1-11-10
1. In studying an assignment it is wise to read it over quickly at first, than see the major points, and finally outline the material.
A. first, than B. first: then C. first-then D. first, then E. first-than
(Research: then v. than)
2. To judge the Tidy City contest, we picked an uninterested party.
A. picked an uninterested party. B. picked an interested party! C. picked a disinterested party. D. are in the process of picking an uninterested party. E. picked an disinterested party.
(Research: uninterested v. disinterested)
3. The setting of a story effects the story's plot.
A. effects the story's plot B. effects the stories plot C. affect the story's plot D. affects the story's plot E. affects the stories' plot
(Research: affects v. effects and apostrophe rules)
1-4-10
1. If the books have been cataloged last week, why haven't they been placed on the shelf?
A. have been cataloged B. would have been cataloged C. was cataloged D. were cataloged E. had been cataloged
2. Jessica Mitford wrote The American Way of Death, a best-selling book, that led eventually to an official investigation of the funeral industry.
A. that led eventually B. that had led eventually C. that eventually led D. which led eventually E. who eventually led
3. Sabotage came from the French saboter, which means “to clatter with wooden shoes (sabots).”
A. which means “to B. which means, “to C. that means “to D. that means- “to E. that means, “to
12/14/09-12/22/09
Reading Comprehension: "Pancakes" and "The Cask of Amontillado"
Day 1: #1-10
Day 2: #11-20
Day 3: #21-22
Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
Comprehension Read each of the following questions about “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe. Then choose the letter of the best answer.
____1.Which word best describes the mood of the carnival in the story?
|
a. |
gloomy |
|
b. |
wild |
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c. |
suspenseful |
|
d. |
quiet |
____2. Which is the best way to paraphrase the following quotation from the story? "I was so pleased to see him, that I thought I should never have done wringing his hand."
|
a. |
I shook his hand for a very long time because I was so happy to see him. |
|
b. |
I did not want to shake his hand even though I was happy to see him. |
|
c. |
I was surprised to see that his hand would not stop shaking. |
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d. |
I kept shaking his hand because he seemed excited to see me. |
____3. Montresor gets Fortunato to judge the wine by appealing to Fortunato's
|
a. |
guilt about his insults to Montresor |
|
b. |
greed about owning expensive wines |
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c. |
pride about his wine-tasting abilities |
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d. |
kindness as Montresor's friend |
____4. How does Montresor seem to treat Fortunato throughout most of the story?
|
a. |
roughly |
|
b. |
cruelly |
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c. |
coldly |
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d. |
politely |
____5. Which description of the vault contributes most to the mood of the story?
|
a. |
long staircase leads to the vault. |
|
b. |
The vault contains many casks of wine. |
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c. |
The dark, damp vault is a burial chamber. |
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d. |
The vault is a space between two supports. |
Comprehension
Read each of the following questions about “Pancakes” by Joan Bauer. Then choose the letter of the best answer.
____6.Why does Allen Feinman stop dating Jill?
|
a. |
She does not get along with his mother. |
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b. |
She spends all her time baking cookies. |
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c. |
She always has to be perfect. |
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d. |
She spends too much time at work. |
____7. When Jill describes her system for waiting on customers, you can tell that she is
|
a. |
proud of being well organized |
|
b. |
embarrassed about being too picky |
|
c. |
impatient with children |
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d. |
helpful to other employees |
____8. Why is Ye Olde Pancake House busier than usual?
|
a. |
The restaurant has a new flavor of syrup. |
|
b. |
Two waitresses do not show up for work. |
|
c. |
A tour bus brings sixty-six extra customers. |
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d. |
Allen Feinman's family is there. |
____9. You can conclude that Allen helps Jill because he
|
a. |
wants to impress his mother |
|
b. |
hopes to get a job at the restaurant |
|
c. |
still likes Jill |
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d. |
wants to show her that he is perfect |
____10.How do you know that Jill has changed at the end of the story?
|
a. |
She cares only about her tip money. |
|
b. |
She pushes a little girl out of her way. |
|
c. |
She shows concern for Lucy's baby. |
|
d. |
She is not bothered when Hugo spills syrup. |
Short Answer
Directions: Recall the events in Edgar Allan Poe's short story. Then answer the questions in one or two sentences.
