GACE English
The English assessment, offered as part of the Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators, is divided into two tests.
The first test consists of 60 selected-response questions (80% of the test score) and 2 constructed-response assignments (20% of the test score). The content areas covered by the first test are comprehension of literary and informational texts, reading skills, and reading strategies. The topics covered by the comprehension of literary and informational texts subarea are: the various genres of literature; the use and purpose of literary elements, themes, styles, and structures in literary works; the purposes, structures, elements, and themes of American, British, and Commonwealth, and world prose, poetry, and drama from different periods and movements; and the structures and themes of informational and technical texts. The topics covered by the reading skills and strategies subarea are: the strategies for the comprehension and interpretation of texts; the strategies for the critical analysis and evaluation of texts; and the skills needed for effective reading throughout the curriculum.
The second test consists of 60 selected-response questions (80% of the test score) and 2 constructed-response questions (20% of the test score). The content areas covered by the second test are writing conventions, the writing process, writing for various purposes, oral communications, and visual communications. The topics covered by the writing conventions and the writing process subarea are: the conventions of standard American English; writing as a process; and the use of research and technology in writing. The topics covered by the writing for various purposes subarea are: the techniques for developing organized and focused narrative, analytical, expository, technical, and persuasive documents. The topics covered by the oral and visual communications subarea are: the principles and techniques for preparing and delivering aural and visual communication; and the approaches for the critical analysis of oral and visual messages delivered by various media.
The examination must be completed within four hours. The total test score is placed on a scale of 100 to 300, with 220 as the lowest passing score. Scores are based on the number of selected-response questions answered correctly and the scores assigned by judges to the constructed responses. Test-takers will also receive performance indices indicating their success in each subarea of the examination. Scores will be available approximately a month after the date of the examination; unofficial results are posted on the internet, and an official score report is mailed to the test-taker, the Professional Standards Commission, and the institution specified by the test-taker during registration.
GACE English Practice Questions
1. Which of the following authors wrote in Middle English?
A: Gustave Flaubert
B: Geoffrey Chaucer
C: Charles Dickens
D: Alexander Pope
2. Which of the following sentences is an example of understatement?
A: Ask me if I really care!
B: Who knew that grass stains could come out of those trousers?
C: World War II created some discomfort for the Roosevelt administration.
D: Henry ate a ton of French fries.
3. Which of the following genres includes works by the authors William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, and Eudora Welty?
A: Southern Gothic
B: Postmodern
C: Magical realism
D: Surrealism
4. What is the name for the purging of emotion cited by Aristotle as the fundamental purpose of literature?
A: apostasy
B: catharsis
C: caesura
D: dilettantism
5. Which of these metrical feet consists of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented one?
A: anapest
B: dactyl
C: iamb
D: trochee
Answer Key
1. B. Chaucer worked during the 14th century.
2. C. Obviously, World War Two did more than create "some discomfort" for Roosevelt.
3. A. The Southern Gothic school of literature is characterized by decadence and macabre themes.
4. B. Aristotle believed that the emotion expressed in literature provides a useful release for the reader.
5. C. The word refresh is an example of an iamb.
