Overcoming the Odds: The Miracle Worker, Act I Answers

Read these stanzas from the poem "A Poet and His Song" by Paul Laurence Dunbar.My days are never days of ease;I till my ground and prune my trees.When ripened gold is all the plain,I put my sickle to the grain.I labor hard, and toil and sweat,While others dream within the dell;But even while my brow is wet,I sing my song, and all is well. Sometimes the sun, unkindly hot,My garden makes a desert spot;Sometimes a blight upon the treeTakes all my fruit away from me;And then with throes of bitter painRebellious passions rise and swell;But—life is more than fruit or grain,And so I sing, and all is well.How is the message of this poem similar to the poet’s message in "Mother to Son"?

Read the excerpt from "Lessons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr."Today we honor a wise teacher, an inspiring leader, and a true visionary, but to truly honor Dr. King we must do more than say words of praise.We must learn his lessons and put his views into practice, so that we may truly be free at last.Based on this passage, the reader can conclude that one purpose of Chavez’s speech is to

Read this excerpt from I Never Had It Made.The team went to South Bend, Indiana, for a game. The hotel management registered the coach and team but refused to assign a room to a black player named Charley Thomas. In those days college ball had a few black players. Mr. Rickey took the manager aside and said he would move the entire team to another hotel unless the black athlete was accepted. The threat was a bluff because he knew the other hotels also would have refused accommodations to a black man. While the hotel manager was thinking about the threat, Mr. Rickey came up with a compromise. He suggested a cot be put in his own room, which he would share with the unwanted guest. The hotel manager wasn't happy about the idea, but he gave in.Which detail supports the idea that Branch Rickey is personally involved in his players’ struggle for acceptance?

Read the excerpt from "Lessons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr."Economic pressure is the only language the growers speak, and they are beginning to listen.Please, boycott table grapes.Which persuasive element does Chavez use in this passage?

Read this excerpt from I Never Had It Made.Branch Rickey lost that fight, but when he became the boss of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1943, he felt the time for equality in baseball had come. He knew that achieving it would be terribly difficult. There would be deep resentment, determined opposition, and perhaps even racial violence. He was convinced he was morally right, and he shrewdly sensed that making the game a truly national one would have healthy financial results. He took his case before the startled directors of the club, and using persuasive eloquence, he won the first battle in what would be a long and bitter campaign. He was voted permission to make the Brooklyn club the pioneer in bringing blacks into baseball.Winning his directors' approval was almost insignificant in contrast to the task which now lay ahead of the Dodger president. He made certain that word of his plans did not leak out, particularly to the press.Which detail best supports the central idea that Branch Rickey understood the risks involved in integrating baseball?

According to the article "Clemente's Impact Wanes in Puerto Rico 40 Years after His Death," what happens in Puerto Rico immediately after Clemente’s death is confirmed?

Read this excerpt from I Never Had It Made."It's all that ought to count," he replied. "But it isn't. Maybe one of these days it will be all that counts. That is one of the reasons I've got you here, Robinson. If you're a good enough man, we can make this a start in the right direction. But let me tell you, it's going to take an awful lot of courage."He was back to the crossroads question that made me start to get angry minutes earlier. He asked it slowly and with great care."Have you got the guts to play the game no matter what happens?""I think I can play the game, Mr. Rickey," I said.The next few minutes were tough. Branch Rickey had to make absolutely sure that I knew what I would face. Beanballs would be thrown at me. I would be called the kind of names which would hurt and infuriate any man. I would be physically attacked. Could I take all of this and control my temper, remain steadfastly loyal to our ultimate aim?Which is the central idea of this excerpt?

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What figurative language does the narrator use to describe her life in "Mother to Son"?

Read the poem "City Trees" by Edna St. Vincent Millay.The trees along this city street,Save for the traffic and the trains,Would make a sound as thin and sweetAs trees in country lanes. And people standing in their shadeOut of a shower, undoubtedlyWould hear such music as is madeUpon a country tree. Oh, little leaves that are so dumbAgainst the shrieking city air,I watch you when the wind has come,—I know what sound is there.What is the central idea of this poem?

Read the excerpt from "Lessons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr."In our life and death struggle for justice we have turned to the court of last resort: the American people. And the people are ruling in our favor.As a result, grape sales keep falling. We have witnessed truckloads of grapes being dumped because no one would stop to buy them. As demand drops, so do prices and profits. The growers are under tremendous economic pressure.We are winning, but there is still much hard work ahead of us. I hope that you will join our struggle.Which sentence clearly states the purpose of Chavez’s speech?

In Langston Hughes’s poem “Dreams,” a “broken-winged bird” is a metaphor for

What is the central idea of Langston Hughes’s poem “Dreams”?

Which lines from "Dawn in New York" suggest that the morning commute is beginning?

Langston Hughes’s poem “Dreams” praises dreams, while “Dawn in New York” praises

Read this excerpt from We Beat the Street.They were scheduled for precalculus, biology, chemistry, computer skills, English, and critical-thinking courses. The courses were intense and demanding, with no tolerance for the sloppy work and careless attitudes of high school.

Read this excerpt from We Beat the Street."You’re just plain lazy! You think this is hard? Wait until you’re pulling twenty-four-hour shifts as a resident in a hospital. Wait until you hold someone’s life in your hands and that person is depending on YOU to have the skill and knowledge to save his life.” She whipped back into her lecturing voice. "Strict personal discipline and adherence to rules are absolutely necessary for a doctor’s success!” She glared at him."I’m not lazy,” Rameck replied sullenly. "I’m just not used to all this discipline.”"Get used to it!” Carla snapped back at him. "You’re one of the brightest young men I’ve ever met! Discipline won’t kill you. Carelessness will.”

Read this excerpt from Ray Bradbury’s commencement speech.And then you gather around you the people who do believe in you—your parents and a few friends, if you're lucky. We don't have many friends in this world; but the few that do believe in you—and then you move on into the future. I try to do that.