STAAR English I EOC

This has some of the same info from class BUT I HAVE ADDED A LOT OF
REVIEW INFORMATION AT THE END.
What makes up the test?
• Reading passages with multiple choice questions – 30%
• Short Answer Responses – 20%
• Revising and Editing multiple choice questions – 24%
• Expository Essay – 26%
• ______________________________________________
• Multiple Choice Questions = 54%
• Performance (Writing Tasks – includes essay and Short Ans.) – 46%
Reading different types of text
• When you are reading informational text, if there are charts, pictures,
graphs, those are extremely important or they wouldn’t be included
in the test. Look at them carefully because you will be asked
questions.
• If you are reading poetry, remember that poems have deep meanings.
They often have figurative language. What is the speaker trying to
say? What is the theme? What is the tone? What do the metaphors
and similes mean? Why does the speaker use alliteration?
SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS - 10 LINES ( YOU
WILL HAVE 3 OF THESE)
• Scoring:
• These are scored on a 0-3 scale.
• Each question is worth the equivalent point value of 9 multiple choice
questions. Doing well on these will boost your score. Doing poorly
on these can cause you to fail.
• Two questions will be on separate selections, one will be a crossover
question meaning you have to find a connection in two different
selections and include quoted evidence from both selections in your
answer. Don’t forget to explain.
 APE!

• A – Answer the question asked with an original thought. Do not just

repeat the question – answer it in an original way.
• P – Prove your answer with evidence that you quote directly from the
story and put the evidence in quotation marks worked into your own
thoughts. If your evidence does not support your answer, you will get
a 0-1.
• E – Explain and Elaborate. - The E gets you a 3. Do a good job on
your explanation. You have 10 lines for a reason.
EXPOSITORY ESSAY – 26 LINES – Scoring
Scored on a 0-4 scale. Two people rate your paper. The score is added
together and multiplied by 3. For example:

Rater 1 – student’s paper score 3 3+2=5 x 3 = 15

Rater 2 – student’s paper score 2 You got 15/24 points

WORK HARDER!!!!! YOU WANT TO GET 3’S AND 4’S ON YOUR PAPER.
3 + 3 X 3 = 18 / 24
3 + 4 X 3 = 21/24 4 + 4 X 3 = 24/24 POINTS!
Expository Essay – 26 lines – How to?
First, circle the writing prompt (where it says “Write an essay about…”)
You do this to make sure you don’t accidentally write about the wrong
thing. Writing about the wrong thing will drop your score.
Next, look at the other information to guide your thinking, but do not
use it in your writing. Be original.
Write a good thesis statement. Remember, take the prompt and turn
it into a thesis statement by adding “so,” or “because,” or making sure
there is a reason in your statement. If you just ECHO the prompt, you
will be given a 0 - 1 on your paper and this will cause you to fail the
test.
EXPOSITORY ESSAY – What do I write about?
• REMEMBER, the thesis statement does not include your example in it. The following essay does not reflect
Mrs. Bryant’s attitude about certain controversial topics. It is merely an example taken from recent
headlines that supports the topic and my thesis statement.
• FOR EXAMPLE:
• Write an essay explaining whether happiness comes from inside a person or from other people.
• Here is my thesis statement:
Happiness comes from within a person because if you are not happy with yourself no other person can
make you be a happy person.
• For example, look at the Kardashians and Bruce Jenner. Jenner said he lived a lie and has also said that he
was miserable until he admitted it. He spent the first part of his life as a celebrated and respected Olympian.
He won more individual gold medals than anyone ever had before. Companies lined up to pay him big bucks
for his endorsements of their products. He married a beautiful woman, wealthy in her own right, and they
had beautiful children. Money was never a problem for him. Yet, he was not happy. His family all rallied
around him constantly lifting him up and doing things to try to make him be happy, but nothing worked.
They bought him gifts, took him on elaborate vacations, threw him big parties with his friends, but still he
wasn’t a happy man. When he admitted to his wife what his problem was, he said it felt like a huge weight
had been lifted off his shoulders. Telling his children was the second big weight to be lifted. Admitting it to
the public was the final weight. Now he lives his life the way he chooses.
• Finally, it is true that not everyone has problems like Bruce Jenner and the Kardashians, and most people
think that money sure can make life easier, but the happiness that comes from inside a person can’t be
purchased or given to you by others. Inner happiness stems from being an honest, loving, and decent
person who does right by others and is true to himself.
EXPOSITORY ESSAY – EXAMPLES?
• What types of things should I use as examples? Anything you know well.
• Characters from novels: Atticus Finch, Jem Finch, Scout Finch, Tom
Robinson, Boo Radley (he’s a great example), Jack, Ralph, Piggy, Simon,
General Zaroff from The Most Dangerous Game, Sanger Rainsford from The
Most Dangerous Game
• Characters from movies (Ironman) t.v. shows (Sheldon from Big Bang) video
games (you’re on your own there!)
• Historical figures – The lost boys of Sudan, Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X,
Barack Obama, Donald Trump
• Sports figures – Magic Johnson, Emmitt Smith, Michael Jordan, etc.
• Events in history – Wars, slavery, civil rights movement, plagues, The Great
Depression, terrorism, women’s rights, Presidential campaigns
• A GOOD EXAMPLE FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OR YOUR FAMILY
EXPOSITORY ESSAY - FORMAT
• PARAGRAPH 1 - introduction with thesis statement
• PARAGRAPH 2 – very specific example that has details that support
the thesis statement
• PARAGRAPH 3 – conclusion

