Select the above link to go directly to the GA Department of Education website for a full study guide.
Below you will find a list of expectations - what all students need to know to be successful on the test.
Domain tasks: identifying main ideas, citing text evidence, making inferences, determining themes and central ideas, determining the impact of of the author’s choices on structure and meaning.
Related vocabulary skills: understanding meanings of words and phrases, understanding figurative and connotative meanings, analyzing word choice, distinguishing multiple meanings.
genre
A genre is a specific type of writing or literature.
Each genre has a particular style, form, and content. Writing genres include: narrative, expository, opinion, and argumentative writing. Literature genres include fiction, nonfiction, informational, biographies, autobiographies, histories, science fiction, drama, and poetry.
Character development (characterization)
An author may reveal a character through the character’s thoughts, words, appearance, and actions, or through what other characters say or think. An author may also tell us directly what the character is like. Examining the characters and how they interact with each other is a key element to understanding a piece of literature.
Direct and Indirect Characterization
Common question types:
Who is the main character? What words describe this character’s personality traits? • Who are the minor characters? What roles do they play? • How is one character similar to or different from another? • How is the main character involved in the conflict?
Direct characterization occurs when the reader is told what a character is like; a speaker or narrator describes what he or she thinks about a character.
Indirect characterization occurs when a reader must infer what a character is like; the text provides clues through the character’s words, thoughts, or actions or through other characters’ words, thoughts, or actions, but there is no evaluation or explanation from a narrator.
Setting
Common question types
Why is the setting important in this text? How does the setting affect the interpretation of a text?
When and where a narrative (story, drama, or poem) takes place. Setting establishes the context for the literary work.
The setting can clarify conflict, illuminate character, affect the mood, and act as a symbol.
Plot
Terms to review:
Chronological structure
exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution (or denouement)
Author’s use of time
Foreshadowing
Flashback
Conflict
Types of conflict: internal and external
Conflict creates instability or uncertainty. The characters’ need to find resolution and answers is what drives the story forward.
• person vs. person • person vs. nature
• person vs. self • person vs. society
• person vs. machine
Point of View
(who is telling the story)
First Person POV
events are told by a character in the story using his or her own words. Narrators who use I, me, and my throughout the story.
Second Person POV
a narrator addresses the reader directly using the word you. Not as common as either the first- or third-person points of view.
Third-Person Limited
A speaker outside the action narrates the events using the third person pronouns (he, she, they). Narrator tells the events from the perspective of one specific character, focusing on this character’s thoughts and feelings.
Third-Person Omniscient
A speaker outside the action narrates the events. In the omniscient third-person point of view, an all-knowing narrator not only tells what happens, but also may interpret events and describe the thoughts and feelings of any character.
Tone - formal, casual, sarcastic, objective, lively, mocking, playful, sentimental, critical
Tone is the author’s implied attitude toward the audience or subject. Established by the author through diction (word choice), syntax (the order in which words are placed), and rhetoric (language choices and techniques used to communicate perspective and to modify the perspectives of others). Tone can apply to a text as a whole or to a portion of the text.
Mood
(sometimes called atmosphere)
-dreamy, mellow, violent,
peaceful, ominous, futile,
joyous, tense, empty, comforting, uncomfortable
The overall feeling or emotion the author establishes by the choice of words and language, the actions of the characters, and the setting. Mood is sometimes confused with tone. Tone is the attitude a writer puts into a subject; mood is the feeling the reader experiences from it.
Theme
- the deeper message of a text
Refers to a universal statement about life and/or society that can be discerned from the reading of a text.
The theme of a literary work is often the meaning you take away from it. The theme is not the same as the topic, which focuses strictly on the content. The theme is also not the same as the plot. Most literary works have one or more themes that are expressed through the plot.
Imagery
(language that appeals to the senses)
Imagery invites the reader to experience what the author is describing.