11. Why does Montresor want revenge against Fortunato?
Montresor wants revenge against Fortunato because Fortunato insulted him.
12. How does Montresor get Fortunato to go with him?
Montresor tells Fortunato that he has a case of Amontillado and that he wants Fortunato's rival Luchesi to taste the wine instead of Fortunato.
13. Where does Montresor take Fortunato to get revenge?
Montresor takes Fortunato to his catacomb-vault in his basement.
14. What is Montresor's revenge?
Montresor gets revenge on Fortunato by locking him up in the catacombs and builds a wall to block him, then Montresor left a burning torch in the small room with Fortunato.
Directions: Recall the events in Joan Bauer's short story. Then answer the questions in one or two sentences.
15. What does Jill's mother tape to the bathroom mirror?
Jill's mother taped a newspaper article about perfectionists to Jill's mirror.
16. How does Jill react when more and more people come into the restaurant?
Jill started to stress about having too many customers and not enough waitresses.
17. What does Allen do when he shows up at the restaurant?
Allen offers to help Jill run the cash register.
Written Response
Short Response In one or two sentences, answer the following questions based on your knowledge of “The Cask of Amontillado.”
18. Paraphrase this line from the story: "A succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting suddenly from the throat of the chained form, seemed to thrust me violently back."
Loud screams from a chained up figure caused me to jump back quickly out of surprise.
Written Response
Short Response In one or two sentences, answer the following questions based on your knowledge of “Pancakes.”
19. What kinds of things does Jill do when her family moves to a new town? Provide two examples from the story in your answer.
20. At the beginning of the story, does Jill think that Hugo is a good worker? Explain your answer with a detail from the story.
No, at the beginning Jill thinks Hugo is doing everything wrong, like how he pours the syrup.
Paragraph Responses
Written Response
Extended Response In a paragraph, answer the following questions based on your knowledge of “The Cask of Amontillado” and “Pancakes.”
21. What evidence supports the belief that Montresor had carefully planned the evening so that it would end in Fortunato's death? List three examples from the story to explain your answer.
You can tell that Montresor had planned out the night because he made sure that he could get Fortunato to a secluded place to kill him. As well, Montresor got Fortunato drunk so he would be somewhat oblivious of what Montresor was trying to do.
22. Jill learns that working as part of a team is better than trying to do everything on her own. Use three details from the story to explain this statement.
Once Allen and his parents showed up to help Jill everything seemed to be under control. Instead of having to take orders, delivering orders and having to run the cash register; she let Allen take over the cash register and he seemed to get everyone who was waiting into a line, this seemed to make things move more smoothly.
For decades after the American revolution, baseball evolved in America from the English games of cricket and rounders. (47) One version, known as town ball, was played on a square field with no foul lines and no set defensive positions. On June 18. 1846, the New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club played the New York Base Ball Club in what is considered to be the first official game of baseball under rules familiar to us. (48) The infield was diamond shaped with foul lines, and teams had nine players. Over the next few years, the Knickerbockers refined and formalized these rules and their popularity spread. (49) Henry Chadwick, a New York newspaperman, became the greatest champion of this Knickerbocker style of baseball. For five decades, he served on rules committees and published baseball guides and yearbooks. He even invented the newspaper box score which is still in wide use today. For his extensive contributions and untiring efforts, he became known as the "Father of Baseball."
47. Choose the correct answer for (47) above.
|
a. |
For decades after the American Revolution. Baseball evolved in America from the English games of cricket and rounders. Sentence fragment, change period after Revolution to comma and lowercase Baseball |
|
b. |
For decades after the American Revolution, baseball evolved in America from the English games of cricket and rounders. Correct |
|
c. |
For decades after the American Revolution, Baseball evolved in America from the English games of Cricket and Rounders. Improper capitalization, lower case Baseball, Cricket and Rounders. |
