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Grade 11 Unit 2 Meeting the Standards
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Publisher’s Note
EMC Publishing’s innovative program Mirrors & Windows: Connecting with
Literature presents a wide variety of rich, diverse, and timeless literature to help
students reflect on their own experiences and connect with the world around
them. One goal of this program is to ensure that all students reach their maximum
potential and meet state standards.
A key component of this program is a Meeting the Standards resource for each
unit in the textbook. In every Meeting the Standards book, you will find a study
guide to lead students through the unit, with a practice test formatted to match a
standardized test. You will also find dozens of high-quality activities and quizzes
for all the selections in the unit.
EMC Publishing is confident that these materials will help you guide your
students to mastery of the key literature and language arts skills and concepts
measured in your standardized test. To address the needs of individual students,
enrich learning, and simplify planning and assessment, you will find many more
resources in our other program materials—including Differentiated Instruction,
Exceeding the Standards, Program Planning and Assessment, and Technology Tools.
We are pleased to offer these excellent materials to help students learn to
appreciate and understand the wonderful world of literature.
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Meeting the Standards
American Tradition, Unit 2
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Contents
Introduction
x
Correlation to Formative Survey Results
xii
New England Renaissance Study Guide (with Practice Test and Master Vocabulary List)
1
Thanatopsis, William Cullen Bryant
Build Vocabulary: Latin Roots Analyze Literature: Theme Analyze Literature: Figurative Language Selection Quiz 19
20
21
22
Old Ironsides, Oliver Wendell Holmes
Analyze Literature: Diction Analyze Literature: Purpose Selection Quiz 23
24
25
Stanzas on Freedom, James Russell Lowell
Analyze Literature: Fireside Poet Analyze Literature: Poetry Critique Selection Quiz 26
27
28
The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls / A Psalm of Life, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Analyze Literature: Sound Devices Analyze Literature: Allusion Analyze Literature: Rhythm and Rhyme Selection Quiz 29
30
31
32
from Snow-Bound, John Greenleaf Whittier
Build Vocabulary: Synonyms and Antonyms Analyze Literature: Imagery and Setting Analyze Literature: Character Selection Quiz 33
34
35
36
Part 1: Fireside Poets
Part 2: Transcendentalism
from Nature / The Rhodora, Ralph Waldo Emerson
Build Vocabulary: Word Analogies Analyze Literature: Metaphor Extend the Text: Write a Quotation Journal
Analyze Literature: Imagery Selection Quiz 37
38
39
40
41
Concord Hymn, Ralph Waldo Emerson
Build Background: Lexington and Concord Analyze Literature: Text-to-Text Connection Selection Quiz 42
43
44
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from Walden, Henry David Thoreau / The Present, Annie Dillard
Build Vocabulary: Root Words, Prefixes, and Suffixes
Connecting with Literature: Walden Pond Ecology
Analyze Literature: Setting Analyze Literature: Character
Analyze Literature: The Essay Selection Quiz 45
46
47
48
49
50
from Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau/ from Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson
Build Vocabulary: Denotation and Connotation Analyze Literature: Fact and Opinion Analyze Literature: Aphorism Analyze Literature: Text-to-Text Connection Selection Quiz 51
52
53
54
55
Letter to Sophia Ripley, Margaret Fuller
Build Vocabulary: Latin Roots Analyze Literature: The Letter Form
Selection Quiz 56
57
58
Part 3: American Gothic
The Devil and Tom Walker, Washington Irving
Build Vocabulary: Synonyms and Antonyms Analyze Literature: Tone Analyze Literature: Theme Selection Quiz 59
60
61
62
The Raven / Alone / Letter to John Allan, Edgar Allan Poe
Build Vocabulary: Definitions Analyze Literature: Plot Analyze Literature: Sound Devices Analyze Literature: Text-to-Text Connection Selection Quiz 63
64
65
66
67
The Fall of the House of Usher, Edgar Allan Poe
Build Vocabulary: Latin Roots
Analyze Literature: Imagery Analyze Literature: Text-to-Text Connection Selection Quiz 68
69
70
71
Death of Edgar Allan Poe, H. A. Murena, Trans. Darwin J. Flakoll and Claribel Alegría
