Study Guide SOL Reading Test 2014-15
(up dated7-23)
Apply knowledge - literary terms/vocabulary
11 Grade Vocabulary for SOL
Term
Alliteration
Definition
Example
Repetition of consonant sounds at the
beginning of words
The repetition of vowel in conjunction
with dissimilar consonant sounds
The repetition of similar consonant
sounds at the end of words or accented
syllables
Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled
Peppers
Lick and pin, face and strait
Onomatopoeia
Words that sound like what they mean
Buzz, thud, clip-clop, hiss
Metaphor
A comparison between 2 unlike objects –
states one is the other
A comparison between 2 unlike objects –
uses like or as; than or resembles
Giving human qualities to animals or
objects.
an object, sign, or image that is used to
stand for something else
Susie is the sun of my life
The light of my life
Johnny is as strong as an ox
Cute as a kitten
a smiling moon, a jovial sun; the door
opened with a sigh
Flag may be used to symbolize a nation.
Dove symbolizes peace.
Hyperbole
exaggeration or overstatement
Oxymoron
Putting two contradictory words together.
Paradox
A statement that contains ideas that
seem contradictory.
Imagery
language that evokes one or all of the
five senses: seeing, hearing, tasting,
smelling, touching.
I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.
He's as big as a house.
hot ice, cold fire, wise fool, sad joy,
military intelligence, eloquent silence
Wise fool; I can resist anything but
temptation; the beginning of the end;
cruel to be kind
The teenager's face had oil dripping from
his forehead, and acne erupting from
each swollen, red pore. His body odor
smelled of perspiration and old laundry.
The taste of his kiss was like stale chips
and Red Bull. It was a very unpleasant
experience.
Analogy
the comparison of two pairs which have
the same relationship. The key is to
ascertain the relationship between the
first so you can choose the correct
second pair. Part to whole, opposites
and results are types of relationships you
should find.
An idea or expression that has become
tired and trite from overuse, its freshness
and clarity having worn off.
The general idea or insight about life that
a writer wishes to express.
Assonance
Consonance
Simile
Personification
Symbol
Cliché
Theme
Biscuit and state, kiss and case
hot is to cold as fire is to ice OR hot: cold
fire: ice
audible is to hear as tactile is to feel;
end is to terminate as hire is to employ
poet is to poem as author is to book
Break a leg; time will tell; light as a
feather; live and learn
Idiom
Tone
Understatement
does not seem to make sense if taken
literally
the attitude a writer takes towards a
subject or character:
“under the weather”, “give me some
sugar” “she is on top of the world”
serious, humorous, sarcastic, ironic,
satirical, tongue-in-cheek, solemn,
objective
The opposite of hyperbole,
Figure of speech employed by writers or
speakers to intentionally make a situation
seem less important than it really is. It
deliberately decreases the severity of a
situation.
If you win $10 million in the lottery, and
you tell your friends, “It’s a little bit of
change.”
It usually has an ironic and sarcastic
effect.
Irony
If your basketball team wins by 50 points,
and your coach says, “We did okay.”
If it is 5 degrees below freezing, and you
say, “It’s chilly.” Well, that’s an
UNDERSTATEMENT! 
implied discrepancy between what is
said and what is meant.
Three kinds of irony:
1. Water is as clear as mud" - The person
Pun
1. verbal irony is when an
author/ or character says one
thing and means something else.
2. dramatic irony is when an
audience perceives something
that a character in the literature
does not know.
3. irony of situation is a
discrepancy between the
expected result and actual
results.
A figure of speech which consists of a
deliberate confusion of similar words or
phrases for rhetorical effect, whether
humorous or serious.
“Play on words”
Allusion
a reference within a work to something
famous outside it, such as a well-known
person, place, event, story, or work of art,
literature, music, pop culture.
mood
The atmosphere that pervades a literary work
with the intention of evoking a certain
emotion or feeling from the audience. In
drama, mood may be created by sets and
music as well as words; in poetry and prose,
mood may be created by a combination of
Conflict between a character and another
External conflict
actually says that the water is not at all clear.