|
d. |
Correct as is Revolution is part of proper noun, capitalize revolution |
48. Choose the correct answer for (48) above.
|
a. |
Correct as is No period after June 18, change period to comma |
|
b. |
On June 18, 1846, the New York knickerbocker base ball club played the New York base ball club in what is considered to be the first official game of baseball under rules familiar to us. Knickerbocker Base Ball Club and Base Ball Club needs to be capitalized |
|
c. |
On June 18, 1846, the New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club played the New York Base Ball Club, which is considered to be the first official game of baseball under rules familiar to us. Correct |
|
d. |
While on June 18, 1846, the New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club played the New York Base Ball Club in what is considered to be the first official game of baseball under rules familiar to us. Take out "While" and capitalize "on" |
____ 49. Choose the correct answer for (49) above.
|
a. |
Over the next few years the Knickerbockers refined and formalized these rules, which increased in popularity. Comma after years |
|
b. |
Over the next few years, when the Knickerbockers refined and formalized these rules, and their popularity spread. No comma after rules |
|
c. |
Over the next few years, the Knickerbockers, refining and formalizing these rules, which increased in popularity. Change "refinining and formailizing" to "refined and formalized" |
|
d. |
Correct as is Correct |
11/31-12/5
DIRECTIONS: COPY AND PASTE THE PARAGRAPH, QUESTIONS, AND ANSWERS TO YOUR WEBSITE > ENTRY TASKS PAGE. AFTER EACH ANSWER, IDENTIFY WHETHER IT IS CORRECT OR INCORRECT. IF IT IS INCORRECT, IDENTIFY WHY IT IS INCORRECT AND HOW IT CAN BE CORRECTED.
Ernest Shackleton was one of the great Antarctic explorers. However, his greatest adventure lay not in getting to the South Pole (which he never accomplished), but in escaping from it. In January of 1915, his ship Endurance became trapped in pack ice in the Antarctic's Weddell Sea. For nine months, it drifted for hundreds of miles as the ice gradually tightened its grip by the end of October, Shackleton and his crew were finally forced to abandon ship. (44) The men set up camps on drifting ice floes and hoped to find open sea. For six months, they lived on the drifting ice until it gave way beneath them, and they fled in three small boats. After a terrifying week in the South Atlantic, they reached land on Elephant Island. Within weeks of landing. Shackleton. and a crew of five men, headed out to sea again for the 800-mile journey to South Georgia Island: where they hoped to reach a whaling station. (45) They had to cross the most threatening ocean on Earth! After 17 days, they landed on a beach on South Georgia. Unfortunately, it was on the wrong side of the island. To reach the whaling station, they had to cross the island's mountainous terrain on foot. Against all odds, they reached their destination, and returned to rescue their shipmates on Elephant Island? (46) Not a single member of the crew of the Endurance perished.
____ 44. Choose the correct answer for (44) above.
a. Correct as is Run-on sentence; period after grip, capitalize By.
b. For nine months, it drifted for hundreds of miles as the ice gradually tightened its grip by the end of October. Shackleton and his crew were finally forced to abandon ship. Period in incorrect place; change period after October to a comma, put period pefore by, capitalize By.
c. For nine months, it drifted. For hundreds of miles as the ice gradually tightened its grip. By the end of October, Shackleton and his crew were finally forced to abandon ship. Sentence fragment; change period after drifted to comma.
d. For nine months, it drifted for hundreds of miles as the ice gradually tightened its grip. By the end of October, Shackleton and his crew were finally forced to abandon ship. Correct
____ 45. Choose the correct answer for (45) above.
Most of the sentences offered below are wrong because they are trying to split a single idea into two pieces.
a. Within weeks of landing, Shackleton and a crew of five men headed out to sea again for the 800-mile journey to South Georgia Island, where they hoped to reach a whaling station. Correct b. Within weeks of landing Shackleton, and a crew of five men headed out to sea again for the 800-mile journey to South Georgia Island. Where they hoped to reach a whaling station. Sentence fragment, comma in incorrect place; put comma before Shackleton and exchange comma after South Georgia Island for a period.
c. Within weeks of landing, Shackleton and a crew of five men headed out to sea again. For the 800-mile journey to South Georgia Island where they hoped to reach a whaling station. Sentence fragment; take out comma after sea again and put it after South Georgia Island.
d. Correct as is Sentence fragment, incorrect punctuation; change period after landing to a comma, take out comma after men, change colon after Island to comma.
