2025 Spring Exam Review Notes

2025 Spring Exam Review English II Honors

Format

• Part A: Membean (20 questions - no Select All That Apply questions!!!) -- Focuses on vocabulary acquisition and retention.

• Part B: Multiple Choice (80 Questions on scantron)

  • Assesses understanding and application of literary concepts, rhetorical devices, and analytical skills.

I. Purple Hibiscus

• Major plot points

  • The narrative follows Kambili and Jaja's upbringing in Enugu, Nigeria, under the strict and often oppressive Catholic practices of their father, Eugene.

  • The siblings' trip to Nsukka to visit their Aunty Ifeoma provides them with a contrasting environment, fostering intellectual and personal growth.

  • Eugene's stringent religious beliefs lead to conflicts within the family, culminating in Mama poisoning Papa and Jaja taking the blame.

• Characters:

  • Kambili: The protagonist, a shy and observant young girl who gradually finds her voice.

  • Jaja: Kambili's older brother, initially compliant but later defiant against his father's control.

  • Papa (Eugene): A wealthy and respected man known for his philanthropy but also a religious fanatic who inflicts physical and emotional abuse on his family.

  • Mama (Beatrice): A quiet and submissive woman who endures years of abuse, eventually resorting to poisoning her husband.

  • Aunty Ifeoma: A progressive and independent university lecturer who provides a nurturing environment for Kambili and Jaja.

  • Amaka: Aunty Ifeoma's outspoken and modern daughter, who initially clashes with Kambili but later becomes her friend.

  • Obiora: Aunty Ifeoma's eldest son, who is intelligent and responsible.

  • Chima: Aunty Ifeoma's youngest son.

  • Father Amadi: A charismatic and open-minded priest who connects with Kambili and challenges her understanding of religion.

  • Ade Coker: The editor of Papa's newspaper, a courageous advocate for truth and freedom of expression, often critical of the government.

• Symbols

  • Purple Hibiscus: Represents freedom, individuality, and the blossoming of Kambili and Jaja's true selves.

  • Papa's трофеи:

  • Symbolize his wealth, power, and control over his family.

  • The figurines Mama polishes:

  • Symbolize her suppressed emotions and the fragility of her mental state.

• Quote analysis

  • "Things started to fall apart at home when my brother, Jaja, did not go to communion, and Papa flung his трофеи across the room and broke them."

  • This quote signifies the beginning of the family's unraveling due to Jaja's defiance against Papa's religious extremism.

• Passage analysis

  • Analyze passages that depict the contrast between Papa's oppressive household and Aunty Ifeoma's liberating environment to understand the themes of freedom and identity.

II. Rhetoric

• Rhetorical device terms:

  • Comparison: simile, metaphor, analogy, personification

  • Simile: A comparison using "like" or "as" (e.g., "The world is like a stage.")

  • Metaphor: A direct comparison without using "like" or "as" (e.g., "The world is a stage.")

  • Analogy: A comparison to explain or clarify (e.g., "The human body is like a car, with many interdependent parts.")

  • Personification: Giving human qualities to inanimate objects (e.g., "The wind whispered secrets.")

  • Indirect meaning: pun, euphemism, malapropism, aphorism

  • Pun: A play on words (e.g., "A bicycle can’t stand on its own because it is two-tired.")

  • Euphemism: A mild or indirect term for something unpleasant (e.g., "passed away" instead of "died")

  • Malapropism: The mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one (e.g., "illiterate" instead of "obliterate")

  • Aphorism: A concise statement of a general truth (e.g., "The early bird catches the worm.")

  • Associations: metonymy, synecdoche

  • Metonymy: Substituting the name of an attribute for the thing meant (e.g., "The pen is mightier than the sword.")

  • Synecdoche: A part represents the whole (e.g., "wheels" for a car)

  • Miscellaneous: apostrophe, allusion, ellipsis, foreshadowing, synesthesia, rhetorical question

  • Apostrophe: Addressing an absent person or thing (e.g., "O, Death, where is thy sting?")

  • Allusion: A reference to a well-known person, event, or literary work (e.g., "He was a real Romeo with the ladies.")

  • Ellipsis: Omission of words (e.g., "…" in a sentence)

  • Foreshadowing: Hints of future events (e.g., "The stormy weather foreshadowed the tragic events to come.")

  • Synesthesia: Mixing senses (e.g., "a loud color")

  • Rhetorical Question: A question asked for effect, not requiring an answer (e.g., "Can we really expect this?")

  • Exaggeration: hyperbole, understatement

  • Hyperbole: An exaggeration (e.g., "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.")

  • Understatement: Downplaying something for effect (e.g., "It's just a scratch" when it's a serious wound)

  • Parallelism: parallelism, anaphora, epistrophe

  • Parallelism: Similar structure in phrases or clauses (e.g., "I came, I saw, I conquered.")

