Study Guide
English I Final Exam
Spring 2012
Test Data
O 50 multiple-choice questions total
O Define or recognize: 13
O Paraphrase: 10
O Summarize: 6
O Infer about character or culture: 6
O Vocabulary/root words: 6
O Correct punctuation: 5
O Foreshadowing: 2
O Comparison: 2
Paraphrase
O STATE: Restate in your own words
Paraphrase
O ELABORATE: Pay attention to
context (who is speaking and
why); usually going from formal to
informal; DON’T LEAVE ANY INFO.
OUT!
Paraphrase
O EXEMPLIFY: “What’s up?”
“Hello, how are you?”
Paraphrase
O NON-EXAMPLE: Summarize;
translate
Inference
O STATE: An educated guess based
on evidence
Inference
O ELABORATE: Use background
knowledge and account for all
the information in the text
Inference
O EXEMPLIFY: “He has puffy, red
eyes.” He’s been crying.
Inference
O NON-EXAMPLE: Fact (or
evidence); random guess
Complex Character
O STATE: Round (lots of
information) and dynamic
(change over time)
Complex Character
O ELABORATE: Often a main
character; sometimes seem
contradictory
Complex Character
O EXEMPLIFY: Anakin Skywalker,
everyone on Glee, Buzz Lightyear
Complex Character
O NON-EXAMPLE: Simple character
(flat/static)
Archetype
O STATE: pattern seen in literature
throughout history and around
the world
Archetype
O ELABORATE: Can include plots,
characters, and symbols
Archetype
O EXEMPLIFY: Nerd, Boys Meets
Girl, Dark=Evil
Archetype
O NON-EXAMPLE: Stereotype
Culture
O STATE: Group of people with
similar values, beliefs, and
practices
Culture
O ELABORATE: Cultural practices or
habits often indicate the values
of that culture
Culture
O EXEMPLIFY: Gypsy culture
requires women to be virgins
until they married because “I
want something new, not used”
 Men are owners and women
are objects
Culture
O NON-EXAMPLE: Religion
Allegory
O STATE: A story with two levels—
literal and figurative—in which
everything represents something
else
Allegory
O ELABORATE: Often used in fables
(with animals) and parables
Allegory
O EXEMPLIFY: Lotus
eaters=hippies; lotus=marijuana;
Men get tied to boat=intervention
Allegory
O NON-EXAMPLE: Allusion or
parody
Epic
O STATE: long narrative poem about
the history or folklore of a culture
Epic
O ELABORATE: Could be fiction or
nonfiction; shows cultural values;
features epic “larger-than-life”
hero
Epic
O EXEMPLIFY: The Odyssey;
Spiderman
Epic
O NON-EXAMPLE: Short story;
biography; history textbook
In Medias Res
O STATE: to begin a story in the
middle of the action (“in the
middle of things”)
In Medias Res
O ELABORATE: Used as a “hook” to
engage the reader; later more
info. is filled in with flashbacks
In Medias Res
O EXEMPLIFY: How I met Your
Mother, Twilight, Hunger Games
In Medias Res
O NON-EXAMPLE: Chronological
order
Aside
O STATE: Character talks to
audience, unheard by other
characters
Aside
O ELABORATE: Usually short; other
characters are on stage; also
called “breaking the 4th wall”
Aside
O EXEMPLIFY: Dora the Explorer
asks TV audience for help; Zack
Morris on Saved by the Bell
freezes those around him to talk
to the camera
Aside
O NON-EXAMPLE: Soliloquy;
monologue
Soliloquy
O STATE: Character alone on stage
reveals inner thoughts/feelings
Soliloquy
O ELABORATE: Sounds like “solo,”
meaning “alone;” but sometimes
the character only thinks s/he is
alone on the stage; it’s like
talking to yourself
Soliloquy
O EXEMPLIFY: Juliet saying
“Wherefore art thou, Romeo?” on
the balcony when she doesn’t
know Romeo can hear her
Soliloquy
O NON-EXAMPLE: Monologue;
aside
Tragedy
O STATE: Ends unhappily, usually
with death of main characters
Tragedy
O ELABORATE: Can include some
funny parts as well, but not at the
end
Tragedy
O EXEMPLIFY: Titanic, My Girl, A
Walk to Remember
Tragedy
O NON-EXAMPLE: Comedy
Pun
O STATE: Word play with double-
meaning
Pun
O ELABORATE: Often considered
corny or cheesy
Pun
O EXEMPLIFY: “Want some dead
batteries—they’re free of charge!”
Pun
O NON-EXAMPLE: Oxymoron
Text Aids
O STATE: Sidenotes, footnotes,
endnotes, glossary definitions—
anything provided along with the
text to help explain it
Text Aids
O ELABORATE: Often indicated with
asterisks or superscript
numbers; usually explain
historical context; LOOK AT THEM
FOR HELP SUMMARIZING!
Text Aids
O EXEMPLIFY: Banishment  exile
(not to come back)
Text Aids
O NON-EXAMPLE: Dictionary or
thesaurus; stage directions
Root Words
O STATE: Smaller parts of words
that can be combined to create
new words or define old words
Root Words
O ELABORATE: Often from
Greek/Latin, but help you define
English words
Root Words
O EXEMPLIFY: bio, phil, fid, chron,
omni, log, duc, hydr, trans, tort
Root Words
O NON-EXAMPLE: life, love, faith,
time, all, word, make, water,
across/through, twist
Conjunctive Adverbs
O STATE: Used to show transitions
and relationships between
independent clauses
Conjunctive Adverbs
O ELABORATE: Independent clause;
conjunctive adverb, independent
clause.
Conjunctive Adverbs
O EXEMPLIFY: however, therefore,
also, instead
Conjunctive Adverbs
O NON-EXAMPLE: and, or, for, but,
nor, yet, so