chioffe exam review part 2

Semester 1 Review

Language ArtsGrade 8

Figurative Language

simile A literary device that compares one thing to

another using “like” or “as”

Examples: “The girls were like two peas in a pod.”

“Don’t treat me like a puppet on a string.”

“His temper was as explosive as a volcano.”

personification

Def.: a literary device where the writer gives human characteristics to non-living things.

“While my Guitar Gently Weeps.”

“The sky looked angry, with huge black clouds and jagged lightning.”

“The car choked and sputtered, spewing smoke, dying a slow death in the middle of the busy highway.”

metaphorA metaphor is a comparison between two unlike things in

which one thing is said to be another thing or called by the

name of another thing.

Example from Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”:

“My love is a blinding, burning flame.

The sun, a demon’s eye.”

“ Soft! What light through yonder window

breaks? It is the east and Juliet is the sun.”

assonance

Repetition of vowel sound(s) of two or more words in close proximity.

Examples: "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” (Henry David Thoreau, Walden)

Listen to the long “I” sound in those two words. It is pleasing to the ear, and more subtle than out-and-out rhyming.

assonanceAssonance is similar to rhyming, but a bit more sophisticated,

and is often used in speeches and “regular” prose writing to make those types of writing more pleasing to the ear and more poetic-sounding. Example from “I Have a Dream” speech:

“…shake the foundations of our nation…”

Read that line out loud. What vowel sound do you hear repeated three times? Click again for the answer.

The long “A” sound. Read it again. It sounds rhythmic, almost like a song.

assonanceSometimes songwriters and poets do it, too.

“You better lose yourself in the music, the moment you own it, you better never let it go

You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blowThis opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo.”

The assonance in the first line is the “oo” sound.The assonance in the second line is the long “O” sound.

Do you hear it?

Sample Questions for

Semester One Exam

Which line from Oranges contains personification?

a. We entered, the tiny bell bringing a saleslady down a narrow aisle of goods.

b. Fog hanging like old coats between the trees.

c. I peeled my orange that was so bright against the gray of December, someone would have thought I was making a fire in my hands.

Which line from Oranges contains imagery?

a. We entered, the tiny bell bringing a saleslady down a narrow aisle of goods.

b. Fog hanging like old coats between the trees.

c. I peeled my orange that was so bright against the gray of December, someone would have thought I was making a fire in my hands.

The reader can “see” the orange against the gray sky- a very vivid “picture” is created so the reader can see the image clearly.

Which line from Oranges contains a simile?

a. A few cars hissing past.

b. The lady’s eyes met mine, and held them.

c. Frost cracking beneath my steps.

d. I turned to the candies, tiered like bleachers.

Explain:

Which line from Oranges contains a simile?

a. A few cars hissing past.

b. The lady’s eyes met mine, and held them.

c. Frost cracking beneath my steps.

d. I turned to the candies, tiered like bleachers.

Explain: In order for the reader to be able to picture in their “mind’s eye” how the candies were arranged on the shelf, she compares them to “bleachers.”

Which line from My Brother Sam is Dead best illustrates an internal conflict?

a. I didn’t know who to believe: my father, who I’d always trusted, or Sam, my idol.

b. If you don’t slaughter those cows soon, they’re bound to get stolen.

c. War turns men into animals.

d. Give me back that gun before I tell father on you!

Explain:

Which line from My Brother Sam is Dead best illustrates an internal conflict?

a. I didn’t know who to believe: my father, who I’d always trusted, or Sam, my idol.

b. If you don’t slaughter those cows soon, they’re bound to get stolen.

c. War turns men into animals.

d. Give me back that gun before I tell father on you!

Explain: “Internal” means “inside.” An “internal conflict” takes place inside the mind of the character. Here, he can’t decide who to believe about the war.

Which line below best summarizes the climax of My Brother Sam is Dead ?

a. Sam is taken in as a cattle thief.

b. Father and Tim travel to Verplanks Point and are held up by cowboys.

c. Tim races to free his brother Sam and is shot in the process of doing so.

d. Tim and his mother move to Pennsylvania and move on with their lives.