Romeo and Juliet by William
Shakespeare - Romeo finds Juliet
drugged and assumes she is dead. He
kills himself then she awakens, see
that he is dead and kills herself.
2.
3. The police station gets robbed.
1. A bicycle can't stand alone because it
is two-tired.
2. What's the definition of a will? (It's a
dead giveaway).
3. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like
a banana.
4. A backward poet writes inverse.
When Patrick Henry referred to The
Odyssey and The Bible in his speech, he
was making an allusion to those works.
The moods evoked by the more popular short
stories of Edgar Allen Poe, for example, tend
to be gloomy, horrific, and desperate.
Internal conflict
Foil
Foreshadowing
Protagonist
Antagonist
Flat character
Round character
Static character
Dynamic
character
character or force
Conflict within a character
a character who provides a contrast to
another character
Clues that suggest events that will occur
The main character
The person or thing against the main
character
One dimensional,, only one main
character or personality trait
Shows many character or personality traits,
more complex
Stays the same throughout the story
Changes by the end of the story
Plot Structure includes the following:
Climax
exposition–gives the characters, the setting the basic situation
conflict–the problem
falling action
rising action
rising action–conflicts and events that lead up to the climax
Exposition
climax–the moment of most excitement or highest suspense
Resolution
Conflicts
1.
2.
3.
falling action–events that help wrap up the conflicts
resolution–the end, how the conflicts are resolved
Point of View:
First Person–uses “I” and the narrator tells about him or herself
Third Person, limited–describes the thoughts and feelings of only one character
Third Person, Omniscient–all-knowing, can describe the thoughts and feelings of any character
Reporting Category: Use word analysis strategies and word reference
skills
*Use context to infer the meaning of unfamiliar words
Vocabulary: Context Clues
Context clues are words in a sentence or paragraph that help the reader deduce (reason out) the
meaning of an unfamiliar word.
A. Types of Context Clues
There are five major types of context clues:
1. Synonym Clue: Sometimes an unfamiliar word is used as a synonym (a word having
either the same or similar meaning as another word). You can infer (figure out) the
meaning of the unfamiliar word by replacing it with the familiar word.
Example: I feel completely satiated; in fact, I am so full that I could not possibly eat
another morsel of food.
“Full” is a synonym for “satiated.” We can conclude that the word “satiated” means full
or satisfied.
2. Comparison Clue: Sometimes an unfamiliar word is used in a comparison with a familiar
word or group of words.
Example: The children huddle around their teacher, like baby chicks around a mother
hen.
The children are being compared to baby chicks around a mother hen; we can conclude,
then, that “huddle” means “crowd together closely.”
Note: The phrase “like baby chicks around a mother hen” is a simile. A simile is a literary device
that uses the words “like” or “as” to describe one thing by comparing it with another.
3. Contrast Clue: Sometimes an unfamiliar word may be used in contrast to a familiar word
or group of words. You can infer the meaning of the unfamiliar word by giving it the
opposite meaning of the familiar word.
Example: Unlike Robin, who is full of life, Rachel is lackluster.
The opposite of “full of life” is “empty of life.” The word “lackluster” is used to contrast
Robin and Rachel. We can conclude, then, that the word “lackluster” means “lacking
liveliness.”
4. Explanation Clue: Sometimes an unfamiliar word may be followed with an explanation,
in which a familiar word or group of words is used.
Example: Marsha is insatiable; she can eat all day and never feel full.
Here, the second part of the sentence (“she can eat all day and never feel full”) is used to
explain the first part of the sentence (“Marsha is insatiable”). We can conclude, then, that
“insatiable” means “incapable of being full” or “incapable of being satisfied.”
5. Example Clue: Sometimes an unfamiliar word may be followed by an example, in which
the familiar word is used.
Example: In college, you can choose courses from a broad range of academic
disciplines, such as history, economics, mathematics, and psychology.
You are probably familiar with the primary (first) meaning of the word “discipline” - - control.
