Your final exam is made up of two parts.
Part 1
Part 1 is multiple choice responses. The majority of this exam will have you reading 2-3 paragraph passages and answering questions about what you read.
Here are some areas for you focus on:
Proper usage of semi-colons and commas
How to use parallel structure in sentence writing
How to use absolute phrases
Proper capitalization and punctuation in MLA guidelines
You will also need to be able to do the following:
Determine what different passages imply (or mean) about the characters view
Determine the tone of a passage
Determine how to use words with negative or positive connotations
Identify the main idea of a passage
Identify the supporting details of a passage
Identify the conflict in a passage
Here are some tips to help you prepare for the final exam:
Go back through the lessons and make sure you have taken notes on important information
Visit your Grade Book – look at assignments or quizzes that you scored low on. Review what needed improvement and familiarize yourself with those concepts
As you take the final exam you will see that many of the questions require you to read a passage and then answer questions about the passage. You will answer questions about the tone, the author’s purpose, the character’s view, the main idea, supporting details, and different conflict.
You should take notes on the passages in the exam so you can make sure you are taking time to read and comprehend the passage completely.
Review your Pre-Tests. Your Module 1 and Module 2 Pre-tests are the CLOSEST to your Final Exam.
Part 2 Part 2 of the exam will require to you write a well- developed (3 paragraph) essay. You will be given a passage to read and will then be given a prompt to write your essay. Please take time to outline your essay on scratch paper and fully develop your ideas. You MUST pass both portions of the exam.
Resources:
Connotation and Denotation:
http://english.tutorvista.com/vocabulary/connotation-and-denotation.html http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-connotative-words.html
Comma and Semicolon: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/607/04/ http://theoatmeal.com/comics/semicolon
Absolute Phrases: http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/absolutephrase.htm - quick definition with examples http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shV0YrV4n3c- Youtube (part 1) 8 minute- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeLgJDCVmfA- Youtube (part 2) 6 minutes- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTVxUTmOAVE- http://people.ysu.edu/~tacopeland/Writing/Absolutes1.htm http://wps.ablongman.com/long_fowler_lbh_11/118/30443/7793432.cw/index.html- Parallel Sentence Structure: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/623/1/ MLA Formatting: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/02/ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/592/
Examples of questions you may see on the final: 1. Read the sentence below and answer the corresponding question. Jessica listened to her grieving friend with ______concern. Which word best completes the sentence? A) empathetically B) empathic
C) empathize
D) Empathy
2. Read the following and answer the question A Valentine" by Edgar Allan Poe For her this rhyme is penned whose luminous eyes, Brightly expressive as the twins of Leda, Shall find her own sweet name, that nestling lies Upon the page, enwrapped from every reader. Search narrowly the lines!—they hold a treasure Divine—a talisman—an amulet That must be worn at heart. Search well the measure— The words—the syllables! Do not forget The trivialest point, or you may lose your labor And yet there is in this no Gordian knot Which one might not undo without a sabre, If one could merely comprehend the plot. Enwritten upon the leaf where now are peering Eyes scintillating soul, there lie perdus Three eloquent words oft uttered in the hearing Of poets, by poets—as the name is a poet's, too, Its letters, although naturally lying Like the knight Pinto—Mendez Ferdinando— Still form a synonym for Truth—Cease trying! You will not read the riddle, though you do the best you can do. The poem says, "Search narrowly the lines!