Read the excerpt from act 2 of A Doll’s House. Nurse: Oh well, young children easily get accustomed to anything. Nora: Do you think so? Do you think they would forget their mother if she went away altogether? Nurse: Good heavens!—went away altogether? Nora: Nurse, I want you to tell me something I have often wondered about—how could you have the heart to put your own child out among strangers? Nurse: I was obliged to, if I wanted to be little Nora's Nurse. Nora: Yes, but how could you be willing to do it? Nurse: What, when I was going to get such a good place by it? A poor girl who has got into trouble should be glad to. Besides, that wicked man didn't do a single thing for me. What evidence from the text best supports the theme that society can put mothers in impossible situations?
Read the passage from A Doll’s House. Nora: Nurse, I want you to tell me something I have often wondered about—how could you have the heart to put your own child out among strangers? Nurse: I was obliged to, if I wanted to be little Nora's Nurse. Nora: Yes, but how could you be willing to do it? Nurse: What, when I was going to get such a good place by it? A poor girl who has got into trouble should be glad to. Besides, that wicked man didn't do a single thing for me. Nora: But I suppose your daughter has quite forgotten you. Nurse: No, indeed she hasn't. She wrote to me when she was confirmed, and when she was married. How does the author use the character of the nurse to develop the social issue of gender inequality?
Which excerpt from the poem "Girl Powdering Her Neck” by Cathy Song is an example of a simile?
Read the lines from "Girl Powdering Her Neck” by Cathy Song, then look at the artwork by Kitagawa Utamaro. Her hair is black with hints of red, the color of seaweed spread over rocks. Morning begins the ritual wheel of the body, the application of translucent skins. She practices pleasure: the pressure of three fingertips applying powder. Fingerprints of pollen some other hand will trace. The peach-dyed kimono patterned with maple leaves drifting across the silk, falls from right to left in a diagonal, revealing the nape of her neck and the curve of a shoulder like the slope of a hill set deep in snow in a country of huge white solemn birds. Her face appears in the mirror, a reflection in a winter pond, rising to meet itself. Expand Image Which statement best compares the use of imagery and color in the poem and artwork to portray the woman?
Read the excerpt from act 3 of A Doll's House . Mrs. Linde: We have a great deal to talk about. Krogstad: I shouldn't have thought so. Mrs. Linde: No, you have never properly understood me. Krogstad: Was there anything else to understand except what was obvious to all the world—a heartless woman jilts a man when a more lucrative chance turns up? Mrs. Linde: Do you believe I am as absolutely heartless as all that? And do you believe that I did it with a light heart? Krogstad: Didn't you? Mrs. Linde: Nils, did you really think that? Krogstad: If it were as you say, why did you write to me as you did at the time? Mrs. Linde: I could do nothing else. As I had to break with you, it was my duty also to put an end to all that you felt for me. Krogstad [wringing his hands] : So that was it. And all this—only for the sake of money! Mrs. Linde: You must not forget that I had a helpless mother and two little brothers. We couldn't wait for you, Nils; your prospects seemed hopeless then. Krogstad: That may be so, but you had no right to throw me over for anyone else's sake. Mrs. Linde: Indeed, I don't know. Many a time did I ask myself if I had the right to do it. How does Ibsen use dramatic irony to heighten suspense in this scene?
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