Semester Exam Review - Mrs. Janik's English Classes 2013
Fourth and Fifth Periods
I am expecting you to have this exam review sheet to use when taking the essay section
of the exam on December 16 and when you take the other sections of the exam on your
regularly scheduled exam date ( so that you have a list of expectations and literary terms
accessible).
Types and Number of Questions and Point Values: This exam will consist of five shortanswer/analysis questions worth four points each and thirty multiple choice questions worth one
point each pertaining to literature, literary terms/rhetorical devices, Archetypes, quotations,
writing, revision, MLA documentation, and/or concepts (total fifty points), a literary analysis
section worth twelve points, a revision section worth eight points, and an essay question about To
Kill a Mockingbird worth thirty points including an aspect of the summer reading choice book,
your Reading and Writing Homework books, and an understanding and use of situational,
symbolic, character, and other Archetypes. (See the notes we took in class and the outline I gave
to you). Also in your exam essay section, include seven well-placed, meaningful uses of
character vocabulary words (from the 4-page vocabulary document). For the literary analysis
section, students will read a song’s lyrics that I will provide and will analyze the lyrics according
to the literary terms/devices that we have discussed in class (the ones listed in this exam review).
Exam Dates: The essay section of the exam will be taken during our regular class time Monday,
December 16th. I will have a special tutorial time for my students at 7:30am on December 16th
to help prepare them for the essay section in addition to our review during class time prior to the
16th. On December 19th both FOURTH and FIFTH periods will take the short answer questions,
multiple choice, literary analysis, and revision sections of their English exam. I will have a
special tutorial time for my students on December 19th at 7:30am to help prepare students for
these sections of the exam as well as review time in class.
Vocabulary (Use seven of these words from the 4-page vocabulary document in your essay,
multiple choice, and short answer questions).
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Literary Terms and Devices: (for the short answer questions, multiple choice, literary
analysis section, and essay portion): Be able to use and recognize the proper use of these
literary devices, terms, and elements. Study the examples of these literary devices that you have
marked as annotations in To Kill a Mockingbird as well as the notes you have taken in class, the
“Glossary of Literary Terms” on pages R102-R112, and “Glossary of Reading and Informational
Terms” on pages R113-R117 of your Holt McDougal’s Literature: Grade 8. I have grouped
the terms according to similarities, but each term is considered a separate term.

cause and effect; comparison and contrast; genre; setting (time and place); ad populum fallacy

author’s purpose (inform, entertain, and//or persuade) and perspective (how the author views his
or her characters, their plights, and the outcomes)

tone, style, mood, motif

foreshadowing, flashback, chronological ordering, flash forward

conflict (both internal and external) and meaning a major problem in the story as well as person
vs. person, person vs. self, person vs. society, person vs. nature, person vs. technology, etc. AND
resolution

digression, diction, dialogue, monologue, colloquial expression. paradox, epiphany

understatement (litotes), euphemism, hyperbole (overstatement)

novel (NOTE: a novel is a lengthy, published work of FICTION!)

allusion (literary, biblical, mythological, historical, political, artistic, cinematic, musical, etc.)

character analysis (direct and indirect; static and dynamic; round and flat)

exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, suspense

literary devices that are types of figurative language: simile, metaphor, personification,
symbolism, and idiomatic expressions

types of narrative point of view: first person narration, third person omniscient, and third person
limited omniscience

irony (verbal, situational, and dramatic)

cross-reference

theme (stated and implied) An implied theme is not written/ stated in the text—it is instead a
theme that is written by the reader; the implied theme is an idea that is very connected to the text .
A stated theme is written/stated in the text and then implied/applied numerous times throughout
the text

application of the stated OR implied theme ---quotations in the text that apply to/relate to/connect
to either the stated or the implied theme.

subjective and objective points of view

aphorism, epigraph, anaphora, epithet

all Archetypes
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Writing and Terms (for the short-answer questions, multiple choice, revision section, and
essay section)
Be able to use and recognize these terms and conventions and demonstrate the revision strategies
as well as your understanding of most of the literary terms when you write your essay, answer the
short answer/analysis questions, and do the revision section:

parallel syntactical structure; use of commas with introductory clauses and phrases;
nominative and objective case pronouns; correct use of verbs including present, present
perfect, and progressive forms; sentence types including simple, compound, and complex (be
able to vary your sentence types in your writing)

narratives, revision strategies, plagiarism, thesis statement, anecdote, importance of the first
sentence (lead) of an essay or story and of the last sentence, signal phrases, elements of
writing (cause and effect, narrative, comparison and contrast), sentence beginnings, MLA
style of documentation

verb tenses (which tense to use when writing about fiction versus nonfiction)

words that are considered weak in essays (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been – the “be
verbs; also these weak words: you, your, it, thing, kid, very, really, good, bad, nice, kind,
stuff, said, there, never, forever, and always)

commentary
Literature: To Kill a Mockingbird, Summer Reading Choice Novel/Book, Reading and
Writing Homework books, “Clean Sweep,” and “Rules of the Game”
Know the plots, characters, settings, genres, significant quotations, significant ideas, and aspects
of each story. Be able to write insightful commentary about facts, ideas, and themes of the stories.
Consider essential questions, concepts, genre, author’s craft, and author’s purpose for the three
texts. Think of ways to compare and contrast the major aspects of To Kill a Mockingbird,
consider ways to compare and contrast ideas in the two short stories, write insightful
commentary, and think of ways to connect aspects of our summer reading choice book as well as
books you have read for your Reading and Writing Homework.

Study To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee) for the essay section, short answer/ analysis
questions, and multiple choice section.

Study these two stories/selections from your Holt Literature (your literature textbook)
for short answer/analysis questions and multiple choice section: “Clean Sweep” (Joan
Bauer) on pages 66-79 AND “Rules of the Game” (Amy Tan) on pages 230-245.
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