Monday, June 28, 2010

Essays (Novel Reading Substitute)

Choose (2) to supplement your grade for novel reading:

1. Write an essay explaining why a decision you made was the right one.

2. Write an essay explaining why it is important to forgive.

1. A well known football coach once said, "winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." Write an essay explaining whether or not you agree with this statement, and give supporting examples to defend your claim.

2. Your city council is deciding to propose a curfew ban in which anyone under the age of 21 would be banned from being out in public after 10 p.m. Write your opinion on this policy, considering both your argument and the counterargument. Give examples to prove your position.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

"The Tale of Sir Lancelot du Lake"

1. Which word best describes Sir Lancelot?
2. Sir Lancelot leaves Camelot because...
3. Based on details about the four queen's behavior, the reader can infer that the queens are...
4. Sir Lancelot tells Morgan le Fay that he would like to prove that...
5. Sir Lancelot does not behave like a knight when he...
6. In general the characters in the story can be described as...
7. Chivalry refers to...
8. During the battle, Sir Lancelot concentrates on...

"The Sword in the Stone"

1. The nobles gather in London in order to...
2. Before the story begins, the person who knows the identity of the future king of Britain is...
3. Why does Arthur first pull the sword from the stone?
4. Besides pulling the sword from the stone, what else makes Arthur the rightful heir to the throne?
5. When Sir Kay brings the magical sword,...
6. Legends are usually...
7. The legend of Arthur probably evolved from...
8. When Sir Thomas Malory wrote about Arthur...

"Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy?"

1. The title of the story refers to...
2. Paul's character is best described as...
3. What is unique about Paul's situation with his fellow soldiers?
4. To avoid being afraid, Paul...
5. What most disturbs Paul about Billy Boy's death?
6. What is a possible theme of the story?
7. Paul would like his father to see him as...
8. Paul imagines Billy's family receiving...

"Geraldo No Last Name"

1. Marin met Geraldo...
2. The relastionship between Marin and Geraldo is...
3. This story probably does not include any dialogue between Marin and Geraldo because...
4. Geraldo met his fate through...
5. The narrator imagines that Geraldo's family...
6. A writer's style refers to the way a writer...
7. If critics say that Sandra Cisneros's diction is colloquial, they mean that she...
8. A reviewer would most likely describe the sentences in "Geraldo No Last Name" as...
9. The tone of "Geraldo No Last Name" is mostly...
10. Geraldo's characterization in the story was mostly...

"Jazz Fantasia"

1. The speaker of the poem is addressing...
2. What does the speaker want the people he is addressing to do?
3. In the poem, which items are musical instruments?
4. The speaker compares the sound of jazz to...
5. The speaker thinks of jazz as...
6. Give an example of onomatopoeia in the poem.
7. The tone of "Jazz Fantasia" is...
8. Which image appeals to the sense of hearing?
9. The speaker asks the jazzmen to play their instruments in a way that will make people want to...

Thursday, June 10, 2010

"We Real Cool"

1. The "We" in "We Real Cool" is...
2. The first clue that the speakers are flirting with a dangerous way of life is that they...
3. What types of things do the "We" do?
4. Brooks hopes to persuade the pool players to...
5. Which lines contain internal rhyme?

"Ex-Basketball Player"/"miss rosie"

1. Pearl Avenue is "cut off/Before it has a chance" just as...
2. Except for one that is "more of a football type", the "idiot pumps" represent...
3. The speaker of "Ex-Basketball Player" makes a comparison between wild birds and...
4. What is Flick's most important action?
5. The speaker on Updike's poem suggests that Flick is not more successful in life is because he-
6. The speaker of Lucille Clifton's poem compares Miss Rosie to-
7. How did Rosie used to look?
8. How did Rosie used to look?
9. The controversial tone of "miss rosie" tells you that this poem is-
10. Give one example of alliteration in "Ex-Basketball Player" except-

"I Am Offering This Poem"/"since feeling is first"

1. The speaker of Baca's poem offers the poem as a gift because he...
2. The speaker of Baca's poem asks the recipient to...
3. In Baca's poem, the speaker hopes that his poem will...
4. In Baca's poem the repetition of the same line following each stanza...
5. In the construction of "since feeling is first", E.E. Cummings...
6. The premise of "since feeling is first" is that...
7. According to the speaker in "since feeling..." what is better than wisdom?
8. To Cummings, the flutter of his love's eyelids tells him that...
9. Cummings urges his readers to...
10. What is the message of "since feeling..."?

"The Masque of the Red Death"

1. The events of the story are related to...
2. What is unusual about where the masquerade takes place?
3. "Gaudy and fantastic appearances" are created at the masquerade ball by...
4. Few people dare to enter the black apartment because...
5. Prince Prospero is a person who basically desires...
6. Under the circumstances the appearance and behavior of guests at the ball come accross as...
7. When Prince Prospero confronts the strangely masked guest, the prince...
8. The outcome of the story is that...
9. An allegory is a...
10. In "The Masque of the Red Death", the red mask probably stands for...

"Through the Tunnel"

1. Jerry's mother allows him to go to the beach by the wild bay because she...
2. Jerry is fascinated by the boys at the wild bay because...
3. When Jerry masks his shame at not having found the tunnel because he was clowning around, the other boys...
4. What best describes Jerry's attitude toward going through the tunnel?
5. In addition to overcoming the dangers of the water, Jerry has to contend with...
6. In the end, while eating lunch, Jerry tells his mother...
7. What is a possible theme of "Through the Tunnel"?
8. A reader finds the symbolic meaning of the story by...
9. The most important symbol of the story is...
10. The wild bay is a symbol for...