____ 46. Choose the correct answer for (46) above.
a. Against all odds, they reached their destination! And returned to rescue their shipmates on Elephant Island. Sentence fragment; take out exclaimation point after destination and make And lowercase. b. Against all odds, they reached their destination; and returned to rescue their shipmates on Elephant Island. Incorrect use of semicolon, take out semicolon.
c. Against all odds, they reached their destination and returned to rescue their shipmates on Elephant Island. Correct
d. Correct as is. Incorrect ending punctuation; change question mark to period.
- Incomplete sentences or run-on sentences
- Sentences with incorrect forms of nouns, pronouns, verbs, or modifiers
- Sentences with incorrect punctuation or capitalization
- Correctly written sentences that should be combined
- Correctly written sentences that do not need to be rewritten
- Choose the best way to write each underlined section, and mark the letter for your answer.
- If the underlined section needs no change, mark the choice "Correct as is."
At the age of 19 months, Helen Keller was stricken with an illness. That left her deaf and blind. (39) She had just begun to talk, but now the only sounds she made were cries of frustration. Her mother did not know what to do with such a child. Neither did her father. (40) When Helen was seven, her parents hired Anne Sullivan to teach her. Miss Sullivan used her fingers to spell words on Helen's palm. The play The Miracle Worker dramatizes the moment at which Helen recognized the connection between her teacher's touch on her hand and the words she had once learned. As water from a pump flows over one hand and Annie Sullivan spells water into the other, Helen says, "Wah. Wah. (41)" Within two years Helen had learned the manual alphabet and braille. Helen learned to speak. She was hard to understand. She required an interpreter. (42) As an adult she gave many speeches and wrote books. Both Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan deserve credit for what Helen accomplished.
____ 39. Choose the correct answer for (39) above.
The sentence (39) is incorrect because "That left her blind" isn't a complete thought, it relates to the previous sentence so it needs to follow "At the age of 19 months, Helen Keller was stricken with an illness".
|
a. |
At the age of 19 months, Helen Keller was stricken with an illness that left her deaf and blind. |
|
b. |
At the age of 19 months, Helen Keller was stricken. With an illness that left her deaf and blind. Sentence fragment |
|
c. |
At the age of 19 months. Helen Keller was stricken with an illness. That left her deaf and blind. Too many periods |
|
d. |
Correct as is Sentence fragment |
____ 40. Choose the correct answer for (40) above.
Standing alone, "Neither did her father" makes no sense, the sentence reuiqres more information and should be with the previous sentence. If you just say "Her mother did not know what to do with such a child neither did her father" the sentence becomes a run-on. It would make more sense to say "Neither her mother nor her father knew what to do with such a child" than to say any of the other options, I say c is correct.
|
a. |
Her mother did not know what to do with such a child. Neither did she know what to do with Helen's father. Wrong "direction. |
|
b. |
Neither her mother nor her father did not know what to do with such a child. Double negative. |
|
c. |
Neither her mother nor her father knew what to do with such a child. |
|
d. |
Correct as is Sentence fragment |
____ 41. Choose the correct answer for (41) above.
"The word "water" needs quotation marks because it is a word that Annie Sullivan wrote into Helen Keller's hand. The sentence "Into the other, Helen says, "Wah. Wah." isn't a complete thought because you don't know what the other is. The sentence requires more information which is correctly written in the fourth answer, d.
|
a. |
Correct as is Sentence fragment |
|
b. |
As water from a pump flows over one hand and Annie Sullivan spells water into the other, Helen says, Wah. Wah. Incorrect punctuation. |
|
c. |
As water from a pump flows over one hand and Annie Sullivan spells, "water." Into the other, Helen says, "Wah. Wah." Sentence fragment |
|
d. |
As water from a pump flows over one hand and Annie Sullivan spells "water" into the other, Helen says, "Wah. Wah". |
____ 42. Choose the correct answer for (42) above.
The sentences in the original paragraph aren't complete thoughts because they make no sense if they stand alone. It would make sense to put the sentences together in order to have more information to make a more complete sentence.
|
a. |
Helen learned to speak she was hard to understand she required an interpreter. Run-on sentence. |
|
b. |
Helen learned to speak, but she was hard to understand and required an interpreter. |
|
c. |
Correct as is Poorly written |
|
d. |
Helen learned to speak; and she was hard to understand: she required an interpreter. Incorrect punctuation |
10-12-09-Entry Task 5
Metaphor:
One thing used or considered to represent another noun.