Symbolism
Symbols are created when writers use language to express something more than the literal meaning of the words. A symbol is an object, person, event, or animal something that stands for something else. For example, an eagle may symbolize freedom.
Terms related to the Drama Genre
Tragedy
a serious play that ends in disaster and sorrow
Comedy
a lighthearted play intended to amuse the audience
-- Comedies usually end happily.
Political Drama
A drama or play with a political component, advocating a certain point of view or describing a political event
Modern Drama
Like all modern literature, explores themes of alienation and disconnectedness. Modern drama, which became popular in the early 1900s, strives to let the audience feel as if it is peering in on real-life situations and experiencing real-life emotions.
Theatre of the Absurd
Refers to plays written in the 1950s and 1960s with the basic belief that human existence is absurd, or without meaning. The play itself often lacks the usual conventions of plot, character, or setting. Edward Albee’s The American Dream (1960) is considered the first American absurdist drama.
Dramatic conventions
Rules that actors and audience observe during a play. Some conventions relate to how the audience and the actors interact. For example, the audience knows to become quiet when the lights dim.
Dramatic irony
Situations in which the audience knows more than the character onstage. A character does or says something of greater importance than he or she knows. The audience, however, is aware of the meaning and importance of the act or speech.
Dialogue
Dialogue is the conversation between characters. Dialogue reveals the personalities of the characters by divulging what they are thinking and feeling as they talk to others.
Monologue
A long speech by one character in which the character speaks about his or her thoughts and feelings.
Terms related to the Poetry Genre
Question types will ask students to identify and demonstrate an understanding of literary elements, devices, and structures that are particular to poetry.
Sound Devices
Rhyme
- the 6 types of rhyme are listed next
The repetition of terminal sounds in two or more words. Rhyme can occur at every line, every other line, or wherever the poet decides. Not all poems rhyme, nor do they have to, but rhyme can emphasize ideas or images and unify thoughts, as well as add a musical quality to a poem.
end rhyme
End rhymes occur at the ends of lines of poetry. It is the most common type of rhyme.
internal rhyme
Internal rhymes occur within a line of poetry.
slant rhyme
Slant rhymes occur when words include similar, but not identical, sounds. They are also called near rhyme, half rhyme, or off rhyme.
assonance
Words that have similar consonant sounds, but different vowel sounds.
consonance
Words that have repetition of similar vowel sounds, but are not rhyming words. May occur in the initial vowel as in alliteration.
alliteration
The repetition of one initial sound, usually a consonant, in more than one word.
Rhyme scheme
The pattern of end rhymes in a poem. Each new rhyme in a stanza is represented by a different letter of the alphabet.
Fixed form poems
Fixed form is what most people consider typical poetry: it’s written in traditional verse and generally rhymes. Some fixed form poems have specific requirements on length, rhyme scheme, and number of syllables. A sonnet, for example, is a 14-line rhymed poem.
Free form or free verse
Follows no specific guidelines about rhyme, meter, or length. Free verse tries to capture the cadence of regular speech. Some stanzas may rhyme but not in a regular scheme.
Blank verse
Poems that are written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.
9th Grade - Milestone - Language
OVERVIEW OF THE DOMAIN
Key Ideas:
Below you will find a list of expectations - what all students need to know to be successful on the test.
Domain tasks: identifying main ideas, citing text evidence, making inferences, determining themes and central ideas, determining the impact of of the author’s choices on structure and meaning.
Related vocabulary skills: understanding meanings of words and phrases, understanding figurative and connotative meanings, analyzing word choice, distinguishing multiple meanings.
genre
A genre is a specific type of writing or literature.
Each genre has a particular style, form, and content. Writing genres include: narrative, expository, opinion, and argumentative writing. Literature genres include fiction, nonfiction, informational, biographies, autobiographies, histories, science fiction, drama, and poetry.
Character development (characterization)
An author may reveal a character through the character’s thoughts, words, appearance, and actions, or through what other characters say or think. An author may also tell us directly what the character is like. Examining the characters and how they interact with each other is a key element to understanding a piece of literature.
