Praxis Middle School ELA cheat sheet

Point of view: first person uses I/we and gives access to one narrator's mind; third-person limited reports only one character's thoughts; third-person omniscient reports all characters' thoughts; second person addresses the reader as 'you' and is rare in fiction.

Figurative language quick check: simile uses like/as, metaphor states one thing is another, personification gives human traits to nonhuman things, hyperbole is deliberate exaggeration, understatement downplays what is actually large.

Three ironies to distinguish: verbal irony (speaker means the opposite of what is said), situational irony (outcome reverses expectation), dramatic irony (audience knows what characters do not).

Informational text structures and their signal words: chronological/sequence (first, then, finally), cause-effect (because, therefore, as a result), compare-contrast (similarly, unlike, whereas), problem-solution (issue, remedy), description (feature lists).

Characterization is direct when the narrator states traits outright; it is indirect when traits emerge through speech, thoughts, effect on others, actions, and looks (STEAL).

Conflict types: person vs. self, person vs. person, person vs. nature, person vs. society, person vs. fate/supernatural.

Poetry terms: stanza is a grouped set of lines; iambic pentameter is five iambs (ten syllables) per line with unstressed-then-stressed beats; enjambment runs a sentence past the line break; caesura is a mid-line pause.

Theme differs from main idea and topic: topic is the subject, main idea is the specific point a passage makes about that subject, and theme is a general insight about life or human nature carried by a literary work.

An allusion is a brief, unexplained reference to a well-known person, text, event, or work; it functions only if the reader shares the background knowledge, so allusions compress meaning rather than explain it.

The eight parts of speech are noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection; a word's part of speech depends on its function in a specific sentence, not on the word alone.

Phrase vs. clause: a clause contains a subject and a predicate; a phrase does not. An independent clause expresses a complete thought, while a dependent clause begins with a subordinator (although, because, which) and cannot stand alone.

Sentence structures: simple = one independent clause; compound = two or more independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction, semicolon, or conjunctive adverb; complex = one independent plus at least one dependent clause; compound-complex = both.

Sentence purposes: declarative states, interrogative asks, imperative commands (subject 'you' is implied), exclamatory expresses strong feeling; only declarative and imperative typically end with a period.

Passive voice = a form of 'be' or 'get' plus a past participle, with the receiver of the action as subject; it is preferred when the actor is unknown or unimportant, and it weakens prose when the actor matters.

Verbals look like verbs but act as other parts of speech: gerunds (-ing) act as nouns, participles (-ing or -ed/-en) act as adjectives, and infinitives (to + verb) act as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs.

A modifier is misplaced when it sits too far from the word it describes and dangling when the word it should modify is absent from the sentence, as in 'Walking to school, the rain started.'

Semicolons join two independent clauses without a conjunction or separate list items that already contain commas; colons follow an independent clause to introduce a list, explanation, or quotation; commas set off nonrestrictive (nonessential) clauses and phrases.

Morphology: prefixes attach before a root and shift meaning (un-, re-, pre-, anti-), suffixes attach after and often change part of speech (-ness, -ify, -ous); common roots include bene- (good), mal- (bad), chron- (time), phon- (sound), graph- (write).

Semantic change categories: broadening expands meaning, narrowing restricts it, amelioration improves connotation, pejoration worsens it; these explain why cognates and older texts use words differently than modern usage does.

The three rhetorical appeals: ethos builds the writer's credibility and goodwill, pathos engages the audience's emotions and values, and logos relies on evidence and reasoning; strong arguments usually combine all three rather than using one alone.

Toulmin argument structure: claim (the assertion), grounds (evidence), warrant (the assumption linking evidence to claim), backing (support for the warrant), qualifier (limits such as 'usually'), and rebuttal (response to counterarguments).

Classical oration arrangement: exordium (introduction and hook), narratio (background), partitio (division of points), confirmatio (proof), refutatio (counterargument), peroratio (conclusion and call to action).

The four modes of discourse are exposition (explains), description (renders sensory detail), narration (tells a sequence of events), and argumentation/persuasion (takes a position and defends it); most real texts blend modes.

Common organizational patterns and their uses: chronological for processes and narratives, spatial for physical description, order of importance for persuasion, compare-contrast for evaluating options, cause-effect for explaining outcomes, problem-solution for proposals.

A thesis must be arguable, specific, and defensible in one sentence; a factual statement or an announcement of topic ('This essay will discuss...') is not a thesis because it makes no claim a reader could contest.

Body paragraph architecture: topic sentence stating a claim, evidence introduced and cited, commentary explaining how the evidence supports the claim, and a closing or transitional sentence linking to the next point.

Frequent fallacies to identify: ad hominem (attacks the person), straw man (misstates the opposition), false dilemma (only two options), slippery slope (unproven chain of consequences), hasty generalization (too few cases), post hoc (assumes sequence proves cause), bandwagon (popularity as proof), red herring (irrelevant diversion), circular reasoning (restates the claim as proof).

MLA in-text citation format is the author's last name plus page number with no punctuation between them, e.g., (Morrison 42); Works Cited entries are alphabetized by author's last name with a hanging indent.

