) Name:

Grade 8 English Language Arts

Exam Review

Orion and the Sisters

In the o ld days, the gods and goddesses somet imes w e n t t rave l l ing about on Earth, v is i t ing

human beings. On one such occasion, Zeus, his messenger Hermes, and the ocean god ,

Pose idon, stayed for awhi le w i t h King Hyrieus o f Boeot ia.

The king en te r ta ined these i m p o r t a n t guests so lavishly tha t w h e n it came t i m e for t h e m t o

leave, Zeus said to Hyrieus, ' T o reward you r gracious hospi ta l i ty , I w i l l g rant you any one th ing

you w i s h / '

"I have always w a n t e d a s o n / ' answered t h e king. "A great big, s t rong s o n ! "

"Easily d o n e ! " said Zeus. He t h r e w a cowh ide o n t o the g round . "Bury t h e h ide, my f r i e n d / ' he

said t o Hyrieus. " In nine mon ths it w i l l emerge f r o m t h e g round as the very son you w ished

f o r ! "

Hyrieus d id no t quest ion these d i rect ions. He did as Zeus to ld h i m , wa i t ed pa t ien t ly , and was

rewarded in due t ime w h e n a son pushed his way t o the surface. And t he son emerged no t as

an in fant , but as a fu l l -g rown m a n , and ta l ler and s t ronger t han any o the r h u m a n on ear th . So

ta l l was Or ion tha t he could wa lk on t h e b o t t o m o f t h e sea w i t h o u t w e t t i n g his head. This was

indeed much more than Hyrieus had asked for .

The son announced tha t his name was Or ion and tha t he was leaving immed ia te l y t o go

hun t ing , for hun t i ng was w h a t he loved best t o do. He s t rapped a huge b o w and qu iver of

a r rows over his migh ty shoulders. Then he wh is t l ed . "Here , S inus! " he c o m m a n d e d . And as if by

magic, a huge dog appeared at Or ion 's side and was never to leave i t

Or ion proceeded to str ide t h rough t he lands and isles o f Greece, hun t i ng and ki l l ing animals

w i t h abandon. On t he island of Chios, Or ion met the princess M e r o p e . "I w i l l impress her w i t h

my prowess as a hunter , " t hough t Or ion to himself , and he slew all t h e animals o f t he island.

So hor r i f ied by this was Merope ' s fa ther tha t he had a magician cast Or ion in to a deep sleep

and remove h im f r o m Chios.

Or ion awoke, having learned no th ing at all f r o m his exper ience. He proceeded t o the island of

Crete to cont inue his ravaging of the w i ld l i fe . But he had not f igured on mee t ing a power fu l

goddess there . She was Ar temis , the goddess of hunters , and though she l iked to use her bow

and a r row to br ing d o w n a deer or a boar, she only did this w h e n she needed food .

"Be w a r n e d , O r i o n / ' she said to the giant hunter . "I wi l l not to le ra te your ki l l ing of animals

solely fo r spor t ! "

But Or ion only laughed at her. Roaming the island, he soon had ki l led all t he animals the re , too .

Ar temis 's fu ry knew no bounds. "Look here, m igh ty hun te r ! " she said, and she po in ted to a

scorp ion, know ing tha t this was the only animal Or ion feared. "This scorpion shall pursue you to

t he ends of t he Earth and del iver you its fatal st ing if you ever shoot ano ther an imal . "

For awhi le , the f r igh tened Or ion put his bow and ar rows d o w n . But t he desire to hunt was

s t rong in h i m , and he soon t h o u g h t of a way to indulge it . "Ar temis said I must no t hun t w i ld

an imals , " he though t , " b u t she said no th ing about hun t ing people"

Return ing to his home land of Boet ia, Or ion looked around fo r human quarr ies. It was no t long

before he saw seven lovely sisters runn ing and playing in the hills. They we re called the

Pleiades, and they w e r e the daughters of t he god Atlas and a human m o t h e r named Pleione. So

graceful and kindly we re the Pleiades tha t they were admi red and loved by all the dei t ies as

wel l as by every h u m a n they met . So it was a great shock t o the sisters w h e n they saw the giant

Or ion pursu ing t h e m and sending ou t deadly arrows in the i r d i rec t ion .

As the thunderous foots teps o f t h e hun te r and the how l ing of his dog Sirius d r e w closer and

closer, the sisters realized they could never escape on the i r o w n . Weep ing w i t h fear, they

prayed to the god Zeus t o rescue t h e m . Zeus answered the i r prayer by t rans fo rm ing the sisters

in to seven beaut i fu l wh i t e doves.

In this f o r m , the Pleiades f l ew high enough to escape Orion's ar rows. And w h e n the doves

reached the top o f t he sky, t hey in t u rn became seven stars.