But that doesn’t quite fit in the context of the above sentence. The word “discipline” also has a
secondary meaning; we can use the context of the sentence to figure out this meaning. The word
is followed by several examples: history, economics, mathematics, and psychology. (Note: The
words “such as” let us know that examples will follow.) We can conclude, then, that each of these
subjects is an example of a discipline and that the word “discipline” means “a branch of
instruction or learning.”
Nonsense Word Activity
The underlined word in each sentence below is a nonsense word; it is not a real word.
Using all of the word strategies that you have learned, try to figure out its intended
meaning.
1. Although the dentist tried to be as gentle as possible, I still felt considerable
popodo.
2. If you want to go to college one day, you need to dorrididoop very hard in all of your
classes.
Roots and AffixesA word can consist of three parts: the root, a prefix, and a suffix.
Prefixes and suffixes are known as affixes because they are affixed to (attached to) a root.
Prefixes and suffixes, which originated as words themselves, are now syllables added to roots
to create new words.
The root is the base element of the word—the part of the word that contains the basic
meaning (definition) of the word.
A prefix is a syllable(s) forming a word element placed before a root, word, or word group to
modify the meaning or make a new word.
A suffix is a syllable(s) forming a word element that is placed after a root, word, or word
group to modify the meaning or make a new word. The suffix may also modify the
word’s grammatical function by redefining its part of speech (e.g., noun, verb, adjective,
adverb).
Common Roots
Common Prefixes
Common Suffixes
struct = build
un = not, none
able = capable of
port = carry
graph = writing
bio = life
tract = pull
missing
flect, flex = bend
dict, dic = speak,
im = in, into
pre = before, in advance
re = again, back
sub = under, below
dis = not, none
ion = act or process; condition
ology = study of
ful = quantity that fills
less = without,
auto = self
say de = away, from, reverse of
Practice:










autobiography
biography
biology
predictable
subtract
graphology
disrespectful
submarine
reclosable
predict
*Understand the purpose of text structures
Text organizational patterns:








• Enumerating/Listing
• Time Sequence/ chronological
• Development/Process
• Main Idea and Details
• Fact and Opinion
• Compare/Contrast
• Cause/Effect
Spatial -a method of organization in which details are presented as they are (or were) located in
space
Autobiography- a history of a person's life written or told by that person
Biography- author is writing about another person’s life
Nonfiction (not fake) is opposite of fiction as it is informative and comprises the
interesting facts with analysis and illustrations. Factual
Fiction- it is made up not true
Which question is answered in paragraph #?
Only 1 question can be answered out of the 4 choices
Which question is NOT answered in paragraph # ?
3 questions can be answered in the paragraph
Purpose of writing
Theme - fiction (the message)
Purpose –nonfiction (why was it written)
*Explain how imagery and figures of speech appeal to the reader’s senses and
experience.
*Making connections using metaphors
Consider the following passage from “Letter to President Pierce, 1855” by Chief Seattle,
excerpted from the Spring 2003 Released Test for End of Course English/Reading:
The whites, too, shall pass—perhaps sooner than other tribes.
Continue to contaminate your bed, and you will one night suffocate
in your own waste. When the buffalo are all slaughtered, the horses
all tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with the scent of
many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted with talking wires,
where is the thicket? Gone. Where is the eagle? Gone.
“What is the significance of the use of the object ‘bed’ in this passage? What is Chief
Seattle’s purpose in using this word?”
*Make an inference based on a pair of texts
*Explain how imagery and figures of speech appeal to the reader’s senses and
experience
* Figurative language
*Tone
* Text structure
How to Identify and answer INFERENCE questions successfully.
In order to answer inference questions, you must let go of prejudices and prior knowledge of the
subject being read and use the passage to PROVE that the inference you select is correct. Details
(supporting details, vocabulary, character’s actions, descriptions, dialogue) MUST be used from
the passage.