—they hold a treasure." Which word would best replace the word, "narrowly"? A) barely B) closely C) decreasingly D) thinly 3) Please read the passage and answer the question: from "EXTRICATING YOUNG GUSSIE" by P.G. Wodehouse She sprang it on me before breakfast. There in seven words you have a complete character sketch of my Aunt Agatha. I could go on indefinitely about brutality and lack of consideration. I merely say that she routed me out of bed to listen to her painful story somewhere in the small hours. It can't have been half past eleven when Jeeves, my man, woke me out of the dreamless and broke the news: 'Mrs Gregson to see you, sir.' I thought she must be walking in her sleep, but I crawled out of bed and got into a dressing-gown. I knew Aunt Agatha well enough to know that, if she had come to see me, she was going to see me. That's the sort of woman she is. She was sitting bolt upright in a chair, staring into space. When I came in she looked at me in that darn critical way that always makes me feel as if I had gelatin where my spine ought to be. Aunt Agatha is one of those strong-minded women. I should think Queen Elizabeth must have been something like her. She bosses her husband, Spencer Gregson, a battered little chappie on the Stock Exchange. She bosses my cousin, Gussie Mannering-Phipps. She bosses her sister-in-law, Gussie's mother. And, worst of all, she bosses me. She has an eye like a man-eating fish, and she has got moral suasion down to a fine point. I dare say there are fellows in the world—men of blood and iron, don't you know, and all that sort of thing—whom she couldn't intimidate; but if you're a chappie like me, fond of a quiet life, you simply curl into a ball when you see her coming, and hope for the best. My experience is that when Aunt Agatha wants you to do a thing you do it, or else you find yourself wondering why those fellows in the olden days made such a fuss when they had trouble with the Spanish Inquisition. 'Halloa, Aunt Agatha!' I said 'Bertie,' she said, 'you look a sight. You look perfectly dissipated.' I was feeling like a badly wrapped brown-paper parcel. I'm never at my best in the early morning. I said so. 'Early morning! I had breakfast three hours ago, and have been walking in the park ever since, trying to compose my thoughts.' If I ever breakfasted at half past eight I should walk on the Embankment, trying to end it all in a watery grave. 'I am extremely worried, Bertie. That is why I have come to you.' And then I saw she was going to start something, and I bleated weakly to Jeeves to bring me tea. But she had begun before I could get it. 'What are your immediate plans, Bertie?' 'Well, I rather thought of tottering out for a bite of lunch later on, and then possibly staggering round to the club, and after that, if I felt strong enough, I might trickle off to Walton Heath for a round of golf.' 'I am not interested in your totterings and tricklings. I mean, have you any important engagements in the next week or so?' I scented danger. 'Rather,' I said. 'Heaps! Millions! Booked solid!' 'What are they?' 'I—er—well, I don't quite know.' 'I thought as much. You have no engagements. Very well, then, I want you to start immediately for America.' 'America!' Do not lose sight of the fact that all this was taking place on an empty stomach, shortly after the rising of the lark. 'Yes, America. I suppose even you have heard of America?' 'But why America?' 'Because that is where your Cousin Gussie is. He is in New York, and I can't get at him.' 'What's Gussie been doing?' Gussie is making a perfect idiot of himself.' To one who knew young Gussie as well as I did, the words opened up a wide field for speculation. 'In what way?' 'He has lost his head over a creature.' On past performances this rang true. Which sentence best summarizes the central idea of this story? A) Bertie strongly dislikes his Aunt Agatha because she treats him poorly.
B) Aunt Agatha wishes Bertie to do something that he does not want to do. C) Gussie has fled to America to escape from the expectations of Bertie and Aunt Agatha. D) Jeeves resents being asked to perform chores for Bertie and his Aunt Agatha.
4. Which of these sentences uses a semicolon appropriately? A) Although the concert doesn't start for over an hour; most of the fans have already arrived at the concert hall. B) The concert doesn't start for over an hour; though, most of the fans have already arrived at the concert hall. C) Most of the fans have already arrived at the concert hall; however, the concert doesn't start for over an hour. D) Even though the concert doesn't start for over an hour; however, most of the fans have already arrived at the concert hall.
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow. Preface to Buddhism and Buddhists in China A missionary no less than a professional student of Buddhism needs to approach that religion with a real appreciation of what it aims to do for its people and does do. No one can come into contact with the best that Buddhism offers without being impressed by its serenity, assurance and power.
