Semester 1 ACP Blueprint

To see the types of questions, and number of each, that will appear on your semester final, click this link: click me!

Do your best. Make yourself proud.

Annie Dillard "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek" excerpt

Answer the following questions in the space provided. Support each 3-5 sentence response with embedded text evidence. (If you've lost your copy of the text, read it online, here.)

1. In the first paragraph, how does the description of “[t]he Polyphemus moth in the picture” prepare you for what happens later?
   
   
2. What effect does the “urgent through” anaphora in the second paragraph produce? What connection/similarity is there between the direct objects of the “urgency”?
   
   
3. What effect is produced by the repetition of the verb “fade” in the third paragraph? How is Dillard’s technique similar to a special effect in a movie?
   
   
4. What tone is produced by the final two sentences of the fourth paragraph? What corresponding mood results? Which words are responsible for creating the tone/mood?
   
   
5. In the fifth paragraph, how does Dillard contrast the school children and the moth? How does this contrast make the moth’s “freedom” tragic instead of celebratory?
   
   
6. The final sentence of the final paragraph (“The Polyphemus moth is still crawling down the driveway…”) echoes something Dillard writes in an earlier paragraph. What does it echo? How does it provide a satisfying, if tragic, ending to the excerpt?
   
   

BONUS! If you read The Odyssey last year and remember Polyphemus the Cyclops from the story, what connection(s) can you make from that character and the moth in Dillard’s memoir?

Revising / Editing Packets

In class we reviewed revising and editing sections from several released STAAR tests. Below are the packets; answers appear on the last page of the PDFs.

For "The Piper of D-Day" and "Law and Order in Ancient Times," click here.

Click here for "Think Twice about TV Commercials" and "March!"

Billy Collins' "Introduction to Poetry"

After reading the poem "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins, answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper. Support each 3-5 sentence response with embedded text evidence.

1. What words and images stand out in this poem? Choose one that really speaks to you. What about it intrigued or appealed to you?
   
   
2. What do you think Collins is saying about the study of poetry? According to Collins, what is the real goal of reading poetry?
   
   
3. Compare stanzas 5 and 6. How does the humor used in these stanzas bring his theme to light?
   
   
4. “Introduction to Poetry” is divided into seven stanzas. Three of the stanzas have two lines and three of the stanzas have three lines. One stanza, stanza 2, only has one line. Did Collins make a mistake? Did he just get lazy? Why do you think Collins chose to make line 4 its own stanza? What effect does this structural decision have on the reading of the poem?
   
   
5. How would you describe the speaker's tone in the poem? Is this poem meant to be funny or serious? How are we meant to feel about the situation the speaker describes? How are we meant to feel about poetry by the end of the “Introduction”?
   
   
6. Why does Collins use personification when he describes “the poem” in the last two stanzas? What effect does the personification have on the poem's ending?
   
   
7. The speaker asks the students to “feel the [poem’s] walls for a light switch,” something to shed some light, illuminate, excite. Did you find any light switches in “Introduction to Poetry,” any places that made you happy, or inspired, or interested? Where were they (what lines or words), and what attracted you to them?
   
   

Question sources: here and here.

Christmas Carol Stave Five Test Preview

Tomorrow's test (comprised of student-inspired questions) covers from the beginning of Stave Five

Yes! and the bedpost was his own. The bed was his own, the room was his own. Best and happiest of all, the Time before him was his own, to make amends in!

through

The chuckle with which he said this, and the chuckle with which he paid for the Turkey, and the chuckle with which he paid for the cab, and the chuckle with which he recompensed the boy, were only to be exceeded by the chuckle with which he sat down breathless in his chair again, and chuckled till he cried.

You need to know your literary devices, as well as the difference(s) between denotations and connotations.

Be prepared. Be very prepared.

DIY Christmas Carol Test Questions

Please use the following stems to create multiple-choice test questions for Stave Five of A Christmas Carol. Provide four possible answers; the correct answer will be A (your actual test will not have A as the correct answer more than 25% of the time).

The paragraph that begins [blahblahblah] suggests that this story explores the theme —

From the paragraphs that begin with “X” and ends with “Y”, the reader can infer that —

The reader can infer that [vocabulary word] means —

How can [the character] be best characterized?

Which sentence hints at [the character’s] later [character development]?

The dialogue in paragraphs that begins with “X” and ends with “Y” suggests that [the character] considers [something] very —

Read this sentence from the selection.

… The tone [or other literary element] of this sentence can best be described as

By telling the story from the point of view of [whatever], the author can —

The [literary device] [whatever] suggests that —