Point of view: first person uses I/we and gives access to one narrator's mind; third-person limited reports only one character's thoughts; third-person omniscient reports all characters' thoughts; second person addresses the reader as 'you' and is rare in fiction.

Figurative language quick check: simile uses like/as, metaphor states one thing is another, personification gives human traits to nonhuman things, hyperbole is deliberate exaggeration, understatement downplays what is actually large.

Three ironies to distinguish: verbal irony (speaker means the opposite of what is said), situational irony (outcome reverses expectation), dramatic irony (audience knows what characters do not).

Informational text structures and their signal words: chronological/sequence (first, then, finally), cause-effect (because, therefore, as a result), compare-contrast (similarly, unlike, whereas), problem-solution (issue, remedy), description (feature lists).

Characterization is direct when the narrator states traits outright; it is indirect when traits emerge through speech, thoughts, effect on others, actions, and looks (STEAL).

Conflict types: person vs. self, person vs. person, person vs. nature, person vs. society, person vs. fate/supernatural.

Poetry terms: stanza is a grouped set of lines; iambic pentameter is five iambs (ten syllables) per line with unstressed-then-stressed beats; enjambment runs a sentence past the line break; caesura is a mid-line pause.

Theme differs from main idea and topic: topic is the subject, main idea is the specific point a passage makes about that subject, and theme is a general insight about life or human nature carried by a literary work.

An allusion is a brief, unexplained reference to a well-known person, text, event, or work; it functions only if the reader shares the background knowledge, so allusions compress meaning rather than explain it.

The eight parts of speech are noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection; a word's part of speech depends on its function in a specific sentence, not on the word alone.

Phrase vs. clause: a clause contains a subject and a predicate; a phrase does not. An independent clause expresses a complete thought, while a dependent clause begins with a subordinator (although, because, which) and cannot stand alone.

Sentence structures: simple = one independent clause; compound = two or more independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction, semicolon, or conjunctive adverb; complex = one independent plus at least one dependent clause; compound-complex = both.

Sentence purposes: declarative states, interrogative asks, imperative commands (subject 'you' is implied), exclamatory expresses strong feeling; only declarative and imperative typically end with a period.

Passive voice = a form of 'be' or 'get' plus a past participle, with the receiver of the action as subject; it is preferred when the actor is unknown or unimportant, and it weakens prose when the actor matters.

Verbals look like verbs but act as other parts of speech: gerunds (-ing) act as nouns, participles (-ing or -ed/-en) act as adjectives, and infinitives (to + verb) act as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs.

A modifier is misplaced when it sits too far from the word it describes and dangling when the word it should modify is absent from the sentence, as in 'Walking to school, the rain started.'

Semicolons join two independent clauses without a conjunction or separate list items that already contain commas; colons follow an independent clause to introduce a list, explanation, or quotation; commas set off nonrestrictive (nonessential) clauses and phrases.

Morphology: prefixes attach before a root and shift meaning (un-, re-, pre-, anti-), suffixes attach after and often change part of speech (-ness, -ify, -ous); common roots include bene- (good), mal- (bad), chron- (time), phon- (sound), graph- (write).

Semantic change categories: broadening expands meaning, narrowing restricts it, amelioration improves connotation, pejoration worsens it; these explain why cognates and older texts use words differently than modern usage does.

The three rhetorical appeals: ethos builds the writer's credibility and goodwill, pathos engages the audience's emotions and values, and logos relies on evidence and reasoning; strong arguments usually combine all three rather than using one alone.

Toulmin argument structure: claim (the assertion), grounds (evidence), warrant (the assumption linking evidence to claim), backing (support for the warrant), qualifier (limits such as 'usually'), and rebuttal (response to counterarguments).

Classical oration arrangement: exordium (introduction and hook), narratio (background), partitio (division of points), confirmatio (proof), refutatio (counterargument), peroratio (conclusion and call to action).

The four modes of discourse are exposition (explains), description (renders sensory detail), narration (tells a sequence of events), and argumentation/persuasion (takes a position and defends it); most real texts blend modes.

Common organizational patterns and their uses: chronological for processes and narratives, spatial for physical description, order of importance for persuasion, compare-contrast for evaluating options, cause-effect for explaining outcomes, problem-solution for proposals.

A thesis must be arguable, specific, and defensible in one sentence; a factual statement or an announcement of topic ('This essay will discuss...') is not a thesis because it makes no claim a reader could contest.

Body paragraph architecture: topic sentence stating a claim, evidence introduced and cited, commentary explaining how the evidence supports the claim, and a closing or transitional sentence linking to the next point.

Frequent fallacies to identify: ad hominem (attacks the person), straw man (misstates the opposition), false dilemma (only two options), slippery slope (unproven chain of consequences), hasty generalization (too few cases), post hoc (assumes sequence proves cause), bandwagon (popularity as proof), red herring (irrelevant diversion), circular reasoning (restates the claim as proof).

MLA in-text citation format is the author's last name plus page number with no punctuation between them, e.g., (Morrison 42); Works Cited entries are alphabetized by author's last name with a hanging indent.

