Skill: TONE
After reading the passages, sort the terms based on the speaker whom they describe. Some terms may describe both
selections. Use text evidence to support your answers.
Sympathy
by Paul Laurence Dunbar
I KNOW what the caged bird feels, alas!
When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;
When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass,
And the river flows like a stream of glass;
When the first bird sings and the first bud opes,
And the faint perfume from its chalice steals I know what the caged bird feels!
I know why the caged bird beats his wing
Till its blood is red on the cruel bars;
For he must fly back to his perch and cling
When he fain would be on the bough a-swing;
And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars
And they pulse again with a keener sting I know why he beats his wing!
I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore, When he beats his bars and he would be free;
It is not a carol of joy or glee,
But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core,
But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings I know why the caged bird sings!
An Account of an Experience with Discrimination
by Sojourner Truth
A few weeks ago I was in company with my friend Josephine S. Griffing, when the conductor of a streetcar refused
to stop his car for me, although (I was) closely following Josephine and holding on to the iron rail. They dragged
us a number of yards before she succeeded in stopping them. She reported the conductor to the president of the
City Railway, who dismissed him at once, and told me to take the number of the car whenever I was mistreated by
a conductor or driver. On the 13th I had occasion to go for necessities for the patients in the Freedmen's Hospital
where I have been doing and advising for a number of months. I thought now I would get a ride without trouble as
I was in company with another friend, Laura S. Haviland of Michigan. As I ascended the platform of the car, the
conductor pushed me, saying "Go back--get off here." I told him I was not going off, then "I'll put you off" said he
furiously, clenching my right arm with both hands, using such violence that he seemed about to succeed, when
Mrs. Haviland told him he was not going to put me off. "Does she belong to you?" said he in a hurried angry tone.
She replied, "She does not belong to me, but she belongs to humanity." The number of the car was noted, and
conductor dismissed at once upon the report to the president, who advised his arrest for assault and battery as my
shoulder was sprained by his effort to put me off. Accordingly I had him arrested and the case tried before Justice
Thompson. My shoulder was very lame and swollen, but is better. It is hard for the old slaveholding spirit to die.
But die it must....
Skill: TONE
After reading the passages, sort the terms based on the speaker whom they describe. Some terms may
Describe both selections. Cite text evidence to support your answers.
Determined
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Displeased
Distressed
Both
Passionate
Practical
Sojourner Truth
Skill: Text Structure
Identify each paragraph as one of the following text structures: cause-and-effect, problem-solution, comparecontrast, or chronological. Write your answer on the line, and underline or highlight words/phrases/sentences
that support your answer.
1. The Age of the Dinosaurs ___________________
Dinosaurs existed about 250 million years ago to 65 million years ago. This era is broken up into three periods
known as the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The Triassic Period lasted for 35 million years from
250-205 million years ago. Planet Earth was a very different place back then. All the continents were united to
form one huge land mass known as Pangaea. The Jurassic Period was the second phase. The continents began
shifting apart. The time scale for this famous period is from 205 to 138 million years ago. The Cretaceous
Period was the last period of the dinosaurs. It spanned a time from 138 million to about 65 million years ago. In
this period the continents fully separated. However, Australia and Antarctica were still united.
2. Vicious Predators ____________________
The Cretaceous Period was filled with dangerous predators, but two of the most feared hunters were the
tyrannosaurs rex and the velociraptor. The tyrannosaurs rex was one of the largest carnivores to ever walk the
Earth. He was 20 feet tall and weighed seven tons. His jaws could crush down with 3,000 lbs. of force, enough
to smash the bones of his prey. The velociraptor was very small compared to rex. Raptors only stood three feet
tall and were seven feet long, weighing merely 35 pounds. But the velociraptor was fast. Scientists think that
raptors could run 24 miles per hour and turn on a dime. Both dinosaurs used their jaws to kill prey, but the
raptor had a secret weapon: a retractable toe claw that he pulled out like a knife to slash at his prey. Both
dinosaurs had eyes on the front of their heads, which helped them track prey. If these two dinosaurs had fought,
it would be difficult to say which would win; however since raptors died over ten million years before the first
tyrannosaurs was born, scientists don't believe such a fight ever occurred.
