only two _____ a and the.






49. 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.






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