Point of view: first person uses I/we and gives access to one narrator's mind; third-person limited reports only one character's thoughts; third-person omniscient reports all characters' thoughts; second person addresses the reader as 'you' and is rare in fiction.

Figurative language quick check: simile uses like/as, metaphor states one thing is another, personification gives human traits to nonhuman things, hyperbole is deliberate exaggeration, understatement downplays what is actually large.

Three ironies to distinguish: verbal irony (speaker means the opposite of what is said), situational irony (outcome reverses expectation), dramatic irony (audience knows what characters do not).

Informational text structures and their signal words: chronological/sequence (first, then, finally), cause-effect (because, therefore, as a result), compare-contrast (similarly, unlike, whereas), problem-solution (issue, remedy), description (feature lists).

Characterization is direct when the narrator states traits outright; it is indirect when traits emerge through speech, thoughts, effect on others, actions, and looks (STEAL).

Conflict types: person vs. self, person vs. person, person vs. nature, person vs. society, person vs. fate/supernatural.

Poetry terms: stanza is a grouped set of lines; iambic pentameter is five iambs (ten syllables) per line with unstressed-then-stressed beats; enjambment runs a sentence past the line break; caesura is a mid-line pause.

Theme differs from main idea and topic: topic is the subject, main idea is the specific point a passage makes about that subject, and theme is a general insight about life or human nature carried by a literary work.

An allusion is a brief, unexplained reference to a well-known person, text, event, or work; it functions only if the reader shares the background knowledge, so allusions compress meaning rather than explain it.

The eight parts of speech are noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection; a word's part of speech depends on its function in a specific sentence, not on the word alone.

Phrase vs. clause: a clause contains a subject and a predicate; a phrase does not. An independent clause expresses a complete thought, while a dependent clause begins with a subordinator (although, because, which) and cannot stand alone.

Sentence structures: simple = one independent clause; compound = two or more independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction, semicolon, or conjunctive adverb; complex = one independent plus at least one dependent clause; compound-complex = both.

Sentence purposes: declarative states, interrogative asks, imperative commands (subject 'you' is implied), exclamatory expresses strong feeling; only declarative and imperative typically end with a period.

Passive voice = a form of 'be' or 'get' plus a past participle, with the receiver of the action as subject; it is preferred when the actor is unknown or unimportant, and it weakens prose when the actor matters.

Verbals look like verbs but act as other parts of speech: gerunds (-ing) act as nouns, participles (-ing or -ed/-en) act as adjectives, and infinitives (to + verb) act as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs.

A modifier is misplaced when it sits too far from the word it describes and dangling when the word it should modify is absent from the sentence, as in 'Walking to school, the rain started.'

Semicolons join two independent clauses without a conjunction or separate list items that already contain commas; colons follow an independent clause to introduce a list, explanation, or quotation; commas set off nonrestrictive (nonessential) clauses and phrases.

Morphology: prefixes attach before a root and shift meaning (un-, re-, pre-, anti-), suffixes attach after and often change part of speech (-ness, -ify, -ous); common roots include bene- (good), mal- (bad), chron- (time), phon- (sound), graph- (write).

Semantic change categories: broadening expands meaning, narrowing restricts it, amelioration improves connotation, pejoration worsens it; these explain why cognates and older texts use words differently than modern usage does.

The three rhetorical appeals: ethos builds the writer's credibility and goodwill, pathos engages the audience's emotions and values, and logos relies on evidence and reasoning; strong arguments usually combine all three rather than using one alone.

Toulmin argument structure: claim (the assertion), grounds (evidence), warrant (the assumption linking evidence to claim), backing (support for the warrant), qualifier (limits such as 'usually'), and rebuttal (response to counterarguments).

Classical oration arrangement: exordium (introduction and hook), narratio (background), partitio (division of points), confirmatio (proof), refutatio (counterargument), peroratio (conclusion and call to action).

The four modes of discourse are exposition (explains), description (renders sensory detail), narration (tells a sequence of events), and argumentation/persuasion (takes a position and defends it); most real texts blend modes.

Common organizational patterns and their uses: chronological for processes and narratives, spatial for physical description, order of importance for persuasion, compare-contrast for evaluating options, cause-effect for explaining outcomes, problem-solution for proposals.

A thesis must be arguable, specific, and defensible in one sentence; a factual statement or an announcement of topic ('This essay will discuss...') is not a thesis because it makes no claim a reader could contest.

Body paragraph architecture: topic sentence stating a claim, evidence introduced and cited, commentary explaining how the evidence supports the claim, and a closing or transitional sentence linking to the next point.

Frequent fallacies to identify: ad hominem (attacks the person), straw man (misstates the opposition), false dilemma (only two options), slippery slope (unproven chain of consequences), hasty generalization (too few cases), post hoc (assumes sequence proves cause), bandwagon (popularity as proof), red herring (irrelevant diversion), circular reasoning (restates the claim as proof).

MLA in-text citation format is the author's last name plus page number with no punctuation between them, e.g., (Morrison 42); Works Cited entries are alphabetized by author's last name with a hanging indent.