• Or, indent your first sentence only and just do the same thing as
above without paragraphs.
HOW DO I BOOST MY ESSAY SCORE?
• Write a strong thesis statement.
• Have an interesting, specific, well-developed example that ties back into
and supports your thesis.
• Use strong vocabulary – all those vocabulary words you have learned? Use
some of them.
• Vary your sentence structure. It will raise your score. For example:
• He enjoyed running marathons although he struggled to breathe.
• Although he struggled to breathe, he enjoyed running marathons.

• You said the same thing, just changed sentence structure. Start some of your
sentences with a dependent clause. Write some compound sentences; write some
complex.
• Use transition words
• Plan and proofread.
EXTRA INFORMATION TO REVIEW
• Why do authors use figurative language?
• To create imagery to help the reader picture things in the story
• To stir the reader’s imagination
• To emphasize something
• To highlight something
• To make the reading entertaining
• To help create a specific mood
• To help create a specific theme

• If you have a question that asks about figurative language, first, go back to the
sentence or paragraph, identify the type of figurative language, read it over
and over, try to determine why the author uses it – what is he/she trying to
do?
REVIEW INFORMATION - FICTION
• Characters:
• Protagonist – central character in a work of fiction. They can also be a
dynamic, round character (go through changes and have many qualities)
• Antagonist –(remember anti- means against) – character who opposes the
protagonist – it can also be a force. In TKAM, racism could be considered an
antagonist of Tom Robinson.
• FOIL – a foil character is usually a character paired with another for a purpose.
For example, Bob Ewell is a foil of Atticus Finch because Bob is so disgusting,
he reflects (like foil) how respectful Atticus is. Bob is also a FOIL of Tom
Robinson. Even though they are both poor, Tom Robinson is a good man,
while Bob is immoral. In The Most Dangerous Game, Ivan is a FOIL of Zaroff.
While they are both Cossacks, Ivan is called a savage (he is very uncivilized),
while Zaroff IS very savage (but very cultured and proper acting).
• FLAT/Static characters – not very interesting, not many traits, do not change.
A stereotyped character is always the same.
Fiction
• Point of view – perspective – narration
• 1st person – narrator is in the story; uses “I,” “Me,” “Mine” You get
to hear the thoughts of the narrator and see everything through
their eyes.
• 2nd person – you, your – Not usually used in fiction
• 3rd person – Someone telling the story; an outside looking at the
action;
• Omniscient – the reader knows thoughts of all the characters
• Limited – the reader knows the thoughts of one character
• Types of figurative language – metaphor, simile, personification,
hyperbole, understatement, onomatopoeia, idioms, clichés
• Literary terms/devices – irony, flashback, foreshadowing, theme,
allusion
Poetry information
• Speaker – the voice you hear – kind of like a narrator in fiction
• Stanza – the “paragraphs” in a poem
• Tone – the attitude of the speaker
• Mood – the emotional quality of the poem - it’s created by diction (word
choice) and tone
• Sound devices – alliteration, repetition, rhyme, onomatopoeia
• Poets use these devices to make the poem “come alive” when you’re
reading it, to emphasize, to highlight, to make it sound a certain way if the
poem is read aloud
• When you read a poem, you must remember to “dig beneath the surface.”
• Types of figurative language – metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole,
understatement, onomatopoeia, idioms, clichés, symbolism
• Literary terms/devices – irony, flashback, foreshadowing, theme, allusion
Drama (plays)
• Stage directions – that writing in the play that is not meant to be read
aloud when you are a character reading a part. For example:
Romeo: Juliet, do you play games with me?
**He looks at her with a puzzled expression and takes her hands.
Juliet: Romeo, I do not know how to play games. I am not old enough
to have learned such deceptive tricks.
**The stage directions tells Romeo to look at Juliet, how to look at her,
and to take her hands. Stage directions are important because they
give the readers information about the play, about the setting, the
characters, the mood of the play, etc.
ALWAYS READ THE STAGE DIRECTIONS IN A DRAMA SELECTION ON THE
STAAR EOC.
Drama
• Irony – just like in good fiction, irony is present. In drama, sometimes
it is a little different.
• Verbal irony – what an actor says that is kind of like sarcasm.
• Situational irony – an unexpected twist
• Dramatic irony – when the audience (reader) knows something
that is going to happen or that is happening that the actor does
not. For example, in Romeo and Juliet, Romeo does not know that
Juliet isn’t dead – she’s just in a sleep-state that looks like she’s
dead. The audience knows this.
Revising and Editing
Remember, a clause has a subject (a do-er) and a verb (something being done). If
they are complete, we call them SENTENCES (or independent clauses); if they are
incomplete, we call them dependent or subordinate clauses.

A phrase lacks a subject/verb combination. Types of phrases:

