Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) · English (Grades 11 and 12)

Reading and Literary Analysis

47 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

Practise Reading and Literary Analysis now

Random questions from this topic, one at a time. You see the answer and the explanation straight after each one.

All 47 questions

  1. In 'The wind whispered through the trees', which device is used?
  2. Which sentence contains a metaphor?
  3. A story set in a small town shows a character remembering an event from ten years earlier. This technique is called
  4. In a novel, a storm gathers on the horizon as two friends argue. The storm most likely functions as
  5. What is irony in which a reader knows something that a character does not?
  6. A narrator who uses 'I' and takes part in the story is speaking from which point of view?
  7. In a poem, the repetition of the same initial consonant sound in nearby words (for example 'silent, steady steps') is called
  8. What is the main idea of the passage?
  9. In the passage, 'novelty' most nearly means
  10. Why does wind create a problem for a rooftop colony in winter?
  11. What can be inferred about the keepers' response to winter wind?
  12. Which statement best describes the author's tone toward the keepers?
  13. What does the simile 'like a page being turned' suggest about the ferry's wake?
  14. Which detail best shows Marta's mood after missing the ferry?
  15. The phrase 'each window a small decision that someone else had made' mainly suggests that Marta feels
  16. What is the most likely reason the letter was 'written twice and posted never'?
  17. Which statement best explains the effect of the final sentence?
  18. What is the author's main purpose in this passage?
  19. Which claim is supported by sleep research according to the passage?
  20. Which concern do critics raise?
  21. The word 'complicate' in the passage most nearly means
  22. Which sentence best captures the passage's final question?
  23. What is a theme?
  24. What does imagery do in a poem?
  25. How many lines does a Shakespearean or Petrarchan sonnet have?
  26. 'I've told you a million times to clean your room.' Which device is used?
  27. In the sentence 'The classroom was a zoo this morning', which literary device is used?
  28. What is an allusion?
  29. Which device is used in 'Peter picked a peck of pickled peppers'?
  30. Who wrote 'Anne of Green Gables'?
  31. Who wrote the novel 'The Handmaid's Tale'?
  32. Which device is used in 'The bees buzzed around the humming hive'?
  33. What is foreshadowing?
  34. A narrator uses 'I' and 'me' and takes part in the story. Which point of view is this?
  35. What is the syllable pattern of a traditional haiku?
  36. In a novel, a white dove appears at the end to signal hope. What is the dove?
  37. What is the climax of a story?
  38. A narrator knows the thoughts of every character in a story. Which point of view is this?
  39. What is the difference between tone and mood?
  40. Who wrote the Booker Prize-winning novel 'Life of Pi'?
  41. Which work features a narrator named Scout Finch?
  42. What is a foil in literature?
  43. Which Canadian writer won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013?
  44. In 'The Great Gatsby', who narrates the story?
  45. Which sentence is an example of personification?
  46. In Shakespeare's 'Macbeth', what do the three witches tell Macbeth early in the play?
  47. What is a frame narrative?

Keep practising

More Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) topics

All Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) practice →

Ready for the full Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) test?

Take a mock testOntario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) hub