Download
1 / 40
400 likes | 606 Views
Reading Comprehension Jeopardy. Short Stories. The Birthmark Through the Tunnel Those Who Walk Away from Omelas The Most Dangerous Game Berenice The Black Cat.
E N D
Short Stories • The Birthmark • Through the Tunnel • Those Who Walk Away from Omelas • The Most Dangerous Game • Berenice • The Black Cat
Alas! it was too true! The fatal hand had grappled with the mystery of life, and was the bond by which an angelic spirit kept itself in union with a mortal frame. As the last crimson tint of the birthmark -- that sole token of human imperfection -- faded from her cheek, the parting breath of the now perfect woman passed into the atmosphere, and her soul, lingering a moment near her husband, took its heavenward flight. Then a hoarse, chuckling laugh was heard again! Thus ever does the gross fatality of earth exult in its invariable triumph over the immortal essence which, in this dim sphere of half development, demands the completeness of a higher state. Yet, had Alymer reached a profounder wisdom, he need not thus have flung away the happiness which would have woven his mortal life of the selfsame texture with the celestial. The momentary circumstance was too strong for him; he failed to look beyond the shadowy scope of time, and, living once for all in eternity, to find the perfect future in the present.
What rhetorical function do the exclamation in the lines “Alas! It was too true!” serve?
They serve to heighten the mood of misery set by the author.
What literary tactic is used in the following lines? • “Thus ever does the gross fatality of earth exult in its invariable triumph over the immortal essence.”
On the edge of a small cape that marked the side of the bay away from the promontory was a loose scatter of rocks. Above them, some boys were stripping offtheir clothes. They came running, naked, down to the rocks. The English boy swam towards them, and kept his distance at a stone's throw. They were of that coast, all of them burned smooth dark brown, and speaking a language he did not understand. To be with them, of them, was a craving that filled his whole body. He swam a little closer; they turned andwatched him with narrowed, alert dark eyes. Then one smiled and waved. It was enough. In a minute, he had swum in and was on the rocks beside them, smiling with a desperate,nervous supplication. They shouted cheerful greetings at him, and then, as he preservedhis nervous, uncomprehending smile, they understood that he was a foreigner strayed fromhis own beach, and they proceeded to forget him. But he was happy. He was with them.
What is a possible metaphorical meaning behind the boys speaking “a language he could not understand”?
Their maturity and prowess gave them access to vocabulary he was not capable of understanding.
What is the primary desire of the young man in this paragraph?
What can you infer about the protagonist by the fact that he smiled “with a desperate, nervous supplication.”?
The image that the boy had “strayed from his own beach” is meant to suggest what fact?
I DREADED that first robin so, • But he is mastered now, • And I ’m accustomed to him grown,— • He hurts a little, though. • I thought if I could only live • Till that first shout got by, • Not all pianos in the woods • Had power to mangle me. • I dared not meet the daffodils, • For fear their yellow gown • Would pierce me with a fashion • So foreign to my own. • I wished the grass would hurry, • So when ’t was time to see, • He ’d be too tall, the tallest one • Could stretch to look at me. • I could not bear the bees should come, • I wished they ’d stay away • In those dim countries where they go: • What word had they for me? • They ’re here, though; not a creature failed, • No blossom stayed away • In gentle deference to me, • The Queen of Calvary. • Each one salutes me as he goes, • And I my childish plumes • Lift, in bereaved acknowledgment • Of their unthinking drums.
The central opposition in the poem is between • A. the birds and the flowers • B. God and nature • C. childhood and adulthood • D. the speaker and the spring • E. reason and imagination
The speaker views the coming of the robin, the daffodils, and the bees as • A. welcome arrivals • B. inexplicable events • C. painful experiences • D. unexpected diversions • E. inspiring occurences
The “first shout” (line 6) most probably refers to • A. a cry made by the speaker • B. the robin’s song • C. a baby’s first cry • D. the dawn of a new day • E. the sprouting of a flower
In line 7, “Pianos” most probably refers metaphorically to • A. birds • B. flowers • C. bees • D. poetry • E. musical instruments
For the speaker, the robin and the daffodils have which of the following in common? • A. an aura of the divine • B. the power to intoxicate • C. the power to wound • D. a clear and useful purpose • E. a sense of timeliness and peace
The sentiments expressed in the poem are closest to those expressed in which of the following quotations from other poets? • A. “The poetry of earth is never dead” • B. “April is the cruellest month” • C. “Fair daffodils, we weep to see/ You haste away so soon” • D. “And then my heart with pleasure fills/ And dances with the daffodils” • E. “Nothing is so beautiful as spring/ When weeds in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush”
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, • Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, • While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, • As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. • " 'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door; • Only this, and nothing more."
What is Poe’s purpose in using both internal and external rhymes in his poem?
Rhyming increases the reading speed of the reader, allowing them to experience the narrator’s paranoia.
