Ms.

Ballards 6th Grade English

Language Arts
Final Exam Study Guide
1.Citing Evidence:
State the idea you had about the text (if you are responding to a specific
question, be sure your idea restates the question). Now give supporting
evidence from the text. To cite explicitly, paraphrase or use quotes from the text.
If you use direct quotes from a text, you must use quotation marks.
But what does the teacher mean about citing textual evidence?' Let's answer
that question next. ... This means that you quote, paraphrase, and/or summarize
the author's words to support your points. In a quotation, you repeat an author's
idea word for word and surround it by quotation marks.
2. Connotative/Dennotative Meanings of words:
Understanding a word's literal (denotative) and suggestive (connotative) meanings
is important for every speaker and writer. There are certain circumstances when
you might want to deliberately use a word that carries less than a positive
connotation; however, you may want to avoid mistakenly using a word with a
negative or misleading connotation.

Below are groups of words which are often used to describe people. What are the connotations of
the words?

1. Childlike, Youthful, Childish, Young

2. Disabled, Crippled, Handicapped, Retarded

3. Relaxed, Laid-back, Lackadaisical, Easy-going

4. Slim, Skinny, Slender, Thin

5. Cheap, Frugal, Miserly, Economical

6. Young, Immature, Juvenile, Youthful

7. Inquisitive, Interested, Curious, Convivial

8. Confident, Secure, Proud, Egotistical

9. Lovely, Knockout, Beautiful, Stunning

10. Talkative, Conversational, Chatty, Nosy

3. Figurative Language:
is using figures of speech to be more effective, persuasive and impactful. Figures
of speech such as metaphors, similes, allusions go beyond the literal meanings
of the words to give the readers new insights.

Metaphor

When you use a metaphor, you make a statement that doesnt make sense literally, like time is a
thief. It only makes sense when the similarities between the two things become apparent or
someone understands the connection between the two words.

Examples include:

The world is my oyster.

You are a couch potato.

Time is money.

He has a heart of stone.

America is a melting pot.

You are my sunshine.

Simile

A simile compares two things like a metaphor; but, a simile uses the words like and as.
Examples include:

Busy as a bee.

Clean as a whistle.

Brave as a lion.

He stood out like a sore thumb.

It was as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.

My mouth was as dry as a bone.

It was as funny as a barrel of monkeys.

 They fought like cats and dogs.

It was like watching grass grow.

Personification

Personification gives human characteristics to inanimate objects, animals, or ideas. This can
really affect the way the reader imagines things. This type of figurative language is often used in
childrens books, poetry, and fictional literature. Examples include:

Opportunity knocked on the door.

The sun greeted me this morning.

The sky was full of dancing stars.

The vines wove their fingers together to form a braid.

The radio stopped singing and stared at me.

The sun played hide and seek with the clouds.

Hyperbole

A hyperbole is an outrageous exaggeration that emphasizes a point, and can be ridiculous or

funny. Hyperboles can be added to fiction to add color and depth to a character. Examples are:

You snore louder than a freight train.

It's a slow burg. I spent a couple of weeks there one day.

She is so dumb, she thinks Taco Bell is a Mexican phone company.

I had to walk 15 miles to school in the snow, uphill.

You could have knocked me over with a feather.

3. Topic Sentences:
A topic sentence essentially tells readers what the rest of the paragraph is about. All
sentences after it have to give more information about that sentence, prove it by offering
facts about it, or describe it in more detail. For example, if the topic sentence concerns
the types of endangered species that live in the ocean, then every sentence after that needs
 to expound on that subject.

4. Transition Words:

transitions are phrases or words used to connect one idea to the next

transitions are used by the author to help the reader progress from one
significant idea to the next

transitions also show the relationship within a paragraph (or within a sentence)
between the main idea and the support the author gives for those ideas

different transitions do different things....

4. Concluding Sentences:
have three crucial roles in paragraph writing. They draw together the information you
have presented to elaborate your controlling idea by: summarizing the points you have
made. Repeating words or phrases (or synonyms for them) from the topic sentence.

5. Pronouns:

SINGULAR PLURAL
subjective objective possessive subjective objective possessive
1st I me my, mine we us our, ours
person
2nd you you your, yours you you your, yours
person
3rd he him his they them their, theirs
person
she her her, hers
it it its

Antecedents:
6. Theme: