What drives a character’s actions in a short story?
Read the passage from "The Book of Martha.”She stood up and looked down at him. "Is it what I should do? Will it work? Please tell me.""I truly don't know. I don't want to know. I want to watch it all unfold. I've used dreams before, you know, but not like this."His pleasure was so obvious that she almost took the whole idea back. He seemed able to be amused by terrible things. "Let me think about this," she said. "Can I be by myself for a while?"God nodded. "Speak aloud to me when you want to talk. I'll come to you.”
Read the passage from "The Book of Martha.”And she went from being elated to—once again—being terrified. "What if I say something wrong, make a mistake?""You will.""But . . . people could get hurt. People could die."God went to a huge deep red Norway Maple tree and sat down beneath it on a long wooden bench. Martha realized that he had created both the ancient tree and the comfortable-looking bench only a moment before. She knew this, but again, it had happened so smoothly that she was not jarred by it."It's so easy," she said. "Is it always this easy for you?"God sighed. "Always," he said.She thought about that—his sigh, the fact that he looked away into the trees instead of at her.
Read the passage from "The Most Dangerous Game,” which describes what happens when Rainsford finds a dead animal along the shore."A twenty-two," he remarked. "That's odd. It must have been a fairly large animal too. The hunter had his nerve with him to tackle it with a light gun. It's clear that the brute put up a fight. I suppose the first three shots I heard was when the hunter flushed his quarry and wounded it. The last shot was when he trailed it here and finished it."He examined the ground closely and found what he had hoped to find—the print of hunting boots. They pointed along the cliff in the direction he had been going. Eagerly he hurried along, now slipping on a rotten log or a loose stone, but making headway; night was beginning to settle down on the island.
Which statement best describes the "third way” of a moral dilemma?
Read the passage from "The Most Dangerous Game.”"And if I win—" began Rainsford huskily."I'll cheerfully acknowledge myself defeat if I do not find you by midnight of the third day," said General Zaroff. "My sloop will place you on the mainland near a town." The general read what Rainsford was thinking."Oh, you can trust me," said the Cossack. "I will give you my word as a gentleman and a sportsman. Of course you, in turn, must agree to say nothing of your visit here.""I'll agree to nothing of the kind," said Rainsford.
What does a moral dilemma reveal about a character in a short story?
Which choice best describes a protagonist in a short story?
Read the passage from "The Book of Martha.”"This is what you're to do," God said. "You will help humankind to survive its greedy, murderous, wasteful adolescence. Help it to find less destructive, more peaceful, sustainable ways to live."Martha stared at him. After a while, she said feebly, ". . . what?""If you don't help them, they will be destroyed.""You're going to destroy them . . . again?" she whispered."Of course not," God said, sounding annoyed. "They're well on the way to destroying billions of themselves by greatly changing the ability of the earth to sustain them. That's why they need help. That's why you will help them.""How?" she asked. She shook her head. "What can I do?""Don't worry," God said. "I won't be sending you back home with another message that people can ignore or twist to suit themselves. It's too late for that kind of thing anyway."
Read the passage from "The Book of Martha.”"Maybe. But I really mean that somehow people should spend a lot of their energy in their dreams. They would have their own personal best of all possible worlds during their dreams. The dreams should be much more realistic and intense than most dreams are now. Whatever people love to do most, they should dream about doing it, and the dreams should change to keep up with their individual interests. Whatever grabs their attention, whatever they desire, they can have it in their sleep. In fact, they can't avoid having it. Nothing should be able to keep the dreams away—not drugs, not surgery, not anything. And the dreams should satisfy much more deeply, more thoroughly, than reality can. I mean, the satisfaction should be in the dreaming, not in trying to make the dream real."God smiled. "Why?""I want them to have the only possible utopia." Martha thought for a moment. "Each person will have a private, perfect utopia every night—or an imperfect one. If they crave conflict and struggle, they get that. If they want peace and love, they get that. Whatever they want or need comes to them. I think if people go to a . . . well, a private heaven every night, it might take the edge off their willingness to spend their waking hours trying to dominate or destroy one another." She hesitated. "Won't it?"
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