English/Language Arts

1. English/Language Arts GHSGT

2. Reading Comprehension makes up approximately 48% of the Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT). Students read selections of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry in American Literature to: • understand the meaning and main ideas of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. • identify and describe themes and main ideas of passages. • identify evidence found in the language and elements of a text that support meaning. • identify, analyze, and apply knowledge of the characteristics of texts as they relate to meaning. • recognize how authors use literary elements to convey meaning. • identify and analyze the meaning of vocabulary in the context of text. • identify and evaluate the use of symbolism. • identify and evaluate the use of figurative language, sound, and form in works of these genres. • determine the point of view in works of fiction and nonfiction. • evaluate the development of characters in works of fiction. • identify plot in works of fiction.

3. Key Terms:Reading Comprehension

4. Allusion • Definition: noun 1. a passing or casual reference; an incidental mention of something, either directly or by implying something • In a sentence: "The speaker made an allusion to the speech given by Martin Luther King, Jr. “

5. Analogy • Definition: a similarity between like features of two things, on which a comparison may be based: the analogy between the heart and a pump. • Example: Trying to find the lost contact was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

6. Anecdote • Definition: a short account of a particular incident or event of an interesting or amusing nature, often biographical. • Example: "After the long Ohio winter, I was so happy to see the first signs of spring that I ran outside as soon as I saw our first flower blooming. I plucked the dewy, white blossom and tucked it into my hair band and went about my day with joy in my heart. Unfortunately, I didn't notice that my big white flower had been host to a dozen or so tiny bugs, that apparently enjoyed a new home in the warmth and security of my hair. I was soon itching and twitching like a scrappy dog. Next time I stop to smell the flowers, I'll make sure I'll do it with my eyes wide open."

7. Autobiography • Definition: a history of a person's life written or told by that person The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

8. Bibliography • Definition: a list of source materials that are used or consulted in the preparation of a work or that are referred to in the text

9. Biography • Definition: a written account of another person's life: the biography of Byron by Marchand

10. Connotation • Definition: the associated or secondary meaning of a word or expression in addition to its explicit or primary meaning: A possible connotation of “home” is “a place of warmth, comfort, and affection” • Example: "The water is cool" (non-connotative) "The movie was cool" (connotative). In the sentence, "The movie was cool" the word "cool" doesn't refer to temperature, but to a systematic, rule-governed use of the word "cool" as a synonym for "awesome". In other words, a group of people agree that the word "cool" can be used instead of the word "awesome," and "awesome" becomes the connotative definition of "cool."

11. Context Clues • Definition: other words or phrases to help with the understanding of the new word. They are built into the sentences around the difficult word. • There are 4 types of Context Clues • 1. examples • 2. synonyms and definitions • 3. antonyms and contrasts • 4. experience or sense of the sentence • Look for words or phrases like "such as," "including," or "consists of." Colons (:) and dashes (-) can also signal examples.

12. Denotation • Definition: what a word actually means • "You know a phrase I never understood? King size. It's used to denote something larger, but most of the kings you see are short. You ever notice that? Usually a king is a short little fat guy."(George Carlin, Napalm & Silly Putty, 2001) • The denotation of the word home is simply "a place where one lives. A possible connotation of “home” is “a place of warmth, comfort, and affection”

13. Diction • Definition: 1) Choice and use of words in speech or writing. (2) A way of speaking, usually assessed in terms of prevailing standards of pronunciation and elocution.

14. Expository Text • Definition: text or documents that are non-fiction documents. It can include pictures and writing. Children often find it difficult to understand expository text.

15. Figurative Language • Definition: speech or writing that departs from literal meaning in order to achieve a special effect or meaning, speech or writing employing figures of speech

16. Foreshadowing • Definition: the organization and presentation of events and scenes in a work of fiction or drama so that the reader or observer is prepared to some degree for what occurs later in the work. This can be part of the general atmosphere of the work, or it can be a specific scene or object that gives a clue or hint as to a later development of the plot. The disastrous flood that occurs at the end of George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss (1860), for example, is foreshadowed by many references to the river and to water in general throughout the book.

17. Imagery • Definition: figurative or descriptive language in a literary work

18. Inference • Definition: the act or process of inferring

19. Periodical • Definition: A publication issued at regular intervals of more than one day

20. Plot • Definition: The pattern of events or main story in a narrative or drama

21. Sonnet • Definition: (Literature / Poetry) a verse form of Italian origin consisting of 14 lines in iambic pentameter with rhymes arranged according to a fixed scheme, usually divided either into octave and sestet or, in the English form, into three quatrains and a couplet

22. Literary Analysis makes up approximately 38% of the Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT). Students read selections of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry in American Literature to: • analyze how authors use language for particular purposes in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. • interpret text by identifying and analyzing techniques used by authors to produce particular effects. • analyze universal themes of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. • analyze nonfiction selections to determine the purpose and structure. • analyze the effects of the diction and imagery in fiction selections. • analyze longer selections to determine multiple themes within the text. • analyze the choices authors make in the structures and elements of nonfiction. • analyze and explain the choices made by authors in constructing arguments in nonfiction.

