EXAM REVIEW STUDY GUIDE
MR. JOBSON’S ENGLISH 8
Remember that the exam is 20% of your entire semester average. (Each quarter is 40%.) A good exam
can raise your average from a C to a B, or a B to an A. A bad exam, on the other hand, can make the
difference between a pass and a fail for the semester.
Exam Format: Multiple Choice (vocabulary, Lightning Thief, literary terms)
Short Answer (Hero’s journey, “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” literary terms, “If,”
Lightning Thief)
Longer Answer (sentences to paragraphs): “If,” journal reading, Lightning Thief
Composition corrections/revisions: You will correct or rewrite sentences and
paragraphs like we have done on several occasions this fall.
We have studied the following books/topics during the first semester:
Vocabulary from Latin and Greek Roots: Lessons 1-7
Short Stories: “Through the Tunnel”
The Hero’s Journey (monomyth) and archetypes
Literary Terms: plot, conflict, foreshadowing, suspense, climax, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, simile,
metaphor, personification, internal rhyme, alliteration
Poetry: “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (Coleridge) and “If” by Rudyard Kipling
The Lightning Thief (including the battle between Titans and Olympians and “Poseidon Gets Salty,”
about the competition between Poseidon and Athena)
Grammar: sound sentences (vs. run-ons and fragments); types of sentences (simple, compound,
complex); proper use of semi-colons and colons; appositives, participles, and gerunds
Commonly misused words: their/there; where/were; it’s/its; affect/effect; sit/set; lie/lay; rise/raise
Composition: Poetry analysis (themes in “If”); Character description (Camp Half-Blood)
How should I study? Make sure you do the following:
1. Study old vocabulary tests. Some of those same questions will re-appear. Be sure you know
the meanings of the words.
2. Re-read old handouts like “Titanomachy”. Re-read stories and poems (“Through the
Tunnel,” “Ancient Mariner”) and answer the questions below.
3. Study the questions on your study guides from “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and The
Lightning Thief
4. If you don’t have notes on the Hero’s Journey, do some research to refresh your memory on
the stages and common archetypes.
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For additional practice, complete the following. I will give A TEST GRADE to this optional assignment; an
excellent job can improve your test average before the final exam!
Answer the following questions or complete the following tasks:
Short Stories
1. What is the conflict that Jerry, the protagonist of “Through the Tunnel,” faces? (Choose man vs.
man, man vs. nature, or man vs. self)
2. What is the theme of Doris Lessing’s story, “Through the Tunnel”?
3. Write a PARAGRAPH summary of the story.
Poetry
8. Who wrote “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”?
9. What crime did the mariner commit?
10. What was his punishment?
11. What is the frame story of this poem?
12. Define each of the following and give an example from the poem: a) simile; b) personification; c)
internal rhyme; d) alliteration
Grammar
30. Select and copy one sentence for each of the following sentence types from The Lightning Thief.
Do not use Chapter 15, since we already identified several from that chapter.
Simple:
Compound:
Complex:
Compound-Complex:
The Lightning Thief
32. Make a list of the 10 most important characters in this book (in your opinion). Then write a
sentence for each character explaining his or her role in the book. Use and underline at least one
appositive, one participle (or participial phrase), and one gerund (or gerund phrase).
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33. Match the following supernatural beings to the description that best fits each
a. _____ Zeus
i. God of travelers and thieves
b. _____ Poseidon
ii. Titan who ate his children
c. _____ Hades
iii. God of war
d. _____ Athena
iv. Goddess of seasons
e. _____ Ares
v. God of the air; used a thunderbolt
f. _____ Hermes
vi. God of the underworld
g. _____ Demeter
vii. Goddess of wisdom
h. _____ Kronos
viii. God of the sea
34. Put the following events from the book in order.
_____ Percy is claimed by his father
_____ Percy returns the lightning bolt to Zeus
_____ Percy is attacked by a Kindly One
_____ Percy meets Annabeth
_____ Percy learns which of the campers has betrayed him
_____ Percy’s mom dies (goes to the Underworld)
_____ Percy, Annabeth, and Grover fight Medusa
_____ Percy, Annabeth, and Grover spend time in the Lotus Casino
35. List at least 5 of the stages of the hero’s journey, and identify where in the book that happens
for Percy in The Lightning Thief
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