Explain:

My Brother Sam is Dead covers the Revolutionary War, in which the British fought against __.

a. Nazis b. Patriots c. Lobsterbacks d. Loyalists

My Brother Sam is Dead covers the Revolutionary War, in which the British fought against __.

a. Nazis b. Patriots c. Lobsterbacks d. Loyalists

The title, My Brother Sam is Dead is an example of foreshadowing.a. True b. False Explain:

Tim fights Betsy for the secret letter is an example of an external conflict. a. True b. FalseExplain: Hurricane Force is a fiction book.

a. True b. False 

Paraphrasing means to put piece of information into your own words. a. True b. False 

The title, My Brother Sam is Dead is an example of foreshadowing.a. True b. False Explain: When an writer hints at something that is later to come in the story, that is called “foreshadowing.” This is more than a hint, but it is an example of foreshadowing.

Tim fights Betsy for the secret letter is an example of an external conflict. a. True b. FalseExplain: An “external” conflict is a conflict between a character and another person or group of people, or nature.  Hurricane Force is a fiction book.

a. True b. False Fiction= “fake”, Nonfiction= “not fake”

Paraphrasing means to put piece of information into your own words. a. True b. False Paraphrasing helps you do two things: keep from plagiarizing someone else’s writing AND simplifying an idea so that it is easier to understand. It is basically summarizing someone else’s writing in your own words.

ExamplesFiction:

“Star Wars”

My Brother Sam is Dead

“Broken Chain”

“Cinderella”

“Super 8”

The Giver

Nonfiction:

Hurricane Force

A Child Called “It”

magazine articles, biographies

Paths to Peace

textbooks, newspapers

“Supersize Me”

Similes from Hurricane Force

“The metal garage door…buckled like a prizefighter taking a punch to the midsection.”

“…I watched as a dangling traffic light shot across an intersection like a bullet pass…”

“…windows shattered and glass sprayed down on the sidewalk like lethal snow.”

“…a big sheet of twisted tin came skidding and tumbling at me like an out-of-control toboggan.”

Personification “Howling gusts...” (The wind may sound like an animal howling,

but wind is incapable of the human/animal act of howling.)

“The wind was…chewing at office buildings…” (Does the wind have teeth? Wind can’t actually CHEW. This is a human/animal characteristic.)

“The metal garage door…buckled like a prizefighter taking a punch to the midsection.”

Alliteration

“…strips that sailed out of sight…”

“…wrecking the city, setting the stage for massive flooding…”

The repetition of the initial (first) consonant sound of several words in a line or sentence. Does NOT have to be the same letter, just the same sound.

Assonancerepetition of a vowel sound in multiple words in a line or

sentence

Assonance is NOT rhyming.

Rhyme= cat fat sat hat mat flat

Assonance= cat has map tab flack apple

Rhyme= pit, sit, kit, lit, fit, bit, hit, mitt, nit, pit

Assonance= pit, fig, kick, limb, sting, pink, tip, ping

Rhyme= dug, plug, hug, mug, pug, tug

Assonance= tug, flung, ton, club, duck, suds, cuff

Find the assonance: “…a big sheet of twisted tin came skidding

and tumbling at me like an out-of-control toboggan.”

(Read it out loud. What consonant sound do you hear repeated?)

Find the assonance: “…a big sheet of twisted tin came skidding

and tumbling at me like an out-of-control toboggan.”

…and not JUST assonance and simile, but also…

alliteration!

“…a big sheet of twisted tin came skidding and tumbling at me like an out-of-control toboggan.”

Compare: “…a big sheet of twisted tin came skidding

and tumbling at me like an out-of-control toboggan.”

“….an enormous piece of metal came flying at me.”

Personification, Simile or Metaphor?

Playing chess with Ashley is like trying to outsmart a computer.

Simile

Personification, Simile or Metaphor?

His temper was as explosive as a volcano.

