Read the excerpt from Black Boy.Finally I heard my mother’s name called; she rose and began weeping so copiously that she could not talk for a few moments; at last she managed to say that her husband had deserted her and her two children, that her children were hungry, that they stayed hungry, that she worked, that she was trying to raise them alone. Then my father was called; he came forward jauntily, smiling. He tried to kiss my mother, but she turned away from him. I only heard one sentence of what he said.“I’m doing all I can, Your Honor,” he mumbled, grinning.It had been painful to sit and watch my mother crying and my father laughing and I was glad when we were outside in the sunny streets. Wright uses this personal experience to establish
What best explains the reason why the author of A Girl Named Zippy tells the year that she was born?
Read the passage.Enrique raced down the cracked sidewalk as fast as he could. The hot sun was beating down on him mercilessly. Streams of sweat trickled down his face, and his drenched shirt clung to his chest and back, but he didn’t care. The school day had gone by very slowly, and now he was determined to get home. In his right hand, he firmly held on to his rolled-up certificate. For three long months, he had faithfully gone to the library every three days to check out new books to read. In the evenings, he and his mom had curled up on the couch and read to each other. For every book they completed, the librarian, Mrs. Sato, had put a stamp in one of the squares of his reading chart. Today, she had filled in the very last square. She had also presented him with a certificate of completion. His name was at the top, beautifully written in red cursive. “You did it, Enrique,” Mrs. Sato had said, “and way before any of your classmates. Congratulations!” Enrique couldn’t wait to see his mom’s face when he showed her the paper. He knew she would be proud. He also knew she would be eager to get started on the new book he carried in his other hand.
Why does the author of A Girl Named Zippy spend considerable time describing her hair?
Read the passage from “Broken Chain.”Eventually he grew bored and went outside with an old gym sock to wipe down his bike, a ten-speed from Montgomery Ward.What type of transition word is found in this passage?
Which of these passages from the essay “Fish Cheeks,” the short story “Broken Chain,” the short story “Flowers for Algernon,” or the poem “Escape” best supports the theme that it isn’t a good idea to try to change who you are?
Read the passage from Black Boy.“It’s not for me,” my mother was saying. “It’s for your children that I’m asking you for money.”“I ain’t got nothing,” my father said, laughing.“Come here, boy,” the strange woman called to me.I looked at her and did not move.“Give him a nickel,” the woman said. “He’s cute.”Wright most likely included this anecdote in order to
Which of these sentences best uses descriptive language?
Read the excerpt from A Girl Named Zippy.Not long ago my sister Melinda shocked me by saying she had always assumed that the book on Mooreland had yet to be written because no one sane would be interested in reading it.
What causes Alfonso and Ernie to argue in “Broken Chain”?
Read the passage.Johnny was miserable. It was Saturday afternoon, the sun was shining brightly, and he was stuck in bed with the flu. His throat felt like sandpaper every time he swallowed, his head felt as if someone had dropped an anvil on it, and he couldn’t stop coughing. His mother had checked his temperature earlier in the day and announced that he was too sick to get out of bed, let alone go outside to enjoy the first warm spring day along with his friends and siblings. From his room, Johnny could hear his sisters’ high-pitched squeals of delight and the ringing of their bicycle bells as they rode up and down the sidewalk. He could hear someone bouncing a basketball and the swoop of the ball as it swished through the net. He also heard his best friend, Noah, asking where Johnny was and his sisters’ reply that he couldn’t come out to play because he was sick. This was too much. Johnny pulled the soft, velvety covers over his aching head and turned to the wall in protest, realizing there was nothing he could do but wait for this virus to take its course. He swore to himself that he would be better by next Saturday and that he would be outside riding his bike and shooting baskets along with everyone else.
Read the excerpt from “Fish Cheeks.”Dinner threw me deeper into despair. My relatives licked the ends of their chopsticks and reached across the table, dipping them into the dozen or so plates of food. Robert and their family waited patiently for platters to be passed to them.What message does Amy Tan's description send?
Which of the passages from “Escape,” “Fish Cheeks,” “Broken Chain,” or “Flowers for Algernon” best supports the theme that “it is important to be satisfied with who you are”?
Read the excerpt from Black Boy.“I’ll take that poker and hit you!” I blurted at my father.He looked at my mother and laughed louder.“You told him to say that,” he said.“Don’t say such things, Richard,” my mother said. “You ought to be dead,” I said to the strange woman.The woman laughed and threw her arms about my father’s neck. I grew ashamed and wanted to leave.“How can you starve your children?” my mother asked. “Let Richard stay with me,” my father said.“Do you want to stay with your father, Richard?” my mother asked.“No,” I said.“You’ll get plenty to eat,” he said.“I’m hungry now,” I told him. “But I won’t stay with you.”What does the excerpt convey about Wright’s personality as a child?
Why did the author most likely write "Meeting Julia"?
Read this excerpt from “Hmong Tops.”The boys walked side by side across the deep cracks in the uneven pavement. Gray apartment buildings bordered the neighborhood streets in endless rows. Tiny strips of yellowed grass peeked out of the side yards, teasing onlookers with promises of spring they never delivered.
Read the sentence from “Hmong Tops.”He fiddled with his key ring; the cold brass key felt like a block of ice in his pocket. He had never needed a key to enter his old home; someone was always there to greet him.
In “Hmong Tops,” what happens as a result of Cai yelling at one of the boys playing Hmong tops?
Read the excerpt from Jackie Robinson’s letter to President Eisenhower.As the chief executive of our nation, I respectfully suggest that you unwittingly crush the spirit of freedom in Negroes by constantly urging forbearance and give hope to those pro-segregation leaders like Governor Faubus who would take from us even those freedoms we now enjoy. Your own experience with Governor Faubus is proof enough that forbearance and not eventual integration is the goal the pro-segregation leaders seek. Which best explains the purpose of Robinson’s letter?
Which statement from “John Redding Goes to Sea” best supports the idea that the author, Zora Neale Hurston, was an independent woman who longed to escape her small hometown?
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