Items the Eleventh Grade English Student Needs to Know
to Prepare for the Fall Semester Final Assessment
This document includes the information juniors at VMHS should review and know to successfully pass the
English III fall semester final exam. I will review MLA format, persuasive essay terminology and language
conventions during the second week of December. You will work on this document at home. This is not an
assignment that you will submit for a grade. In college, your professors will give you a study guide that you will
complete for your own benefit. If you complete the study guide and know the material, you will do well on the
final exam. That is why you should complete this study guide.
Topic 1: Reading Comprehension Terms
author’s purpose
context clues
audience
main idea
purpose
inference
mood
Topic 2: Rhetorical Devices and Terminology – Successfully identify/use each of them in a passage.
hyperbole
personification
metaphor
simile
symbolism
Topic 3: Rhetorical Devices and Terminology – Successfully identify/use each of them in a passage.
characterization
onomatopoeia
allusion
analogy
connotation
denotation
Topic 4: SAT Vocabulary Words – Know the definitions and use them in context.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Define and each vocabulary word.
Know the part of speech for each word (i.e. noun, verb, adjective, etc.).
Be able to use the word in an original sentence and underline, highlight or put the word in bold print.
Know a synonym for each word.
misnomer
abate
temporize
fervent
discreet
skeptical
onslaught
alacrity
loathsome
miscreant
obnoxious
rudiment
patronage
timorous
tenacious
indigenous
alleviate
acquiesce
evocative
carnage
Topic 5: The Crucible by Arthur Miller – Know these terms.
Refer to blue literature book for information regarding these topics. You can also conduct additional research
in EBSCO.
a. dramatic irony
b. conflict
c. examples of modern day “witch hunts”
(not just in Salem)
d. McCarthyism/McCarthy Era
e. inference
f. Why did Miller write The Crucible?
Topic 6: Language Conventions (Grammar/Syntax)
Consult your grammar book for examples and additional information. Students need to know the following:
sentence fragment – What are sentence fragments?
Fragments are incomplete sentences. Usually, fragments are pieces of sentences that
have become disconnected from the main clause.
pronoun/antecedent - What is pronoun/antecedent agreement?
Pronoun/antecedent agreement is when the pronoun agrees in number (referring to
singular or plural) and person (referring to first, second, or third person) with its
antecedent. An “antecedent” is defined as a word, phrase, or clause that is replaced by
a pronoun or other substitute later, or occasionally earlier, in the same or in another,
usually subsequent, sentence. Example: Jane lost a glove and she can't find it. Jane is
the antecedent of she and glove is the antecedent of it.
subject/verb agreement – What is subject/verb agreement?
The subject and verb must agree in number: both must be singular, or both must be
plural. Problems occur in the present tense because one must add an -s or -es at the
end of the verb when the subjects or the entity performing the action is a singular third
person: he, she, it, or words for which these pronouns could substitute.
verb tense agreement/usage – What is verb tense agreement/usage?
The basic principle is that singular subjects need singular verbs and plural subjects need
plural verbs.
Topic 7: Persuasive Essay Terminology and Concepts
concede
refute
concession
refutation
Topic 8: Modern Language Association (MLA) Format
1.) Know how to correctly identify in-text citations: for sources with and without authors
2.) Know how to format Works Cited entries for the following source types: 1.) magazines, 2.) books
and 3.) articles from an on-line database
3.) Know how to correctly format an MLA Works Cited page
4.) Know how to format Works Cited entries for the following source types: 1.) films and 2.) newspaper
articles
Topic 9: Grammar
1.)
2.)
3.)
4.)
5.)
6.)
7.)
8.)
simple and compound subjects
simple and compound predicates
main clauses
coordinating conjunctions
compound sentences
complex sentences
compound-complex sentences
subordinate conjunctions