Name:
Date:
STUDY GUIDE for the Short Story Assessment
Quote Identification, Vocabulary in Context,
and Use of Irony to Explore Theme of
“Cyclops,” “The Veldt,” and “Shooting Dad”
I. Quote Identification
For this assessment, you should prepare quote identification responses for the SIX
QUOTES provided below. You will be required to answer the following seven prompts about
the quotes. Prompt number one requires that you write a 5-sentence summary of the short
story. Please pay special attention to prompt number four which requires you to draft a NEW
VERSION of the ORIGINAL QUOTE – this does not mean that you attempt to explain it. A new
version should be a “translation” of the quote so that the original meaning is communicated
in a different and NEW way that DOES NOT USE ORIGINAL LANUGAGE. Additionally, please
pay special attention to prompts number seven and number eight which include new
requirements that relate to situational irony
On the assessment, you will be given all of the prompts to organize your answers.
*****YOU WILL NOT BE PERMITTED TO USE YOUR ANNOTATIONS OR NOTES FOR THIS
ASSESSMENT. YOU WILL BE PERMITTED TO BRING IN A THREE BY FIVE NOTE CARD WITH
ANNOTATIONS ON THE FRONT AND BACK ONLY. YOU WILL SUBMIT THIS WITH YOUR
ASSESSMENT, AND IT SHOULD INCLUDE YOUR NAME. DEFINITIONS AND PARTS OF SPEECH
FOR VOCABULARY WORDS MAY NOT BE WRITTEN ANYWHERE ON THE CARDS.
“Cyclops” by David Sedaris
1. “Six years old and the girl was broken” (p. 47).
2. “’Not a one of you has got so much as a teaspoon of gumption. I don’t know where you got
it from, but in the end, it’s going to kill you’” (p. 52).
“The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury
1. “’But I thought that’s why we bought this house, so we wouldn’t have to do anything?’”
(p. 11).
2. “’I don’t think you’d better consider it any more, Father’” (p. 18).
“Shooting Dad” by Sarah Vowell
1. “He would go hunting with my sister, who started calling herself ‘the loneliest twin in history’
because of my reluctance to engage in family activities” (p. 19).
2. “He’s talking about my tape recorder and my microphone—which is called a shotgun mike”
(p. 23).
Name:
Date:
To prepare for this section, be prepared to write about the following prompts for each quote
listed above in full and complete sentences. These prompts will also appear on the assessment
to guide you.
1. Write a 5-7-sentence summary of the short story. Please be sure to include the title of
the short story, its author, the central conflict that the speaker of the quote or narrator
faces in the story. In this summary, you must also describe the parenting strategy,
explain the motive behind it, and how it affects the children and the family.
2. Who is the speaker or narrator of the quote? Who is the speaker or narrator talking to?
Provide the full names, ages, and occupations or relationships of the speaker or narrator
of the quote and the listener of the quote. If the quote is narration, explain the
identity of the narrator. In that case, the listener may be the reader.
3. What is the context of the quote? What is the circumstance or event that leads up to
the quote? These questions relate to WHEN and WHAT leads up to the quote being
spoken and WHY the speaker has spoken or the narrator has written this quoted
language.
4. In your own words, re-phrase the quote and avoid using any of the original language.
This is a new way of saying the quote. USE ALL NEW LANGUAGE TO RE-STATE THE
QUOTE.
5. What does the quote mean? EXPLAIN IT IN YOUR OWN WORDS.
6. What does it say about the speaker of the quote or the narrator? WHY does the
speaker say these words or the narrator make this observation? What does the quote
reveal about the speaker/narrator, the parenting strategy, the family’s identity,
relationships, values, and culture?
7. What is ironic about the quote? Here you must IDENTIFY and EXPLAIN the situational
irony. Irony is the gap or difference between what the reader expects to happen and
the actual or real events that take place in reference to the quote that you select. HINT:
Each quote involves irony that relates to the parenting strategy or the relationship
between members in the family that are shaped by that strategy.
8. Now connect the unexpected circumstances that were highlighted by situational irony
to a theme of the short story. Remember that the theme is not A SINGLE WORD, but it
is connected to a lesson learned by exploring the quote, the parenting strategy, the
relationship between the parents and children, and the experiences of the family. How
does this ironic quote help the reader think more deeply about the lesson learned? How
does this lesson relate to the theme of the short story? To answer this, focus on what
was revealed by observing the situational irony.
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Date:
II. VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT
You will also be given a bank of 17 vocabulary words, and you will be asked to include
a total of FIVE of them in your quote identification responses. To receive credit, you must
CIRCLE them, spell them correctly, and use them in a sentence that reveals their definition
and correct part of speech. Don’t forget to use context clues in the sentences.
benign
clench
copious
contempt
despising
dictation
fervent
hysterics
illusion
maim
obscure
remnant
paranoia
solemn
spiteful
veldt
vindicate