Direct and Indirect Characterization
Common question types:
Who is the main character? What words describe this character’s personality traits? • Who are the minor characters? What roles do they play? • How is one character similar to or different from another? • How is the main character involved in the conflict?
Direct characterization occurs when the reader is told what a character is like; a speaker or narrator describes what he or she thinks about a character.
Indirect characterization occurs when a reader must infer what a character is like; the text provides clues through the character’s words, thoughts, or actions or through other characters’ words, thoughts, or actions, but there is no evaluation or explanation from a narrator.
Setting
Common question types
Why is the setting important in this text? How does the setting affect the interpretation of a text?
When and where a narrative (story, drama, or poem) takes place. Setting establishes the context for the literary work.
The setting can clarify conflict, illuminate character, affect the mood, and act as a symbol.
Plot
Terms to review:
Chronological structure
exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution (or denouement)
Author’s use of time
Foreshadowing
Flashback
Conflict
Types of conflict: internal and external
Conflict creates instability or uncertainty. The characters’ need to find resolution and answers is what drives the story forward.
• person vs. person • person vs. nature
• person vs. self • person vs. society
• person vs. machine
Point of View
(who is telling the story)
First Person POV
events are told by a character in the story using his or her own words. Narrators who use I, me, and my throughout the story.
Second Person POV
a narrator addresses the reader directly using the word you. Not as common as either the first- or third-person points of view.
Third-Person Limited
A speaker outside the action narrates the events using the third person pronouns (he, she, they). Narrator tells the events from the perspective of one specific character, focusing on this character’s thoughts and feelings.
Third-Person Omniscient
A speaker outside the action narrates the events. In the omniscient third-person point of view, an all-knowing narrator not only tells what happens, but also may interpret events and describe the thoughts and feelings of any character.
Tone - formal, casual, sarcastic, objective, lively, mocking, playful, sentimental, critical
Tone is the author’s implied attitude toward the audience or subject. Established by the author through diction (word choice), syntax (the order in which words are placed), and rhetoric (language choices and techniques used to communicate perspective and to modify the perspectives of others). Tone can apply to a text as a whole or to a portion of the text.
Mood
(sometimes called atmosphere)
-dreamy, mellow, violent,
peaceful, ominous, futile,
joyous, tense, empty, comforting, uncomfortable
The overall feeling or emotion the author establishes by the choice of words and language, the actions of the characters, and the setting. Mood is sometimes confused with tone. Tone is the attitude a writer puts into a subject; mood is the feeling the reader experiences from it.
Theme
- the deeper message of a text
Refers to a universal statement about life and/or society that can be discerned from the reading of a text.
The theme of a literary work is often the meaning you take away from it. The theme is not the same as the topic, which focuses strictly on the content. The theme is also not the same as the plot. Most literary works have one or more themes that are expressed through the plot.
Imagery
(language that appeals to the senses)
Imagery invites the reader to experience what the author is describing.
Symbolism
Symbols are created when writers use language to express something more than the literal meaning of the words. A symbol is an object, person, event, or animal something that stands for something else. For example, an eagle may symbolize freedom.
Terms related to the Drama Genre
Tragedy
a serious play that ends in disaster and sorrow
Comedy
a lighthearted play intended to amuse the audience
-- Comedies usually end happily.
Political Drama
A drama or play with a political component, advocating a certain point of view or describing a political event
Modern Drama
Like all modern literature, explores themes of alienation and disconnectedness. Modern drama, which became popular in the early 1900s, strives to let the audience feel as if it is peering in on real-life situations and experiencing real-life emotions.
Theatre of the Absurd
Refers to plays written in the 1950s and 1960s with the basic belief that human existence is absurd, or without meaning. The play itself often lacks the usual conventions of plot, character, or setting. Edward Albee’s The American Dream (1960) is considered the first American absurdist drama.
