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MTEL Middle School Humanities Test Breakdown

Literature and Language has three subareas with a total of 30 to 32 questions and counts 25 percent of the final score.

1. Genres and Types of Literature: characteristics, elements and structure of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama, literary devices, and literature for children and young adults.
2. American Literature and Language from Pre-Colonial Times to the Present: myths and legends, major movements, ethnic literary traditions, genres, themes, literary forms and styles, major American authors, their impact and significant works, and how the structure and use of American English has morphed.
3. World Literature from Ancient Times to the Present: British literature and language, world mythology, folk literature and traditional narratives, literary forms, works and movements, genres and themes, major authors, their impact and significant works, and the evolution of the English language through the years.

Reading, Rhetoric and Composition has three subareas with a total of 18 to 20 questions and counts 15 percent of the final score.

1. Reading Process, Instruction and Assessment: research-based theories, structure of language, vocabulary skills, literal, inferential and evaluative comprehension and application of strategies, cognitive techniques, instruction methods to develop word analysis, vocabulary and comprehension, planning, managing and adjusting teaching techniques to help students learn to read, and various assessment methods.
2. Rhetoric and Written and Oral Communication: classic rhetoric, general and modern principles, structural devices, different purposes and contexts of writing for and speaking to various audiences, arrangement and organization, style and tone, and form of delivery.
3. Composition: process and conventions of standard, written American English, features of different its forms, the steps in the writing process, evaluating information, sentence, paragraph and essay development and organization, importance of supporting details, and assessing, revising and editing the written text to improve and clarify the text.

History has six subareas with a total of 30 to 32 questions and counts 25 percent of the final score.

1. Early Human Societies from Prehistory to AD 500: human origins and early societies; politics, economics and culture of early Africa, India, Middle East and China; slavery, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Judaism and Christianity and the institutions; cultures and legacies of ancient Israel, Byzantine civilization and Greece; Alexander the Great; and the influence of Roman and Greek political concepts on modern government.
2. World Civilizations from 500 to 1500: political, economic, social and cultural developments; origins of Islam and the consequences of its expansion; international slave trade; European feudalism and manorialism; the Ottoman Empire, the Crusades, European government, society and culture in the High Middle Ages; and significant developments in and between Asia, Africa and the Americas and between Asian, Islamic and European countries.
3. World History from 1500 to the Present: political, economic, social and cultural developments, European Renaissance and Reformation, expansion and exploration, international slave trade, Ottoman Empire, absolute monarchies and constitutional governments, the scientific revolution and the Enlightenment, the American and French Revolutions, agricultural and industrial revolutions, European nationalism, imperialism, World War I, the Russian Revolution, The Great Depression, fascism, World War II, the Chinese Revolution, the Cold War, modern Islam, Soviet Union, globalization, and terrorism.
4. United States Society through the War of 1812: political, economic and religious motives of European exploration and settlement in North America, political, economic and cultural characteristics of Native American societies, coexistence and conflict in the early days, features of early North American and Massachusetts’ settlements, slavery, labor and family life at all socio-economic levels, the American Revolution, the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution and politics, and government in the newly formed nation.
5. United States Society from 1815 through the Civil War and Reconstruction: political, economic, social, cultural and diplomatic developments, Jacksonian democracy, changes in antebellum America, growth of transportation and industry, northern and southern economic systems, Irish immigration, westward migration, slave life, secession, leaders, turning points and consequences of the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Compromise of 1877.
6. United States Society from 1877 to the Present: political, economic, social, cultural and diplomatic developments, industrial expansion, Populism and Progressivism, the United States as a world power, the 1920s, the Great Depression, FDR and the New Deal, major events and consequences of participation in World War I and World War II, the Cold War, political liberalism, women’s rights and civil rights, Ronald Regan and conservatism, domestic security, and the changing demographics of America.

Geography, Government and Economics has three subareas with a total of 18 to 20 questions and counts 15 percent of the final score.

1. Physical and Political Features of the World: impact on the development of civilizations, shape, location and relationship of land masses; bodies of water and major landforms; basic geographic terms and concepts; atlases and almanacs; the multiple uses for maps, political units and divisions; and how geographic factors influence human settlement, historical events, and political, economic and cultural developments.
2. American Government and the Political System: characteristics, structure and operation; concepts contained in the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution; structure and functions of local, state and federal government; electoral system, political parties and interest groups; how people influence and participate in the political process; and the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
3. The United States Economic System: concepts, characteristics, organization and operation of various economic systems; history, development, principles and components of the US system; the role of government; and international market factors that influence American consumers and producers.

MTEL Middle School Humanities Test Practice Questions