PURPOSE & AUDIENCE
A website explains the steps middle school students should follow to apply for a summer leadership program.
What is the author's primary purpose?
inform/explain.
The part of the plot that introduces characters, setting, and the situation is called—
Exposition
A story pauses the present action to show something that happened earlier.
Flashback
The audience knows something important that a character does not.
Dramatic Irony
Which answer is a topic?
A. Failure can help people grow.
B. Failure
C. People should not fear failure.
D. Experiencing failure teaches valuable lessons.
B
A flyer says:
READY FOR HIGH SCHOOL?
Join our free Saturday workshop! Learn how to manage homework, choose activities, and prepare for ninth grade.
Who is the intended audience?
Middle school students/preparing eighth graders.
Nolan wants to admit that he damaged his friend's headphones, but fear of losing the friendship keeps stopping him.
What is Nolan's primary conflict?
Character vs. Self
An author includes clues that hint at something that may happen later.
Foreshadowing
After walking outside and immediately getting soaked by rain, Nia says:
"Beautiful weather we're having!"
What type of irony?
Verbal Irony
A passage describes several ways music affects concentration, mood, and memory.
What is the most likely topic?
Music / effects of music.
A veterinarian writes an article titled “Before You Ask for a Puppy: 5 Things Every Family Should Consider.”
The article discusses cost, time, training, and responsibility.
Identify the most likely:
Audience: ______
Purpose: ______
Audience: Families/people considering getting a dog
Purpose: To inform/explain what pet ownership requires.
A character spends several scenes trying different ways to escape a locked building. Each attempt fails and makes the situation more dangerous.
Which plot stage do these events MOST LIKELY represent?
Rising Action
Early in a story, Ava notices that her phone battery drains unusually fast, but she ignores it. Later, her phone dies while she desperately needs to call someone.
What narrative device was used earlier?
Foreshadowing
A lifeguard forgets how to swim during an emergency.
What type of irony?
Situational Irony — the outcome is the opposite of what we would reasonably expect.
Read:
Kiara wanted to quit robotics after her team's first design failed. Instead, the group studied what went wrong and rebuilt it. Their second design failed too. By competition day, their robot wasn't perfect, but it completed the course.
What is the BEST central idea?
Failure can help people improve when they learn from their mistakes/persist.
Two writers discuss the same topic.
Writer A uses statistics, formal vocabulary, and research from medical journals.
Writer B uses memes, short sentences, relatable examples, and phrases like “Yeah...your brain needs sleep too.”
Both discuss sleep deprivation.
Which writer is MOST LIKELY writing for teenagers? Give one piece of evidence.
Writer B, because the informal language, memes, and relatable style are designed to appeal to a younger/teen audience.
A story follows Amaya as she tries to expose an unfair rule at her school. She gathers evidence, speaks with students, and repeatedly challenges administrators.
How does the conflict contribute to the plot?
The character-vs.-society conflict creates the obstacles/events that drive the rising action forward.
A character is preparing to perform onstage. The story suddenly describes her first-grade talent show, when she forgot every word and ran offstage crying.
Why might the author use this flashback?
To provide background that explains her current fear/anxiety about performing.
In a suspense movie, viewers see someone hiding under a character's bed. The character walks into the bedroom, locks the door, and says:
"Finally, I'm safe."
What type of irony is occurring, and explain why.
Dramatic irony — the audience knows someone is hiding under the bed while the character believes she is safe.
Which detail BEST supports the central idea “Small actions can create meaningful change in a community”?
A. The community center was built in 1998.
B. Maya likes walking through her neighborhood.
C. Five students began collecting litter each Saturday, and within months dozens of neighbors joined them.
D. Saturday is usually warmer than Friday.
C
A writer wants to convince eighth graders to read for at least 20 minutes every night.
Which opening would BEST match the purpose AND audience?
A. Literacy acquisition is positively correlated with increased lexical development.
B. Imagine understanding your favorite stories faster, writing better essays, AND having an excuse to ignore everybody for 20 minutes.
C. Reading originated thousands of years ago and has changed throughout history.
D. Adults should encourage adolescent literacy development.
B
WHY: It supports the persuasive purpose while using language and ideas likely to connect with eighth graders.
Read the sequence:
Eli discovers that his teammate has been secretly cheating.
He struggles with whether to report him.
The team qualifies for the championship.
Eli finally tells the coach the truth, knowing the team may be disqualified.
The coach removes the teammate from competition.
Eli accepts that doing the right thing may cost his team the championship.
Identify:
Primary internal conflict: ______
Climax: ______
Conflict: Character vs. Self
Climax: Eli decides to tell the coach.
As Amari left for the camping trip, his mother warned, "They're expecting the river to rise tonight."
While hiking later, Amari remembered getting caught in a flood when he was seven. He could still remember his father's hand pulling him from the water.
Identify TWO narrative devices and give the evidence for each.
Foreshadowing: Mom's warning that the river may rise hints at future danger.
Flashback: Amari remembers being caught in a flood when he was seven.
During a school play, the audience sees that the main character's costume is beginning to rip.
The actor doesn't notice.
Another actor looks at him and says:
"Wow. Your costume looks PERFECT tonight."
Identify TWO types of irony.
Dramatic irony: The audience knows the costume is ripping while the character does not.
Verbal irony: The other actor says the costume looks perfect when it clearly does not.
A passage explains that a student initially hates working with a group because everyone has different ideas. After several disagreements, the group combines the strongest parts of everyone's plans and produces a better project than any member had created alone.
A student says the central idea is:
“Group projects are difficult.”
Is that an adequate central idea? Explain and improve it.
No. That's too limited and doesn't capture the entire passage.
A stronger response: Working through different perspectives can lead to stronger results.