Pretest Answers

Read the excerpt from "Shout: A Poetry Memoir.” On our bellies, facing the beach, hands in the mud legs in the water, my feet motorboated obediently. I didn’t mind kicking long as I could hold on to the shore. But then the Lady beckoned us into deep water one by one. I refused, even with the rest of the class staring. The Lady hooked me under the armpits and pulled me in. Which word best describes the mood of this excerpt?

Read the excerpt from "Shout: A Poetry Memoir.” On our bellies, facing the beach, hands in the mud legs in the water, my feet motorboated obediently. I didn’t mind kicking long as I could hold on to the shore. But then the Lady beckoned us into deep water one by one. I refused, even with the rest of the class staring. The Lady hooked me under the armpits and pulled me in. Which detail best contributes to the cautious tone of this excerpt?

Read the excerpt from "Shout: A Poetry Memoir.” I ate red apples heavy-salted on the tomb the sleeping Victorian corpses below fed me secrets sentinel owls peered from a grove of old pines, all of us hoping, waiting on signs of the change that was promised Which detail best contributes to the optimistic mood in this excerpt?

Read the excerpt from "Shout: A Poetry Memoir.” A white glove waved, the guard crouched wings tucked neatly behind her back, eyes all-seeing she wiped my tears and took my hand and led me up the hill again, gold and ruby leaves, farther than I’d dared on my own tiny paws, until we crested and scurried down the other side and the houses changed shape and at the very bottom of the hill stood my new home my mother waiting at the curb. Which word best describes the tone of this excerpt?

Read the excerpt from "Shout: A Poetry Memoir.” Didn’t care much about winning, but I hated to come in last, my sweet spot was lane seven for long, slow miles of laps punctuated by flip turns boom! powering underwater, mermaid made real I felt my gills growing I could breathe without air. Which word best describes the tone of this excerpt?

Read the excerpt from "Shout: A Poetry Memoir.” I hollered so loud the Lady consulted with my mother, the other moms clucking and whispering. I won the position at the shallowest edge of the pond where I pulled through a few inches of water with my hands in the earth, occasionally waving an arm in the air to pretend like I was swimming, a stubborn tadpole suspicious of the deep. Which word best describes the mood in this excerpt?

Read the excerpt from "Shout: A Poetry Memoir.” My mother never knew that we forged a secret alliance in the middle of our Cold War nuclear-family meltdown so when it was time for her to teach me how to drive I faked it, pretending I didn’t have a clue. Which word best describes the tone of this excerpt?

Read the excerpt from "Shout: A Poetry Memoir.” In first grade we moved country mouse to the city whiskers quivering, eyes wide, couple days later Mom put my sister in the stroller and we three walked through a drizzle of gold and ruby leaves up one hill, down another to the new school, made of bricks, registered in the office, Mom handed me my lunch box and waved a fast goodbye Which season best describes the setting in this excerpt?

Read the excerpt from "Shout: A Poetry Memoir.” In first grade we moved country mouse to the city whiskers quivering, eyes wide, couple days later Mom put my sister in the stroller and we three walked through a drizzle of gold and ruby leaves up one hill, down another to the new school, made of bricks, registered in the office, Mom handed me my lunch box and waved a fast goodbye Which detail best contributes to an uncertain mood in this excerpt?