Writing Workshop: Argumentative Essay — Unit test Answers

Read the paragraph.The question of whether or not to allow cell phones in school is an important one. Cell phones are a monumental distraction to young people whose attention should be focused on learning. However, they do serve a purpose in that phones allow students to communicate with their parents. Plus, cell phones are great for taking pictures with friends. In all, cell phone use at school must be carefully regulated. Which best explains the inconsistency in writing used in this paragraph?

Read the excerpt from "Mending Wall," by Robert Frost.Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,And spills the upper boulders in the sun;And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.What is Frost describing that “doesn’t love a wall”?

Read the excerpt from "Poetry."I, too, dislike it: there are things that are important beyond all this fiddle. Reading it, however, with a perfect contempt for it, one discovers in it after all, a place for the genuine.Based on context, what is the most likely definition for “fiddle”?

Read the excerpt from "Mending Wall."Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonderIf I could put a notion in his head:“Why do they make good neighbours? Isn’t itWhere there are cows? But here there are no cows.Before I built a wall I’d ask to knowWhat I was walling in or walling out,And to whom I was like to give offence.Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,That wants it down.” I could say “Elves” to him,But it’s not elves exactly, and I’d ratherHe said it for himself.What is the speaker’s mood in this excerpt?

What does the narrator’s description of the wallpaper in "The Yellow Wallpaper" reveal about her worldview?

Read the paragraph.Competitive sports are valuable activities for young people today. They emphasize the importance of being part of a team and working toward a common goal. Competitive sports give today's youth an advantage as athletes tend to be more confident in themselves and their abilities. Participation in competitive sports is strongly recommended for our students.Which strategy does the author use in her choice of language to convey her message?

Read the excerpt from "The Yellow Wallpaper."I think sometimes that if I were only well enough to write a little it would relieve the press of ideas and rest me.But I find I get pretty tired when I try.It is so discouraging not to have any advice and companionship about my work. When I get really well, John says we will ask Cousin Henry and Julia down for a long visit; but he says he would as soon put fireworks in my pillow-case as to let me have those stimulating people about now.I wish I could get well faster.But I must not think about that. This paper looks to me as if it KNEW what a vicious influence it had!Which part of this excerpt best demonstrates the narrator’s social alienation?

Read the excerpt from "The Yellow Wallpaper."He said that after the wall-paper was changed it would be the heavy bedstead, and then the barred windows, and then that gate at the head of the stairs, and so on.“You know the place is doing you good,” he said, “and really, dear, I don’t care to renovate the house just for a three months’ rental.”Based on this excerpt, which statement best describes John’s viewpoint of the wallpaper?

Read the passage from Etiquette, by Emily Post.New York's bad manners are often condemned and often very deservedly. Even though the cause is carelessness rather than intentional indifference, the indifference is no less actual and the rudeness inexcusable.What is the closest meaning of the underlined phrase as it used in the excerpt?

Which source would best support an argumentative essay on the importance of protective gear for those playing sports?

Read the final paragraph of "How We Entered World War I."In April 1917 the illusion of isolation was destroyed. America came to the end of innocence, and of the exuberant freedom of bachelor independence. That the responsibilities of world power have not made us happier is no surprise. To help ourselves manage them, we have replaced the illusion of isolation with a new illusion of omnipotence. That screen, too, must fall.Which best explains the purpose of repeating the word “illusion” in the paragraph?

Which lines from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" provide an example of stream of consciousness?

Read the excerpt from "Mending Wall."We keep the wall between us as we go.To each the boulders that have fallen to each.And some are loaves and some so nearly ballsWe have to use a spell to make them balance:"Stay where you are until our backs are turned!"We wear our fingers rough with handling them.Oh, just another kind of out-door game,One on a side. It comes to little more:There where it is we do not need the wall:He is all pine and I am apple orchard.What feature of this excerpt makes it blank verse?

T. S. Eliot begins "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" with a translated quotation from Dante’s Inferno.If I thought my reply were to someone who could ever return to the world, this flame would waver no more. But since, I’m told, nobody ever escapes from this pit, I’ll tell you without fear of ill fame.What is the best explanation for prefacing the poem with this quotation?

There are many time references in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky Like a patient etherized upon a table; And seeing that it was a soft October night, Curled once about the house, and fell asleep.And the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully! Smoothed by long fingers, What is the most likely reason for Prufrock’s emphasis on the afternoon and evening hours?