Build Vocabulary: Word Analogies Analyze Literature: Free Verse Selection Quiz 72
73
74
The Minister’s Black Veil, Nathaniel Hawthorne
Build Vocabulary: Context Clues Analyze Literature: Plot
Analyze Literature: Point of View Selection Quiz 75
76
77
78
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Loomings from Moby-Dick, Herman Melville
Build Vocabulary: Word Facts Analyze Literature: Moby-Dick Criticism Analyze Literature: Figures of Speech Selection Quiz 79
80
81
82
Answer Key
New England Renaissance Study Guide
Thanatopsis
Old Ironsides
Stanzas on Freedom
The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls / A Psalm of Life
from Snow-Bound
from Nature / The Rhodora
Concord Hymn
from Walden / The Present
from Civil Disobedience / from Self-Reliance
Letter to Sophia Ripley
The Devil and Tom Walker
The Raven / Alone / Letter to John Allan
The Fall of the House of Usher
Death of Edgar Allan Poe
The Minister’s Black Veil
Loomings from Moby-Dick
83
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
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Meeting the Standards
American Tradition, Unit 2
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Introduction
The Meeting the Standards Unit Resource supplements for Mirrors & Windows
provide students with the opportunity to practice and apply the strategies and
skills they will need to master state and national language arts standards. For each
selection in the student textbook, these resources also supply vocabulary exercises
and other activities designed to connect students with the selections and the
elements of literature.
The lessons in the Meeting the Standards Unit Resource are divided into four
categories, as described in this introduction. The lessons are listed by category in
the Contents at the front of the book.
Unit Study Guide, with Practice Test and Master Vocabulary List
Each Unit Resource book begins with a Unit Study Guide that focuses on key
language arts standards. Following the chronological organization of the Mirrors
& Windows student text, this guide provides in-depth study and practice on
topics related to the historical, social, and political context of the literature of the
era. Specific topics include significant historical events and trends, representative
literary movements and themes, and the literary genre or form explored in the unit.
Also included in the study guide are instructions to help students prepare for
a standardized test and a practice test formatted to match that test. The last page of
the study guide provides a list of the words identified as Preview Vocabulary for the
selections within the unit.
Lessons for Standard Selections
The lessons for standard selections offer a range of activities that provide additional
background information, literary analysis, vocabulary development, and writing
about the selection. The activities are rated easy, medium, and difficult; these
ratings align with the levels of the Formative Survey questions in the Assessment
Guide.
These activities can be used to provide differentiated instruction at the
appropriate levels for your students. For example, for students who are able to
answer primarily easy questions, you may want to assign primarily easy activities.
The Correlation to Formative Survey Results, which follows this introduction, lists
the level for each activity.
To further differentiate instruction, consider adapting activities for your
students. For instance, you may want to add critical-thinking exercises to an easy
or medium activity to challenge advanced students, or you may want to offer
additional support for a difficult activity if students are having trouble completing
the activity.
A Selection Quiz is provided for each selection. This quiz is designed to assess
students’ comprehension of basic details and concepts.
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Lessons for Comparing Literature, Author Focus, and
Other Grouped Selections
The lessons for Comparing Literature and other grouped selections in the student
textbook emphasize text-to-text connections. Activities for Comparing Literature
selections ask students to compare and contrast literary elements such as purpose,
style, and theme in the work of two authors. Activities for Author Focus and other
groupings have students examine literary elements across several selections by the
same author, identifying patterns and trends in his or her work. Again, activities are
rated as easy, medium, or difficult.