3. What Happened to the Dinosaurs? ____________________
There are many theories about why the dinosaurs vanished from the planet. One theory that many people
believe is that a gigantic meteorite smashed into the Earth. Scientists believe that the meteorite was very big
and that the impact may have produced a large dust cloud that covered the Earth for many years. The dust
cloud may have caused plants to not receive sunlight and the large plant eaters, or herbivores, may have died
off, followed by the large meat eaters, or carnivores. This theory may or may not be true, but it is one
explanation as to why these giant reptiles no longer inhabit the Earth.
4. Fossil Mishap ____________________
It's important to think critically about the information that you receive, or else you may be led astray. For
example, the brontosaurus is a type of dinosaur that never really existed. Many people still believe in the
brontosaurus today, but the "brontosaurus" is actually the body of an apatosaurus with the head of a
camarasaurus. This concocted creature was made from two mismatched fossils. Had more people thought
critically about these findings, analyzing the components that were presented, entire generations of school
children may not have been misinformed; therefore, think critically about the information that people tell you,
even if it's information you find on a book or in a worksheet. Keep these problems in mind when conducting
your studies.
Skill: Central Idea
Words in the Information Age by Mauri Rapp
1
Advancements in technology have led not only to changes in the way we work and play, but also to
changes in the way we communicate. More than twenty years ago, a net was known only as something
people used to catch fish. Birds tweeted, but people didn’t. Cookies were a delicious treat. A mouse was a
type of rodent and a monitor was a type of lizard—and neither one could help you with your homework.
Although a mouse is still a rodent and cookies are still delicious, these words have developed new
meanings related to the information age.
2
Your grandparents probably didn’t have the Internet when they were kids. Even though the Internet has
been around since 1969, it took years before the Internet was widely used in homes. By the late 1990s,
however, most Americans were surfing the net—and they didn’t even need an ocean! As technology
developed and changed, so did the words people used to describe it. Then, everyday words such as net,
mouse, and monitor developed new meanings.
3
Along with giving existing words new meanings, the information age has also spurred the development
of entirely new words. Take the word blog for example. Blog is the shortened version of the term Weblog,
which is an online journal. If you took a time machine back to 1993 and told someone that you had been
blogging—or writing on your blog—he wouldn’t understand. Today most people will know what you are
talking about and they may even ask for your blog’s Web address so they can check it out for themselves.
Another Internet-related term that is relatively new to the English vocabulary is Wi-Fi. This term
describes a network that allows people to use the Internet without attaching a wire to their computer.
4
New technology has also helped us create a host of ways to spread information. In turn, humans created
new words or changed the meanings of existing words to describe these new forms of communication.
Today, people can send electronic messages via e-mail, or they can now post, or write, on your Twitter,
MySpace, or Facebook pages. These programs are social networking Web sites where users can connect
with friends and family, share messages and photographs, and play games.
5
So the next time you are browsing on your Blackberry—not the type of fruit you bake into a pie, but
your handheld wireless device used to navigate the Web—think about the way that technology influences
the language you’re using today. You may be surprised by the number of technological terms in your
vocabulary!
Question: Which of the following statements BEST states the central idea of the passage? Cite evidence that
supports your answer.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Internet was in most American homes by the late 1990s.
People can now send electronic mail, or e-mail, to one another.
Technology has changed the meaning of words in the English language.
"Mouse" no longer refers to just a rodent.
Technological terms are more frequently used today than they have been in years past.
ANSWER KEYS
TONE
Dunbar
Passionate, distressed
TEXT STRUCTURE
1.
2.
3.
4.
Chronological
Compare/contrast
Cause/effect
Problem/solution
Central Idea
1. C
Both
Truth
Reflective, displeased
Practical, determined