Prepositional phrase – under the table, over the rainbow, near the river
Infinitive phrase – to run away, to sleep all night, to love forever (to + a main verb is
an infinitive, just like in Spanish – hablar means to speak)
Participial and gerund phrases – Participles are words that look like verbs but act
like adjectives. They end in –ed and –ing. The phrase is the whole thing. For
example, “The screaming child,” screaming looks like a verb, but it describes child
so it’s a participle. “The screaming child” is the participial phrase.
Gerund is a word that looks like a verb but functions as a noun. It ends in –ing. For
example, Skiing is my favorite sport. Skiing is a gerund. A gerund phrase is the
gerund with other words. Skiing down the hill caused me to lose my breath. Skiing
down the hill is the gerund phrase and is the subject of the sentence.
Compound vs. complex sentences
• These are important for two reasons:
• 1) you need to know how to identify them in order to pick out correct answers in
revising and editing. If the question has 4 sentences for answer choices, and you
don’t know if they’re punctuated correctly, you may miss it.
• 2) when you write the expository essay, one of the criteria for a “3” and “4” score
papers is “varied sentence structure.” So that means you write with some simple,
some compound, and some complex sentences.
• COMPOUND SENTENCES – at least 2 complete sentences joined by a COMMA PLUS
FANBOYS.
• EXAMPLE: The children laughed, AND they hunted Easter eggs.
• If you put your FINGER OVER THE FANBOYS and if what is on either side of your
finger is a complete sentence, then you know it’s compound. If the comma is
missing, it is incorrectly punctuated and would not be an answer choice.
Complex sentences
• Complex sentences are different from compound.
• They are made up of at least 1 DEPENDENT CLAUSE (not phrase), and 1
INDEPENDENT CLAUSE (also known as a complete sentence).
• The dependent clause begins with a subordinating conjunction
(AAAWWWWUUBBIS). If the Subordinating conjunction starts the
sentence, you put a comma after the dependent clause.
• Example: While I was sleeping, my cat tore up the toilet paper.
• While I was sleeping is the dependent (subordinate) clause. My cat tore up
the toilet paper is the INDEPENDENT CLAUSE (complete sentence).
• If the dependent clause ends a sentence, you do not punctuate before it.
My cat tore up the toilet paper while I was sleeping.
Revising and editing – Possessives
• Words with ‘s. - if a word has an ‘s, it either has to be a contraction or a possessive word.
YOU DO NOT MAKE WORDS PLURAL with ‘s.
• Making words possessive:
• Cat – 1 cat.
• Cat’s toy – the toy belonging to 1 cat
• Cats – more than 1 cat
• Cats’ toys – the toys belonging to more than 1 cat. The apostrophe goes after the S. If it
goes before, it’s singular possessive.
• Child – 1 child
• Child’s backpack – the backpack belonging to 1 child.
• Children – more than 1 child
• Children’s backpacks – the backpacks belong to more than 1 child.
• PLEASE NOTE: YOU DO NOT PUT ‘S ON WORDS THAT ARE IN PLURAL FORM SUCH AS
CHILDREN, MEN, TEETH, MICE, ETC. THE SO GOES AFTER THE APOSTROPHE BECAUSE