Try it
Based on the information in the passage, it could be suggested that the
narrator believes Elsa's prior marriages to be:
A. uncomfortable, but well-suited to Elsa
B. satisfactory and dull to Elsa
C. cold and damaging to Elsa
D. awful, but worth it to Elsa
The widow Elsa was as complete a contrast to her third bridegroom, in everything
but age, as can be conceived. Compelled to relinquish her first marriage after her
husband died in the war, she married a man twice her years to whom she became an
exemplary wife despite their having nothing in common, and by whose death she
was left in possession of a splendid fortune, though she gave it away to the church.
Next, a southern gentleman, considerably younger than herself, succeeded to her
hand, and carried her to Charleston, where, after many uncomfortable years, she
found herself again a widow. It would have been remarkable if any feeling had
survived through such a life as Elsa's; it could not but be crushed and killed by the
early disappointment of her first groom's demise, the icy duty of her second
marriage, and the unkindness of her third husband, which had inevitably driven her
to connect the idea of his death with that of her comfort.
To find clues that point to the correct answer, look for descriptions that would
support those first adjectives in the answer choices. Here are some of the
descriptions of her marriages in the passage:



"…she became an exemplary wife despite their having nothing in common…"
"…after many uncomfortable years, she found herself again a widow."
"…the icy duty of her second marriage and the unkindness of her third
husband which had inevitably driven her to connect the idea of his death with
that of her comfort."
How to Identify the Main Idea
The main idea of a paragraph is the point of the passage, minus all the details.
It's the big picture - the Solar System vs. the planets.
The football game vs. the fans, cheerleaders, quarterback, and uniforms.
The Oscars vs. actors, the red carpet, designer gowns, and films.
Summarize the passage in one sentence that includes the gist of every idea from the
paragraph.
Try it:
A new hearing device uses a magnet to hold the detachable sound-processing portion in place.
Like other aids, it converts sound into vibrations. But it is unique in that it can transmit the
vibrations directly to the magnet and then to the inner ear. This produces a clearer sound. The
new device will not help all hearing-impaired people - only those with a hearing loss caused by
infection or some other problem in the middle ear. It will probably help no more than 20
percent of all people with hearing problems. Those people who have persistent ear infections,
however, should find relief and restored hearing with the new device.
Directions: Read the excerpts and answer the questions that follow.
2003 Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Education page 16
Letter to President Pierce, 1855
Chief Seattle
1 We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of the land is the same
to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever
he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on.
He leaves his fathers’ graves, and his children’s birthright is forgotten. The sight of your cities
pains the eyes of the red man. But perhaps it is because the red man is a savage and does not
understand.
2 There is no quiet place in the white man’s cities. No place to hear the leaves of spring or the
rustle of insect’s wings. But perhaps because I am a savage and do not understand, the clatter
only seems to insult the ears. The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face
of the pond, the smell of the wind itself cleansed by a mid-day rain, or scented with the pin˜ on
pine. The air is precious to the red man. For all things share the same breath—the beasts, the
trees, the man. Like a man dying for many days, he is numb to the stench.
3 What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would die from great
loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to man. All things are
connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth.
4 It matters little where we pass the rest of our days; they are not many. A few more hours, a few
more winters, and none of the children of the great tribes that once lived on this earth, or that
roamed in small bands in the woods, will be left to mourn the graves of a people once as powerful
and hopeful as yours.
5 The whites, too, shall pass—perhaps sooner than other tribes. Continue to contaminate your bed,
and you will one night suffocate in your own waste. When the buffalo are all slaughtered, the
wild horses all tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with the scent of many men, and the
view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires, where is the thicket? Gone. Where is the eagle?
Gone. And what is it to say goodbye to the swift and the hunt, the end of living and the beginning
of survival? We might understand if we knew what it was that the white man dreams, what he
describes to his children on the long winter nights, what visions he burns into their minds, so they
will wish for tomorrow. But we are savages. The white man’s dreams are hidden from us.
