Hon-English II Study Guide


  1. What is the difference between a phrase and a clause?

A phrase……….. A phrase won’t have a Subject or AVP/LVP

A clause……….. Will have a subject or an AVP/LVP

  1. Define and give an example of each of the following:

  • Independent Clause—Complete sentence

  • Dependent Clause—relies on the rest of the sentence

  • Prepositional Phrase–Starts with a prep (in, out, toward, over, north etc.)

  • Infinitive Phrase–To + Verb

  • Participial Phrase–Starts with ing/ed.

Some practice questions. For each determine what clause or phrase type it is:

  • To the chair—-DC

  • I couldn’t move–IC

  • Because of heat–DC

  • To pretend–Infinitive

  • Grasping at straws—Participial

  • Stop!---IC

  • Beneath the couch—Prepositional

  • She stopped abruptly—IC

  • Bitten by remorse—DC

Part Two: Vocabulary Words (Google Form)

Study the following words. Give an example of how you would use each correctly in a sentence.

Questions will be based on your ability to determine if I am using the words correctly or if they are incorrect according to the definition or part of speech.

Vocab List One:

  • Blather:

    • Definition: To talk a lot with seemingly no point

    • Sentence: I blather a lot to my friends because I feel I can talk to them

    • Part of speech: Verb

  • Candor:

    • Definition: Honesty

    • Sentence: Candor is the best policy

    • Part of Speech: Noun

  • Capacious:

    • Definition: Very spacious and open

    • Sentence: The dining room was quite Capacious

    • Part of Speech: Adjective

  • Damper:

    • Definition: To bring down moral

    • Sentence: The rain put a damper on the camping trip

    • Part of Speech: noun

  • Fickle:

    • Definition: Indecisive

    • Sentence: My mom is a fickle person when it comes to deciding what to eat at a restaurant.

    • Part of Speech: adjective

  • Countenance:

    • Definition: Facial Expression

    • Sentence: The countenance of the man was frustrated due to the rise in gas prices

    • Part of Speech: noun

  • Dearth:

    • Definition: lack of something

    • Sentence:The dearth of mac n’ cheese at thanksgiving dinner was rather disappointing

    • Part of Speech: noun

Vocab List 2:

  • Laudable

    • Definition: Honorable/praiseable

    • Sentence: Through his laudable actions the firefighter saved three victims and a cat from a house fire.

    • Part of Speech: adjective

  • Guise

    • Definition: appearance of something

    • Sentence: The little girl's guise was a little unruly.

    • Part of Speech: noun

  • Duress

    • Definition: Stress/violence/threats

    • Sentence: under the duress of the police men the criminal admitted to stealing the blue carbuncle.

    • Part of Speech: noun

  • Emulate

    • Definition: copy

    • Sentence: it is very hard to emulate the painting styles of any artist due to the unique brush strokes

    • Part of Speech: verb

  • Nepotism

    • Definition: Favoritism

    • Sentence: The wrestling coach's son got a spot on varsity due to nepotism from the coach.

    • Part of Speech: noun

  • Fawn

    • Definition: Obsess/praise over

    • Sentence: many people fawn over their celebrities.

    • Part of Speech: verb

  • Feign

    • Definition: faking

    • Sentence: he feigned interest in geology so that he could get his crush to like him.

    • Part of Speech: verb

Part 3: Fiction Passages (Short Stories) (On Google Form)

-Two stories: “The Feather Pillow” and one other story. You will not know about the other story in advance.

-It is to your benefit to read and annotate “The Feather Pillow” PRIOR to the day of the final.

Questions will be based on the following:

  • Comprehension: Questions will ask what is happening in the story

    • Questions will be about the plot and structure

    • Questions about characters and their motivation

    • Questions about the tone or emotions in the story

    • Questions may be about identifying point of view or the narration in a story

    • Questions may be about the theme of the story.

    • Questions may ask you to infer about confusing events in the story.

    • BE CAREFUL WITH TWO PART QUESTIONS. Make sure you are confident about the first part before you select your answer for the second part.

    • Look for if any questions ask you to select multiple answers.

  • Short Answer: Worth 10 points

    • You will be asked to compare how both stories tackle suspense and tension in the story along with how both stories show aspects of the human experience and struggles people can face with each other or with their environment.

  • “The Feather Pillow” short story will be in theLas final. Feel free to read ahead. You will have multiple choice questions over this story. (I will give you a copy of the story!)

Part 4: Memoir Passage (Google Form)

You will read a short memoir passage and answer questions.

Questions will be based on the following:

  • Comprehension:

    • Questions might be about the use or meaning of specific words in the passage

    • Questions might be about the theme of the passage

    • Questions might ask you to select evidence to support your answer.

    • Questions might ask you to infer based on what happens in the passage

    • BE CAREFUL WITH TWO PART QUESTIONS. Make sure you are confident about the first part before you select your answer for the second part.

    • Look for if any questions ask you to select multiple answers.

  • Short Answer: Worth 10 points

    • This will ask you about an event that occurs in the story and how the event in the story helps to develop the theme.