Literary Terms (Symbolism, Characterization, Theme)
Which of the following is not a theme?
A.) Pride can be dangerous when it overshadows compassion.
B.) Love’s greatest strength is its ability to redeem even the most broken individuals.
C.) War and peace
D.) Prejudice thrives on inherited beliefs and ignorance.
C.) War and peace
Read through the excerpt from Nez Perce leader Chief Joseph’s “Surrender Speech” delivered on October 5, 1877. Then, decide which rhetorical appeal is being used most strongly.
“I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed. Looking-glass is dead. Too-hul-hul-suit is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men, now, who say "yes" or "no" [that is, vote in council]. He who led on the young men [Joseph’s brother, Ollicut] is dead. It is cold, and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people -- some of them -- have run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are -- perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children, and see how many of them I can find; maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever!”
A.) Ethos
B.) Pathos
C.) Logos
D.) Kairos
B.) Pathos
What word matches the definition below?
To create or develop something in a careful, systematic way
A.) Elicit
B.) Reprehensible
C.) Formulate
D.) Fleeting
C.) Formulate
Which source is the most credible?
A.) A peer-reviewed journal
B.) An article on Britannica
C.) A scientist’s video on TikTok
D.) A government website
A.) A peer-reviewed journal
Which of these sentences is written using correct parallel structure?
A.) Samantha wants to eat either the seafood boil or try the shrimp gumbo.
B.) Samantha wants to eat either the seafood boil or the shrimp gumbo.
C.) Samantha wants either to eat the seafood boil or the shrimp gumbo.
D.) Samantha either wants to eat the seafood boil or the shrimp gumbo.
B.) Samantha wants to eat either the seafood boil or the shrimp gumbo.
Which of the following quotes from Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood is an example of indirect characterization?
A.) “She was a fat woman with pink collars and cuffs and pear-shaped legs that slanted off the train seat and didn’t reach the floor” (O’Connor 3).
B.) “He didn’t look much over twenty, but he had a stiff black broad-brimmed hat on his lap, a hat that an elderly country preacher would wear” (O’Connor 4).
C.) “He had a nose like a shrike’s bill and a long vertical crease on either side of his mouth” (O’Connor 4).
D.) “He didn’t answer her or move his eyes from whatever he was looking at” (O’Connor 4).
D.) “He didn’t answer her or move his eyes from whatever he was looking at” (O’Connor 4).
Read through the excerpt from Queen Elizabeth’s “Tilbury Speech” delivered on August 9, 1588. Then, decide which rhetorical appeal is being used most strongly.
“Let tyrants fear, I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects; and therefore I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live and die amongst you all; to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust. I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field.”
A.) Ethos
B.) Pathos
C.) Logos
D.) Kairos
A.) Ethos
Based on your knowledge about morphology, what might “vacuity” mean?
A.) A type of rebirth; a change in one’s behavior or situation
B.) A restructuring or rebuilding of a city; a transformation of an area
C.) A pledge made to help another person; contractual assistance
D.) A lack of thought or intelligence; empty-headedness
D.) A lack of thought or intelligence; empty-headedness
Which of the options would be the least likely place to find credible research?
A.) Google Scholar
B.) Galileo
C.) JSTOR
D.) Us Weekly
D.) Us Weekly
You have to watch it on the Jimmy Kimmel show!
Which verb aspect is used in the sentence below?
By that point, the turkey will have been cooking for two hours.
A.) Simple
B.) Perfect
C.) Progressive
D.) Perfect-Progressive
D.) Perfect-Progressive
Which of the following colors symbolizes peace, loyalty, and intelligence?
A.) Green
B.) Blue
C.) Yellow
D.) Pink
B.) Blue
Read through the statement and decide what logical fallacy is being used.
“There’s no reason to focus on student attendance when school shootings are a much bigger problem!”
A.) Ad hominem
B.) Straw man
C.) Bandwagon
D.) Red herring
D.) Red herring
What word matches the definition below?
A harsh or jarring sound
A.) Fleeting
B.) Cacophony
C.) Tenacious
D.) Capricious
B.) Cacophony
Which citation is incorrect?
A.) In the book The Woman Warrior, the narrator says, “They would not tell us children because we had been born among ghosts, were taught by ghosts, and were ourselves ghost-like” (Hong Kingston 183).
B.) In the poem “And Still I Rise,” the author writes, “Just like moons and like suns, / With the certainty of tides, / Just like hopes springing high, / Still I’ll rise” (Angelou 9-12).
C.) In the poem “Advice to Myself,” the author writes, “Recycle the mail, don’t read it, don’t read anything / except what destroys / the insulation between yourself and your experience” (Erdrich lines 32-34).
D.) In the book Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, the author writes, “People have never had a problem disposing of the past when it gets too difficult” (Winterson 95).
B.) In the poem “And Still I Rise,” the author writes, “Just like moons and like suns, / With the certainty of tides, / Just like hopes springing high, / Still I’ll rise” (Angelou 9-12).
Which of the following is incorrect about the sentence below?
The company’s decisions will further effect their ability to retain workers.
A.) Company’s; it should be companys’
B.) Further; it should be farther
C.) Effect; it should be affect
D.) Retain; it should be retayne
C.) Effect; it should be affect
Read through the excerpt from Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” and decide what the theme of the text may be.
I gasped for breath -- and yet the officers heard it not. I talked more quickly --more vehemently; but the noise steadily increased. I arose and argued about trifles, in a high key and with violent gesticulations; but the noise steadily increased. Why would they not be gone? I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if excited to fury by the observations of the men -- but the noise steadily increased. Oh God! what could I do? I foamed --I raved --I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder --louder --louder! And still the men chatted pleasantly, and smiled. Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God! --no, no! They heard! --they suspected! --they knew! --they were making a mockery of my horror!