[Public Domain]
Sfrom “The Wasteland”
Al Gore
1 One
of the clearest signs that our relationship to the global environment is in severe crisis is the
floodtide of garbage spilling out of our cities and factories. What some have called the
“throwaway society” has been based on the assumptions that endless resources will allow us to
produce an endless supply of goods and that bottomless receptacles (i.e., landfills and ocean
dumping sites)will allow us to dispose of an endless stream of waste. But now we are beginning
to drown in that stream. Having relied for too long on the old strategy of “out of sight, out of
mind,” we are now running out of ways to dispose of our waste in a manner that keeps it out of
either sight or mind.
2 In an earlier era, when the human population and the quantities of waste generated were much
smaller and when highly toxic forms of waste were uncommon, it was possible to believe that the
world’s absorption of our waste meant that we need not think about it again. Now, however, all
that has changed. Suddenly, we are disconcerted—even offended—when the huge quantities of
waste we thought we had thrown away suddenly demand our attention as landfills overflow,
incinerators foul the air, and neighboring communities and states attempt to dump their overflow
problems on us.
3 The American people have, in recent years, become embroiled in debates about the relative
merits of various waste disposal schemes, from dumping it in the ocean to burying it in a landfill
to burning it or taking it elsewhere, anywhere, as long as it is somewhere else. Now, however, we
must confront a strategic threat to our capacity to dispose of—or even recycle—the enormous
quantities of waste now being produced. Simply put, the way we think about waste is leading to
the production of so much of it that no method for handling it can escape being completely
overwhelmed. There is only one way out: we have to change our production processes and
dramatically reduce the amount of waste we create in the first place and ensure that we consider
thoroughly, ahead of time, just how we intend to recycle or isolate that which unavoidably
remains.
Excerpt from EARTH IN THE BALANCE by Al Gore. Copyright _ 1992 by Senator Al Gore. Reprinted by permission of Houghton
Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
RYCHI307TH: @sunultra1/raid/CLS_tpc/GRP_virginia/JOB_03-olptg11/DIV_g11rdg-1
35 Al Gore’s image of America drowning in an “endless stream of waste” is
designed to elicit what emotion in the reader?
A Fear _
B Sympathy
C Hostility
D Regret
36 Al Gore uses the phrases “throwaway society” and “out of sight, out of mind.”
These are examples of —
F metaphor
G hyperbole
H irony
J cliche´ _
37 The organizational structure of the selection from Al Gore’s book is best
described as —
A spatial sequence
B compare/contrast
C time sequence
D problem/solution _
38 The tone of this selection from Al Gore’s book is best described as —
F scholarly
G hostile
H cautionary _
J empathetic
39 Chief Seattle says, “Like a man dying for many days, he is numb to the stench.” This is
an example of —
A metaphor
B hyperbole
C simile _
D symbolism
40 In paragraph 5, Chief Seattle asks three questions; each time, he answers
the question himself. What is the effect of this?
F It engages the reader more directly than a simple statement would. _
G It creates reader sympathy for the fate of the Indian.
H It reflects Chief Seattle’s educational background.
J It frustrates the reader because it is not straightforward.
41 Chief Seattle’s warning, “Continue to contaminate your bed, and you will
one night suffocate in your own waste,” can be described as —
A a critique of Al Gore’s essay
B an explanation of the concept Al Gore presents
C a foreshadowing of the concerns expressed in Al Gore’s essay _
D the antithesis of Al Gore’s essay
42 If you were to write a research paper in which you used these selections as
examples, which of the following most likely describes the topic of the paper?
F Native American attitudes toward the early settlers
G Attitudes toward the environment over time _
H Al Gore and Chief Seattle: A Study in Contrasts
J What should America do with its garbage?
SESSION: 38 P
sunultra1/raid/CLS_tpc/GRP_virginia/JOB_03-olptg11/DIV_g111
Answers
35 A 002 Understand the elements of literature.
36 J 002 Understand the elements of literature.
37 D 002 Understand the elements of literature.
38 H 002 Understand the elements of literature.
39 C 002 Understand the elements of literature.
40 F 002 Understand the elements of literature.
41 C 002 Understand the elements of literature.
42 G 003 Locate and use information from a variety of resource materials.
Compare and contrast “The Wasteland” and Letter to President Pierce, 1855