The SENIOR English FINAL
STUDY GUIDE
PART 1 - Vocabulary Section
Directions: Fill in the following sentences with the correct vocabulary word from the word bank.
Each word is only used once and is used in the same form as it is listed.
The vocab words will be broken into TWO word banks of 15 words apiece.
Each bank will be followed by 15 sentences with “blanks” to fill the correct word in
(just like our vocab quizzes all year)
PART 2 – Literary Term/Strategy Section
Directions: Identify the literary element portrayed in each of the following passages
TWO questions will be asked in regards to author use of strategy in 2 of the books or
plays we read this year. You’ll respond to each by explaining these and by referencing the text
noted in the question.
PART 3 - Quotation Analysis
Directions: You will be given quotations from 5 different works we read this year:
(1984, Hamlet, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Taming of the Shrew, The Alchemist)
Choose THREE to analyze and identify the following in a short essay response for each:
A) the context of the quotation (novel, speaker, etc.)
B) its relevance to the character’s conflict
C) its relevance to the novel’s theme
PART 4 - Essay
Directions: You’ll read a short passage and identify the rhetorical strategies the author/speaker
uses to appeal to an audience…
HOW TO BEST PREPARE:
 For the VOCABULARY - Learn the Vocabulary Words upside down and backwards!
 For the QUOTATION ANALYSIS - Remember to focus on DICTION for the quotation
analysis (word choice). It’s always good to pull words out of a quotation to interpret them,
explain meaning and why the author chose these specific words (for what purpose… how it
adds meaning…). Refresh your memory on the stories we read this year (the characters…)
 For the LIT. TRMS/STRTGY section – Know what symbolism is. Know what a paradox is.
 For the ESSAY – There will be a 1 page passage we haven’t read before in which you will
read and analyze for author intent/purpose. We will be reviewing essay writing strategies
prior to the exam!
The VOCABULARY WORDS to study for the Exam…
(you’ll be tested on 30 of these)
1. Abashed: (Adj) ashamed or embarrassed; disconcerted: My clumsiness left me abashed.
2. Abate: (V) to put an end to.
3. Assail: (V) to attack vigorously or violently; assault.
4. Assiduous: (Adj) constant; unremitting; working diligently at a task; persevering
5. Attenuate: (V) to weaken or reduce in force, intensity, effect, quantity, or value: to attenuate desire.
6. Benevolent: (Adj) characterized by or expressing goodwill or kindly; desiring to help others; charitable
7. Capitulate: (V) to surrender unconditionally or on stipulated terms. to give up resistance
8. Capricious: (Adj) subject to, led by, or indicative of a sudden, odd notion or unpredictable change; erratic
9. Countenance: (N) appearance, especially the look or expression of the face: a sad countenance.
10. Debased: (V) to reduce in quality or value: to lower in rank, dignity, or significance
11. Destitute: (Adj) without means of subsistence; deprived of, devoid of, or lacking
12. Diffident: (Adj) lacking confidence in one's own ability, worth, or fitness; timid; shy; restrained or reserved
in manner, conduct, etc.
13. Dilatory: (Adj) tending to delay or procrastinate; slow; tardy.
14. Eradicated: (V) to remove or destroy utterly; to erase by rubbing or by means of a chemical solvent
15. Expound: (V) to explain in careful and elaborate detail.
16. Fervor: (N) intensity of feeling or expression.
17. Forte: (N) a person's strong suit, or most highly developed characteristic, talent, or skill; something that
one excels in
18. Furtive: (Adj) taken, done, used, etc., surreptitiously or by stealth; secret: a furtive glance; sly; shifty:
19. Garrulous: (Adj) excessively talkative in a rambling, roundabout manner, especially about trivial matters.
20. Ignominious: (Adj) shameful.
21. Incongruous: (Adj) out of keeping or place; inappropriate; unbecoming
22. Infidel: (N) a person who does not accept a particular faith, especially Christianity.
23. Lurid: (Adj) gruesome; sensational.
24. Mien: (N) bearing: aspect
25. Misconstrue: (V) to misunderstand the meaning of; take in a wrong sense; misinterpret.
26. Multifarious: (Adj) having many different parts, elements, forms, etc.
27. Obstinacy: (N) fixed and unyielding; stubborn.
28. Omnipotent: (Adj) almighty or infinite in power, as God. having very great or unlimited authority or power.
29. Pestilent: (Adj) producing infectious or contagious, often epidemic, disease; deadly; poisonous.
30. Portentous: (Adj) ominously significant or indicative: a portentous defeat. marvelous; amazing; prodigious.
31. Reproach: (V) to find fault with (a person, group, etc.); blame; to be a cause of blame or discredit to.
32. Reverberate: (V) to reecho or resound; to be reflected many times, as sound waves from the walls of a
confined space; to rebound or recoil.
33. Rueful: (Adj) causing sorrow or pity; deplorable: a rueful plight; feeling, showing, or expressing sorrow
34. Sagacity: (N) of keen mind: shrewd.
35. Serenity: (N) the state or quality of being serene, calm, or tranquil; sereneness.
36. Supercilious: (Adj) Arrogant; scornful; haughtily disdainful or contemptuous.
37. Superfluous: (Adj) being more than is sufficient or required; excessive; unnecessary or needless.
38. Tainted: (Adj) contaminated mark or influence.
39. Venerate: (V) to regard or treat with reverence; revere.
40. Writhing: (V) to twist in pain; to suffer keenly.
The LITERARY TERMS/STRATEGIES to study for the exam…
SYMBOLISM: the representation of something in symbolic form or the attribution of symbolic
meaning or character to something; something that stands for something else; by way of
representation
Example…
There have been many writers who use symbolism in literature. An example of symbolism in literature
would be in the novel, 'The Scarlet Letter' by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In this literary piece, the letter 'A'
symbolized adultery. Another example would be the Wicked Witch of the West symbolizing evil in
'The Wizard of Oz'.
PARADOX: a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality
expresses a possible truth; a self-contradictory and false proposition; any person, thing, or situation
exhibiting an apparently contradictory nature; an opinion or statement contrary to commonly accepted
opinion.
Examples…
Nobody goes to that restaurant, it's too crowded.
Don't go near the water until you've learned to swim.
The man who wrote such a stupid sentence cannot write at all.
If you get this message, call me; if you don't, then don't worry about it.
If a person says about himself that he always lies, is that that the truth or a lie???
CHARACTER LIST
(Reviewing this might help you identify the quotations to be analyzed…)
A Streetcar Named Desire
Stanley Kowalski
Stella Kowalski
Blanche Dubois
Mitch
Eunice & Steve
Belle Reve (estate)
1984
Winston Smith
Julia
O’Brien
Goldstein
Parsons
Mr. Charrington
Big Brother
The Alchemist
Santiago
Fatima
The Alchemist
The Englishman
The Crystal Merchant
Hamlet
Hamlet
Old King Hamlet
Gertrude
Claudius
Polonius
Ophelia
Laertes
The Taming of the Shrew
Baptista
Bianca
Kate
Petruchio
Lucentio
Gremio
Hortensio