TAG Semester Exam Review - Mrs. Spikes’ English Classes 2015
Third and Fifth Periods
Remember that your completed novel either shipped from CreateSpace/Amazon or printed and
bound is the essay grade portion of your exam. This is worth 30% of your semester exam grade.
If you are not able to meet this deadline, you may arrange for an alternative essay exam before
or after school during the week before exam week. The exam will be closed notes, so be sure to
continue studying the following terms and concepts over the next week and a half.
Types of Questions and Point Values: For the remaining 70% of your points, this exam will
consist of a TP-CASTT section worth ten points (10 points total); two-three short
answer/analysis questions worth five points each (10-15 points total); a multiple choice section
worth 30-35 points total; a persuasive appeals/rhetorical analysis section (10 points); and an on
demand creative poetry piece, worth 5 points.
Writing: Be able to use and recognize these terms and conventions and demonstrate your
knowledge when writing. Also, be prepared to write a couplet in iambic pentameter on a subject
first seen on the test:
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MLA style of documentation;
Embedding quotations;
Proper punctuation;
Counterarguments (counterclaims, refutation);
Eliminating weak words in essays (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been – the “be verbs;
also these weak words: you, your, it, thing, there, very, really, good, bad, nice, kind, stuff,
said, forever, never, and always).
Literary/Rhetorical Terms and Devices (know the definitions): Be able to use and to
recognize the proper use of these literary devices and elements. You should know the following
terms well enough to use them in your analysis of poetry, songs, essays, articles, and speeches:
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parallelism;
author’s purpose (inform, entertain, and//or persuade) and perspective (how the author
views his or her characters, their plights, and the outcomes);
tone, mood, author’s style and craft;
foreshadowing, flashback, chronological ordering, flash forward;
setting (both time and place), diction, dialogue, colloquial expression, idiomatic
expressions (idiomatic expressions are very informal), paradox, epiphany, epithet;
irony (verbal, situational, and dramatic);
logical fallacies (ad populum fallacy, ad hominem argument, post hoc (false cause),
either/or fallacy, hasty generalization, begging the question, missing the point, slippery
slope, appeal to authority, appeal to pity, appeal to ignorance, strawman, red herring);
conflict (internal and external) meaning a major problem in the story and also person vs.
person, person vs. society, person vs. self, person vs. nature, person vs. technology, etc.;
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cliché (be able to recognize these trite sayings);
understatement (litotes), euphemism, and hyperbole (overstatement);
allusion (literary, biblical, mythological, historical, political, cinematic, artistic, etc.);
figurative language: simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, extended metaphor;
poetic devices/terms (end rhyme, internal rhyme, assonance, consonance, rhythm, meter,
verse, stanza, rhyme scheme, couplet, free verse, quatrain, ballad)
alliteration, juxtaposition, paradox, suspense, imagery, symbolism;
theme (stated and implied) An implied theme is not written in the story or essay ( you
make up an implied theme yourself according to the major ideas presented in a text). A
stated theme is expressed in the text and is then presented many time throughout the
text;
persuasive appeals (logos, ethos, pathos);
propaganda techniques (snob appeal, appeal to fear, bandwagon, transfer, testimonial,
glittering generalities, plain folks, name-calling, card stacking);
rhetorical devices (anaphora, loaded terms, restatement, refutation, rhetorical question,
repetition, antithesis, amplification, tricolon);
epiphany, aphorism, motif;
Bruffee’s organizational patterns (Nestorian, Strawman, Equal Reasons, Concession).
Sonnets: Know about the structure, content, rhyme scheme, rules, and iambic pentameter;
Shakespearean vs. Petrarchan.
Shakespeare: Recognize characteristics of tragedies, comedies, and histories; Shakespeare’s
language.
Vocabulary: Know your vocabulary and your Greek/Latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes.
8th Grade Words:
Altruistic, angst-ridden, astute, austere, brooding, buoyant, callous, canny, circumspect, decadent, droll,
forceful, fretful, gracious, immoral, insolent, malevolent, merciful, morose, nonchalant, placid, roguish,
sage, sulky, unmerciful
Foreign Words: Only the bolded foreign words appear on your test; the rest are available for you to use on
your open-ended response questions, if you choose.
Phenomenon, charisma, chorus, passé, flora, fauna, blitzkrieg, verboten, habeas corpus, e pluribus
unum, bona fide, nemesis, cliché, blasé, ad nauseam