SOL REVIEW

Are you ready?

Test Format

Expect around 60 multiple choice questions You will be given passages that could

include stories, scenes from a play, research papers, personal essays, and “real-life” literature—bus schedules, job applications, scholarship information

There is a big focus on nonfiction this year—so pay attention to it because the majority of questions will come from this genre.

Format cont.

You will be asked questions about specific parts of the passages, as well as overall information (i.e. theme, mood, tone)

There will be questions about what words mean—look for context clues

There will also be questions that will bank on you not paying attention—”all of the following, except”

But, don’t worry!

You know how to handle these questions. Take your time reading each question. Look over the questions before you read the

passage Use the scrap paper you are given to take

notes on what to look for—if you can get an answer in your head before you have to look at your choices, you will have a better shot at narrowing down your options

Read actively—highlight the passage as you go

Test-taking strategies continued: If you come across a word that you don’t know,

try to do some word association. If it asks you if the piece is an expository essay and you have no idea what that means, break down the word.

Expository—looks like expose—expose means to reveal—this essays is one that explains or reveals.

You are an intelligent person—chances are you will be able to figure the word out this way.

PAY ATTENTION!

With the new TEIs, you will need to pay particular attention to what you are asked. Use the highlighter tool and mark how many items you are asked to find.

If the question asks you to identify three items, you must find three! If you don’t, the question will be considered wrong and there is no partial credit. Don’t lose dumb points because you didn’t pay attention.

Let’s review some helpful ideas to remember:

Theme

The central idea or message of a work. Ways to identify theme:

Look at the title of the story Look for key phrases and sentences—what

do they tell you about the story Look for big ideas present—freedom, love,

friendship—and see how they play out Look for how the character changes or what

they learn—the author probably wants you to feel the same way

Symbol

Anything that represents itself and also stands for something else.

Common symbols: Seasons: spring to winter = life cycle Colors: if there is a focus on something’s

color, it is important Day to night = life cycle Storms—tension/conflict

Figurative Language

Language that communicates ideas beyond the literal meaning of words.

Most common types: simile, metaphor, personification, and hyperbole

Details

Concrete: details and evidence that relates to the topic being written about The leaves covered the lawn and made small

tornados as the wind picked them up and blew them into the street.

Descriptive: a sensory description The Amazon-like woman with the golden skin

and the blood-red dress that sparkled like the night sky stood next to the exit sign that projected a yellow halo of light around her perfectly coifed hair.

Types of Writing

Satire: a work that targets human vices or social institutions in an effort to reform or ridicule

Parody: a work that closely imitates the style or content of another with specific intention of comic effect or ridicule

Types of Writing cont.

Allegory: Device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning

Narrative: the telling of a story or an account of an event or series of events

Tone

The author’s attitude toward his/her material, the audience, or both It helps to look at the author’s word choice to

determine how they feel about the subject.

So, how does atmosphere differ? Atmosphere is the emotional mood created

by the entirety of the work. It is established partly by setting and partly by the author’s choice of objects that are described

Point of View

1st person—uses I 2nd person—uses you 3rd person

Limited—narrator stands outside of the action

Omniscient—narrator is all knowing

Looking for context clues

There will be several questions that will ask you to figure out what a word means. To do this, you have to look for context clues.

The context is the other words and sentences that are around the new word. When you figure out the meaning of a word from context, you are making a guess about what the word means.

Context clues cont.

So, what do you look for? Look for words within the sentence that

functions as synonyms or antonyms for the word in question

Substitute in the answer options and see which one sounds like it fits in the sentence.

So, let’s review…

What am I?

I am so tired from all of my tests that I think I could sleep for two days.

HYPERBOLE

What Am I?

The boom from the blasting near our school shook the walls.

Onomatopoeia

What Am I?

We walked together through the forest, we talked about our future, and we kissed goodbye until we could meet again.

Parallelism

What Am I?

The clock laughed at me as I longed for its long arms to move faster so I could leave school.

Personification

What Am I?

“…power and liberty are like heat and moisture…”

Simile

What Am I?

Her hatred is the knife that slays my heart.

Metaphor

What Am I?

“They lived in a forlorn-looking house that stood alone and had an air of starvation. A few struggling savin trees, emblems of sterility, grew near it; no smoke ever curled from its chimney…”

Imagery

What Am I?

He worked hard at being lazy.

Paradox

What Am I?

When Grandma couldn’t take care of herself, we brought her to a rest home.

Euphemism

What Am I?

"I violated the Noah rule: predicting rain doesn't count; building arks does."

(Warren Buffett)

Allusion

Remember:

RELAX! You know this and you will be fine!

ANSWER EVERY QUESTION!Read each question carefullyNarrow down your answer choices—then guess if you have to