Professor Hodous has written this volume on Buddhism in China out of the ripe experience and continuing studies of sixteen years of missionary service in Foochow, the chief city of Fukien Province, China, one of the important centers of Buddhism. His local studies were supplemented by the results of broader research and study in northern China. No other available writer on the subject has gone so far as he in reproducing the actual thinking of a trained Buddhist mind in regard to the fundamentals of religion. At the same time he has taken pains to exhibit and to interpret the religious life of the peasant as affected by Buddhism. He has sought to be absolutely fair to Buddhism, but still to express his own conviction that the best that is in Buddhism is given far more adequate expression in Christianity. The purpose of each volume in this series is impressionistic rather than definitely educational. They are not textbooks for the formal study of Buddhism, but introductions to its study. They aim to kindle interest and to direct the activity of the awakened student along sound lines. For further study each volume amply provides through directions and literature in the appendices. It seeks to help the student to discriminate, to think in terms of a devotee of Buddhism when he compares that religion with Christianity. It assumes, however, that Christianity is the broader and deeper revelation of God and the world of today.
Buddhism in China undoubtedly includes among its adherents many high-minded, devout, and earnest souls who live an idealistic life. Christianity ought to make a strong appeal to such minds, taking from them none of the joy or assurance or devotion which they possess, but promoting a deeper, better balanced interpretation of the active world, a nobler conception of God, a stronger sense of sinfulness and need, and a truer idea of the full meaning of incarnation and revelation.
5. In the first paragraph, why does the author write that Buddhism has "serenity, assurance and power"? A) He wants to convince readers that Buddhism is worth studying.
B) He wants to convince readers that Buddhism is a daunting subject. C) He wants to show that Buddhists are worthy opponents.
D) He wants to show that Buddhists consider themselves important.
6. Which phrase best describes the tone of this passage? A) Enthusiastic but skeptical
B) Matter-of-fact but impressed
C) Neutral but concerned
D) Supportive but doubtful
7. The author of this passage has which opinion of the volume written by Professor Hodous? A) It can be used as an authoritative source on Chinese culture.
B) It can give Christian readers insight into Buddhist beliefs and practices.
C) It is better than the volumes written by other historians.
D) It is biased because of Hodous's Christian beliefs.
8. Read the following short passage and answer the question that follows. Last year, I signed up for a study-abroad summer program, and I went to Ireland. In a word, that summer was epic. I finally saw the country where my grandparents were born, I walked on the Cliffs of Moher, and I saw the ancient Book of Kells. It was the trip of a lifetime.
Which word, if substituted for "epic" in the passage above, would best retain the meaning of the passage? A) Arduous
B) Eternal
C) Tepid
D) Unforgettable 9. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson Part 2 It chanced on one of these rambles that their way led them down a by-street in a busy quarter of London. The street was small and what is called quiet, but it drove a thriving trade on the week-days. The inhabitants were all doing well, it seemed, and all emulously hoping to do better still, and laying out the surplus of their gains in coquetry; so that the shop fronts stood along that thoroughfare with an air of invitation, like rows of smiling saleswomen. Even on Sunday, when it veiled its more florid charms and lay comparatively empty of passage, the street shone out in contrast to its dingy neighbourhood, like a fire in a forest; and with its freshly painted shutters, well-polished brasses, and general cleanliness and gaiety of note, instantly caught and pleased the eye of the passenger. Two doors from one corner, on the left hand going east, the line was broken by the entry of a court; and just at that point, a certain sinister block of building thrust forward its gable on the street. It was two stories high; showed no window, nothing but a door on the lower story and a blind forehead of discoloured wall on the upper; and bore in every feature, the marks of prolonged and sordid negligence. The door, which was equipped with neither bell nor knocker, was blistered and distained. Tramps slouched into the recess and struck matches on the panels; children kept shop upon the steps; the schoolboy had tried his knife on the mouldings; and for close on a generation, no one had appeared to drive away these random visitors or to repair their ravages.
What was the author's main point about the street in the first paragraph?
A) Hardly any people do their shopping on the street. B) All the businesses on the street are open on Sunday.
C) The street is much poorer than the surrounding posh neighborhood.
D) The street is much busier and brighter than its surrounding neighborhood. Answer Key: 1) B 2) B 3) B 4) C 5) A 6) B 7) B 8) D 9) D