Study Guide
Semester 1 Final Exam ● ELA 8 CCHS
The Final Exam consists of 50 multiple choice questions based on the content below:
Reading Literature (7 questions)
1) By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high
end of grades 6–8 text complexity band independently and proficiently. (8.RL.10)

Correctly answer comprehension questions after reading a short story
2) Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created
through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor. (8.RL.6)

Correctly answer questions involving irony and point of view after reading a short story
Reading Informational Text (8 questions)
1) Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound
and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when irrelevant evidence is introduced. (8.RI.8)

Correctly answer questions regarding the author’s claim after reading an informational
passage
2) Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text. (8.RI.1)

Correctly answer comprehension questions after reading an article
3) Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its
relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text. (8.RI.2)

Summarize and identify the main idea of an article.
Language (7 questions)
1) Explain the function of verbals in general and their function in particular sentences. (8.L.1a)

Identify gerunds, participles, infinitives in context
2) Form and use verbs in the active and passive voice. (L.8.1b)

Choose the correct form of the sentences, given active or passive voice.
3) Use an ellipsis to indicate an omission. (L.8.2a)
Use punctuation (comma, ellipsis, dash) to indicate a pause or break. (L.8.2b)

Identify the sentences that correctly use a given punctuation rule
Writing (5 questions)
1) Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented. (8.W.1)
Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic. (8.W.2)

Choose the MLA citations in the correct format.
Vocabulary (15 questions)
1) Distinguish among the connotations (associations) of words with similar denotations (definitions) (e.g.,
bullheaded, willful, firm, persistent, resolute). (8.L.5)
Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by checking the inferred
meaning in context or in a dictionary). (8.L.4)
Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases;
gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or
expression. (8.L.6)

Identify the meaning of words in context
o Unit 4: obsesses, bolster, staid, deplored, frivolous
o Unit 5: prodigal, disdained, factious, ample, asserted
o Unit 6: resolute, articulated, forthright, repercussions, defected