What do readers learn about the setting in this excerpt?
Read the excerpt from chapter 23 of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.When the place couldn't hold no more, the duke he quit tending door and went around the back way and come on to the stage and stood up before the curtain and made a little speech, and praised up this tragedy, and said it was the most thrillingest one that ever was; and so he went on a-bragging about the tragedy, and about Edmund Kean the Elder, which was to play the main principal part in it; and at last when he'd got everybody's expectations up high enough, he rolled up the curtain, and the next minute the king come a-prancing out on all fours, naked; and he was painted all over, ring-streaked-and-striped, all sorts of colors, as splendid as a rainbow. And—but never mind the rest of his outfit; it was just wild, but it was awful funny.Which best describes the source of the humor in this excerpt?
Read the quotation from "Song of Myself."I know I have the best of time and space, and was never measured and never will be measured.How does this line support the theme of the poem?
Read the excerpt from "The Story of a Warrior Queen."After Boadicea had been so cruelly and unjustly treated, she burned with anger against the Romans. Her heart was full only of thoughts of revenge. She called her people together, and, standing on a mound of earth so that they could see and hear her, she made a speech to them. She told them first how shamefully the Romans had behaved to her, their Queen. Then, like Caractacus, she reminded them how their forefathers had fought against Julius Caesar, and had driven the Romans away for a time at least. "Is it not better to be poor and free than to have great wealth and be slaves?" she asked. "And the Romans take not only our freedom but our wealth. They want to make us both slaves and beggars. Let us rise. O brothers and sisters, let us rise, and drive these robbers out of our land! Let us kill them every one! Let us teach them that they are no better than hares and foxes, and no match for greyhounds! We will fight, and if we cannot conquer, then let us die—yes, every one of us—die rather than submit."
Read this excerpt from Allen Ginsberg’s "A Supermarket in California."I saw you, Walt Whitman, childless, lonely old grubber, poking among the meats in the refrigerator. Why does Ginsberg make an allusion to Walt Whitman in this excerpt?
Which stage direction from part one of Trifles most adds to the suspenseful tone?
Read the lines from "Because I Could Not Stop for Death."We paused before a House that seemedA Swelling of the Ground –What image does the language in these lines create?
Read the excerpt from Chapter 28 of Moby-Dick.His bone leg steadied in that hole; one arm elevated, and holding by a shroud; Captain Ahab stood erect, looking straight out beyond the ship’s ever pitching prow. There was an infinity of firmest fortitude, a determinate, unsurrenderable willfulness, in the fixed and fearless, forward dedication of that glance.Which best describes the theme Melville develops in this excerpt from the chapter?
Read the passage.The man at the gas station gave me directions and then kept on chatting, telling me about the weather to come and places to stay nearby. His laconic wife simply nodded her head, occasionally correcting him on his lefts and rights and finally telling me I'd best be on my way if I wanted to reach town by sunset.Based on context clues in the passage, what is the most likely meaning of laconic? Select two options.
Read the excerpt from Chapter 28 of Moby-Dick.It was one of those less lowering, but still grey and gloomy enough mornings of the transition, when with a fair wind the ship was rushing through the water with a vindictive sort of leaping and melancholy rapidity, that as I mounted to the deck at the call of the forenoon watch, so soon as I leveled my glance towards the taffrail, foreboding shivers ran over me. Reality outran apprehension; Captain Ahab stood upon his quarter-deck.Which of the novel’s themes is best developed in this excerpt from Chapter 28 of Moby Dick?
Read the passage from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe."Of course it would be raining!” said Edmund. They had just finished their breakfast with the Professor and were upstairs in the room he had set apart for them — a long, low room with two windows looking out in one direction and two in another."Do stop grumbling, Ed,” said Susan. "Ten to one it’ll clear up in an hour or so. And in the meantime we’re pretty well off. There’s a wireless and lots of books.”–The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,C. S. LewisNow read the passage from "Children of the Wartime Evacuation.”As I enjoyed my experience on the Williamses' farm so my brother did not. It is not perhaps surprising. We were very different personalities – he an introvert, I an extrovert. He tended to opt out of activities around the farm; I volunteered for everything. I loved every minute of it. I don't think I was particularly aware of Michael's unhappiness at the time, because I was enjoying myself.–"Children of the Wartime Evacuation,”Julie Summers
Read this excerpt from Allen Ginsberg’s "A Supermarket in California."Where are we going, Walt Whitman? The doors close in an hour. Which way does your beard point tonight?(I touch your book and dream of our odyssey in the supermarket and feel absurd.)Will we walk all night through solitary streets? The trees add shade to shade, lights out in the houses, we’ll both be lonely. Why does Ginsberg most likely make an allusion to Walt Whitman in this excerpt?
Read the excerpt from part one of Trifles.HALE. Well, she looked queer.COUNTY ATTORNEY. How do you mean—queer?HALE. Well, as if she didn’t know what she was going to do next. And kind of done up.Which word has a meaning similar to “queer” as it is used in this excerpt?
Read the excerpt from Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms.The major was a little man with upturned mustaches. He had been in the war in Libya and wore two wound-stripes. He said that if the thing went well he would see that I was decorated. I said I hoped it would go well but that he was too kind. I asked him if there was a big dugout where the drivers could stay and he sent a soldier to show me. I went with him and found the dugout, which was very good. The drivers were pleased with it and I left them there.Hemingway uses vague pronouns and simple language to
Read the excerpt from Cristina Garcia’s Dreaming in Cuban.That’s it. My mind’s made up. I’m going back to Cuba. I’m fed up with everything around here. I take all my money out of the bank, $120, money I earned slaving away at my mother’s bakery, and buy a one-way bus ticket to Miami. I figure if I can just get there, I’ll be able to make my way to Cuba, maybe rent a boat or get a fisherman to take me. I imagine Abuela [grandmother] Celia’s surprise as I sneak up behind her. She’ll be sitting in her wicker swing overlooking the sea and she’ll smell of salt and violet water. There’ll be gulls and crabs along the shore. She’ll stroke my cheek with her cool hands, sing quietly in my ear.The complex narrative structure used in the excerpt is an example of
Read the excerpt from "Song of Myself."Long enough have you dream’d contemptible dreams,Now I wash the gum from your eyes,You must habit yourself to the dazzle of the light and of every moment of your life.Long have you timidly waded holding a plank by the shore,Now I will you to be a bold swimmer,To jump off in the midst of the sea, rise again, nod to me, shout, and laughingly dash with your hair.What theme is suggested by this excerpt?
Read the excerpt from "Annabel Lee," by Edgar Allan Poe.And neither the angels in Heaven above Nor the demons down under the seaHow does Poe use a sound device in the excerpt?
One of the themes in "Children of the Wartime Evacuation” is that it always helps to find the bright side of situations. Which detail from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe best supports the same theme?
Read the sentence.The clouds gathering on the horizon were an inauspicious sign for the outdoor class, so rather than risk getting caught in a downpour, Dara decided to bring the class indoors.Based on context clues in the sentence, what is the most likely meaning of inauspicious?
Which statement best describes the theme of "Song of Myself"?
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