"By the Waters of Babylon"

1. What does John encounter at the Place of the Gods?
2. The statue with the cracked name ASHING was probably a sculpture of...
3. Readers can conclude that John's father punishes him for eating the god's food because...
4. The many lights that John sees in his dream at the Place of the Gods are probably...
5. John loses his fear of the Place of the Gods because...
6. Readers can conclude that John and his people are...
7. The story's first person point of view can best be described as...
8. the author probably picked this point of view because...
9. What tone does John have as the narrator?
10. Why might the author have selected John to be the narrator?

"Catch the Moon"

1. Luis was sent to juvenile hall bfor six months because he...
2. At first, Luis wonders if he should do his full sentence at juvenile hall because...
3. How long ago did Luis get into trouble at school?
4. Luis's problems start soon after...
5. Mr. Cintron is best described as...
6. Luis likes Naomi because she is...
7. One way that Luis changes is that he...
8. The story's title refers to...
9. Luis's internal conflict is that he...
10. The theme of the story is that...

"Notes from a Bottle"

1. What structural elements in the text tell you these notes are a kind of diary?
2. What device does Stevenson use to frame the entire story?
3. What reason does the writer give for the lack of phones and other devices?
4. What item in the story gets moved from the fourth floor to the sixth floor?
5. Langford probably moves to the tallest TV antenna because...
6. What is ambiguous about the way the flood is dealt with?
7. Who moves into the Wenker's apartment?
8. The reasons for the celebration at the beginning of the story is ambiguous. What mood does this create?
9. What is the biggest prank played in the story?
10. Wy do people probably slip out of the anrrator's apartment during the party?

"Lamb to the Slaughter"

1. At the beginning of the story, Mary Maloney is...
2. From Mary's dialogue, you know that her heusband...
3. The fact that the lamb is frozen is significant because...
4. Whom do the police first suspect when they arrive on the scene?
5. The real reason that Mary goes to the store is that she needs...
6. One of the police officers thinks that the murder weapon is a...
7. One type of irony found in the story is when...
8. What is ironic about the story's title?
9. What is the best description of the mood the author creates in the story?
10. Mary refuses to lie down because...

"And of Clay Are We Created"

1. Rolf Carle is...
2. The village is destroyed when...
3. Azucena is...
4. You can infer that Rolf tries to save Azucena because...
5. The narrator notes that reporters kept broadcasting Azucena's face around the world. In this way, the narrator shows...
6. Rolf does not save Azucena because...
7. Azucena represents...
8. As the story progresses, Rolf changes, and he...
9. How is the story resolved...
10. What does the "Clay" in the title represent?

"Typhoid Fever"

1. What gift does Patricia give Frankie?
2. What poem does Patricia read to Frankie?
3. The poem Patricia reads symbolizes...
4. The Kerry nurse has which character traits? (List three)
5. When Frankie moves upstairs, he fears...
6. Which word describes the narrator's attitude toward the fever ward?
7. Which situation is a comic relief in the story?
8. Frankie's parents could be described as...
9. Who is the narrator in the story?
10. Which word best describes the voice of this story?

Two Kinds

1. Jing-Mei's mother's life in China was hard because she...
2. When first considering the idea of becoming famous, Jing-Mei...
3. When Jing-Mei sees her "prodigy side" in the mirror, she...
4. Old Chong is...
5. According to Jing-Mei's mother, what are the "two kinds"?
6. The main source of conflict between Jing-Mei and her mother is...
7. At college, Jing-Mei...
8. A character's motivation is his or her...
9. Based on Jing-Mei's behavior, a reader can infer that...
10. At first, Jing-Mei's mother's ambitions for Jing-Mei are motivated by...

Everyday Use

1. Maggie's shyness mainly arises from...
2. Dee probably changes her name because she...
3. The mother is reluctant to let Dee have the quilts because the mother...
4. Why does the mother finally decide to give the quilts to Maggie instead of to Dee?
5. Dee and Maggie differ in that...
6. Which trait does Dee share with her mother?
7. What is the story's main conflict?
8. We learn about the mother in "Everyday Use" mainly throught the story's...
9. In the mother's dream about appearing on television, she...
10. When Dee tells her mother, "You just don't understand," the statement shows the reader that...

Double Daddy/Diary of a Mad Blender/The Child's View of Working Parents-Quiz

1. The author of all three articles would probably agree that...
2. In order to balance work and family life, Sue Shellenbarger...
3. According to Pneey Parker, "daddy stress" is...
4. What did Shellenbarger learn about the effects of being a blender?
5. What did Ellen Galinsky, the researcher in "The Child's View of Working Parents", learn about kids' feelings?

Contents of a Dead Man's Pockets-Sem. 1

1. The two settings of this story are a...
2. Tom Benecke stays behind when his wife goes to see a move because he...
3. Tom's major conjict in the story is to...
4. Which event early in the story creates Tom's conflict?
5. Which word best drescribes the relationship between Tom and his wife?
6. The main danger Tom faces in the story is the danger of falling...
7. One part of Tom's apartment that plays a part in the story is the...
8. What role does the cigarette play in the story?
9. What does Tom do to get out of trouble?
10.Approximately how much time passes in the story?