EOCT Study Guide

1. EOCT Study Guide

2. EOCT AT A GLANCE • All questions are multiple choice • Each section of the American Literature EOCT contains 40 questions; there are 2 sections with a total of 80 questions combined • Each EOCT has two sections and students are given 60 minutes per section • A student’s EOCT score is averaged as 15% of his/her final grade

3. Preparing for the EOCT • Know your study skills habits • Practice good time management skills by setting realistic goals, studying for reasonable amounts of time, establishing a routine and studying the most challenging things first. • Be organized- establish a study area with minimal distractions and gather materials in advance. • Actively participate while studying, it makes the information stick with you. Create sample test questions, ask yourself questions or rewrite the information.

4. Test-taking Strategies • Start now- don’t wait until the last minute to prepare for the test. • Prepare a little each day by practicing the skills that will be measured by the EOCT. • Determine what skills you need to master and focus on those skills.

5. The day before the EOCT • Review the general test-taking strategies • Get a good night’s sleep- most people need at least 8 hours • Don’t drastically alter your routine- if you go to bed too early, you might lie in bed and focus on the test. • Relax!

6. The morning of the EOCT • Eat a good breakfast! Peanut butter, meat and eggs are good choices. • Dress in layers to make certain you will not be too hot or cold during the test. • Arrive on time for the test. You do not want to be rushed and anxious.

7. TOP TEN EOCT STRATEGIES • Focus on the test • Budget your time • Take a quick break if you feel tired • Use positive self-talk • Mark in your test booklet • Read the entire question and answers • Use what you know

8. TOP TEN (Cont.) • Use content specific strategies to answer the questions • Think logically • Check your answers- go back and check your work when you are finished!

9. Content Domains on EOCT • Reading and American Literature • Reading Across the Curriculum/Listening, Speaking and Viewing • Writing • Conventions

10. Studying the Content Domains • Reading passages: Domains 1 and 2 will be based on informational and literary passages. • Informational passages (nonfiction) will share knowledge and convey messages. Examples include letters, biographical accounts, etc. • Literary passages (fiction) will tell a story or express an idea. Examples include short stories, novels, poetry, etc.

11. Content Doman 1:Reading and American Literature EOCT Review – 11th Grade

12. Standard 1 “Identify, analyze, and apply knowledge of the structures and characteristics of American fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama and provide evidence from the work to support understanding.”

13. Passages • You will be presented with a selection from the following types of passages: • Essay • Official documents • Biography/Autobiography • Expository (informational) • Narrative (fiction/nonfiction) • Speech • Poem • Drama

14. Literary Devices: Terms to KNOW Alliteration Flashback Foreshadowing Hyperbole Irony Metaphor (regular/extended) Onomatopoeia Paradox

15. Literary Devices: Terms to KNOW Personification Pun Refrain Repetition Simile Symbol Tone Understatement

16. Fiction: Terms to KNOW Chronological – story is arranged in order of time from beginning to end Epistolary Novel – novel written in the form of letters, journals, diary entries, letters etc. Frame Narrative – a story told within in a story In medias res – Latin for “in the middle of things” – the novel begins with a significant moment, this style uses flashbacks to fill in the details

17. Influences on American Literature • You will be asked to relate American Literature to the following: • Historical setting • Other works of fiction or nonfiction • Greek/Roman myths – roots of literature

18. Sample Question • What quote by Henry David Thoreau BEST reflects transcendentalist ideals? • It is never too late to give up your prejudices. • Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes. • On tops of mountains, as everywhere to hopeful souls, it is always morning. • Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.

19. Answer • C. On tops of mountains, as everywhere to hopeful souls, it is always morning. • Explanation – Transcendentalists believed in the unity of all things, the innate goodness of humans, and the divinity found in nature.

20. Sample Question • Which statement BEST describes a main difference between journals and diaries? • A journal is more likely than a diary to be published. • A journal mostly contains secret thoughts and feelings. • A diary mostly records a specific event or period of time. • A diary is more formal and carefully written than a journal.

21. Answer • A. A journal is more likely than a diary to be published. • Explanation: The other answers confuse the two genres. “A” is the only choice that correctly describes a main difference between journals and diaries. Because they are less private, journals are more likely to be shared with others.

22. Poetry: Terms to KNOW • Rhyme • End Rhyme • Internal Rhyme • Slant Rhyme • Consonance • Assonance • Rhyme Scheme • Fixed form • Free form • Blank verse

23. Poetry: Terms to KNOW • Subject matter Narrative – tells a story Ballad – narrative poem, folk origin, intended to be sung Lyric – expresses a person’s thoughts or feelings

24. Figurative Language: Terms to KNOW These types of figurative language are often found in poetry, but can be found in many genres of literature. • Allusion • Conceit • Metonymy • Synecdoche

25. Drama: Terms to KNOW Tragedy Comedy Political drama Modern drams Theatre of the Absurd Dramatic conventions Fourth Wall Expressionism Minimalism Dramatic Irony Stage directions

26. Standard 2 “Identifies, analyzes, and applies knowledge of theme in a work of American Literature and provides evidence from the work to support understanding.”