A recall- and comprehension-based Selection Quiz is provided for each
selection or grouping of selections.
Lessons for Independent Readings
Lessons for Independent Readings build on the strategies and skills taught in the
unit and offer students more opportunities to practice those strategies and skills. As
with the other categories of selections, activities focus on vocabulary development,
literary analysis, background information, and writing instruction. Again, activities
are rated as easy, medium, or difficult.
A Selection Quiz is provided for each selection.
Preparing to Teach the Lessons
Most of the activities in this book are ready to copy and distribute to students.
However, some activities will require preparation. For example, you may need to
select particular elements from a story, create lists or cards to distribute to students,
or make sure that art supplies or computer stations are available. Be sure to preview
each lesson to identify the tasks and materials needed for classroom instruction.
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Correlation to Formative Survey Results
The following chart indicates the difficulty level of each activity. You can use this
chart, in combination with the results of the Formative Survey from the Assessment
Guide, to identify activities that are appropriate for your students.
Selection Title
Thanatopsis
Old Ironsides
Stanzas on Freedom
The Tide Rises, the
Tide Falls / A Psalm
of Life
from Snow-Bound
from Nature / The
Rhodora
xii
Activity
Build Vocabulary: Latin Roots, page 19
Easy
Analyze Literature: Theme, page 20
Medium
Analyze Literature: Figurative Language, page 21
Medium
Selection Quiz, page 22
Easy
Analyze Literature: Diction, page 23
Medium
Analyze Literature: Purpose, page 24
Easy
Selection Quiz, page 25
Easy
Analyze Literature: Fireside Poet, page 26
Medium
Analyze Literature: Poetry Critique, page 27
Difficult
Selection Quiz, page 28
Easy
Analyze Literature: Sound Devices, page 29
Medium
Analyze Literature: Allusion, page 30
Difficult
Analyze Literature: Rhythm and Rhyme, page 31
Medium
Selection Quiz, page 32
Easy
Build Vocabulary: Synonyms and Antonyms, page 33
Easy
Analyze Literature: Imagery and Setting, page 34
Easy
Analyze Literature: Character, page 35
Medium
Selection Quiz, page 36
Easy
Build Vocabulary: Word Analogies, page 37
Difficult
Analyze Literature: Metaphor, page 38
Difficult
Extend the Text: Write a Quotation Journal, page 39
Medium
Analyze Literature: Imagery, page 40
Medium
Selection Quiz, page 41
Easy
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Level
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Selection Title
Concord Hymn
from Walden / The
Present
from Civil
Disobedience / from
Self-Reliance
Letter to Sophia Ripley
The Devil and Tom
Walker
The Raven / Alone /
Letter to John Allan
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Activity
Level
Build Background: Lexington and Concord, page 42
Easy
Analyze Literature: Text-to-Text Connection, page 43
Medium
Selection Quiz, page 44
Easy
Build Vocabulary: Root Words, Prefixes, and Suffixes,
page 45
Easy
Connecting with Literature: Walden Pond Ecology, page 46
Medium
Analyze Literature: Setting, page 47
Medium
Analyze Literature: Character, page 48
Medium
Analyze Literature: The Essay, page 49
Medium
Selection Quiz, page 50
Easy
Build Background: Denotation and Connotation, page 51
Medium
Analyze Literature: Fact and Opinion, page 52
Difficult
Analyze Literature: Aphorism, page 53
Difficult
Analyze Literature: Text-to-Text Connection, page 54
Medium
Selection Quiz, page 55
Easy
Build Vocabulary: Latin Roots, page 56
Easy
Analyze Literature: The Letter Form, page 57
Medium
Selection Quiz, page 58
Easy
Build Vocabulary: Synonyms and Antonyms, page 59
Easy
Analyze Literature: Tone, page 60
Medium
Analyze Literature: Theme, page 61
Medium
Selection Quiz, page 62
Easy
Build Vocabulary: Definitions, page 63
Easy
Analyze Literature: Plot, page 64
Difficult
Analyze Literature: Sound Devices, page 65
Difficult
Analyze Literature: Text-to-Text Connection, page 66
Medium
Selection Quiz, page 67
Easy
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Selection Title
The Fall of the House
of Usher
Death of Edgar Allan
Poe
The Minister’s Black
Veil
Loomings, from
Moby-Dick
xiv
Activity
Build Vocabulary: Latin Roots, page 68
Easy
