AnswersCISD TX- Eng II B CR Nov 2026Character and Culture in Literature

Lesson One: Character and Culture in Literature Answers

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1
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Which statements are true of external conflicts? Select three options.

A
They propel the plot of a story.
B
They release tensions in a story.
C
They take place between two characters in a story.
D
They happen when a character is at odds with society.
E
They occur when characters feel uncertain about what they want.
2
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What is the best definition of intrinsic motivation?

A
reasons to act that the character cannot control
B
reasons to act that come from within a character
C
reasons to act that can be inferred from the text
D
reasons to act that come from outside a character
4

Which excerpts from "Two Kinds” are examples of internal conflict? Select two options.

A
“America was where all my mother's hopes lay. She had come here in 1949 after losing everything in China: her mother and father, her family home, her first husband, and two daughters, twin baby girls. But she never looked back with regret. There were so many ways for things to get better.”
B
“In all of my imaginings, I was filled with a sense that I would soon become perfect. My mother and father would adore me. I would be beyond reproach. I would never feel the need to sulk for anything.”
C
“Before going to bed that night, I looked in the mirror above the bathroom sink and when I saw only my face staring back—and that it would always be this ordinary face—I began to cry. Such a sad, ugly girl! I made high-pitched noises like a crazed animal, trying to scratch out the face in the mirror.”
D
“My mother slapped me. ‘Who ask you be genius?’ she shouted. ‘Only ask you be your best. For you sake. You think I want you to be genius? Hnnh! What for! Who ask you!’“‘So ungrateful,’ I heard her mutter in Chinese, ‘If she had as much talent as she has temper, she would be famous now.’”
E
“So maybe I never really gave myself a fair chance. I did pick up the basics pretty quickly, and I might have become a good pianist at that young age. But I was so determined not to try, not to be anybody different that I learned to play only the most ear-splitting preludes, the most discordant hymns.”
5

Read the passage from "Two Kinds.”I had assumed that my talent-show fiasco meant I never had to play the piano again. But two days later, after school, my mother came out of the kitchen and saw me watching TV."Four clock,” she reminded me as if it were any other day. I was stunned, as though she were asking me to go through the talent-show torture again. I wedged myself more tightly in front of the TV."Turn off TV,” she called from the kitchen five minutes later.I didn’t budge. And then I decided. I didn’t have to do what mother said anymore. I wasn’t her slave. This wasn’t China. I had listened to her before and look what happened. She was the stupid one.She came out from the kitchen and stood in the arched entryway of the living room. "Four clock,” she said once again, louder."I’m not going to play anymore,” I said nonchalantly. "Why should I? I’m not a genius.”She walked over and stood in front of the TV. I saw her chest was heaving up and down in an angry way."No!” I said, and I now felt stronger, as if my true self had finally emerged. So this was what had been inside me all along."No! I won’t!” I screamed.

A
character vs. self
B
character vs. nature
C
character vs. society
D
character vs. character
6

Which cultural differences are revealed through this conflict? Select two options.

A
The daughter resents being asked to work hard all the time, which her mother sees as laziness.
B
The daughter does not value talent or intelligence, whereas her mother believes that they are the two most important qualities a person can have.
C
The daughter wants to be valued for what she is, while the mother believes that the girl should always strive to be more.
D
The daughter believes that her mother should accept and love her, but the mother believes that she should help her daughter succeed.
E
The daughter thinks that her parents owe her love and support, but the mother thinks that the daughter owes them gratitude for providing for her.
7

Read the passage from "Two Kinds.”Last week I sent a tuner over to my parents’ apartment and had the piano reconditioned, for purely sentimental reasons. My mother had died a few months before and I had been getting things in order for my father, a little bit at a time. I put the jewelry in special silk pouches. The sweaters she had knitted in yellow, pink, bright orange—all the colors I hated—I put those in moth-proof boxes. I found some old Chinese silk dresses, the kind with little slits up the sides. I rubbed the old silk against my skin, then wrapped them in tissue and decided to take them home with me.

A
“Last week I sent a tuner over to my parents’ apartment and had the piano reconditioned, for purely sentimental reasons.”
B
“My mother had died a few months before and I had been getting things in order for my father, a little bit at a time.”
C
“I put the jewelry in special silk pouches. The sweaters she had knitted in yellow, pink, bright orange—all the colors I hated—I put those in moth-proof boxes.”
D
“I found some old Chinese silk dresses, the kind with little slits up the sides.”
8

Read the passage from "Two Kinds.”And I started to play. It was so beautiful. I was so caught up in how lovely I looked that at first I didn’t worry how I would sound. So it was a surprise to me when I hit the first wrong note and I realized something didn’t sound quite right. And then I hit another and another followed that. A chill started at the top of my head and began to trickle down. Yet I couldn’t stop playing, as though my hands were bewitched. I kept thinking my fingers would adjust themselves back, like a train switching to the right track. I played this strange jumble through two repeats, the sour notes staying with me all the way to the end.

A
It describes the narrator’s inability to stop playing when she wants to do so.
B
It describes the narrator’s unexpected enjoyment of performing in front of an audience.
C
It describes the narrator’s thoughts and feelings as she struggles through a poor performance.
D
It describes the results of the narrator’s refusal to practice diligently and learn to play the piano correctly.
9

Read the first three paragraphs of "Two Kinds.”My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America. You could open a restaurant. You could work for the government and get good retirement. You could buy a house with almost no money down. You could become rich. You could become instantly famous."Of course you can be a prodigy, too," my mother told me when I was nine. "You can be best anything. What does Auntie Lindo know? Her daughter, she is only best tricky."America was where all my mother's hopes lay. She had come here in 1949 after losing everything in China: her mother and father, her family home, her first husband, and two daughters, twin baby girls. But she never looked back with regret. There were so many ways for things to get better.

A
acceptance
B
independence
C
self-expression
D
self-fulfillment

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Lesson One: Character and Culture in Literature…