English I STAAR EOC
Review Guide
This study guide lists the tested skills on the assessment and sample questions to correlate with those skills. Review the objectives and sample questions to prepare for your English I STAAR Tests for the Reading and Writing sections.
· EOC Reporting Categories and Sample Questions
Part I: Reading
A. Vocabulary
B. Literary Text (Poetry, Drama, Fiction, Literary Nonfiction, Theme and Genre, Sensory Language, Figure 19, Media Literacy, Short Answer)
C. Informational Text (Persuasive, Expository, Procedural Text, Culture and History, Media Literacy, and Short Answer)
Part II: Writing
A. Revising
B. Editing
C. Composition
· Answer Key
An answer key follows the study guide for your review. Read the provided explanation for each answer.
· Rubrics and Writing Sample
Review the attached Short Answer and Composition Rubrics. State-released prompts and Sample responses are also included.
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Part I: Reading
A. Vocabulary – be able to define words using context clues and dictionary skills
1B: Context Clues – Be able to use context clues within a sentence/paragraph
to determine meaning of the word.
After her shift was over, Emily gingerly walked into the
doctor’s office, avoiding further damage to her sprained ankle. She waited in the exam room for a while before the doctor examined her.
1. What key words in the sentence help determine the meaning of the word
gingerly?
A. After her shift
B. into the doctor’s office
C. avoiding further damage
D. doctor examined her
2. The writer uses the word gingerly is used to show that Emily is walking—
A. Confidently
B. Cautiously
C. Angrily
D. Desperately
1E: Dictionary Use – Using the dictionary, be able to determine the accurate denotative/connotative definition of a word as it is used in the passage.
Butter, the staple of French cuisine, makes
everything taste better.
Read the dictionary entry for the word staple.
staple - / stā-pƏl / noun
1. A principal element or important feature
2. A principal raw material or commodity grown
or produced in a region
3. A fiber, like cotton, that is graded according to
length and fineness
4. A u-shaped metal with pointed edges used to
fasten material together
3. Which definition represents the word staple as it is used in the sample
sentence above?
A. Definition 1
B. Definition 2
C. Definition 3
D. Definition 4
B. Literary Text – be able to make complex inferences in poetry, drama, fiction, and literary nonfiction; be able to analyze theme and genre and the use of sensory language
3A Poetry - Analyze the effects of diction and imagery in poetry
Twister Hits Houston by Sandra Cisneros
Papa was on the front porch.
Mama was in the kitchen.
Mama was trying
to screw a light bulb into a fixture.
Papa was watching the rain.
Mama, it’s a cyclone for sure,
he shouted to his wife in the kitchen.
Papa who was sitting on his front porch
when the storm hit
I said the twister ripped
the big black oak to splinter,
tossed a green sedan into his garden,
and banged the back door
like a mad cat wanting in.
Mama who was in the kitchen
said Papa saw everything,
the big oak ripped to kindling,
the green sedan land out back,
the back door slam and slam.
I missed it.
Mama was in the kitchen Papa explained.
Papa was sitting on the front porch.
The light bulb is still sitting
where I left it. Don’t matter now.
Got no electricity anyway.
4. Which words contribute to the imagery of the tornado’s destruction?
A. screw a light bulb into a fixture
B. his wife in the kitchen
C. ripped the big black oak to splinter
D. Got no electricity anyway
5. Why does the narrator’s word choice affect the development of the narrative in this poem?
A. The past tense verbs in the poem makes the reader feel a sense of urgency and a close connection to the plot
B. The words “front porch” and “kitchen” paint an elaborate picture of a sophisticated and ornate household.
C. Constant references to “Mama” and “Papa” create the narrator’s sense of objectivity and distance
D. Verbs like “ripped,” “tossed,” and “banged” help illustrate the tornado’s damage during the storm
5A,B,C Fiction – make inferences about the elements of fiction, an analysis of nonlinear plots, the author’s development of complex character through literary devices, and the effect of the narrator’s point of view
HOPE
Written by David Hilbun, 8th grade
"Adam, get behind me!" his dad called over the roaring winds and splashing waves. Adam’s reply was cut off by the crash of a huge oak tree being ripped out of the dirt and slamming into the ground a few meters away with the force of a stick of dynamite. "Quick, into the storm cellar!" The storm cellar had been designed by Adam’s dad years ago. It was made of 6-inch solid steel and had enough MRE’s to feed 12 hungry people for a week.
They made it to the door and were able to get inside. Fretful, cold, and frightened, they
got out of the storm. In their "secret place", as Adam called it when he was littler, they
felt strangely peaceful. Maybe it was the knowledge that they both were safe, maybe it
was the comfort of the cellar, they didn’t know, but at least they had each other.
Over time, the noise outside got worse and worse. At one point, it was so loud that
it felt as if a huge gong were crashing inside their heads. Suddenly, the noise stopped.
"What’s going on, Dad?" Adam asked.
"I think the eyewall passed over us," he said. "We can probably go outside for a little while."
Outside was a scene of total destruction. Their house was gone, a few planks in its place.
The school was wrecked, the remains of an airliner stewn all over the football field. But worst, they saw a huge fallen tree. Sticking out from under it was a human arm.
Feeling sick, Adam turned to go underground when the eyewall passed over. Hundred-mile-an-hour winds lifted Adam into the air. Screaming, flipping over and over, he bid a mental farewell to his father and a mental hello to his mother. Crying, thinking all hope was lost, he was miraculously caught by his dad. Inch by inch, they made their way back to the cellar, where they waited out the storm.