Analyze Literature: Imagery, page 69
Medium
Analyze Literature: Text-to-Text Connection, page 70
Difficult
Selection Quiz, page 71
Easy
Build Vocabulary: Word Analogies, page 72
Difficult
Analyze Literature: Free Verse, page 73
Medium
Selection Quiz, page 74
Easy
Build Vocabulary: Context Clues, page 75
Medium
Analyze Literature: Plot, page 76
Difficult
Analyze Literature: Point of View, page 77
Medium
Selection Quiz, page 78
Easy
Build Vocabulary: Word Facts, page 79
Easy
Analyze Literature: Moby-Dick Criticism, page 80
Difficult
Analyze Literature: Figures of Speech, page 81
Medium
Selection Quiz, page 82
Easy
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Level
Meeting the Standards
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
New England Renaissance Study Guide
Completing this study guide will help you understand and remember the background information
presented in Unit 2 and recognize how the selections in the unit reflect their historical context. It will
also provide you with an opportunity to understand and apply the literary form of the essay.
After you read each background feature in Unit 2 in your textbook, complete the corresponding
section in the study guide. The completed study guide will provide an outline of important
information that you can use later for review.
After you read the selections for each part of Unit 2 in your textbook, complete the Applying
sections for that part in the study guide. Refer to the selections as you answer the questions.
After you complete the study guide sections, take the Practice Test. This test is similar to the
state language arts test. In both tests, you read passages and answer multiple-choice questions about
the passages.
Self-Checklist
Use this checklist to help you track your progress through Unit 2.
CHECKLIST
Literary Comprehension
You should understand and apply the
movements and forms of the New England
Renaissance:
❏ Fireside poets
❏ essay
❏ Transcendentalism
❏ American gothic
Literary Appreciation
You should understand how to relate the
selections to
❏ Other texts you’ve read
❏ Your own experiences
❏ The world today
Vocabulary
In the Master Vocabulary List at the end of
this study guide, put a check mark next to any
new words that you learned while reading the
selections. How many did you learn?
❏ 10 or more ❏ 20 or more ❏ 30 or more
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Meeting the Standards
Writing
❏ You should be able to write a description
of a setting. The description should have
an introduction, body, and conclusion. It
should provide vivid details describing the
time and the place.
Speaking and Listening
❏ You should be able to prepare and use notes
for a presentation.
Test Practice
❏ You should be able to answer questions
that test your reading, writing, revising, and
editing skills.
Additional Reading
❏ You should choose a work from the New
England Renaissance to read on your own.
See For Your Reading List on page 260 of
your textbook.
AmericAn TrAdiTion, uniT 2
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Historical Context
Examine the time line on pages 122–123 of your textbook. For what three general topics does the
time line provide dates?
1. _____________________________________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________________________________
The time line has four time frames. Identify the time span of each time frame.
4. _________________________________
6. _________________________________
5. _________________________________
7. _________________________________
8. What important literary movement began in 1836?
_____________________________________________________________________________
9. Name the event and its date in American history that most affected the physical size of the
United States.
_____________________________________________________________________________
10. In what way was Great Britain ahead of the United States around 1800?
_____________________________________________________________________________
11. What events indicate that writing and literature were becoming important to Americans in the
first twenty years of the nineteenth century?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Find the dates on the time line. Complete the chart by summarizing what happened in those years.
Then answer the questions that follow.
