1. Reading the passages In order to get the most out of your reading: Read the first paragraph Last paragraph First sentence of each middle paragraph Then read the questions and go back and read what NEEDS to be read to answer. ANSWER the QUESTION FIRST--- then look at the answer options and find the one that fits

2. Reading the test BUT READ EVERY question and EVERY answer option Remember that the questions ask for the BEST answer, so you must read every option first and then choose from the BEST options. There will be one or two that are good.

3. THEME Titles Characters learn lessons or change? Symbols What does the author mean? What supports the theme?

4. Fiction, Poetry and Drama ALL the literary terms on your Test: Remember- mood is you, tone is the author Voice is the WAY an author writes not WHAT Soliloquy is alone or SOLO Irony is what you didn’t want to happen Memoir is a smaller portion of an autobiography Omniscient– hear everybody’s thoughts

5. Research Sources: dictionary, encyclopedia, almanac, biographies, autobiographies, journals, diaries, magazines, newspapers, Thesaurus, Which ones are Secondary? Primary? Source choices Topic choices– titles Note-taking, summarizing, paraphrasing

6. Works Cited

7. Persuasive Writing Determining purpose for writing-- using emotions, facts, opinions, logical fallacies Red herring--- distract from real issue Bandwagon– everybody's doing it Testimonials– unreliable testimonies Supporting opinions– must have proof of claim

8. Figurative language Metaphors Similes Personification Hyperbole Idioms– cannot be understood through literal meaning– simply a figurative phrase– local color “elbow grease” “cold shoulder” “chip on his shoulder”

9. Historical time periods Need to match up the style of writing and the content of the writing. Old English--- mythology of Britain Middle and Renaissance English– Shakespeare, poetry, fables Colonial/revolutionary– biblical reference, political writing, slavery, pioneers Realism and Modernism– real life people, true to life characters, specific settings and local cultures.

10. analogies The captain is to his ship as the leader is to his tribe. A fish is to swimming as a bird is to flying. What death is to life, a blind is to vision. What sweets are to a diabetic, water is to fire. What gold is to a goldsmith, iron is to a blacksmith. What dog is to a kennel, a rabbit is to a burrow. What child is to a mother, a song is to a singer.

11. Words you may not know Gothic Malapropism Epiphany Motif Epitaph Quest Oxymoron Paradox Moral Novella Allegory Parody Satire Allusion