I Literally Cannot
Excerpt: His soul swooned slowly as he
heard the snow falling faintly through the
universe and faintly falling, like the
descent of their last end, upon all the living
and the dead.
Name two examples of alliteration from
this passage.
“soul swooned slowly”
“falling faintly”
“faintly falling”
A) ”Once I have known the joy that could have touched a
Heart of Stone”
B) “one day I cleave I heard a great church bell crying a
strange farewell
C) “from the long Waters sorrowful strong came the last
Echoes of the river song
D) “Here is this alien crowd I walk apart clasping
remembered Beauty to my heart”
Which lines from the poem support the theme that
happiness is only temporary?
A. “Once I have known the joy
that could have touched a
Heart of Stone”
“We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people. . . . But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal?....”
How did President Kennedy appeal to the American people’s emotions to get them behind the plan to go to the moon?
He used pathos and appealed to Americans’ ambition to be first in everything. Or something similar
Read the following sentence. Then, answer the question.
My brother was annoyed that the construction noise outside our house was so loud.
Which of the italicized words in the sentences below has a more negative connotation than annoyed?
a. The new soap I used irritated my skin.
b. I was frustrated that the store closed just as I arrived.
c. When Amelia learned that her sister had read her diary, she was furious.
d. Julio was bothered by the thought that he hadn’t been treated fairly.
c. When Amelia learned that her sister had read her diary, she was furious.
Which is the best justified inference you can make from events after Celeste steps off the train?
What is this question asking you to do?
Pick the best possible guess based on the guesses give.
Or something similar
Having stuffed our burlap sacks with enough
greenery and crimson to garland a dozen
windows, we set about choosing a tree. “It
should be,” muses my friend, “twice as tall as
a boy. So a boy can’t steal the star.
Interpret the simile.
The comparison shows the idea of just how
tall the Christmas tree should be. Taller than
an average boy so he can't steal the star.
Or something similar
“And after ten years spent in the heart of it, rejoicing and wondering, bathing in its glorious floods of light, seeing the sunbursts of morning among the icy peaks, the noonday radiance on the trees and rocks and snow, the flush of the alpenglow, and a thousand dashing waterfalls with their marvelous abundance of irised** spray, it still seems to me above all others the Range of Light, the most divinely beautiful of all the mountain chains I have ever seen.”
How does the paragraph contribute to the development of the author’s ideas?
a) It provides geological details supporting the writer’s assertions about the character of the mountains.
b) It tells of the author’s experience of the area and provides evidence for his claims about its character.
b. It tells of the author’s experience of the area and provides evidence for his claims about its character.
With which phrase can be used as contrast to make an author’s point?
a) choose to go to the moon
b) do the other things
c) not because they are easy, but because they are hard
c. not because they are easy, but because they are hard
Read the following sentence. Then, answer the question.
“I wouldn’t want to hamper your ability to learn to drive.”
The word hamper has more than one meaning. What resource would you use to make sure the word hamper is being used correctly in this sentence?
a) college-level dictionary
b) bilingual dictionary
c) glossary
d) thesaurus
d. thesaurus
What way does the ending of the passage illustrate situational irony?
What is the question asking you to do?
Explain the situation and why it is ironic
Or something similar
Excerpt From
Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas
"Then he got an idea!
An awful idea!
The Grinch
Got a wonderful, awful idea!"
How do the words in the oxymoron relate?
Something wonderful is not usually awful.
Or Something similar
a) “Do you always take a plane to travel long
distances?”
b) “Next time, try the train.”
c) “On a train you can relax, stretch your legs,
stroll around, or chat with fellow passengers.”
d) “Yes, indeed, for a trip that is both relaxing
and eye-opening, nothing beats the train.”
Which sentence from a passage best expresses
its main idea?
c. “On a train you can relax, stretch your legs, stroll around, or chat with fellow passengers.”
Which word best describes the tone of this passage
from “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan
Poe?
“And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revelers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall.”
a) angry
b) grim
c) confused
d) annoyed
B. grim
Which sentence from the passage best supports the idea that humility is important when learning new things.
a. Each day, he would drive the chariot of the sun across the sky, moving in an arc from east to west until it dropped below the horizon to end the hours of daylight.
b. “I can drive the chariot just like you, Father!” Phaeton boasted, and he nagged and badgered until Phoebus finally let him take over the chariot one day.
c. Unfortunately, Phaeton’s self-esteem was far superior to his actual driving skill.
d. Zeus, chief of the gods, saw the deadly danger and immediately took action to prevent it.
c. Unfortunately, Phaeton’s self-esteem was far superior to his actual driving skill.
