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Literary Texts Preview: Prose
Complete the quiz in your workbook. If time remains, check your answers.
Underline the sentence below that shows that Harriet doesn’t believe her children are musically talented.
6 “All the same I shouldn’t like to be exhibiting my children about like freaks.”
7 “Poor Nelson! there’s not much danger of your ever being tempted. It’s extremely unlikely that poor Billy or Elsie will ever startle the world. Really, do you know when I heard those Massey children and thought of all they have done, of all they may do, I envied them myself? To youth everything is possible—when anything at all is possible.”
8 Harriet sighed and Mackenzie fancied he detected a note of disappointment in her voice. He had suspected before that Harriet was disappointed in her children. They suited him well enough, but Harriet was different.
Read these sentences from the passage. “Poor dears! there are so many demands on their time and strength that I sometimes feel like fleeing to the North Pole with them.”
(paragraph 15)
How does this exclamation by Kate Massey serve to develop her character in the passage?
A. by showing that Kate regrets introducing her children to music at a young age
B. by revealing Kate’s insecurities about her children’s talent
C. by making Kate’s expression of concern for her children seem insincere
D. by emphasizing similarities between Kate and Harriet
Read these sentences from the passage.
“...her friends could not have been more surprised than when she married Nelson Mackenzie. They had slated her for a very different career.”
(paragraph 9)
What is the meaning of slated as used in the passage?
A. recommended
B. rejected
C. trained
D. imagined
Literary Texts Preview: Prose 5
Context Is Everything
Instructions
Complete the quiz. If time remains, check your answers.
Use evidence from the passage as you apply the process of elimination. Circle the correct answer.
Quotations Out of Context
Sometimes, the test will give you a short quotation to evaluate, but it’s not enough! Take time to go back and reread the whole paragraph where the sentence shows up. Compare your understanding of the paragraph with each of the answer choices and eliminate any that just don’t match.
3
Read these sentences from the passage.
“Poor dears! there are so many demands on their time and strength that I sometimes feel like fleeing to the North Pole with them.”
(paragraph 15)
How does this exclamation by Kate Massey serve to develop her character in the passage?
A. by showing that Kate regrets introducing her children to music at a young age
B. by revealing Kate’s insecurities about her children’s talent
C. by making Kate’s expression of concern for her children seem insincere
D. by emphasizing similarities between Kate and Harriet
What’s different about this question? What makes it stand out?
It’s not multiple choice.
This is a selectable text question. On the computerbased test, when you see this you’ll click on the sentence of your choice. Of course, we’re working on paper today, so you’re gonna underline to signal your selection. Let’s break down the question a little bit to get to the meat of what it’s asking. Can someone read the question for us?
8 Context Is Everything
Exact Evidence
1. Underline the sentence below that shows that Harriet doesn’t believe her children are musically talented.
6 "All the same I shouldn't like to be exhibiting my children about like freaks."
7 "Poor Nelson! there's not much danger of your ever being tempted. It's extremely unlikely that poor Billy or Elsie will ever startle the world. Really, do you know when I heard those Massey children and thought of all they have done, of all they may do, I envied them myself? To youth everything is possible when anything at all is possible."
8 Harriet sighed and Mackenzie fancied he detected a note of disappointment in her voice. He had suspected before that Harriet was disappointed in her children. They suited him well enough, but Harriet was different.
Exact Evidence
Let’s break this up into two parts: the claim and the evidence. What’s the claim that we need to prove? Hint: it’s in the second half of the sentence.
Harriet doesn’t believe her children are musically talented.
And what is the first part of the question asking for?
It’s asking us to underline the sentence that shows...
It’s asking for evidence, or proof, that Harriet doesn’t believe in her kids’ musical talent. If we think about it this way, this can help us make sure we’re choosing the right evidence. Do we want to reread the whole passage while trying to figure this out?
Rereading is a time waster. We already read the passage, didn’t we? Instead, let’s focus on the sentences we’re given. If we need more context, we’ll go back to the passage in a bit. What process are we using to select evidence? Hint: it’s in your book!
Exact Evidence
6 "All the same I shouldn't like to be exhibiting my children about like freaks."
7 "Poor Nelson! there's not much danger of your ever being tempted. It's extremely unlikely that poor Billy or Elsie will ever startle the world. Really, do you know when I heard those Massey children and thought of all they have done, of all they may do, I envied them myself? To youth everything is possible when anything at all is possible."
8 Harriet sighed and Mackenzie fancied he detected a note of disappointment in her voice. He had suspected before that Harriet was disappointed in her children. They suited him well enough, but Harriet was different.
The process of elimination.
How do we go about that here?
Eliminate sentences that don’t prove the claim.
We’re looking for the evidence that is directly tied to the claim. If it’s clearly about something else, we can cut it. Let’s look at that first sentence. Who will read that for us?
All the same I shouldn’t like to be exhibiting my children about like freaks.
Exact Evidence
1. Underline the sentence below that shows that Harriet doesn’t believe her children are musically talented.
6 "All the same I shouldn't like to be exhibiting my children about like freaks."
7 "Poor Nelson! there's not much danger of your ever being tempted. It's extremely unlikely that poor Billy or Elsie will ever startle the world. Really, do you know when I heard those Massey children and thought of all they have done, of all they may do, I envied them myself? To youth everything is possible when anything at all is possible."
8 Harriet sighed and Mackenzie fancied he detected a note of disappointment in her voice. He had suspected before that Harriet was disappointed in her children. They suited him well enough, but Harriet was different.
Who is speaking here? Go back to the passage if you need to get the context!
Nelson Mackenzie.
Nelson Mackenzie is the one who states this. Sometimes, he’s called Nelson, and sometimes, he’s called Mackenzie. It’s an old-fashioned thing, calling men by their last names. Anyway, if Nelson’s the one who says this, does it show that Harriet doesn’t believe her children are musically talented?
No.
Why not?
Cause it’s not from Harriet’s perspective.
Our answer choice has to be from Harriet. Let’s eliminate it. What’s the next sentence?
Exact Evidence
1. Underline the sentence below that shows that Harriet doesn’t believe her children are musically talented.
6 "All the same I shouldn't like to be exhibiting my children about like freaks."
7 "Poor Nelson! there's not much danger of your ever being tempted. It's extremely unlikely that poor Billy or Elsie will ever startle the world. Really, do you know when I heard those Massey children and thought of all they have done, of all they may do, I envied them myself? To youth everything is possible when anything at all is possible."
8 Harriet sighed and Mackenzie fancied he detected a note of disappointment in her voice. He had suspected before that Harriet was disappointed in her children. They suited him well enough, but Harriet was different.
Poor Nelson! there’s not much danger of your ever being tempted.
Who is speaking here?
Harriet.
Since Harriet is the speaker, we’re getting a little bit closer. What is she saying there isn’t much danger of her husband being “tempted” by?
His children being shown off like “freaks.”
Could this be the one that proves that Harriet doesn’t believe her children are talented?
Maybe.
This one is a maybe. Harriet doesn’t think her husband will ever be tempted to parade their children around, but the evidence hasn’t given us enough information to know why.
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