Skills Lesson: Structure Answers

Which phrase best defines “figurative language”?

In the movie X-Men: First Class (2011), the character Mystique must decide between defending the people who hate her or using violence to gain human rights. What type of conflict does Mystique face?

What is character motivation?

Read the excerpt below from “The Lake of the Dismal Swamp” by Thomas Moore and complete the instruction that follows. Away to the Dismal Swamp he speeds—His path was rugged and sore,Through tangled juniper, beds of reeds,Through many a fen where the serpent feeds,And man never trod before. Identify the pattern of rhyme and meter.

Read the poem below and answer the question that follows. “Hanging Fire”by Audre Lorde I am fourteenand my skin has betrayed methe boy I cannot live withoutstill sucks his thumbin secrethow come my knees arealways so ashywhat if I diebefore the morning comesand momma’s in the bedroomwith the door closed. I have to learn how to dancein time for the next partymy room is too small for mesuppose I die before graduationthey will sing sad melodiesbut finallytell the truth about meThere is nothing I want to doand too muchthat has to be doneand momma’s in the bedroomwith the door closed. Nobody even stops to thinkabout my side of itI should have been on Math Teammy marks were better than hiswhy do I have to bethe one wearing bracesI have nothing to wear tomorrowwill I live long enoughto grow upand momma’s in the bedroomwith the door closed. Source: Lorde, Audre. “Hanging Fire.” The Black Unicorn: Poems. New York: Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 1978. El Camino College. Web. 06 June 2011. Which poetic techniques are illustrated in the opening lines “I am fourteen/and my skin has betrayed me/the boy I cannot live without/still sucks his thumb/in secret”?

Read the poems below and answer the question that follows. “The Taxi”by Amy Lowell When I go away from youThe world beats deadLike a slackened drum.I call out for you against the jutted starsAnd shout into the ridges of the wind.Streets coming fast,One after the other,Wedge you away from me,And the lamps of the city prick my eyesSo that I can no longer see your face.Why should I leave you,To wound myself upon the sharp edges of the night? Source: Lowell, Amy. “The Taxi.” Sword Blades and Poppy Seeds. New York: MacMillan Co., 1914. Google Books. Web. 29 June 2011. “Where Have You Gone”by Mari Evans Where have you gonewith your confidentwalk withyour crooked smile why did you leavemewhen you took yourlaughterand departedare you aware thatwith youwent the sunall lightand what few starsthere were? Where have you gonewith your confidentwalk yourcrooked smile therent moneyin one pocket andmy heartin another . . . Source: Evans, Mari. “Where Have You Gone.” I Am a Black Woman. New York: Morrow, 1970. Google Books. Web. 29 June 2011. Which statement offers the best comparison of the two poems?

Read the excerpt below from “The Lake of the Dismal Swamp” by Thomas Moore and answer the question that follows. “They made her a grave, too cold and dampFor a soul so warm and true;And she’s gone to the Lake of the Dismal Swamp,Where, all night long, by a fire-fly lamp,She paddles her white canoe. “And her fire-fly lamp I soon shall see,And her paddle I soon shall hear;Long and loving our life shall be,And I’ll hide the maid in a cypress tree,When the footstep of death is near.” Who is the speaker in this section of the poem?

Read the poem below and answer the question that follows. “Fog”by Carl Sandburg The fog comeson little cat feet. It sits lookingover harbor and cityon silent haunchesand then moves on. Source: Sandberg, Carl. “Fog.” Chicago Poems. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1916. 71. Web. Representative Poetry Online. Web. 9 June 2011. Which of the following excerpts from the poem reflects the use of figurative language? I. “The fog comes/on little cat feet.” II. “It sits looking/over harbor and city” III. “on silent haunches/and then moves on.”

When the plot of a story includes the main character’s internal conflict, which of the following may be true?

Read the poem below and answer the question that follows. “The Taxi”by Amy Lowell When I go away from youThe world beats deadLike a slackened drum.I call out for you against the jutted starsAnd shout into the ridges of the wind.Streets coming fast,One after the other,Wedge you away from me,And the lamps of the city prick my eyesSo that I can no longer see your face.Why should I leave you,To wound myself upon the sharp edges of the night? Source: Lowell, Amy. “The Taxi.” Sword Blades and Poppy Seeds. New York: MacMillan Co., 1914. Google Books. Web. 29 June 2011. Which poetic techniques does Lowell use in the first three lines of this poem?

Which words are an example of slant rhyme?

Read the poem below and answer the question that follows. “Fog”by Carl Sandburg The fog comeson little cat feet. It sits lookingover harbor and cityon silent haunchesand then moves on. Source: Sandberg, Carl. “Fog.” Chicago Poems. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1916. 71. Representative Poetry Online. Web. 9 June 2011. Which two things are being compared in the poem?

Read the excerpt below from the poem “I Knew a Woman” by Theodore Roethke and answer the question that follows. She played it quick, she played it light and loose;My eyes, they dazzled at her flowing knees;Her several parts could keep a pure repose,Or one hip quiver with a mobile nose(She moved in circles, and those circles moved). Source: Roethke, Theodore. “I Knew a Woman.” The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke. New York: Random House Inc., 1961. Poetry Foundation. Web. 9 June 2011. Which of the following images from the excerpt indicates an exhilarated mood? I. “She played it quick, she played it light and loose;” II. “My eyes, they dazzled at her flowing knees;” III. “(She moved in circles, and those circles moved).”

