Analyzing Word Choice and Author’s Purpose in Short Stories — Quiz Answers

Read the excerpt from "The Crab That Played with the Sea.” He went North, Best Beloved, and he found All-the-Elephant-there-was digging with his tusks and stamping with his feet in the nice new clean earth that had been made ready for him. ‘Kun?’ said All-the-Elephant-there-was, meaning, ‘Is this right?’ ‘Payah kun,’ said the Eldest Magician, meaning, ‘That is quite right’; and he breathed upon the great rocks and lumps of earth that All-the-Elephant-there-was had thrown up, and they became the great Himalayan Mountains, and you can look them out on the map. He went East, and he found All-the-Cow-there-was feeding in the field that had been made ready for her, and she licked her tongue round a whole forest at a time, and swallowed it and sat down to chew her cud. ‘Kun?’ said All-the-Cow-there-was. ‘Payah kun,’ said the Eldest Magician; and he breathed upon the bare patch where she had eaten, and upon the place where she had sat down, and one became the great Indian Desert, and the other became the Desert of Sahara, and you can look them out on the map. Which details from the excerpt best support the conclusion that children are the author's intended audience? Choose two correct answers.

Read the excerpt from "The Crab That Played with the Sea.” And Pau Amma? You can see when you go to the beach, how all Pau Amma’s babies make little Pusat Taseks for themselves under every stone and bunch of weed on the sands; you can see them waving their little scissors; and in some parts of the world they truly live on the dry land and run up the palm trees and eat cocoa-nuts, exactly as the girl-daughter promised. But once a year all Pau Ammas must shake off their hard armour and be soft—to remind them of what the Eldest Magician could do. And so it isn’t fair to kill or hunt Pau Amma’s babies just because old Pau Amma was stupidly rude a very long time ago. Oh yes! And Pau Amma’s babies hate being taken out of their little Pusat Taseks and brought home in pickle-bottles. That is why they nip you with their scissors, and it serves you right! Which evidence best supports the conclusion that the narrator is telling this story with a particular child in mind?

Read the excerpt from "The Crab That Played with the Sea.” He went North, Best Beloved, and he found All-the-Elephant-there-was digging with his tusks and stamping with his feet in the nice new clean earth that had been made ready for him. ‘Kun?’ said All-the-Elephant-there-was, meaning, ‘Is this right?’ ‘Payah kun,’ said the Eldest Magician, meaning, ‘That is quite right’; and he breathed upon the great rocks and lumps of earth that All-the-Elephant-there-was had thrown up, and they became the great Himalayan Mountains, and you can look them out on the map. He went East, and he found All-the-Cow-there-was feeding in the field that had been made ready for her, and she licked her tongue round a whole forest at a time, and swallowed it and sat down to chew her cud. ‘Kun?’ said All-the-Cow-there-was. ‘Payah kun,’ said the Eldest Magician; and he breathed upon the bare patch where she had eaten, and upon the place where she had sat down, and one became the great Indian Desert, and the other became the Desert of Sahara, and you can look them out on the map. He went West, and he found All-the-Beaver-there-was making a beaver-dam across the mouths of broad rivers that had been got ready for him. ‘Kun?’ said All-the-Beaver-there-was. ‘Payah kun,’ said the Eldest Magician; and he breathed upon the fallen trees and the still water, and they became the Everglades in Florida, and you may look them out on the map. Then he went South and found All-the-Turtle-there-was scratching with his flippers in the sand that had been got ready for him, and the sand and the rocks whirled through the air and fell far off into the sea. ‘Kun?’ said All-the-Turtle-there-was. ‘Payah kun,’ said the Eldest Magician; and he breathed upon the sand and the rocks, where they had fallen in the sea, and they became the most beautiful islands of Borneo, Celebes, Sumatra, Java, and the rest of the Malay Archipelago, and you can look them out on the map! Which details from the excerpt best support the conclusion that this story is about the creation of the world? Choose two correct answers.

This question has two parts. First, answer Part 1. Then, answer Part 2. Part 1 Read the passage from “The Crab That Played with the Sea.” ‘Is all the Sea obedient to you?’ ‘No,’ said the Man. ‘Once a day and once a night the Sea runs up the Perak river and drives the sweetwater back into the forest, so that my house is made wet; once a day and once a night it runs down the river and draws all the water after it, so that there is nothing left but mud, and my canoe is upset. Is that the play you told it to play?’ ‘No,’ said the Eldest Magician. ‘That is a new and a bad play.’ What is the tone of this passage?

Part 2 Which words best support the correct answer to Part 1?

This question has two parts. First, answer Part 1. Then, answer Part 2. Part 1 Read the excerpt from “The Crab That Played with the Sea.” ‘You are lazy,’ said the Eldest Magician. ‘So your children shall be lazy. They shall be the laziest people in the world. They shall be called the Malazy—the lazy people;’ and he held up his finger to the Moon and said, ‘O Fisherman, here is the Man too lazy to row home. Pull his canoe home with your line, Fisherman.’ ‘No,’ said the Man. ‘If I am to be lazy all my days, let the Sea work for me twice a day for ever. That will save paddling.’ And the Eldest Magician laughed and said, ‘Payah kun’ (That is right). And the Rat of the Moon stopped biting the line; and the Fisherman let his line down till it touched the Sea, and he pulled the whole deep Sea along, past the Island of Bintang, past Singapore, past Malacca, past Selangor, till the canoe whirled into the mouth of the Perak River again. ‘Kun?’ said the Fisherman of the Moon. ‘Payah kun,’ said the Eldest Magician. ‘See now that you pull the Sea twice a day and twice a night for ever, so that the Malazy fishermen may be saved paddling. But be careful not to do it too hard, or I shall make a magic on you as I did to Pau Amma.’ Then they all went up the Perak River and went to bed, Best Beloved. What is the primary purpose of this excerpt?

Part 2 Which quotation best supports the correct answer to Part 1?

What is the best definition of the term imagery ?

Which two factors combine to form an author’s purpose for writing a text?