th 6 grade Language Arts Semester Exam Review

th 6 grade Language Arts Semester Exam Review

Conflict • Definition: struggle • 2 types of conflict: • A. Internal (a character’s struggle within his/her own heart and mind- with an emotion, feeling, choice, decision) • B. External (a character’s struggle with an outside force- another person, society, or nature)

Elements of FICTION: the things that are present in fictional stories • 1. Characters: people in the story • 2. Setting: the time & place the story happens • 3. Plot: the events that make up a story: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution • 4. Theme: the general message about life in the story • 5. Point of View: who is telling the story?

Parts of a Plot • Exposition: the introduction of the characters, setting, and basic situation • Rising action: events that lead to the climax • Climax: point of greatest excitement or tension • Falling action: events that follow the climax • Resolution: the final outcome of the story (how things end up)

Point of View: determines the narrator & how much the reader knows v v 1 st person point of view: Narrator is a character IN the story. Uses the word “I” to refer to himself or herself Narrator cannot tell us what other characters think or feel. Narrator only knows what he/she directly sees , hears, or is told. Example: I was minding my own business when Mom burst in. “What’s with you? ” I grumbled. Example: an eyewitness account of a crime (“I saw……. . ”)

3 rd person point of view: vhe said / she said v. Uses words such as “he”, “she”, “they” v. The narrator is NOT a character in the story. v 3 rd person is an outsider’s point of view.

Theme • The general message about life in a story • Can be stated in a single sentence • Think of bumper sticker type slogans or sayings Try to identify a theme for the stories we have read!

Figurative Language • Simile (not SMILE): a comparison between two unlike things using the words “like” or “as” (example: He eats LIKE a pig. ) • Metaphor: a direct comparison between two unlike things (example: Her skin is pure silk).

Fiction & Nonfiction • Fiction: a work of fiction contains one or more made up elements (example: a novel or short story) • Nonfiction: a work of fiction based entirely on facts and true information that can be verified (example: a textbook, newspaper article, encyclopedia entry, biography)

Capitalization • Capitalize the word “I” • Capitalize the first word of every sentence • Capitalize all proper nouns (example: Cindy, New York, Atlanta Museum of Art, Redstone Avenue, Shoal River Middle School)

Apostrophe • Use apostrophes in contractions (the apostrophe takes the place of the letter or letters you remove to combine two words). Example: can not= can’t; have not = haven’t • Use apostrophes to show possession or ownership. (Example: That is my dog’s bowl. Tom’s book is lost).

Common Errors • Its and It’s: only use it’s if you are trying to say IT IS (example: Which is correct? My dog wags its/it’s tail. ) • Your and You’re: only use you’re if you are trying to say YOU ARE (example: Which is correct? I am going to your/you’re house today. Sally said your/you’re going to be home after 3: 00.

Determining meaning of unknown words • When you encounter an unfamiliar word, it is most helpful to use CONTEXT CLUES • Context clues are hints as to the meaning of a word • Context clues might be found in the same sentence, or in a nearby sentence (reread sentence before and after the word to find clues) • Example: • The woman gingerly carried the delicate china across the room. She wanted to be very careful not to break it.

Punctuating Titles • Title of a short work: use quotation marks • Title of a long work: underline • **never use BOTH underlining AND quotation marks (one OR the other) • **Capitalize the first word & all important words in a title (do not capitalize a, an, or the unless they are the 1 st word of title)

Synonyms & Antonyms • Synonym: a word that means the same, or nearly the same, as another word (example: hurriedly & quickly) • Antonym: a word that means the opposite of another word (example: quickly & slowly)

Main Idea • Ask yourself: what is the POINT? • Main Idea of a nonfiction passage is similar to theme in a fictional story: what is the big idea or main point? • Hint: often the TITLE of a nonfiction passage can give a hint as to the main idea • Ask yourself: what is the passage MOSTLY about? What is the BIG IDEA or POINT of the whole passage? • Don’t confuse a DETAIL with the MAIN IDEA- details are just support for the main idea (examples, etc…. )