Finally, it was over. They looked around at the scene surrounding them in awestruck silence. Luckily, there were no bodies this time.
Too shocked to cry, too scared to do anything but stand there, Adam and his dad looked at each other. After a time, the shock wore off. They walked around. Adam motioned his dad over.
"Look," he said simply, smiling.
And there, amid all the destruction, was a single green plant.
6. How does the imagery in paragraph 7 help establish the reader’s view of Adam?
A. It depicts the dangerous storm.
B. It portrays Adam as neglectful.
C. It characterizes Adam as weak.
D. It helps characterize Adam’s love for his parents.
7. Why does the writer include the storm cellar’s history and specifics in paragraph 1?
A. This information helps explain why the cellar was built and why it was able to protect them.
B. The writer intends to stall the plot to provide irrelevant information about the setting
C. The writer wants to infuse his knowledge of general storm prevention and construction.
D. The information helps characterize Adam as careful and observant.
8. Which statement describes the point of view and its effect on the story?
A. The first-person point of view gives a strong sense of the Adam’s internal conflict.
B. Third-person limited point of view allows the reader only to know what the father thinks.
C. The second-person point of view engages the reader’s senses and feelings.
D. Third-person point of view allows the author to provide a view of both characters.
6A Literary Nonfiction – make complexes inferences, including how the authors weave
personal information with factual information to explain/present a perspective or
describe an event.
Snow by Julia Alvarez
Our first year in New York we rented a small apartment with a Catholic school nearby, taught by the Sisters of Charity, hefty women in long black gowns and bonnets that made them look peculiar, like dolls in mourning. I liked them a lot, especially my grandmotherly fourth-grade teacher, Sister Zoe. I had a lovely name, she said, and she had me teach the whole class how to pronounce it. Yo-landa. As the only immigrant in my class, I was put in a special seat in the first row by the window, apart from the other children, so that Sister Zoe could tutor me without disturbing them. Slowly, she enunciated the new words I was to repeat: laundromat, cornflakes, subway, snow.
Soon I picked up enough English to understand a holocaust was in the air. Sister Zoe explained to a wide-eyed classroom what was happening in Cuba. Russian missiles were being assembled, trained supposedly on New York City. President Kennedy, looking worried too, was on the television at home, explaining we might have to go to war against the Communists. At school, we had air-raid drills: An ominous bell would go off and we’d file into the hall, fall to the floor, cover our heads with our coats, and imagine our hair falling out, the bones in our arms going soft. At home, Mami and my sisters and I said a rosary for world peace. I heard new vocabulary: nuclear bomb, radioactive fallout, bomb shelter. Sister Zoe explained how it would happen. She drew a picture of a mushroom on the blackboard and dotted a flurry of chalk marks for the dusty fallout that would kill us all.
The months grew cold, November, December. It was dark when I got up in the morning, frosty when I followed my breath to school. One morning, as I sat at my desk daydreaming out the window, I saw dots in the air like the ones Sister Zoe had drawn—random at first, then lots and lots. I shrieked, “Bomb! Bomb!” Sister Zoe jerked around, her full black skirt ballooning as she hurried to my side. A few girls began to cry.
But then Sister Zoe’s shocked look faded. “Why, Yolanda dear, that’s snow!” She laughed. “Snow.”
“Snow,” I repeated. I looked out the window warily. All my life I had heard about the white crystals that fell out of American skies in the winter. From my desk I watched the fine powder dust the sidewalk and parked cars below. Each flake was different, Sister Zoe had said, like a person, irreplaceable and beautiful.
9. How did the narrator help the reader have a realistic depiction of her early language acquisition?
A. She uses a lot of words that are native to her primary language and country.
B. She characterizes the other students in the story as helpful and culturally diverse.
C. She describes her move to the states and the struggles that she and far family faced in a new country
D. She included details about some of the first new English words she learned like subway and cornflakes.
10. Which phrase helps convey the narrator’s feelings towards the Cuban Missile Crisis the nation was experiencing?
A. I liked them a lot, especially my grandmotherly fourth-grade teacher, Sister Zoe.
B. At home, Mami and my sisters and I said a rosary for world peace .
C. It was dark when I got up in the morning, frosty when I followed my breath to school
D. From my desk I watched the fine powder dust the sidewalk and parked cars below.
4A Drama – make complex inferences about the structure of drama, including how
dramatic conventions (monologues, soliloquies, dramatic irony) enhance the dramatic text
from Oedipus Rex by Sophocles
(Modern Translation)
(King Oedipus from Thebes just discovered the truth – that he killed his
father and is responsible for his mother’s death.)
OEDIPUS: How has it all come to this?
Oh why was I so blind to not see it before?
The prophet told me all of this would happen,
And of course I was too stubborn to listen and figure it out,
But now it is too late. Oh painful truth!
I killed not only my father,
But I have caused my mother to kill herself too.
I see no reason why I deserve anything,
If it were not a sin to kill oneself I would have done it long ago.
I swore I would escape my own fate,
And it turned out I couldn’t after all
But now that I have rid myself of my eyes,
I will be able to never face myself again which is the way I want it.
If I would even catch a glance of myself in a reflection,
I would probably kill myself at the first chance.
I deserve everything that has happened to me.
I deserve all the pain.
The only thing I do not deserve is the satisfaction of death.
So this is the main reason suicide is not the answer for me.
I will go through the rest of my days alone,
And face myself everyday for the monster I am.
I am lucky that the people only have chosen to exile me.