Simile

Personification, Simile or Metaphor?

From Shakespeare: “All the world’s a stage, and we are merely players.”

metaphor

Personification, Simile or Metaphor?

From Shakespeare: “How like the winter hath thine absence been.”

simile

Personification, Simile or Metaphor?

The toddler’s mind is a sponge, absorbing everything.

metaphor

Personification, Simile or Metaphor?

She danced like she was trying to stomp on rabid squirrels.

simile

Personification, Simile or Metaphor?

Song by Jimi Hendrix: “The Wind Cries Mary”

personification

Personification, Simile or Metaphor?

Song lyric (Kansas): “All we are is dust in the wind…”

metaphor

Sentences with “Interrupters”

The apple, red and crisp, plunked me on my head as it fell.

The meat-eating dinosaur, stumpy-armed and big-headed, devoured the illiterate fool.

The pale vampire, long black hair framing his angular face, pounced on the helpless fox.

The tall vampire, starving for blood, fanged his innocent prey.

What is an “appositive”?

Appositive: a big fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers - What does the appositive do?

Appositives are dependent clauses- they cannot stand alone without the rest of the sentence; they DEPEND on the rest of the sentence to express a complete thought.

Appositive PracticeMy dog, , chases the mailman every

day.

My dog, a frisky poodle, chases the mailman every day.

My dog, energetic and territorial, chases the mailman every day.

My dog, baring his teeth ferociously, chases the mailman every day.

Add in the AppositiveMy dog, , ran to bite the mailman.

My dog, a huge pit bull, ran to bite the mailman.My dog, furious and foaming at the mouth, ran to bite the mailman.

Add in the AppositiveRegan Mealy, an intelligent blonde in the third

row, enjoys picking her nose.

Trey Haymore, a budding artist, likes to draw tanks.

Trey Haymore, talented and driven, likes to draw tanks.

Sentence Combining With Appositives

Michael was a dedicated Tampa Bay Bucs fan. He attended every home game, even when they were having a losing season.

Michael, a dedicated Tampa Bay Bucs fan, attended every home game, even when they were having a losing season.

Combine the following sentences to create one sentence with an appositive:

1. “Back to the Future” is one of my favorite movies of all time.

“Back to the Future” starred Michael J. Fox.

“Back to the Future,” one of my favorite movies, stars Michael J. Fox.

2. Haile Middle School is an “A”-rated school. Haile is located in Bradenton, Florida.

3. The Florida Gators are Mrs. Chioffe’s favorite football team.

The Florida Gators are the #1 rated team in the country.

collaborate

Def: work together

Syn: (team up, join forces)

Ant: (work alone)

Sent: “Several students plan to collaborate on a geology project for the annual science fair.”

FADQuQu:Writing an Introduction that will Wow Your

Reader!

Sample Prompt #3:

The world is becoming more and more aware of the effects of pollution and excess waste on the environment.

Write to convince your principal to enact a mandatory school-wide recycling program.

Sample Prompt #4:

Florida has recently changed the legal driving age to 15. Write to convince your parents to allow you to obtain your license a year early.

Now, let’s look at some ways to “grab” the reader (in this case, Mrs. Kerley). Remember, we need to convince her that recycling is the only way to go, the best choice for our school. Let’s draw her in from the very first sentence.

Fact:

Every day, our school fills up an entire industrial-sized dumpster with waste that could be recycled.

Fact: Every year, you chauffer Mitch back and forth to school 360 times, adding up to about two and a half weeks out of your life spent on the road. What if I told you that I could relieve you of this burden? If you allow me to obtain my license a year early, I will not only be able to drive Mitch back and forth to school for you, but I will also be able to do many other errands for you to free up your time, as well as get a job and contribute financially to the Charbonneau family.

Fact:Every year, you chauffer Mitch back and forth to school 360 times, adding up to about two and a half weeks out of your life spent on the road.

Anecdote: Every day, I walk by the dumpster that sits behind the school just as the janitor is heaving a heavy, black plastic bag over the edge. The bag, stuffed full of potentially-recyclable materials, is headed for the city dump. The janitor, exhausted, trudges back into the building to fetch the next load.

