Read the excerpt from "The Flood” by James Baldwin. And so they walked on, down the steep slope of Mount Parnassus, and as they walked they picked up the loose stones in their way and cast them over their shoulders; and strange to say, the stones which Deucalion threw sprang up as full-grown men, strong, and handsome, and brave; and the stones which Pyrrha threw sprang up as full-grown women, lovely and fair. When at last they reached the plain they found themselves at the head of a noble company of human beings, all eager to serve them. So Deucalion became their king, and he set them in homes, and taught them how to till the ground, and how to do many useful things; and the land was filled with people who were happier and far better than those who had dwelt there before the flood. Read the excerpt from "Deucalion and Pyrrha” by Carla Nappi. He gave "besides little” to the earth, and when it fell it bounced the memories of tiny little mosses into the soil. She gave "a great number of men” to the air, and each of the letters grew arms that grew fingers that grew huge filmy membranes between them that buoyed each letter higher and higher and higher until it broke open into a cloud in the shape of the face of a man who had perished in the flood. Which statement best explains how the two adaptations differ?
Read the excerpt from The Metamorphoses by Ovid. [Deucalion] soothes [Pyrrha] with these gentle words, and says, ". . . The oracles are just, and advise no sacrilege. The earth is the great mother; I suspect that the stones in the body of the earth are the bones meant; these we are ordered to throw behind our backs.” Although she, descended from Titan, is moved by this interpretation of her husband, still her hope is involved in doubt; so much do they both distrust the advice of heaven; but what harm will it do to try?” Read the excerpt from the adaptation "The Flood” by James Baldwin. "What did he mean?” asked Pyrrha. "Surely I do not know,” said Deucalion. "But let us think a moment. Who is our mother, if it is not the Earth, from whom all living things have sprung? And yet what could he mean by the bones of our mother?” "Perhaps he meant the stones of the earth,” said Pyrrha. "Let us go on down the mountain, and as we go, let us pick up the stones in our path and throw them over our shoulders behind us.” "It is rather a silly thing to do,” said Deucalion; "and yet there can be no harm in it, and we shall see what will happen.” How does the adaptation differ from the original?
Read the excerpt from The Metamorphoses by Ovid. They go down . . . and cast stones, as ordered, behind their footsteps. The stones . . . began to lay aside their hardness and their stiffness, and by degrees to become soft; and when softened, to assume a new form. Presently after, when they were grown larger . . . some shape of man might be seen in them . . . . Yet that part of them which was humid with any moisture, and earthy, was turned into portions adapted for the use of the body. That which is solid, and cannot be bent, is changed into bones. . . . And in a little time, by the interposition of the Gods above, the stones thrown by the hands of the man, took the shape of a man, and the female race was renewed by the throwing of the woman. Thence are we a hardy generation, and able to endure fatigue, and we give proofs from what original we are sprung. Read the excerpt from the adaptation "The Flood” by James Baldwin. And so they walked on, down the steep slope of Mount Parnassus, and as they walked they picked up the loose stones in their way and cast them over their shoulders; and strange to say, the stones which Deucalion threw sprang up as full-grown men, strong, and handsome, and brave; and the stones which Pyrrha threw sprang up as full-grown women, lovely and fair. When at last they reached the plain they found themselves at the head of a noble company of human beings, all eager to serve them. So Deucalion became their king, and he set them in homes, and taught them how to till the ground, and how to do many useful things; and the land was filled with people who were happier and far better than those who had dwelt there before the flood. How does the adaptation differ from the original?
In Rain Myths, in "A Madagascan Myth,” what is one effect of ’Ndriananahary sending his son, Ataokoloinona, to Earth?
Whose point of view does the passage reflect?
Read the passage from "The Beginnings of the Maasai.” In the very beginning of the world, Enkai was the only god: the guardian of rain, fertility, sun, and love. With that love, Enkai birthed three sons who became the Fathers of the three tribes. Enkai gave each tribe a gift to help them succeed in their new home. Upon the Father of the Kikuyu, Enkai bestowed a hoe to cultivate the plains. To the Father of the Kamba, Enkai gifted a bow and arrow so his people could hunt wild animals in the forests and plains. To my father, Neiterkob, the Father of the Maasai, Enkai gave a stick. Why does the myth explain that each tribe has its own gift?
Read the passage from "The Beginnings of the Maasai.” Our relationship with Enkai is essential to the tribe. Enkai is neither male nor female. The sky god is powerful, but can change from nurturing to vengeful depending on our behavior. Sometimes Enkai is Enkai Narok, the Black God, happy with us and blanketing the sky with dark clouds that pour out rain to nourish the plains. When angry, though, Enkai becomes Enkai Nonyokie—the Red God. In these times, the sun grows incredibly hot until the earth dries up and becomes barren. Because of this, we work to keep Enkai happy. Why is this excerpt a good example of a feature often found in a myth?
Read the passage from "The Beginnings of the Maasai.” These cattle are sacred, because they are actually a divine gift from the sky god, Enkai. Our tribe makes a living by caring for the cattle, feeding them, and protecting them. What is the purpose of this passage?
Read the excerpt from "Deucalion and Pyrrha” by Carla Nappi. And then he turned to her and she turned to him and they tried to speak. But they had spent so much of themselves giving words away that they had none left. And so they crept through the library, and they opened the volumes one by one, and they found pages they liked and ripped them out and crumpled them up and fed them to each other, and crawled up onto the shelves together, and closed their eyes, and felt their skin hardening into leather and their spines turning to stone and silver and their insides thinning out to bony pages embroidered with threads of muscle and vein and they waited like that, until the next readers came. What does the author’s decision to adapt the original story by having the characters turn into books suggest about words?
Read the excerpt from a contemporary story. Lara was one of the brightest computer programmers her professor had ever seen. She shared her gifts by tutoring other students, many of whom were much older. It was a common sight to see her staying late in the library, huddled over her trusted, beat-up laptop, helping someone. So when she retreated with her laptop to her room and refused to leave, it created a wave of discontent at the school. Which sentence from the passage best supports the conclusion that the author was influenced by Amaterasu?
Which sentence best summarizes the central conflict in Amateratsu?
Which line from "Cruel Tribute” best supports the idea that the elders help to advance the plot?
If a writer were writing a modern-day story based on the Theseus myth featured in "Cruel Tribute,” what would the story’s plot most likely include?
Based on the prefix, the word "extricate” most likely means
Which sentence uses an antonym clue to help the reader determine the meaning of the underlined word?
Words with the word root "dorm” will have a meaning related to
Which phrases include sensory language? Choose three correct answers.
To find a word’s meaning, the reader can study the surrounding words, which are called the
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