27. Terms and Idea to KNOW • Terms • Main idea • Theme • Universal theme • Big Ideas • American individualism • American dream • Cultural diversity • Tolerance

28. Native American Period, pre-1620-1840 • Based on oral tradition of songs and stories • Focuses on: • The natural world • The sacred world • Importance of land and place

29. Focuseson Lives of Puritans Moral and religious attitudes Historical events Daily life Political unrest Major Authors William Bradford Anne Bradstreet Jonathan Edwards Benjamin Franklin Colonial Period, 1620-1750

30. Focuses on: Intellect Age of Reason/Enlightenment Justification of the American Revolution Nationalism Patriotism Major Authors Thomas Paine Benjamin Franklin Thomas Franklin Revolutionary Period, 1750-1815

31. Focuses on: 1) Reason and rational thought Individualism Nature Imagination Emotions Major Authors: Washington Irving Nathaniel Hawthorne Edgar Allen Poe Walt Whitman Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David Thoreau Romanticism and Transcendentalism, 1800-1855

32. Focuses on: Realities of life Human frailty Regional cultures Major Authors: Mark Twain Ambrose Pierce Emily Dickinson Stephen Crane Willa Cather Realism, 1850-1900

33. Focuses on: Viewing life as a set of natural laws to be discovered Characters studied by their relations to their surroundings (luck, heredity, environment) Major Authors: Jack London Theodore Dreiser James T. Farrell Frank Norris Naturalism, 1880-1940

34. Focuses on: Disillusionment with old ways Themes of alienation Experiments with new techniques Irony, symbolism, understatement Harlem Renaissance Major authors: F. Scott Fitzgerald T.S. Eliot Ernest Hemingway Langston Hughes Zora Neale Hurston Modern Period, 1900-1950

35. Possible Questions on Literary Periods • Which detail from the passage informs the reader of the time period? • The poem is characteristic of which period in American Literature • Which characteristics of the Modern Period are found both in the story and the poem?

36. Identifying Style Devices • Example of style device: Tone—overall sense of author’s attitude toward the subject matter

37. What are the tones in the following excerpts? The woman trudged through the heavy snow, struggling against the wind, her face shielded by a thick gray scarf. She kept her face down, her eyelids nearly closed, dark slits in a pale white face. Her shoulders sagged as if laden with a heavy burden, yet her arms were empty. The woman danced across the snow, her feet barely leaving prints, her arms lifted upward, embracing the wind. She flung back her head and tossed her red hat into the air, lifting her face into the driving snow and allowing the snowflakes to caress her skin.

38. Identifying New Vocabulary Questions for this standard will ask you to understand and acquire new vocabulary terms that are appropriate fro high school students.

39. Identifying New Vocabulary, cont’d. Be familiar with the following terms: • Idioms: phrases or expressions peculiar to a particular language Example: A person who looks like the cat who swallowed a canary is satisfied with something that has happened. She has not literally swallowed a canary.

40. Identifying New Vocabulary, cont’d. • Cognates: words that have the same origin or are related in some way to words in other languages Example of Cognates: Night—English Noche—Spanish Nuit—French

41. Identifying New Vocabulary, cont’d. • Denotation—dictionary definition of a word • Connotation—meaning or idea associated with a word Examples of denotation and connotation: Laugh and giggle have similar denotations; however, the word giggle has youthful connotations. We associate “giggle” with children and not adults.

42. Content Domain IIVocabulary Your answers to the questions will help show how well you can perform on the following standards: • Acquire new vocabulary in each content area and use it correctly • Establish a context for information acquired by reading across subject areas • Evaluate the messages and effects of mass media

43. Read the following selection and try to figure out what the word truncated means. Everyone could tell it had once been a huge tree. The roots at its base were as large as a grown person. When the tree died, someone had used a chainsaw to cut away most of the tree. All that was left was a truncated stump of wood. The stump made a picnic table that could seat eight people around it comfortably

44. As it is used in this Paragraph , the word truncated most nearly means A modified B added C shortened D replaced

45. STRATEGY BOX – Use the Words Around It When you are faced with an unknown word, go back to the passage. Start reading two sentences before the word appears, and continue reading for two sentences afterwards. If that doesn’t give you enough clues, look elsewhere in the passage. By reading the context in which the word appears, you may be able to make an educated guess

46. How a word is used in a sentence can also determine its meaning. If the context of the word changes, the meaning of the word can also change. This change can be very basic, such as a word being used as a noun in one sentence and a verb in the next. Set as a noun: That is a lovely set of dinner plates. Set as a verb: Please set the books down on the table.

47. However, a change in meaning can be subtler. Look at the word shrieked in the next two sentences, and notice how the meaning of the word changes slightly. Sentence 1: “There’s a monster in the house!” the woman shrieked. Sentence 2: “I just won 65 million dollars!” the woman shrieked. In the first sentence, the woman shrieks out of fear. In the second sentence, the shriek is one of extreme excitement and happiness. The context of the sentence has determined whether the shriek is good or bad.

48. Items written for this standard will ask you to relate common human experiences to a given text. For example, a sample passage might be an excerpt from Sandra Cisneros’ The Houseo n Mango Street, which describes the coming of age of Esperanza, a young Hispanic girl trying to find her place in the Chicago neighborhood in which she lives. Thepassage might describe the incident when Esperanza tries to eat in the same eatery as the children who go to her school but who don’t live in her poor neighborhood. She discovers that she is not welcomed there and this makes her feel ashamed. A reader need not be a young Hispanic girl growing up in the barrios of Chicago to identify with Esperanza’s feelings of hurt.

49. Which life experience would MOST improve a reader’s ability to identify with the main character in the passage? A discrimination B misfortune C failure D disappointment A reader who has experienced any sort of discrimination could identify with the character in this story .Choice A is correct. It is the life experience most closely related to this excerpt.

50. STRATEGY BOX Empathize Good readers usually try to understand the characters better by empathizing, or identifying with their thoughts and feelings. Empathizing with the characters helps stories come alive, and it gives readers more insight into the motivations of the characters and how they influence each other