Read this excerpt from "Look Homeward, Angel." Like all the older children of Major Pentland she had, since her twentieth year, begun the slow accretion of land: from the savings of her small wage as teacher and book-agent, she had already purchased one or two pieces of earth. From this excerpt, Eliza can best be described as a
Read the passage from "How Should One Read a Book?” The thirty-two chapters of a novel—if we consider how to read a novel first—are an attempt to make something as formed and controlled as a building: but words are more impalpable than bricks; reading is a longer and more complicated process than seeing. The author’s purpose in this passage is to
Read this excerpt from Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close . I wanted to tell her she shouldn’t be playing Scrabble yet. Or looking in the mirror. Or turning the stereo any louder than what you needed just to hear it. What assumption does the narrator make in this excerpt?
Read this excerpt from Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close . In bed that night I invented a special drain that would be underneath every pillow in New York, and would connect to the reservoir. Whenever people cried themselves to sleep, the tears would all go to the same place.... And when something really terrible happened—like a nuclear bomb, or at least a biological weapons attack—an extremely loud siren would go off, telling everyone to get to Central Park to put sandbags around the reservoir. What assumption does the narrator make in this excerpt?
Read this excerpt from "A Visit from the Goon Squad." That’s when he began singing the songs he’d been writing for years underground, songs no one had ever heard, or anything like them—“Eyes in My Head,” “X’s and O’s,” “Who’s Watching Hardest”—ballads of paranoia and disconnection ripped from the chest of a man you knew just by looking had never had a page or a profile or a handle or a handset, who was part of no one’s data, a guy who had lived in the cracks all these years, forgotten and full of rage, in a way that now registered as pure. Untouched. How does the author use satire in this excerpt?
Read this excerpt from "A Visit from the Goon Squad." Whatever the reason, a swell of approval palpable as rain lifted from the center of the crowd and rolled out toward its edges, where it crashed against buildings and water wall and rolled back at Scotty with redoubled force, lifting him off his stool, onto his feet (the roadies quickly adjusting the microphones), exploding the quavering husk Scotty had appeared to be just moments before and unleashing something strong, charismatic, and fierce. Anyone who was there that day will tell you the concert really started when Scotty stood up. How does the author portray Scotty in this excerpt?
Read the excerpt from “Take the Tortillas Out of Your Poetry.” My friend had concluded that if he took his language and culture out of his poetry, he stood a better chance of receiving a fellowship. He took out his native language, the poetic patois of our reality, the rich mixture of Spanish, English, pachuco and street talk which we know so well. In other words, he took the tortillas out of his poetry, which is to say he took the soul out of his poetry. Which best explains how Anaya’s word choice establishes his voice in the excerpt?
Read this excerpt from Infinite Jest . I cannot make myself understood. ‘I am not just a jock,’ I say slowly. Distinctly. ‘My transcript for the last year might have been dickied a bit, maybe, but that was to get me over a rough spot. The grades prior to that are de moi .’ My eyes are closed; the room is silent. How does the narration affect the narrator’s credibility in this excerpt?
Read this excerpt from Infinite Jest . ‘I could, if you’d let me, talk and talk. Let’s talk about anything. I believe the influence of Kierkegaard on Camus is underestimated. I believe Dennis Gabor may very well have been the Antichrist. I believe Hobbes is just Rousseau in a dark mirror. I believe, with Hegel, that transcendence is absorption. I could interface you guys right under the table,’ I say. ‘I’m not just a creâtus, manufactured, conditioned, bred for a function.’ What assumption does the narrator make in this excerpt?
Read this excerpt from "How the Internet and Other Technologies Came About." The Pentagon wanted to ensure that their pilots would be able to fly their jets and bombers in the most unpredictable, hostile environments, including the presence of huge winds whipped up by nuclear fireballs. To accomplish this, the Pentagon developed flight simulators, in what was the birth of virtual reality. The pilots would sit in chairs with goggles placed over their eyes and use joysticks to control the simulated computer image in their headset. Select the most accurate summary of Kaku’s argument.
Read the historical fact to make a text to world connection. The Cold War (1947-1991) was fought to contain the spread of communism and deter nuclear attack; subsequently it created a stockpiling of arms and munitions. Then, read the excerpt from Michio Kaku’s book Visions: How Science Will Revolutionize the 21st Century . There was also a sense of urgency. The Pentagon was worried that the shattered remains of the Soviet Union might be rebuilt before the United States. Following a nuclear war, there would be a race to see who could rebuild their country first. In a scenario of two dazed boxers lying flat on their backs, slowly regaining consciousness, the winner of World War III would be that country which could stand on its feet first (and so go on to win World War IV). Therefore, the Pentagon’s priority was to provide scientists with a way to rebuild the country as fast as possible, unimpeded by unnecessary restrictions. Which detail from the excerpt of Michio Kaku’s book provides the most cultural context about the Cold War?
How does Michio Kaku establish the sense of urgency that compelled the development of the Internet in "How the Internet and Other Technologies Came About"?
Read the excerpt from "How the Internet and Other Technologies Came About." Because most cities would no longer exist, messages would have to be broken up into pieces, scattered throughout the system, moved around cities that no longer existed, and then reassembled at the destination. ARPA combined these ideas with an existing system to create what is now called e-mail. Which reading strategy would most help in comprehending the sentence?
Read the excerpt from Judith Ortiz Cofer’s poem “El Olvido.” a bare, cold room with no pictures on the walls, a forgetting place where she fears you will die of loneliness and exposure. Jesús, María, y José , she says, el olvido is a dangerous thing. Which strategy would be most helpful in enhancing the reader’s comprehension of the poem?
Read the excerpt from Julia Ortiz Cofer’s poem "El Olvido." It is dangerous to spurn the clothes you were born to wear for the sake of fashion; dangerous to use weapons and sharp instruments you are not familiar with; dangerous to disdain the plaster saints before which your mother kneels praying with embarrassing fervor that you survive in the place you have chosen to live: The items listed in this excerpt symbolize
The poem “In Response to Executive Order 9066” and the short story “Mericans” share the theme of
Read the excerpt from “In Response to Executive Order 9066.” I’ve packed my galoshes and three packets of tomato seeds. Denise calls them love apples. My father says where we’re going they won’t grow. Read the excerpt from “Mericans.” She’s so busy taking Junior’s picture, she doesn’t notice me and Keeks. “Hey, Michele, Keeks. You guys want gum?” “But you speak English!” “Yeah,” my brother says, “we’re Mericans.” Which of the statements best describes both excerpts?
Read the excerpt from “In Response to Executive Order 9066.” I have always felt funny using chopsticks and my favorite food is hot dogs. Read the excerpt from “Mericans.” Ladies don’t come to church dressed in pants. And everybody knows men aren’t supposed to wear shorts. Which best describes the common idea in the excerpts?
Read the excerpt from “First Generation” of Dreaming in Cuban . She considers the vagaries of sports, the happenstance of El Líder, a star pitcher in his youth, narrowly missing a baseball career in America. His wicked curveball attracted the major league scouts, and the Washington Senators were interested in signing him but changed their minds. Frustrated, El Líder went home, rested his pitching arm, and started a revolution in the mountains. Read the excerpt from “Like Mexicans.” We talked for an hour and had apple pie and coffee, slowly. Finally, we got up with Carolyn taking my hand. Slightly embarrassed, I tried to pull away but her grip held me. I let her have her way as she led me down the hallway with her mother right behind me. . . . Carolyn waved again. I looked, back, waving. . . . Her people were like Mexicans, only different. Which best states how the structures of the excerpts are similar?
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