Grade 9 Semester 2 Exam Study Guide
How to Study for the Semester Two Exam
Introduction
The exam will consist of:
1. Poetry terms and interpretation (multiple choice and short answer)
2. Romeo and Juliet quote explications
3. Essay question on Romeo and Juliet, Night, OR Animal Farm
How to Study for the Poetry Section
1. Review the poetry terms and analysis strategies from our poetry unit (a list is
also attached to help you)
Read new poems, and try to apply the poetry terms to them. Use these links to help you:
http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/
http://www.lakes.cumbria.sch.uk/index/english%20department/cultures/readpoems.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/poetryseason/
2. How would you explain what each poem means? (Finding a personal
connection with the poem helps!)
3. Use your Poetry Common Assessment for review. Make sure that you
understand most of these terms below:
Term
Definition
Example
Tone
The atmosphere of a poem/ Lively, playful, serious,
tone of voice in which you
mournful, intense, chatty
read it
Rhythm
The meter or ‘beat’ of the
They fill me up with just
poem; could be regular or
about as much as I can take/
irregular
Then they put some more in
and they wonder why I
break
Iambic pentameter
A particular rhythm of ten
I think I’d like a plate of
syllables in pairs of
ham and eggs
unstressed/stressed syllables
Rhyme
Words which end with the
Moon/ June/ baboon/swoon
same sound
Grade 9 Semester 2 Exam Study Guide
Repetition
Alliteration
Onomatopoeia
Dialect
Accent
Connotations
Satire
Metaphor
Simile
Oxymoron
Antithesis
Allusion
Words repeated to give
emphasis
The same consonant sound
at the start of a word
A word which imitates the
sound it describes
A regional variation of
language
The way in which someone
pronounces words
The associations we have
with words
A piece of writing which
uses ironic humor to
critique a weakness or
injustice in society
A figure of speech
comparing two things
A figure of speech
comparing two things using
like or as
A two word paradox; often
used by Shakespeare to
convey complexity,
confusion, or mixed
emotions about one thing or
person.
Similar to oxymoron, but
different in that it presents
two opposing things rather
than opposing qualities of
one thing or person.
A reference to a historical,
mythological, or Biblical
character, place or event.
Big blue baboon
hum
Standard English,
Singaporean English
Southern American,
Australian, Malonian
School: wonderful,
amazing, incredible
‘Listen Mr. Oxford Don’
makes fun of how native
English speakers stereotype
people with accents.
That whale of a teacher
That teacher is like a whale
Beautiful tyrant; honorable
villain, fiend angelical
All things we ordained
festival,/Turn from their
office to black funeral
Juliet’s reference to Phaeton
in 3.2
Grade 9 Semester 2 Exam Study Guide
How to Study for Romeo and Juliet
Use the answers to your study questions to identify key ideas, events, and quotes. Group
key events and quotes from each act. Remember to highlight or paraphrase quotes in
your text. You will be provided with a quote bank to help you during the exam but you
may also want to try to memorize a few of your favorite lines or those you consider most
significant.
1) Outline the structure. You can do so quickly by determining the exposition, the
rising action, the crises, the technical climax (killing of Mercutio and Tybalt) versus the
dramatic climax (death of Romeo and Juliet), the falling action, and the resolution of the
story. For example, in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet the inciting incident is the love at
first sight meeting in Act I – what do you think the other parts are?
2) Consider characters:
 Who are the protagonists and antagonists?
 How do different characters come into conflict?
 What personality traits define the characters?
 How do they compare to other characters? How are they contrasted with other
characters?
 How do they relate to other characters?
 How do they speak and act?
 What images and symbols are associated with them?
 What function do they serve in relation to plot development?
 What problems do the characters face and how do they approach them?
 Do they change throughout the play?
Grade 9 Semester 2 Exam Study Guide
3) Themes. It is not enough to identify themes and patterns – e.g. youth and age, fate and
chance, love and hate, death and life, light and dark. You must be able to say WHAT
Shakespeare is trying to communicate about each one, and discuss how he communicates
it. Notice that many of the themes are about oppositions – can you relate this to the use
of language in the play and its events (oxymorons and antitheses)?
THEME/ Motif
Light and Dark
WHAT ABOUT IT?
It contrasts ignorance,
hatred, powerlessness,
secrecy (connotations of
“black”) with purity, love,
honesty, steadfastness,
knowledge (connotations of
light)
HOW IS IT CONVEYED?
Romeo compares Juliet to
the sun: all that is good in
life (metaphors, similes)
Juliet longs for the black
night, where she will
secretly consummate her
love for Romeo (metaphor)
Grade 9 Semester 2 Exam Study Guide
4) Revise language for talking about the play. Here is a vocabulary list to help you.
Romeo and Juliet Vocabulary
Literary terms and words from the text – make sure you can understand and spell
these words!
Terms
Oxymoron
Dramatic irony
Pun
Sexual innuendo
Plot: exposition, rising action, climax,
denouement
Crisis
Foreshadowing
Theme
Contrast
Juxtapose/ juxtaposition
Imagery
Iambic pentameter
Blank/ rhyming verse
Irony
Conflict – internal/external
From text
Banishment/ exile
Shrift
Feud
Woe
Fortune/ fate
Apothecary
Villain
Vault/ crypt
Charnel house
Woo
Deflowered/ maidenhead
Plague/ pestilence
Montague
Capulet
Prologue/ epilogue
5) Consider the work’s historical and cultural context. Elizabethan values such as
religious beliefs and respect for parents are key to understanding the play. Along with
understanding the historical content, determine if Shakespeare is criticizing society
through the depiction of its values
6) Review your notes. You may find it helpful to write each study point on a note card.
Explain it to yourself or have someone else quiz you. When you know a point well
enough to feel confident addressing it on the test, put it aside or put a line through the
card. This way, you won’t waste time reviewing material you already know and can
concentrate on the stickier points. Learn points and evidence together.
7) Practice quote explication: use the practice quote explications, and the CA for review.
Grade 9 Semester 2 Exam Study Guide
9) Review essay planning and writing skills. Review your notes on Animal Farm and
Night! Take note of the essay-writing steps that you practiced for your in-class essays.
10) Ask your teacher for extra help if you need it.