Anecdote: One hundred and eighty mornings every year go something like this for you: drag Mitch out of bed, kicking and screaming, force-feed him a bowl of cereal, sift through his room to find a clean pair of pants, then push him out the front door towards the car.You are then trapped in the car with Mitch the Whiner for fifteen minutes of complete torture. I may not be able to help out much with the part before you get his lazy butt out the door, but if you allow me to get my license a year early, I can definitely help out with the driving. I will also be able to get a job and not only contribute to the family income, but save for my future, as well.

Description:

Picture this: The humidity in Bradenton is soaring, just like the temperature. Just twenty years ago, people would have taken refuge at the beach, body-surfing in the crystal-blue water. But that is the past. Today, the air over Bradenton is thick and brown, like a heavy blanket. The water is now so heavily polluted that visiting the beach is forbidden. Instead of enjoying outdoor activities, Bradentonians are trapped inside.

Description:

Imagine this, if you will: it is a Monday morning, the sun is streaming through the window behind your bed, gently prodding you from a restful night’s sleep. You roll over in bed and glance at the clock; it reads 10 a.m. You stretch and sit up in bed; the aroma of coffee beckons you from the kitchen. The house is quiet; all you can hear is the gentle hum of the air conditioner. What dreamland is this? If you allow me to obtain my license at fifteen, I can deliver my loud, annoying siblings safely to school, and you can sleep in and wake refreshed every morning. I will also be able to get a job and contribute to the family income in numerous ways.

Question:

“Have you ever thought about how instituting a mandatory recycling program could impact the environment?”

Question:

Wouldn’t it make your life much more pleasant if you didn’t have to drag Mitch back and forth to school every day? Have you ever fantasized about waking up in the morning to the gentle prodding of the sunlight and coffee beckoning you from downstairs? If you allow me to obtain my license a year early, I can make all of these dreams come true for you. There are numerous benefits to you allowing me to begin driving, and they are not limited to saving you the dreadful trip to school with Mitch the Whiner and lovely, peaceful mornings. I will also be able to contribute to the family income, which will have many positive benefits for the Pendley Family.

Question:

Wouldn’t it make your life much more pleasant if you didn’t have to drag Mitch back and forth to school every day? To not have to spend what adds up to two and a half weeks of your life every year on the road? If this sounds appealing to you, then please consider allowing me to obtain my driver’s license a year early. In addition to saving you the annoying thirty minutes in the car every day with Mitch the Whiner, I will also be able to run errands for you, freeing up your time for other, more enjoyable pursuits. Also, I will finally be able to get a job and earn money for the things that I want and contribute to the family’s income.

Quotation:

"To cherish what remains of the Earth and to foster its renewal is our only legitimate hope of survival." Writer Wendell Berry’s wise words sum up exactly why you should institute a mandatory recycling program here at Haile.

Quotation:

“Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.” You will be able to take these wise words of Ovid and bring them to life if you allow me to get my license a year early. How? By allowing me this privilege, I will be able to drop Mitch off at school every day, enabling you to sleep in and finally, after all of these years, catch up on thousands of hours of lost sleep. Additionally, I will be able to get a job and contribute in many different ways to the income of Pendley Family.

Identifying FADQuQu Examples

FADQuQu:Writing an Introduction that will Wow Your

Reader!

“THE MRS.” a strategy to use in persuasive writing

TIME- saves time, helps the reader have more time for other things

HEALTH- improves health, reduces stress

EDUCATION- improves education, aids understanding

MONEY- saves money, helps the reader to make more money

RESPONSIBILITY- remind the reader of their responsibility as an individual

SAFETY- increases safety, is a safety factor, saves lives

Example Prompt: A new law has passed and teens now have the opportunity to drive a year earlier than before. Persuade your parents to allow you to get your license a year early.

TIME

Letting me drive a year early will save you time.

