English 11
FINAL EXAM REVIEW
Helpful Tips
 Read EVERYTHING on the final. This includes ALL
instructions, captions, footnotes, etc.
 Review ALL literary devices
 Know the meanings of basic question words:
INFER, ASSUME, ILLUSTRATE, ASSERTION,
ANTECEDENT, EXCERPT, RHETORICAL
QUESTION, RESTRICTIVE, IMPLICATION and
CONCLUDE
Section One: Passage Analysis
 In this section, you will be required to read a passage
from a novel you have read this semester. You will
also be required to read and compare themes in an
essay and a poem you haven’t read. After each piece,
there will be multiple-choice questions that ask you
to analyze the readings.
Section Two: Literary Terms
 Allegory: characters and elements are symbolic (Lord of
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the Flies)
Allusion: reference to familiar person, place or thing
Antithesis: 2 conflicting ideas in same passage
Aside: when a character in a play speaks privately to the
audience
Connotation: the feeling of a word (positive or negative)
Denotation: the actual meaning of the word
Section Two: Literary Terms
 Denouement: the part of the plot where the conflict is
resolved
 Dialect: the way in which a character speaks can provide
characterization (Piggy in Lord of the Flies, Joseph in
Wuthering Heights)
 Epic: lots of descriptions, supernatural elements, use of the
classic hero (Beowulf)
 Epic Hero: usually tragic (Beowulf)
Section Two: Literary Devices
 Simile: comparison using “like” or “as”
 Metaphor: comparison not using “like” or “as”
“hope is the thing with feathers”
 Character Foil: characters offset each other (similarities)
Ex. Hamlet/Laertes, Jack/Ralph
 Hyperbole: an extreme exaggeration; “I will love thee ‘til the seas gang
dry.”
 Motif: idea presented in a work (LOTF: savagery)
 Pun: a play on words; “Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a
grave man”
Section Two: Literary Devices
 Satire: poking fun at society; in Brave New World
the author satirizes class system and conformist
behaviors
 Soliloquy: speech delivered by a character alone
onstage revealing private thoughts and feelings (“To
be or not to be” speech)
 Symbol: object stand for something beyond the
literal meaning (conch shell = order)
Section Two: Literary Devices
 Tone: the way in which the author feels toward a
particular subject
 Tragic Hero: hero in any story who possesses a fatal
flaw leading to the character’s downfall;
Heathcliff = passion
Hamlet = emotional
 Irony: opposite of what is expected
Verbal, Situational, Dramatic
Section Three: The literature of England
 Essential elements: rightful king, class system,
imperialism, language changes
 Anglo-Saxon period: old English spoken (Beowulf)
 Middle Ages: Middle English spoken (The Canterbury
Tales: allegorical, bawdy, morally instructive, satirical;
Arthurian Legend)
 Renaissance: Shakespearean English; drama was enjoyed;
lots of references to Greek and Roman mythology (Hamlet)
Section Three: The literature of England
 Romanticism: individual, hatred for industrial
revolution, poetry was main form of literature
 The Victorian Age: class system and marriages were
key, dark time period (Wuthering Heights)
 Modernism: WWI-WWII time period of writing
(Brave New World)
 Post-Modern: After WWII (Lord of the Flies)
Section Four: Critical Essay
 In this section you will read a critique by another
author on a work you have read this semester. You
will then be required to answer multiple choice
questions based on the passage.
Section Five: Analysis of Structure
 On the final section of the exam, you will need to
analyze passages in terms of tone, diction and style.
We have done some really nice practice passages
throughout the course (Wuthering Heights and Lord
of the Flies), so find those and review.