23. Key Terms:Literary Analysis

24. Antonym • Definition: a word that means the opposite of another word • ``empty'' is an antonym of ``full'‘

25. Cause and Effect • Definition: The concept that an action or event will produce a certain response to the action in the form of another event

26. Cognate • Definition: of the same or similar nature : generically alike

27. Dialect • Definition: a special variety of a language that is derived from other varieties of the same language by features of phonics, grammar and vocabulary • When a person identifies himself with a group his critical faculties are diminished and his passions enhanced by a kind of emotive resonance. The individual is not a killer, the group is, and by identifying with it, the individual becomes one. This is the infernal dialect reflected in man's history. - Arthur Koestler

28. Dialogue • Definition: a conversation between two persons ; a literary composition in the form of a conversation between two people; "he has read Plato's Dialogues in the original Greek“ • Religion is the everlasting dialogue between humanity and God. Art is its soliloquy. - Franz Werfel

29. Editorial • Definition: of or relating to an article stating opinions or giving perspectives; "editorial column“

30. Genre • Definition: a kind of literary or artistic work • Horror writer, producer Eli Roth picks 5 favorites of the genre - Worcester Telegram & Gazette LOS ANGELES — There are horror movie geeks, and then there is Eli Roth. The writer-director of “Cabin Fever” and the “Hostel” movies and producer of “The Last Exorcism” has encyclopedic knowledge of the genre

31. Haiku • Definition: is a form of Japanese poetry, consisting of 17 moras (or on), in three phrases of 5, 7, and 5 moras respectively

32. Memoir • Definition: an account of the author's personal experiences

33. Metaphor • Definition: a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity

34. Propaganda • Definition: information that is spread for the purpose of promoting some cause information that is spread for the purpose of promoting some cause

35. Simile • Definition: a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with `like' or `as') • "Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep."(Carl Sandburg)

36. Synonym • Definition: A word having the same or nearly the same meaning as another word

37. Conventions in writing make up approximately 14% of the Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT). • Students read sample sentences, paragraphs and passages to: • apply knowledge of Standard American English usage. • revise writing to improve its organization or appropriateness for a specific audience. • form clear research questions and identify appropriate methods of research. • analyze vocabulary or diction. • review selections for the correct use of language in sentence and paragraph structures. • review selections to determine the most appropriate revision for communicating clearly to the reader. • review selections to determine the most appropriate revision of a text for a particular audience. • identify and correctly use a variety of research strategies.

38. Hints to Help You Succeed on the GHSGT English Language Arts Exam

39. Read everything carefully. • Many of the GHSGT questions involve reading poems and selected passages from short stories, novels, biographies, essays, newspapers, magazines, and other sources. Some questions include sentences and paragraphs to analyze, correct, or revise. You should read all parts of each testitem very carefully, including directions, passages, questions, and all four answer choices.

40. There are no trick questions. The questions are NOT designed to be tricky. If you read the entire question, including all accompanying material, and think carefully about what the question is asking, the meaning will be clear. Also, remember that each question has only one answer that content experts agree is the correct answer. However, you may be looking for the BEST answer among the choices. If so, the word BEST will be emphasized.

41. Consider every choice. From the four answer choices, you must choose the one that BEST answers the question. Some of the alternative choices (distracters) will be attractive because they include an irrelevant detail, a common misconception, or apply the right information in the wrong way.

42. Guess intelligently. • There is no penalty for guessing on any GHSGT. If you are not certain of the correct answer, then reread the material. Then if you are still uncertain, make your best guess. Guessing is easier if you can eliminate one or more distracters as clearly incorrect. Be warned, however, that many of the distracters are very attractive because they are based on the common mistakes students make.

43. Spend test time wisely. • Many tests are arranged so that the easier items are first and the harder items are last. The GHSGT are not arranged in this way. Therefore, it is possible to find several difficult questions followed by a set of easier questions later. If you come to a few hard questions, do not get discouraged. It would be better to move on, answer as many questions as possible, and then go back to answer the remaining questions.

44. Check your answers. There are several areas where carelessness can cause you to answer incorrectly: in reading the question initially, in choosing the answer, and in transferring the correct answer to your answer document. You should ask yourself three questions: • Did I read the question carefully? • Am I on the correct question number in the correct section of the answer booklet? • Is this the answer I intended to mark?

45. Sample Items and Explanations

46. Read the excerpt below. Choose the best answer. Hope is the thing with feathers Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all, 5 And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm. I’ve heard it in the chilliest land 10 And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me. (Emily Dickinson) • Which pair of words from the poem is an example of end rhyme? • “words” and “feathers” • B. “storm” and “warm” • C. “land” and “extremity” • D. “soul” and “sea”

47. Correct answer: Only option B is correct. End rhyme occurs in the last syllables of verses. Only“storm” and “warm” end in syllables that rhyme: –orm in “storm” and –arm in “warm.” In option A, the reader can detect the s sound in “soul” and “feathers,” but the words do not rhyme. Similarly, “land” and “extremity” in option C do not rhyme. In option D, “soul” and “sea” both exhibit the characteristics of alliteration, but they do not rhyme.

48. Use the same poem to answer another question. One excerpt may be used to answer multiple questions. Hope is the thing with feathers Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all, 5 And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm. I’ve heard it in the chilliest land 10 And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me. (Emily Dickinson) This poem is an example of the literary movement Romanticism because of its A. description of ordinary people in everyday situations. B. attention to facts and reality written in simpler language. C. focus on inner feelings and images from nature. D. embrace of diversity, irony, and word play.

49. Correct answer: Only option C correctly defines the characteristics of the Romantic Movement. In particular, the poem conveys a strong emotion and invokes a connection to nature, both characteristics of the Romantic Movement. Option A is a more appropriate definition of Naturalism and option B describes the characteristics of Realism. Finally, option D identifies some of the traits of Postmodernist literature. The item is representative of others at a medium cognitive level in Domain 1. The student must know the characteristics of Romanticism and then apply this knowledge to the poem in its entirety.

50. Try the next question. Look back at the poem…. The bird having “kept so many warm” in line 8 is most likely a metaphor for A. the comfort that hope provides. B. the importance of feathers. C. the need for shelter. D. the beauty of song.