By this t i m e , the dei t ies we re tho rough ly angry w i t h Or ion for his incessant mischief and cruel ty

t ha t Zeus t rans fo rmed the hun te r and his dog in to stars, t o o , so tha t they could do no more

damage on Earth. In t he n ight sky, people ever af ter po in ted to Or ion and Sirius, w h o seem stil l

t o be pursuing the l i t t le cluster o f Pleiades. Of course, Or ion wi l l never catch t h e m . And to make

sure tha t he must r e m e m b e r th is, Ar temis has tu rned the deadly scorpion in to stars and set the

an imal ho t on the heels o f Or ion .

The Seven Crucial Questions

L Who is the protagonist? Antagonist? (2)

2. Describe the setting. (2)

3. What type of conflict (man vs. ?) is the protagonist facing in the story and

describe it. (2)

4. The character's personality traits will be revealed in the following ways; a) What the writer says about the character b) What the character says c) What the character does d) What others say about the characters

Choose one way the character's personality is revealed and give an example. (2)

5. Describe the mood/atmosphere, give an example from the story. (2)

6. What is the theme or message of the story? (What does the author want you to learn from reading the story?) (3)

7. Plot line (10) - Please complete answers on the backside

• Intro/Initial Incident

• Rise in Action

• Climax

• Fall in Action

• Conclusion

Terms Review

Poetry

Tarm Definition E x a m p l e * ... Sim He

Metaphor

! Onomatopoeia ! i

1 ! ; i

! j

; Hyperbole

i ! ! 1

I Personification i t

\

\ i i

j Alliteration

•

i

! |

*' ?

i

I i i

Essays

Term Definition Example ' Thesis Statement !

Topic Sentence j

Poetry Analysis

Ident i fy the fo l low ing lines as one (or perhaps two ) of the fo l l ow ing poet ic devices used in

w r i t i ng poe t ry :

A = A l l i te ra t ion

M ~ Me tapho r

S ~ Simile

P - Personif icat ion

_ _ _ _ 1. The wh isper ing w i l lows w h i n e d as they were w h i p p e d a round by the w i n d .

2. The chi ld was like a raging bull dashing th rough his g randmother ' s house.

3. The old car w h i m p e r e d and crawled t o w a r d t h e garage.

4. The sea s lowly set t led upon the sandy shore.

5. The g randmothe r was as p roud as a peacock at her grandchi ld 's reci tal .

6. The road was a r ibbon of moon l igh t over t he purp le hills.

7. The oak t ree proud ly displayed its colours for one last m o m e n t and then d ropped its

mul t i -cotoured coat one leaf at a t ime .

8. The book was a t reasure map, X marked the spot t o adventure and int r igue,

9. Her mind was as concise as a compu te r f i l ing away in fo rmat ion w i t h incredible speed

and accuracy.

10. The trees bow d o w n the i r heads in respect t o the angry w i n d .

From the Sea

The sea is a hungry dog,

Giant and gray.

He rolls on t he beach all day.

W i th his clashing tee th and shaggy jaws

Hour upon hour he gnaws

The rumb l ing , t u m b l i n g stones,

And , "Bones, bones, bones ! "

The giant sea-dog moans,

Licking his greasy paws.

James Reeves

Find an example of a me tapho r m

Find an example of a l l i te ra t ion .

Find th ree examples o f personi f icat ion.

Ident i fy the rhyme scheme of t h e poem.

Wi th in the context , t he w o r d "gnaws" in l ine 5 means

a) cl imbs

b) chews on

c) spits ou t

d) gulps

The poet 's a t t i tude t o w a r d the sea is one of

a) admi ra t ion

b) hate

c) fear

d) sadness

D u s t of S n o w

The way a c row

Shook clown on me

The dust of snow

From a hemlock t ree

Has given my heart

A change of m o o d

And saved some part

Of a day I had rued.

Robert Frost

Ident i fy t he rhyme scheme of t he poem,

Find one example of personi f icat ion.

Wha t s i tuat ion is being descr ibed in the f i rst stanza o f this poem?

Wha t is the author saying in the second stanza?

Fall

The chil ly wea the r sett les in to your bones.

Those once green leaves tu rn

Red, ye l low, orange, and b rown .

CRRUNCH! go the leaves

Beneath your feet .

The birds f ly in a v ic to ry "V" f o r m a t i o n ,

To whe re the sun rules the skies.

The days of w i n t e r are lurking a round

Wa i t i ng t o be f ree fa l l ing.

Label the lines o f t he poem tha t use one o f t he fo l l ow ing poet ic devices: s imi le, me tapho r ,

person i f ica t ion, a l l i te ra t ion , or onoma topoe ia .