Which of the following is a key reason to include hyperbole in a literary work? I. to add humor Il. to heighten effect III. to create suspense

In “The Bet” by Anton P. Chekhov, what motivates the lawyer to participate in the bet?

How does the mood of a story affect the reader?

Read the excerpt below from the poem “There’s a certain Slant of light” by Emily Dickinson and answer the question that follows. When it comes, the landscape listens,Shadows hold their breath. Source: Dickinson, Emily. “There’s a certain Slant of light.” The Poems of Emily Dickinson. Ed. R. W. Franklin. Harvard: Harvard University Press, 1999. Poetry Foundation. Web. 9 June. 2011. Which technique does this excerpt use?

Read the excerpt below from the poem “Ulysses” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and answer the question that follows. Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;Death closes all; but something ere the end,Some work of noble note, may yet be done,Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deepMoans round with many voices. Come, my friends,‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world.Push off, and sitting well in order smiteThe sounding furrows; for my purpose holdsTo sail beyond the sunset, and the bathsOf all the western stars, until I die.It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles, And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’We are not now that strength which in old daysMoved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;One equal temper of heroic hearts,Made weak by time and fate, but strong in willTo strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. Source: Tennyson, Alfred. “Ulysses.” The Early Poems of Alfred, Lord Tennyson. London: Edward Moxon, 1842. Project Gutenberg. 2005. Web. 7 June 2011. In this poem, Tennyson refers to both Ulysses and Achilles. What is this technique called in literature?

Read the poem below and answer the question that follows. “Listening to Her Practice: My Middle Daughter, on the Edge of Adolescence, Learns to Play the Saxophone”by Barbara Cooker For Rebecca Her hair, that halo of red gold curls,has thickened, coarsened,lost its baby fineness,and the sweet smell of childhoodthat clung to her clotheshas just about vanished.Now she’s getting moody,moaning about her hair,clothes that aren’t the right brands,boys that tease.She clicks over the saxophone keyswith gritty fingernails polished in pink pearl,grass stains on the kneesof her sister’s old designer jeans.She’s gone from sounding like the smoke detectorthrough Old MacDonald and Jingle Bells.Soon she’ll master these keys,turn notes into liquid gold,wail that reedy brass.Soon, she’ll be a woman.She’s gonna learn to play the blues. Source: Cooker, Barbara. “Listening to Her Practice: My Middle Daughter, on the Edge of Adolescence, Learns to Play the Saxophe.” Ordinary Life. New York: ByLine Press, 2000. El Camino College. Web. 6 May 2011. Which line from the poem illustrates a simile?

Read the poem below and answer the question that follows. “Simile”by N. Scott Momaday What did we say to each other that now we are as the deer who walk in single file with heads high with ears forwardwith eyes watchful with hooves always placed on firm ground in whose limbs there is latent flight Source: Momaday, N. Scott. “Simile.” The Language of Literature. New York: McDougal Littell, 2006. 265. Print. Which of the following excerpts illustrates the theme that people are cautious around those who have hurt them? I. “who walk in single file/with heads high” II. “with ears forward/with eyes watchful” III. “in whose limbs there is latent flight”

In “The Bet” by Anton P. Chekhov, what motivates the banker to participate in the bet?

Which struggle is an example of external conflict that occurrs in “The Bet” by Anton P. Chekhov?

Read the poem below and answer the question that follows. “She Walks in Beauty”by Lord Byron She walks in beauty, like the nightOf cloudless climes and starry skies;And all that’s best of dark and brightMeet in her aspect and her eyes;Thus mellowed to that tender lightWhich heaven to gaudy day denies. One shade the more, one ray the less,Had half impaired the nameless graceWhich waves in every raven tress,Or softly lightens o’er her face;Where thoughts serenely sweet express,How pure, how dear their dwelling-place. And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,The smiles that win, the tints that glow,But tell of days in goodness spent,A mind at peace with all below,A heart whose love is innocent! Source: Byron, George Gordon. “She Walks in Beauty.” Poetry.org. The Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 19 July 2011. Which excerpt best reflects Byron’s appreciation of beauty?

Read the poem below and answer the question that follows. “Robin Hood and the Scotchman” Now bold Robin Hood to the north would go,With valour and mickle might;With sword by his side, which oft had been try’d,To fight and recover his right. The first that he met was a jolly stout Scot,His servant he said he would be;No quoth Robin Hood, it cannot be good.For thou wilt prove false unto me. Thou hast not been true to sire or cuz:Nay marry, the Scot he said;As true as your heart, I never will part,Good master be not afraid. But e’er I employ you, said bold Robin hood,With you I must have a bout;The Scotchman reply’d, let the battle be try’d,For I know I will beat you out. Thus saying, the contest did quickly begin,Which lasted two hours and more;The blows Sawney gave bold Robin so brave,The battle soon made him give o’er. Have mercy, thou Scotchman, bold Robin Hood cry’d,Full dearly this boon have I bought;We will both agree, and my man you shall be,For a stouter I never have fought. Then Sawney consented with Robin to go,To be of his bowmen so gay;Thus ended the fight, and with mickle delightTo Sherwood they hasted away. Source: “Robin Hood and the Scotchman.” The Robin Hood Garlands and Ballads. Ed. John Mathew Gutch, William Hone, Francis Douce, and Edward Francis Rimbault. London: John Russell Smith and Joseph Lilly, 1750. 392-93. Google Books. Web. 24 June 2011. How would you describe the rhyme scheme of this poem?

Why is diction important? I. It develops precise images in the mind. II. It affects the narrator’s tone in a piece of writing. III. It determines the theme in a piece of literature.