ELA Regents Study Guide aligned with the updated 2026/2027 NYS ELA Regents syllabus

ELA Regents Study Guide aligned with
the updated 2026/2027 NYS ELA
Regents syllabus

Part 1: Reading Comprehension (Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction)
Question 1: In literary analysis, what is the term for the central struggle between
opposing forces in a story?
ANSWER ✓ Conflict

Question 2: Which type of conflict involves a character struggling against their own
fears or desires?
ANSWER ✓ Internal conflict

Question 3: What literary device is used when an author hints at future events in a
narrative?
ANSWER ✓ Foreshadowing

Question 4: A character who undergoes a significant internal change throughout the
story is called...
ANSWER ✓ Dynamic character

Question 5: What is the perspective from which a story is told called?
ANSWER ✓ Point of view

Question 6: When a narrator uses “I” and is a character in the story, this is...
ANSWER ✓ First-person point of view

Question 7: The emotional atmosphere a writer creates for the reader is known as...
ANSWER ✓ Mood

Question 8: The author’s attitude toward the subject or audience is called...
ANSWER ✓ Tone

Question 9: Which literary device compares two unlike things without using “like” or
“as”?
ANSWER ✓ Metaphor

, Question 10: “Her smile was like sunshine” is an example of...
ANSWER ✓ Simile

Question 11: Giving human qualities to inanimate objects is called...
ANSWER ✓ Personification

Question 12: A recurring element, image, or idea that has symbolic significance in a
literary work is a...
ANSWER ✓ Motif

Question 13: The time, place, and social environment in which a story unfolds is the...
ANSWER ✓ Setting

Question 14: The main character around whom the plot revolves is the...
ANSWER ✓ Protagonist

Question 15: The character or force that opposes the protagonist is the...
ANSWER ✓ Antagonist

Question 16: The sequence of events in a story is the...
ANSWER ✓ Plot

Question 17: The most intense, turning point moment in a story is the...
ANSWER ✓ Climax

Question 18: The part of the plot where conflicts begin to be resolved is the...
ANSWER ✓ Falling action

Question 19: A struggle between a character and an outside force (nature, society,
another character) is...
ANSWER ✓ External conflict

Question 20: What is the central message or insight about life revealed in a literary
work?
ANSWER ✓ Theme

Question 21: In poetry, the repetition of initial consonant sounds is called...
ANSWER ✓ Alliteration

Question 22: “The buzz of bees” is an example of...
ANSWER ✓ Onomatopoeia