A.) Obsession and paranoia can lead to a complete breakdown of reason and logic.
B.) A murder may be justifiable depending on certain circumstances.
C.) Empathy is crucial for communication with others.
D.) Pride without personal growth can result in isolation.
A.) Obsession and paranoia can lead to a complete breakdown of reason and logic.
Read through the excerpt from Malcolm X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech delivered on April 3, 1964. Then, decide which rhetorical device is being used.
“Let the world know how bloody his (Uncle Sam’s) hands are. Let the world know the hypocrisy that's practiced over here. Let it be the ballot or the bullet. Let him know that it must be the ballot or the bullet.”
A.) Hyperbole
B.) Paradox
C.) Anaphora
D.) Metaphor
C.) Anaphora
What word matches the definition below?
careful to consider all circumstances and possible consequences
A.) Ethereal
B.) Blunder
C.) Circumspect
D.) Desolate
C.) Circumspect
Which citation is correct?
A.) Miller, Madeline. The Song of Achilles. 2012, HarperCollins Publishers.
B.) Miller, Madeline. The Song of Achilles. HarperCollins Publishers, 2012.
C.) The Song of Achilles. Miller, Madeline. HarperCollins Publishers, 2012.
D.) The Song of Achilles. Miller, Madeline. 2012, HarperCollins Publishers.
B.) Miller, Madeline. The Song of Achilles. HarperCollins Publishers, 2012.
Which verb aspect is used in the sentence below?
This interview has been a great experience for each person involved.
A.) Simple
B.) Perfect
C.) Progressive
D.) Perfect-Progressive
B.) Perfect
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hester is forced to wear an embroidered letter “A.” Read through the excerpt and decide what the letter “A” may symbolize.
“People say,” said another, “that the Reverend Master Dimmesdale, her godly pastor, takes it very grievously to heart that such a scandal should have come upon his congregation.”
“The magistrates are God-fearing gentlemen, but merciful overmuch—that is a truth,” added a third autumnal matron. “At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne’s forehead. Madame Hester would have winced at that, I warrant me. But she—the naughty baggage—little will she care what they put upon the bodice of her gown! Why, look you, she may cover it with a brooch, or such like heathenish adornment, and so walk the streets as brave as ever!”
“Ah, but,” interposed, more softly, a young wife, holding a child by the hand, “let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart.”
“What do we talk of marks and brands, whether on the bodice of her gown or the flesh of her forehead?” cried another female, the ugliest as well as the most pitiless of these self-constituted judges. “This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die; is there not law for it? Truly there is, both in the Scripture and the statute-book. Then let the magistrates, who have made it of no effect, thank themselves if their own wives and daughters go astray.”
A.) Excitement and humor
B.) Sin and shame
C.) Guilt and regret
D.) Disgust and irritation
B.) Sin and shame
Read through the excerpt from George W. Bush’s 2001 speech from Des Moines, Iowa and Washington, D.C. Then, decide which rhetorical device is being used.
“We cannot let terrorists and rogue nations hold this nation hostile (hostage) or hold our allies hostile.”
A.) Malapropism
B.) Oxymoron
C.) Epistrophe
D.) Asyndeton
A.) Malapropism
Based on your knowledge about morphology, what might “renascent” mean?
A.) Description of a heart rate or pulse, typically one that is weak or thready
B.) Referring to theories explaining the world through force, energy, and progress
C.) Using too many words, often to avoid clarity
D.) Rising again as to new life and vigor
D.) Rising again as to new life and vigor
Which citation features the correct order for MLA format? (Imagine there are hanging indents. :/ Just pretend.)
A.) Kelly, Katie, et al. “Confronting Bias with Children’s Literature: A Preservice Teacher’s Journey to Developing a Critical Lens for Reading the Word and the World.” Reading Teacher, vol. 74, no. 3, Jan. 2020, pp. 297–304. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.proxygsu-k12d.galileo.usg.edu/10.1002/trtr.1949.
B.) Kelly, Katie; Laminack, Lester; and Gould, Evelyn. “Confronting Bias with Children’s Literature: A Preservice Teacher’s Journey to Developing a Critical Lens for Reading the Word and the World.” Reading Teacher, no. 74, vol. 3, Jan. 2020, pp. 297–304. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.proxygsu-k12d.galileo.usg.edu/10.1002/trtr.1949.
C.) Kelly, Katie, et al. “Confronting Bias with Children’s Literature: A Preservice Teacher’s Journey to Developing a Critical Lens for Reading the Word and the World.” Reading Teacher, vol. 74, no. 3, Jan. 2020, pp. 297–304. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.proxygsu-k12d.galileo.usg.edu/10.1002/trtr.1949.
D.) Kelly, Katie; Laminack, Lester; and Gould, Evelyn. “Confronting Bias with Children’s Literature: A Preservice Teacher’s Journey to Developing a Critical Lens for Reading the Word and the World.” Reading Teacher, vol. 74, no. 3, Jan. 2020, pp. 297–304. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.proxygsu-k12d.galileo.usg.edu/10.1002/trtr.1949.
A.) Kelly, Katie, et al. “Confronting Bias with Children’s Literature: A Preservice Teacher’s Journey to Developing a Critical Lens for Reading the Word and the World.” Reading Teacher, vol. 74, no. 3, Jan. 2020, pp. 297–304. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.proxygsu-k12d.galileo.usg.edu/10.1002/trtr.1949.
Which of the following is incorrect about the sentence below?
There are less options for clubs and extracurriculars, but Mollie is adamant about going to the university regardless.
A.) There; it should be Their
B.) Less; it should be fewer
C.) Comma after but; it should be a period
D.) Adamant; it should be adament
B.) Less; it should be fewer