Joe’s face was an apple because he was mad.
Simile:
A figure of speech that draws a comparison between two different things, especially a phrase containing the words “like” or “as”
Joe’s face was as red as an apple.
Analogy:
A comparison between two things that are similar in some way, often used to help explain something or make it easier to understand.
The stove top was really hot, hot like standing near a fire.
Allusion:
An indirect reference to somebody or something
As Mike was talking about segregation he said, “I have a dream, that one day little black boys and girls will be able to play with little white boys and girls.”
Assonance:
The similarity of two or more vowel sounds or the repetition of two or more consonant sounds, especially in words that are close together in a poem
Consonance:
A close similarity between consonants or groups of consonants, especially at the ends of words
Personification:
Giving something human-like characteristics
The toaster told the microwave it was tired of just sitting on the counter, the toaster wanted to have an adventure.
Foreshadowing:
To indicate or suggest something, usually something unpleasant that is going to happen
As Tom was walking down the street, he saw a shadow growing larger and larger, whooshing noises came from above.
Symbolism:
The use of symbols to invest things with a representative meaning or to represent something abstract by something concrete
The flag with 7 red stripes, 6 white stripes and 50 white stars on a field of blue symbolizes the country of the United States of America.
Hyperbole:
Deliberate and obvious exaggeration used for effect
There were so many cows on the farm, “There must be a million cows here” said Joe.
Alliteration:
A poetic or literary effect achieved by using several words that begin with the same or similar consonants
Alex abruptly attacked an apple, the apple was delicious.
Onomatopoeia:
The formation of use of words that imitate the sound associated with something
Joe rang the doorbell, “ding-dong!”
Imagery:
Writing that is written in such a way that it gives the reader a mental image in their head
Bob is a hobo, Bob usually wears an undershirt and tattered grey sweatpants, Bob likes to sit on the docks of Seattle and ask people for money to help him survive.
Rhyme scene:
A word with an ending that sounds similar to the ending of another word
“I’m the Cat in the Hat, there’s no doubt about that!”
Internal Rhyme:
A rhyme in which one of the rhyming words is within the line of poetry and the other is at the end of the same line or within the next line
Do you have some time?
I’m going to tell you something ‘bout rhymes
It’s easy to put rhymes into lines,
But don’t use this rhyme, cause this rhyme is mine.
Rhythm:
A pattern of stress in a poem or a particular kind of poetry
Irony:
Humor based on using words to suggest the opposite of their literal meaning
Mood:
The way a group of people think and feel about something
Pablo didn’t want to go to school; he thought it was boring and dull.
Tone:
The way somebody says something as an indicator of what that person is feeling or thinking
Carl murmured he to his parents that he didn’t know anybody at his new school.
10/1/09-Entry Task 4
Jim and Joe went to the movies this afternoon. Jim was drinking his soda and making a lot of noise because he was slurping; this started to annoy Joe. Joe told Jim that he was being annoying and Jim didn’t care, as if he was the only person in the whole world. Joe was really annoyed by the way Jim was acting; Joe decided to get up and leave because
9/24/09-Entry Task 3
Louis and Jake, both of them are boys and like hiking, running and playing basketball; on the weekends both Louis and Jake like to play video games.
9/21/09-Entry Task 2
1. Chrono-time: chronological
2. Bio-life: biography, biology
3. Vac-empty: evacuate, vacant
4. Sol-alone: solitary, solely
5. Path-feeling: empathy, sympathy
6. Op-work: operation
7. Audi-hear: audible, audio
8. Astra-star: astronomy
9. Geo-earth: geography
10. Log-word/thought: dialogue
11. Cide-kill: Homicide, suicide
12. Vor-greedy: voracious
A scientist who was applying for a new job had to write an essay on astronomy, but specifically the international space station. To start learning, the scientist listened to audio tapes of another scientist’s auto-biography. On the audio tapes the scientist’s dialogue played, “I was on the international space station when something went wrong, I wasn’t sure what had happened so I messaged base and they told me to vacate the space station. A couple days later NASA sent a crew to the station to start ‘Operation Fix It’, the crew was supposed to diagnose and fix what was wrong with the station.