Under l ine the wo rds t ha t create imagery in th is p o e m .

Describe the men ta l image (sight) in your head as you read th is poem. You can also inc lude a

descr ip t ion o f your o the r senses - sound, tas te , t ouch , and smel l - if t he p o e m sparked any of

t h e m for you .

Sentences Types

There are four sentences types. Each type has a different purpose. imperative sentences can De

• interrogative: asks a question: When will the teachers arrive at the meeting?

• imperative: gives a command (the subject You is understood): Be at the meeting on time.

• exclamatory: expresses a strong feeling: We must get to the meeting!

1. Identify what types of sentences these are.

(a) The teacher handed out the test papers to the students.

(b) I haven't finished my test yet! \

(c) Give me all of your papers.

(d) When did we know this was going to be the test day?

2. Write sentences of the following types using your own words.

(a) declarative:

(b) interrogative:

(c) imperative:

(d) imperative with an exclamation mark:

(e) exclamatory:

End punctuation tells you how to say the sentence. • period: Say it with a calm, formal voice. • question mark: Say it with a questioning voice, where the voice rises slightly at the end. • exclamation mark: Say it with a forceful or excited voice.

3. Read these sentences out loud. Use the proper way of saying the sentence based on the end punctuation.

(a) We went to the fairground to ride the roller coaster.

(b) It was incredible!

(c) Why do we have to go on the kiddie rides?

(d) Come over to the Monster ride.

(e) Come over to the Monster ride!

4. Write a sentence of your own. using one of the four types of sentences. Read it out loud, using the end punctuation to help you say it correctly.

• declarative: makes a statement: The teachers arrived at the meeting.

exclamatory if they express strong feelings and end in an exclamation mark.

• • Use only one type of sentence in an entire paragraph. Is H possible?

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Parts of Speech Nouns

i j. i ^, . _ m *- Nouns identify. If you asked A noun i s a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. Nouns -what's that? i the answer m can be common (boat, city, river) or proper {Seabreeze, Regina). usually a noun; a bail, a bat, a

dog, a constellation.

1. Write a proper noun for each of these common nouns.

avenue: bird: ^ singer:

team: . car:. jeans:

m _ , - . , . • r . Compound nouns can be joined

Nouns can be compound. A compound noun is made up of two or a s o n e t n e y c a n b e

more words. For example, these are compound nouns: keyboard, joined by hyphens, or they can

yo-yo, elementary school. Use these compound nouns in b e s e p a r a t e w o r d s -sentences.

(a) brother-in-law: ^ ^

(b) goldfish:

(c) Bare Naked Ladies:

Nouns can be singular (one) or plural (more than one). Noun plurals are formed like this:

• Most plural nouns end in s. If a singular noun ends in ch, sf sh, x, or z, add -es.

• If a noun ends in y: if a vowel comes before y, add -s; if a consonant comes before y, change the y to i and add -es;

• If a noun ends i n / o r Je, change the f or fe to u and add -es (exceptions: chefs, chleii).

3. Give plurals for these singular nouns.

avenue: church: baby:,

calf:, ; city:, fish:

Using possessive nouns can 4. Nouns can be possessive. For example: Lainie's bike, a child's smooth the flow of the words.

, - - „ .. , , , r . ^ For example, the book of John lunch box. Rewrite these phrases using possessive nouns. j S better said as John's book.

the skateboard of Maria:

the gardens of the neighbours:

the homework of Matt:

Nouns can be collective. For example, these are collective nouns: collective nouns name things,

school of fish, herd of cattle, people, audience, family. °! 9 r o ue s o f e e°P | e o r a n , m a , s

r * * ^ a t a c t together. Use these collective nouns in sentences to show their meanings. (a) cast:

(b) colony:

(c) team: _

w w Make a list of interesting nouns you find in everyday writing. Use some of these in your own ~ ~ writing.

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Parts of Speech Pronouns

* , r The word that a pronoun replaces is

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun or other called an antecedent. For example,

pronoun. Look at this example: Sylvia looked everywhere for SyMs is the antecedent of h e ^

her sandals {her replaces Sylvia). Here is a bank of pronouns: """"" ~~~ myself, herself. Itself, themselves, who, whom, whomever, whose, what, this, that, these, those, another, anyone, each, either, neither, no one, somebody, few, all, any, most, none.

1. Write a pronoun for each of these.

William: Callie: lynx:,

Vancouver: Raoul and Kyle: girls:

2. Rewrite these sentences replacing the boldfaced words with pronouns.

(a) Jeremy called on Martin, but Martin was too busy to talk to Jeremy.