Dramatic conventions
Rules that actors and audience observe during a play. Some conventions relate to how the audience and the actors interact. For example, the audience knows to become quiet when the lights dim.
Dramatic irony
Situations in which the audience knows more than the character onstage. A character does or says something of greater importance than he or she knows. The audience, however, is aware of the meaning and importance of the act or speech.
Dialogue
Dialogue is the conversation between characters. Dialogue reveals the personalities of the characters by divulging what they are thinking and feeling as they talk to others.
Monologue
A long speech by one character in which the character speaks about his or her thoughts and feelings.
Terms related to the Poetry Genre
Question types will ask students to identify and demonstrate an understanding of literary elements, devices, and structures that are particular to poetry.
Sound Devices
Rhyme
- the 6 types of rhyme are listed next
The repetition of terminal sounds in two or more words. Rhyme can occur at every line, every other line, or wherever the poet decides. Not all poems rhyme, nor do they have to, but rhyme can emphasize ideas or images and unify thoughts, as well as add a musical quality to a poem.
end rhyme
End rhymes occur at the ends of lines of poetry. It is the most common type of rhyme.
internal rhyme
Internal rhymes occur within a line of poetry.
slant rhyme
Slant rhymes occur when words include similar, but not identical, sounds. They are also called near rhyme, half rhyme, or off rhyme.
assonance
Words that have similar consonant sounds, but different vowel sounds.
consonance
Words that have repetition of similar vowel sounds, but are not rhyming words. May occur in the initial vowel as in alliteration.
alliteration
The repetition of one initial sound, usually a consonant, in more than one word.
Rhyme scheme
The pattern of end rhymes in a poem. Each new rhyme in a stanza is represented by a different letter of the alphabet.
Fixed form poems
Fixed form is what most people consider typical poetry: it’s written in traditional verse and generally rhymes. Some fixed form poems have specific requirements on length, rhyme scheme, and number of syllables. A sonnet, for example, is a 14-line rhymed poem.
Free form or free verse
Follows no specific guidelines about rhyme, meter, or length. Free verse tries to capture the cadence of regular speech. Some stanzas may rhyme but not in a regular scheme.
Blank verse
Poems that are written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.
9th Grade - Milestone - Language
OVERVIEW OF THE DOMAIN
- Students demonstrate command of the correct conventions of Standard American English grammar and usage.
- Students demonstrate command of Standard American English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.
Key Ideas:
- subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement
- shifts in pronoun, number, and person
- vague pronouns (i.e., ones with unclear or ambiguous antecedents)
- inappropriate fragments and run-ons
- using correctly frequently confused words (e.g., accept/except; there/their)
- shifts in verb tense
- inappropriate shifts in verb voice and mood
- placing phrases and clauses within a sentence and correcting misplaced and dangling modifiers
- using parallel structure
- using phrases and clauses to convey meaning and add variety and interest
- writing or presentations
- resolving issues of complex or contested usage by consulting references as needed
- end marks
- semicolons
- commas
- colon
- Adjectival phrase: A phrase that functions as an adjective.
- Adverbial phrase: A phrase that functions as an adverb.
- Participial phrase: A participle and its object and modifiers (used as an adjective).
- Prepositional phrase: A preposition and its object and modifiers. May be used as a noun, an adverb, or an adjective.
- Absolute phrase: A group of words that modifies an independent clause as a whole. Includes a noun and its modifiers and may precede, follow, or interrupt the main clause. (Legs quivering, my dog dreamed of chasing squirrels.)
- Independent clause: Expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence.
- Dependent clause: A group of words that does not express a complete thought and cannot stand alone as a sentence.
- Noun clause: A dependent clause that functions as a noun in the main clause.
- Relative clause: A clause that generally modifies a noun or noun phrase and is introduced by a relative pronoun (which, that, who, whom, whose).
- Adverbial clause: A dependent clause that functions as an adverb in its relation to the main clause. Adverbial clauses indicate time, place, manner, purpose, condition, result, or reason.