You will now have extra time to spend doing your favorite hobbies.

HealthYour health- Spending less time on the roads will decrease your stress level and improve your overall health.

My health- I will be able to drive myself to football practice which keeps me healthy and out of trouble.

Environment/EducationI will be encouraged to

keep my grades up so that I can keep my driving privileges.

Money

As a driver, I will be able to get a job and help contribute financially to the family.

Respect/Responsibility

Being a driver will help me become more responsible as a young adult.

I will gain responsibility with more independence on the road.

Safety

It will be much safer for me to responsibly drive myself, than to ride in a car with my friends.

Riding my bike to school on a busy highway is dangerous; I will be much safer in my protective vehicle.

Sample Prompt #2:

Your school is planning to add a teacher in one of the following areas: art, music, or PE. Write to convince your principal to hire a teacher in the field of your choice.

Can you identify the strategy?

“Studies have shown that music, whether listened to or played, decreases stress, which has a direct impact on overall wellness.”

health

“Additionally, the general health of your students has a very strong correlation to their academic performance.”

education

“One of the most important reasons that you should hire an additional music teacher is that it is proven that students who are involved in music programs have an 85% college attendance rate, as opposed to those not involved in music, who only go on to attend college 40% of the time.”

Statistic/education

“In the long run, students who are involved in extra curricular activities and music programs have a much higher income because they have graduated from college. College graduates, on average earn $500,000 more than those who graduate from high school and go straight to a job or career. ”Education/

money

“When faced with such compelling reasons, how can you not make the right choice? As principal, it is your moral and ethical duty to make the best choices for the students, and there is only one choice to make: hire an additional music teacher.”

responsibility

Identifying FADQuQu Examples

.

Prompt: Write to convince students why either math skills or language arts skills are more important in life.

Read the following leads for the prompt, and identify which of the “FADQuQu” strategies is/are being used.

Look all around you. From tall, intricately designed skyscrapers to ultra fuel-efficient cars to computers that can do everything from download your favorite music to recording data from far-off planets. What do they have in common? They were all designed by mathematics.

Description followed by a question

In today’s economy, finding a well-paying job is next to impossible. In fact, the unemployment rate in America is at its highest since 1975. Believe it or not, having a strong vocabulary may be the advantage that pushes you past the other applicant for the next job you interview for. The skills that you acquire in Language Arts are essential to almost every aspect of your life, from the ability to relax and enjoy a classic novel to writing a resume that will land you your dream job.

facts

Picture this: you have worked your fingers to the bone for fifty years for a boss who made your life a living you know what. You now are ready to retire and buy your dream home. But wait! You have managed to save only a measly three hundred dollars over the course of your lifetime. Now you will be forced to live on a monthly Social Security check that will not even cover your health expenses, let alone an around-the-world cruise or that beautiful log home in the Smoky Mountains. Believe it or not, the math skills that you take the time to learn today will affect you for the rest of your life. anecdote (prediction)

Prompt:

Situation: Each year, the overall quality and nutrition of the food in your school cafeteria has declined due to budget cuts.

Task: Write to convince your principal to allocate more funds to the school lunch program to improve the menu.

Your two main arguments will be HEALTH of the students and ACADEMIC IMPROVEMENTS (better grades, higher level of learning, higher FCAT scores and even better classroom behavior).

Are you aware that 35% of teens in America are now considered clinically obese due not only to inactivity, but also to a diet that is high in fat and calories?

A statistic that is part of a question

Picture this: a student walks through the halls after his fat and calorie-laden lunch, his energy levels so low that he can barely make it to class. He doesn’t have the mental clarity to focus on the lesson of the day, instead, he stares numbly at the wall. Now, picture this: after a healthy meal of fresh fruits and vegetables with a bit of lean protein, that same student is focused and ready to learn. He walks quickly to his classroom, energized and ready to learn. He, along with his classmates, is focused and absorbs the material well.

Anecdote

My Grandma Betty, my mother’s mother and probably one of the most intelligent people I have ever known, always said, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

Quotation