From the details in this passage, what can you conclude about the captain and the company he represents?
What is the question asking you to do?
Use information from the text to draw a conclusion or idea of why the captain is the way he is.
Or something similar
Excerpt From
Robert Louis Stevenson, "Winter-Time"
"Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,
A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;
Blinks but an hour or two; and then,
A blood-red orange, sets again."
What is the purpose of the use of this metaphor?
The winter sun is compared to a
sleepyheaded a person who is only
awake for an hour or two and then
goes back to sleep. This illustrates
that the sun is only out for a short
period of time during the winter.
Or something similar
If the central idea in the passage is that
“travel by train lets you really see America.”
Which detail best supports this assertion?
a) Instead of looking at boring clouds for the
whole trip, you can view the scenery....
b) There is an old-fashioned charm in traveling
the way people did centuries ago....
c) ...where you stop for an hour and have time
for a short walk downtown.
a. Instead of looking at boring clouds for the
whole trip, you can view the scenery....
In a play, a young woman encounters a prince dressed as a beggar. The audience knows that he is a prince; the young woman does not. Which literary technique does this situation illustrate?
a. dramatic irony
b. situational irony
c. verbal irony
d. surprise ending
a. dramatic irony
Which sentence from the passage best supports the idea that children need opportunities to prove themselves?
a. Each day, he would drive the chariot of the sun across the sky, moving in an arc from east to west until it dropped below the horizon to end the hours of daylight.
b. “I can drive the chariot just like you, Father!” Phaeton boasted, and he nagged and badgered until Phoebus finally let him take over the chariot one day.
c. Unfortunately, Phaeton’s self-esteem was far superior to his actual driving skill.
d. Zeus, chief of the gods, saw the deadly danger and immediately took action to prevent it.
b. “I can drive the chariot just like you, Father!” Phaeton boasted, and he nagged and badgered until Phoebus finally let him take over the chariot one day.
In the third paragraph, when Grayson refers to “the Street,” to what is he Referring?
What is the question asking you to do?
Look in paragraph 3 and explain what Grayson is talking about.
Or something similar
Excerpt From F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
"And last the murky yellow cars of the Chicago,
Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad looking cheerful as
Christmas itself on the tracks beside the gate."
Explain how the personification is used in this
passage.
The train cars take on a cheery personality just like people do during Christmas time.
Or something similar.
In which lines from the text does Kennedy use parallelism to connect space exploration with American values?
a. “Those who came before us made certain that this country rode the first waves of the industrial revolutions. . . .” (paragraph 1)
b. “[T]his generation does not intend to founder in the backwash of the coming age of space.” (paragraph 1)
c. “We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won. . ..” (paragraph 2)
c. “We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won. . . .” (paragraph 2)
“And after ten years spent in the heart of it, rejoicing and wondering, bathing in its glorious floods of light, seeing the sunbursts of morning among the icy peaks, the noonday radiance on the trees and rocks and snow, the flush of the alpenglow, and a thousand dashing waterfalls with their marvelous abundance of irised** spray, it still seems to me above all others the Range of Light, the most divinely beautiful of all the mountain chains I have ever seen.”
How does the paragraph contribute to the development of the author’s ideas?
a. It provides geological details supporting the writer’s assertions about the character of the mountains.
b. It provides an expert opinion about the importance of the area described in the first paragraph.
c. It gives details about a specific mountain in the general area introduced in the first paragraph.
d. It tells of the author’s experience of the area and provides evidence for his claims about its character.
d. It tells of the author’s experience of the area and provides evidence for his claims about its character.
In which excerpt from the passage does the author most clearly use logical reasoning to make his or her argument persuasive?
a) “Do you always take a plane to travel long distances? Next time, try the train.”
b) “There is an old-fashioned charm in traveling the way people did centuries ago and a childlike delight in going through so many places that you have only heard about.”
c) “Of course, you could travel by car and see the country that way. However, car travel is very tiring for whoever does the driving, unless you make lots of time-consuming stops.”
d) “Most long-distance trains offer meals in dining cars, and many have observation cars with large glass windows from which you can view the scenery.”
c. “Of course, you could travel by car and see the country that way. However, car travel is very tiring for whoever does the driving, unless you make lots of time-consuming stops.”
Which meaning of the word road applies to its use in this sentence from paragraph 5 of the passage?
What is the question asking you to do?
Pick what the word means in that specific sentence.
Or something similar