MASTERING THE ENGLISH

REGENTS

English w/Dave - Forsyth Satellite Academy High School

FACTS

The exam lasts three hours.

Use the entire time.

Monday, January 26 – 1:15 pm - 4:15 pm

No cell phones, tablets.

Answer sheet, essay booklet, and scrap

paper.

Bring a pen (blue or black ink only).

PARTS OF THE EXAM

Part One: Listening Section

Listen to a passage twice

First reading – take notes

Then you get to see the questions

Second reading – fill in additional notes

Then, answer the 8 multiple-choice questions.

TIPS FOR PART ONE

Take notes, but also LISTEN!

Ask yourself: What is the main idea of the passage?

Big ideas are more important than specific details.

Don’t get distracted by words you don’t know.

Don’t get distracted by choices you don’t understand (and don’t automatically pick them!)

Eliminate answers you know are wrong and then make an educated guess.

Do not leave any questions blank!

PARTS OF THE EXAM

Part Two: Reading Comprehension

Read a passage

Answer 6 multiple choice questions

Read a second passage

Answer another 6 multiple choice questions

One will be fiction, another non-fiction

When a line or paragraph is mentioned, turn to the passage and reread that line or paragraph.

Read the footnotes (defined words)!

PART TWO: READING COMPREHENSION - 1

PART TWO: READING COMPREHENSION - 2

LITERARY TERMS FOR MULTIPLE-

CHOICE

Allegory

Anecdote

Antagonist, Protagonist

Characterization

Chronological

Conflict

Dialogue

Flashback

Foreshadowing

Irony

Mood

Narrator

Plot

Point of View

Setting

Alliteration

Ballad

Blank Verse

Couplet

Figurative Language

LITERARY TERMS FOR MULTIPLE-CHOICE

Free Verse Allusion Haiku Analogy Hyperbole Attitude Imagery Compare and Contrast Metaphor Cause and Effect Onomatopoeia Rhetorical Question Personification Structure Simile Symbolism Sonnet Theme Stanza Tone

PARTS OF THE EXAM

Part Three: Paired Passages

Read two passages (usually one prose, one poem).

Answer 5 multiple choice questions about the passages (1 may be about both of them).

Write a paragraph response establishing and developing a controlling idea.

Write another paragraph response in which you choose a literary element or technique used in one of the passages and use specific details from the passage to show how the author uses that element or technique to develop the passage.

PART THREE: SHORT RESPONSE

QUESTION 26 (CONTROLLING IDEA)

Uses BOTH texts.

Should be a LONG paragraph.

Must establish a Controlling Idea that applies to both texts.

Must use specific details from both texts to support that Controlling Idea.

Use quotes.

Indicate line and paragraph numbers.

FILL IN THE BLANKS-CONTROLLING IDEA

_______ (State Controlling Idea)_________________.

In Passage I, a (indicate genre), and Passage II, a (indicate genre), (Explain connection to Controlling Idea).

Then: Explain specific examples from Passage I

Explain specific examples from Passage II

End with: Both of these passages demonstrate that (rephrase Controlling Idea in different words).

ESTABLISHING A CONTROLLING IDEA

About . . .

. . . the nature of work

. . . growing old

. . . developing a skill

. . . uncertainty

. . . challenges

. . . creativity

. . . parting

. . . relationships

. . . work

QUESTION 27 (LITERARY ELEMENT)

Uses ONE text.

Should be a LONG paragraph.

Must choose a literary element or technique.

Must explain what that literary element or technique means.

Must provide specific examples of that literary element or technique working in the passage.

Use quotes

PARTS OF THE EXAM

Part Four: Critical Lens Essay

Interpret the Critical Lens statement

Agree or disagree with the statement

Support your opinion by referring to literary elements from two book-length works you’ve read in school.

What books will you be using?

Novel, play or memoir

Something you read and discussed in school

Should be recent

You should come to the test with three to choose from

WRITING THE CRITICAL LENS ESSAY

1. Decide which two works relate to the lens.

2. Write an interpretation of the lens that makes sense in terms of the books you will be using.

3. Agree or Disagree

4. Write an outline.

5. Follow your outline while writing the essay.

6. Check for errors and make corrections.

You must include titles and authors

Avoid plot summary!

THE CRITICAL LENS OUTLINE

Title and Author of Book #1

Literary Element #1

Example 1

Example 2

Literary Element #2

Example 3

Example 4

Title and Author of Book #2

Literary Element #1

Example 1

Example 2

Literary Element #2

Example 1

Example 2

WRITING THE CRITICAL LENS ESSAY

Paragraph One (Introduction)

Restate the Lens

Interpret the Lens

Agree or disagree

Indicate titles and authors of the two books.

Indicate literary elements you will be using

Paragraph Two (1st Body)

Topic sentence – indicate book and literary element(s) being used

Discuss one example

Discuss a second example

WRITING THE CRITICAL LENS ESSAY

Paragraph Three (2nd Body)

Topic sentence – indicate book and literary element(s) being used

Discuss one example

Discuss a second example

Paragraph Four (Conclusion)

Restate your interpretation of the lens, in different words

Say something new about it

HOW IS MY CRITICAL LENS SCORED?

Meaning

Understand the task

Understand the texts

Development

Develop your ideas with specific details

Organization

Paragraphs

Transitions

HOW IS MY CRITICAL LENS SCORED?

Language Use

Vocabulary

Sentences

Conventions

Punctuation

Spelling

Grammar

Take the time to proofread and make corrections!

PAST CRITICAL LENSES

SOME BOOKS TO CONSIDER - 1

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee

Macbeth by William Shakespeare

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

The Crucible by Arthur Miller

SOME BOOKS TO CONSIDER - 2

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Odyssey by Homer

The Pearl by John Steinbeck

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare

The Color of Water by James McBride

Night by Elie Wiesel

WHAT CAN I DO TO REVIEW BOOKS?

Review class notes/ assignments/ tests on the novel

Watch the movie

Helps with plot, characterization, and setting

Not always accurate to the text

Use the Internet: http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/

BUBBLING MATTERS (HANDWRITING TOO)!

POSSIBLY USEFUL LINKS

Past Regents Exams for Practice

Sparknotes Videos on Novels

John Greene’s Crash Course:

Literature

Sparknotes Literature Guides