  • Anaphora: Repetition at the beginning of clauses (e.g., "We shall not fail. We shall not falter. We shall not yield.")

  • Epistrophe: Repetition at the end of clauses (e.g., "…that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.")

  • Juxtaposition: juxtaposition, antithesis, oxymoron, paradox

  • Juxtaposition: Placing two elements side by side for comparison (e.g., "dark and light")

  • Antithesis: Contrasting ideas in parallel structure (e.g., "Speech is silver, but silence is gold.")

  • Oxymoron: Contradictory terms (e.g., "bittersweet")

  • Paradox: A statement that appears self-contradictory but contains a truth (e.g., "Less is more.")

  • Repetition: anadiplosis, epanalepsis, alliteration

  • Anadiplosis: Repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the next (e.g., "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate.")

  • Epanalepsis: Repetition of the initial word at the end of the same clause (e.g., "Nothing is as it seems, nothing.")

  • Alliteration: Repetition of initial consonant sounds (e.g., "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.")

  • Conjunction syntax: asyndeton, polysyndeton

  • Asyndeton: Omission of conjunctions (e.g., "I came, I saw, I conquered.")

  • Polysyndeton: Use of many conjunctions (e.g., "We have ships and men and money and stores.")

  • Reverse syntax: antimetabole, chiasmus

  • Antimetabole: Repetition in reverse order (e.g., "Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.")

  • Chiasmus: Inverted structure (e.g., "By day the frolic, and the dance by night.")

  • Sentence types: balanced, cumulative, periodic

  • Balanced: Parallel structure (e.g., "Every cloud has a silver lining but every silver lining has a cloud.")

  • Cumulative: Begins with an independent clause and adds details (e.g., "He was exhausted, tired from the long journey, wanting only to rest.")

  • Periodic: Main clause at the end (e.g., "Despite the rain, the traffic, and the delays, we arrived on time.")

  • Appeals: ethos, pathos, logos

  • Ethos: Ethical appeal (credibility)

  • Pathos: Emotional appeal (connecting with audience)

  • Logos: Logical appeal (using reason and evidence)

• Analysis of new rhetoric passage

  • Identifying and analyzing rhetorical devices in unfamiliar texts.

• Examples of rhetorical devices from JFK’s inaugural address, Bush’s 9/11 address, and Obama’s Sandy Hook address

  • JFK’s inaugural address: Focus on appeals to ethos and pathos to inspire national unity and civic duty.

  • Bush’s 9/11 address: Use of pathos to convey grief and resolve, and ethos to reassure the nation.

  • Obama’s Sandy Hook address: Emphasis on pathos to express sympathy and call for action, and logos to reason for preventative measures.

III. Research & MLA Citations

• Identify elements within MLA citations

  • Author, title, source, publication date, and location.

• Understand MLA Works Cited entry format

  • Correct formatting and arrangement of citation elements.

• Know the difference between direct, indirect, and block quotes

  • Direct quotes: Exact words from a source, in quotation marks.

  • Indirect quotes: Paraphrasing the source's ideas.

  • Block quotes: Lengthy quotes set apart from the main text.

IV. Macbeth

• Major plot points

  • Macbeth receives a prophecy from the Three Witches that he will become king.

  • Encouraged by Lady Macbeth, Macbeth murders King Duncan and assumes the throne.

  • Macbeth's reign is marked by paranoia and tyranny, leading to further murders.

  • Macduff raises an army to overthrow Macbeth, fulfilling the witches' prophecies.

  • Macbeth is killed by Macduff, and Malcolm becomes the new king.

• Characters:

  • Macbeth: The tragic hero whose ambition leads to his downfall.

  • Lady Macbeth: Macbeth's ambitious wife who manipulates him into murdering Duncan.

  • Three Witches & Hecate: Supernatural figures who предсказывают Macbeth's future and influence his actions.

  • Duncan: The virtuous king of Scotland, murdered by Macbeth.

  • Malcom: Duncan's son and the rightful heir to the throne.

  • Donalbain: Duncan's younger son who flees to Ireland.

  • Banquo & Fleance: Banquo, a general, suspects Macbeth and is murdered; Fleance escapes.

  • Macduff & Lady Macduff: Macduff becomes Macbeth's nemesis, and Lady Macduff and her children are murdered by Macbeth's заказов.

  • Thanes Lennox & Ross: Scottish nobles who comment on the play's events.

  • Siward & Young Siward: English earl who helps Malcolm overthrow Macbeth; Young Siward is killed by Macbeth.

  • Seyton: Macbeth's chief servant.

  • Doctor: Attends Lady Macbeth during her sleepwalking episodes.

• Quote analysis and translation

  • Analyzing key quotes to understand character motives and themes.

• Passage analysis

  • In-depth examination of significant passages to uncover deeper