Name ____________________________________________
AP English Language
“I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read” by Francine Prose
Directions: The following questions refer to paragraphs 1-6.
1. What is the purpose of the sentence, “Given the dreariness with which literature is taught
in many American classrooms, it seems miraculous that any sentient teenager would view
reading as a source of pleasure” (middle of para.1)?
a. to provide an example of how American teenagers are at a disadvantage in their
learning environments
b. to indicate that the author thinks most teenagers are bored in classrooms
c. to emphasize specific problems about teaching methods in American classrooms
d. to describe how even unintelligent students dislike reading
e. to establish the author’s point of view using strong emotional language
2. In paragraph 1, which of the following stylistic devices is most in evidence?
a. rhetorical questions
b. onomatopoeia
c. irony
d. hyperbole
e. metaphor
3. In context, the term “vestigial” (middle of para. 2) most likely means
a. enduring
b. priestly
c. nostalgic
d. innocent
e. chaste
4. What is the author’s main purpose of the third full paragraph?
a. to summarize the problem that inferior pieces of literature still sell in large
numbers at bookstores
b. to describe how certain words and sentences are enjoyable to read
c. to defend her position that all books are works of art
d. to establish her argument by describing how teachers are wasting an opportunity
to make students lifelong readers of literature
e. to address a possible criticism of her argument by pointing out that more and
more books are being sold each year
5. When the author refers to the “lemming-like fervor” (para. 4) of universities, she means
that the administrators at these universities
a. try to move quickly
b. carefully take the lead in an intense manner
c. blindly and enthusiastically follow one another
d. take a complex and nonobvious route
e. calmly make individual changes
6. What is the main purpose of the author’s use of information about her sons in paragraphs
5 and 6?
a. to emphasize the importance of Shakespeare in school curriculums
b. to suggest that even good students in private schools read inferior literature
c. to personalize her position to the reader and help explain her arugment
d. to contrast Alice Walker and Maya Angelou
e. to describe how her older son disliked reading Ordinary People
7. All of the following have a negative connotation EXCEPT
a. “moribund culture” (para. 4)
b. “lucidly” (para. 6)
c. “trash and semi-trash” (para. 3)
d. “doomed” (para. 1)
e. “tacky tastes” (para. 2)
8. The author’s tone in this passage can best be described as
a. uncertain
b. objective
c. ambivalent
d. enthusiastic
e. exasperated