Test-Taking Tips

question stems & answer options

• look at the beginning phrase in the choices because those must match with the ? stem

• beware: do not mix up cause & effect

• know difference between text structures & types

general - specific

• know the difference between general & specific

  • • general is a broad umbrella-like term

    • specific refers to items that would be listed under the general term

• example

  • • fruit is general

    • strawberry is specific

• supporting details act in the same way

  • • there is a main idea - general

    • the supporting idea provides specifics to back-up that broad idea

    • sometimes the test will ask you in reverse, like WHY is a statement supporting a main idea - you have to pick the main idea, not another detail

    • this gets tricky & my students typically struggle on these types of ?s because they mix-up the terms

context clue

• use the context clues

• con means "with" so look at what is with the word in the sentence to figure out the meaning of a word

• we've practiced this a lot from day one, so you should know that it means to look for a clue word/phrase near a new word to figure out its meaning -- that's why they are clues

• you've written sentences w/out putting in the meaning but providing a hint as to what it is - that is a context clue

• when you do matching vocab to a sentence in which it fits - you naturally look for a hint, a clue, as to why it fits

confusing terminology

• • figures of speech & sounds of language 

    • • on the state test, they might be combined to the general term figurative language (even though I separate them into the 2 categories)

      • So what does this mean for you?

        • • if it's asking a figure of speech and it is clearly onomatopoeia & none of the other answers make sense, then you know that's what it is (even though technically, it is a sound of language)

      • be sure you know the slight difference between a simile & a metaphor

  • an analogy

    • • it can be referring to an extended metaphor (like the dandelions poem)

      • or it could be an actual formula-type analogy like this

        • • salt : white :: pepper : black

          • basketball : court :: swimming :: pool

  • idiom

    • • a phrase that's a figure of speech that is not to be taken literally

      • when you take each word from it, the phrase means something totally different than when you take the individual words apart & derive meaning

      • example
        we creamed them

        • • this means we beat them really bad - not that we turned them into gravy

          • but the big win is like we turned them into nothing - and that's what it means

• bias

  • favoring something or having a strong dislike for something in such a way that it impacts the person in producing a fair evaluation of it

  • example

    • you cannot stand basketball, so even if players are good at it, you cannot respect their abilities because you despise the sport; therefore, you have a bias against the sport and the players

• language device

  • this could refer to any creative writing term or a figure of speech or sound of language