(b) The boulder rolled down the hill and the boulder nearly hit a car.

(c) Tracey, Joanne, and Myla decided to buy Tracey, Joanne, and Myla's clothes at that store.

3. Pronouns can show ownership or possession. Look at these possessive pronouns: his CD, her calculator, their clothes, its engine. Rewrite these phrases using possessive pronouns.

Jake's carton: the crew's ship:

Melanie's party: the dog's dish:

the snake's tongue: the family's dinner: _

4. Write a sentence that uses at least one possessive pronoun.

5. Write a short paragraph and use at least six of the pronouns listed above.

^ )• Try writing a poem that uses pronouns instead of nouns.

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Parts of Speech Verbs

A verb is a word that shows action or being. Look at these examples: scramble: shows action: I scramble to the finish line: aim shows a state of being: I am fine.

1. Underline the verbs In these sentences. Indicate whether each verb shows action or being.

(a) We jumped into the lake.

(b) The car swerved along the road.

(c) He feels better now.

(d) We were going to the fair.

2. Action verbs can be active (Joel hit the ball) or passive (The ball was hit by Joel). Indicate whether the verb in each sentence is active or passive.

(a) The moose ran into the street.

(b) The bus was struck by the moose.

(c) The moose stood up after a few minutes. ^

(d) It walked slowly away from the scene.

3. Verb tense is used to show the time of the action. There are three main verb tenses:

present: The tree falls. past: The tree feE. future: The tree will fall.

Indicate whether the verb tense in each sentence is present, past, or future.

(a) The shipment will arrive next week.

(b) We play the game seriously.

(c) The baby wailed all night.

(d) Our tests will be i n three days.

4. Verbs need to agree with their subjects. Circle the correct verb in parentheses for each sentence.

(a) Miguel (talk, talks) all the time on his cell phone.

(b) The tanker (fuel, fuels) the jet before take-off.

(c) Everyone (try, tries) to work very hard during the holiday season.

5. Write a sentence that uses an action verb, then one that uses a verb of being.

(a) ;

(b)

^ w Read some advertisements. What types of verbs are used most often: action? being? active? ^ ^ passive? Make a list of what you discover.

~he verb tells what happens to the noun cr subject of the sentence.

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Parts of Speech Adjectives

- # . t . Adjectives can create a better nrnnd An adjective is a word that describes a noun, pronoun, or other p : c t u re for the reader. They answer

adjective. For example, the following adjectives could be used to t n » questions HOW many? Which , J , f . ^ - ° w cne7and What kind?

describe a tiger: large, snarling, hungry, young*

1. Write at least three adjectives that could describe each of these.

train: ,

mountain:

star:

friend:

2. Adjectives can be comparative (er) and superlative (est): quick, quicker, quickest.

Write comparative and superlative adjectives for these words. Be sure to check your

spelling when you add er and est.

happy: ,

slow: ,

big: .

3. Use at least two of your comparative or superlative adjectives in a sentence.

4. The following words are also adjectives: the, a, an; this, that, those. Proper adjectives are formed from proper nouns: Canadian winter, Asian countries. Write two sentences that use at least four of these adjectives.

(a)

(b)

5. Rewrite these sentences adding adjectives to improve the descriptions,

(a) The singer recorded her first CD at a concert.

(b) The audience listened to her singing.

(c) People started to leave the theatre after the show.

^ ^ Use adjectives in a description of your room,

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Parts of Speech Adverbs

An adverb is a word that describes a verb, adjective, or other adverb Adverbs describe actions or qualities. For example, look at these adverbs: flew quickly (how) flew today (when flew overhead (where)

1. Add at least three more adverbs that answer each of these questions.

How?: slowly, well,

When?: today, yesterday,

Where?: there, overhead,.

2. Adverbs have comparative (er) and superlative (est) forms: early, earlier, earliest; often, more often, most often; well, better, best. Write sentences that use the adverbs given.

(a) earlier

(b) better:

(c) most often:

3 . Read these sentences. Circle any adveibs. (NOTE: Adverbs sometimes come in phrases: talked for an hour: walked behind the fence.)

(a) The ball flew quickly over the crowd.

(b) A small wren landed softly on the branch.

(c) Many players tried to get the puck as it slid toward the goal.

(d) 1 jumped better and higher than I did yesterday.

(e) The rehearsal will take place tomorrow at three o'clock.

4. Write a short paragraph on a topic of your choice. Use adverbs to help make your descriptions more vivid.

Adverbs answer tre questions ricwF When? and Where? Many adverbs are formed by adding -ly to an adjective: s'.ow: slowly.

Write a character description of the best qualities of your favourite singer or singing group. For example, Msings loudly", "plays the guitar poorly/'

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