Literary Elements
Reading Comprehension
Important words in MCAS questions
Writing Open Response and Literary Analysis
Common Types of Multiple Choice Questions
100
A comparison using like or as Example: Her eyes gleamed like stars.
What is simile?
100
The central idea, lesson, or point of a work, the main focus or underlying meaning.
What is theme?
100
An academic question word meaning "show or illustrate" Based on the excerpt, explain what the things the soldiers carried _____________ about the soldiers’ experiences in Vietnam.
What is reveal?
100
➢ According to X, "_____________________________." ➢ X states, “____________________________.” ➢ X himself says, “____________________________.”
What are ways to introduce evidence from the text?
100
the four main types of multiple choice questions
What is Main Idea, Comprehension and Inference, Author's Writing Technique, and Vocabulary?
200
The atmosphere or feeling of a work. For example, the __________ of a poem may be joyful, gloomy, or suspenseful.
What is mood?
200
This comprehension strategy asks you to mark up the text by summarizing, clarifying, inferring, questioning, and predicting.
What is annotating?
200
A question word meaning "point out, highlight" What is _____________ by the length and rhythm of the sentence in lines 24–31? Read the sentences from lines 12-13. What do the sentences mainly ______________?
What is "emphasize"?
200
➢ Basically, X is saying ________________________. ➢ X is suggesting that ________________________. ➢ The essence of X’s argument is that ____________. ➢ In other words, X’s point is that __________________. ➢ Ultimately this shows that _____________________.
What are ways to introduce analysis (or explain quotes)?
200
Read the sentences from lines 12 and 13 in the box below. They took up what others could no longer bear. Often, they carried each other, the wounded or weak. What do the sentences mainly emphasize?
What is main idea question?
300
The attitude or viewpoint that an author shows toward his or her subject. For example, the ____________ of a passage may be serious, sympathetic, optimistic, or angry.
What is tone?
300
This comprehension strategy requires you to go back and re-read the sentences directly around the unfamiliar word or phrase.
What is context clues?
300
An academic question word that means "make you think, hint, or imply" Ex: Based on paragraph 1, what is ______________ by comparing the school to a medieval fortress?
What is "suggest" or "suggested"?
300
Three good transitions for introducing your first, second and third evidence in a claim paragraph
What is "first of all," "in addition," "furthermore," "moreover," "also," "lastly," "finally"
300
What is emphasized by the length and rhythm of the sentence in lines 24–31?
What is Author's Writing Technique?
400
The suggestion of events to come. For example, in Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses imagery of light and darkness to ___________ the negative events that happen in the story.
What is foreshadowing?
400
A reading strategy where you use background knowledge plus the details in the text to make an assumption about something in the text.
What is making an inference?
400
A question word that asks you to name, pinpoint and explain something. Ex: From a work of literature you have read in or out of school, _______ a character who stands up for his beliefs.
What is "identify"?
400
A good thesis for this open response question: Based on the excerpt "Rats" by Robert Sullivan, explain why brown rats have been able to thrive in urban areas. Support your answer with relevant and specific information from the excerpt.
What is: In the excerpt "Rats" by Robert Sullivan, we learn why brown rats have been able to thrive in urban areas.
400
Read the examples from the excerpt in the box below. • . . . nothing won or lost. • They searched the villages without knowing what to look for, . . . • . . . sometimes setting fires and sometimes not, . . . What do the examples show about the soldiers? A. They were not properly trained. B. They were not driven by a larger purpose. C. They were concerned about the local people. D. They were disappointed by the lack of community
What is Comprehension/ Inference question?
500
A situation or event that is the opposite of what someone might expect. For example, a lifeguard who had to be saved from drowning.
What is irony?
500
What two things should you "pre-read" before starting to read an MCAS passage?
What are the directions in italics AND all the questions?
500
A question word that asks you to compare showing similar points or show how one idea is connected to another. Ex: Explain the character's actions and __________ them to the work as a whole.
What is relate?
500
A good thesis for this literary analysis prompt: Often in works of literature, characters have a mixture of positive and negative traits. From a work of literature you have read in or out of school, select a character who blends positive and negative traits. In a well-developed composition, identify the character, describe how the character demonstrates both positive and negative traits, and explain how the character’s traits are important to the work of literature.
What is: In the novel ___________ by ___________, the character ______________ demonstrates both positive and negative traits.
500
Read the phrase from lines 47 and 48 in the box below. . . . and for all the ambiguities of Vietnam, all the mysteries and unknowns, . . . When the author refers to Vietnam’s ambiguities, he means that Vietnam is: A. difficult to understand. B. suffering from poverty. C. solving its own problems. D. filled with beautiful areas.
What is vocabulary question?
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