Literary Terms
When a narrator uses "I, Me," it is written in this perspective
First Person POV
The sentence below contains this kind of figurative language.
"Kwasi, as round and brown as a Kola nut, danced with the rest of the children, gleefully spinning in the dust."
What is a simile?
A statement that explains what a particular text is mostly about.
What is central idea?
Most 8th graders will take the ELA OST on these days.
April 14 and 15 (Next Tuesday and Wednesday)
This should be the last sentence of your introduction paragraph.
What is a thesis statement?
Allusion
The sentence below contains an example of this.
I loved the soft scraping noise the chalk made and the smell of the dusty erasers.
Imagery/Sensory Details
A universal lesson that can be learned from a text.
What is a theme?
Which of the following statements is true?
1. You will be held back if you don't pass any OSTs.
2. Your OST score will be entered as a test grade in PowerSchool.
3. Your high school counselors and teachers might use the OST scores to make decisions about your schedule.
OST scores are one piece of data used to determine who needs additional interventions in reading, writing, and math.
This should be at the start of each body paragraph and should clearly state what topic, reason, or argument that paragraph will focus on.
What is a topic sentence?
When an outcome is the opposite of what one would have reasonable expected to happen given all the information provided
Irony
The sentence below contains an example of this.
The next thing upon which Mrs. Dodson cast her evil eye was comic books.
What is an idiom?
Students in a high school English class get to know each other better by writing and sharing poetry.
What is central idea?
1 hour and 45 minutes
15 minutes
**Students with testing accommodations might get additional time beyond this.
You should try to include at least two of these in each body paragraph to support your arguments.
What is evidence (with citations)?
The main character or the character whose conflict the story revolves around
Protagonist
The following sentence contains an example of this.
Once, at an early practice, Luma complained that a young Liberian player seemed to zone out during play.
What is an idiom?
Food is often connected to memories of people and placed that are important to us.
What is a theme?
List three tools and/or resources that are available to you while taking the ELA OST.
Pencils
Embedded tools: notepad, highlighter, line reader, masking
These TWO things should be in an argumentative essay, but do not need to be included in an informational essay.
What are a counterclaim and rebuttal?
What is the difference between tone and mood?
Tone is the author's attitude toward the subject.
Mood refers to the reader's emotional experience.
The sentence below contains an example of this.
The testosterone force field around this guy is so strong I feel like I might grow a full-length beard just taking in his vibes.
What is hyperbole?
A central idea statement for Chains or Night
Chains: After being sold to a Loyalist and his cruel wife, Isabel tries struggles to protect herself and her sister and find a way to earn their freedom.
Night: Elie and his father struggle to stay together and survive as concentration camp prisoners in the final months of World War II.
What two visual clues are included in multiple choice questions that have more than one right answer.
The word "two" will be in bold in the question. The choices will have checkboxes instead of circles next to them.
Instead of saying first, next, last, you could improve your essay by using these transitions. (Give at least one option for each transition listed here.)
To begin, Initially,
To continue, Furthermore, Additionally,
In conclusion, Finally
This word can be used to describe both of the following:
*A summary that does not include any judgments or opinions
* A point of view in which the characters' speech and actions are shared, but not their thoughts or feelings
Objective
The lines below contain an example of this.
...Mud got a mind of its own. Wants to enwrap your penny loafers, hug up on your uniform skirt.
What is personification?
Identify one weakness of the following theme statement and rewrite to make it stronger.
The deck is often stacked against you.
It uses an idiom/figurative language.
It does not offer any advice or lesson about how to handle the situation.
Even when things seem unfair, you often have access to resources that can help you.
You will be asked to write ____ essays on the OST.
The three possible types of essay you may have to write are...
2
Argumentative, Informational/Explanatory, Literature Analysis
A strong conclusion paragraph will always do these three things.
Restate the thesis using DIFFERENT words.
Summarize the claims/main points.
Connect to the reader (In an argumentative essay, this is a call to action.)