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






2. 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.






3. 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






4. A poem that is a mournful lament for the dead. Examples include William Shakespeare's 'Eligy' from Cymbeline - Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Requiem -' and Alfred Lord Tennysone's 'In Memoriam.'






5. 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.






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






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






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






9. 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






10. A brief story that illustrates or makes a point.






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






12. Informal language used by a particular group of people among themselves.






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






14. 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 .






15. 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






16. A contradictory statement that makes sense






17. The telling of a story.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






26. A word which shows relationships among other words in the sentence. The relationships include direction - place - time - cause - manner and amount Ex. In the sentence He came by bus - 'by' is a _____ which shows manner.






27. 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.






28. 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






29. 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.






30. The writer says one thing and means another






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






32. 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.






33. A phrase that consists of two contradictory terms






34. The study of the orgin of words






35. 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.






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






37. Rhyming of the ends of lines of verse.






38. ' U






39. An extended fictional prose narrative.






40. 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.






41. Rhyme that occurs within a line of verse.






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






43. A figure of speech in which a comparison is implied but not stated - such as 'This winter is a bear.'






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






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






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






47. The role of context in the interpretation of meaning.






48. 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






49. Unrhymed verse - often occurring in iambic pentameter.






50. Opposing elements or characters in a plot.