THERE ARE NO SUCH WORDS AS CHILDRENS, MENS, MICES, TEETHS, ETC. THE CORRECT
WORDS ARE children’s, men’s, teeth’s, mice’s.
Contractions
• These are two words joined together by removing one or more letters
and adding an apostrophe to indicate where the letters are missing.
Remember that the apostrophe is like a scar to show where the letter
were “cut out.”
• A contraction is not a possessive word.
• It’s = it is
• Isn’t = is not
• Wouldn’t = would not
• If you can’t write contractions correctly with the apostrophe, do not
use them on the essay because incorrectly punctuated contractions
will hurt your score. Just use the two words instead – IS NOT sounds
very powerful.
• Except vs. accept – except means “every one but” – accept means “to receive” “to come to terms with”
• There, they’re, their
• There – over there
• They’re – they are
• Their – belongs to them

• You’re vs. your

• You’re is you are
• Your – belongs to you

• Then vs. than – then – first this, then that; Than is used for comparison – more than you, smarter than him
• Affect vs. effect – affect is to influence; effect is a result
• It’s vs. its – it’s is it is; its is belonging to it
• Through, threw – go through trouble; threw the ball
• Lead vs. led – lead is a type of metal; led is past tense of lead
• Lose vs. loose – lose is a verb that means to misplace something; loose is an adjective telling you the opposite of tight
• Breathe vs. breath – breathe is a verb; breath is what you take in when you breathe
• Cite vs. sight vs. site – cite means to quote or document your sources; sight is what you see with; site is a place.
• Conscious vs. conscience – conscious means you are awake and alert; conscience is your little voice – sense of right and wrong
• Lie vs. lay – a person or animal lies down; to lay means you place or put something down.
• Passed vs. past – past tense of pass. Past is belonging to a former time in history
• Who vs. whom – who used as a subject or do-er of action. Whom used as an object or receiver of action. The way I always remembered this is to
substitute HE for Who and Him for Whom.
• Desert vs. dessert – Desert is a hot sandy dry place or to leave/abandon someone; dessert is what you eat
• Imply vs. infer – to imply means to indirectly state something; infer means to draw a conclusion. You imply something to someone; they infer the
meaning from it.
• Medal vs. metal – medal is something you win; metal is a hard substance things are made of.
Last minute tips:
• Use a dictionary – it’s foolish NOT to use one.
• Read everything over and over again if you do not understand.
• Plan your writing carefully, write a rough draft, and proofread your final
draft. Capitalize first letter of each sentence and punctuate at the end.
• Write a good thesis statement and support it throughout the essay.
• Develop a strong example that supports your thesis.
• Follow APE on short answer questions.
• Read questions carefully. Do not choose poorly punctuated sentences as
your answer choices.
• On questions about transitions, make sure you read several sentences
before and after the spot where the transition needs to go so you know the
right one.
• Do your very best on this. You have the brain and skills necessary to pass!