Date
American Literature
American History
World History
1821
1831
1837/1838
1845
12. What important changes do the events of 1831 forecast?
_____________________________________________________________________________
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13. Describe a major difference between the United States and European nations such as Ireland
around 1845.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Complete the outline. Write two sentences summarizing information given in each section on pages
124–126 of your textbook.
A. Territorial Expansion
1. ___________________________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________________________
B. Industrialization
1. ___________________________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________________________
C. Democratization
1. ___________________________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________________________
D. Outsiders
1. ___________________________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________________________
E. A Literary Renaissance
1. ___________________________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________________________
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Understanding Part 1: Fireside Poets
Complete this page after you read about Fireside poets on page 127 of your textbook. Identify five
authors known as Fireside poets.
1. _________________________________
4. _________________________________
2. _________________________________
5. _________________________________
3. _________________________________
6. Why were the works of the Fireside poets appropriate to recite and memorize?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. List three Fireside poets’ works that were long narratives.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
8. List three typical topics of the Fireside poets.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
9. What was another name for the Fireside poets? Why were they called this?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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Applying Part 1: Fireside Poets
Think about what you have learned about the Fireside poets. Then answer the following questions
after you have read the selections in Part 1 of Unit 2.
Identify poems by Fireside poets in Part 1 that deal with each topic.
American Domestic Life
Mythology and Legends
History
Politics
1. Describe the features of “Thanatopsis” that make it typical of the works of the Fireside poets.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Do you think the criticism of being “overly sentimental” applies to the poem “Old Ironsides”?
Explain.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. Is “A Psalm of Life” conventional in form, meter, and rhyme? Explain.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. What critical issue of the day does “Stanzas on Freedom” address? Explain why addressing the
issue in a poem is effective or not.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. What features of “The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls” would have appealed to fans of the Fireside
poets?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
6. “Snow-Bound” is an example of the long narrative typical of the Fireside poets. Summarize the
narrative.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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Understanding Part 2: Transcendentalism
Complete this page after you read about Transcendentalism on page 153 of your textbook.
1. State the core belief of Transcendentalists.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. What are two ways in which Transcendentalists thought they could intuit truths?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. According to Transcendentalists, what was the only authority that should control a person’s
behavior? What was their basis for this belief?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. What did Transcendentalists celebrate for the first time in America?
_____________________________________________________________________________
Identify five intellectuals who were part of the Transcendentalist movement.
5. _________________________________
8. _________________________________
6. _________________________________
9. _________________________________
7. _________________________________
In the chart, describe contributions to the Transcendentalist movement by the writers listed.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Henry David Thoreau
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Applying Part 2: Transcendentalism
Think about what you have learned about Transcendentalism. Then answer the following questions
after you have read the selections in Part 2 of Unit 2.
1. Quote two sentences from “Nature” that are examples of the Transcendentalist focus on the self.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. State the main idea of “The Rhodora.” How does it reflect Transcendentalist beliefs?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. Does “Concord Hymn” have more characteristics of the Fireside poets or of the
Transcendentalists? Explain.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. Summarize two “truths” that Thoreau described discovering by living close to nature at Walden
Pond.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. To what extent does Annie Dillard’s essay “The Present” prove the Transcendentalist idea that
“by studying the self, a person can know the universe”?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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6. According to Thoreau, what are three possible ways in which people serve the state? How does
this idea reflect Transcendentalist beliefs?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Summarize Emerson’s idea of nonconformity in “Self-Reliance.” How does it reflect
Transcendentalist beliefs?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
8. Why do you think “Letter to Sophia Ripley” is considered an example of Transcendentalist
literature?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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Understanding Literary Forms: The Essay
Read Understanding Literary Forms: The Essay on pages 154–155 of your textbook. Then answer
the questions.
1. What is an essay? ______________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Explain why the essay flourished during the first half of the nineteenth century.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. Fill in the chart to identify and describe the three broad categories of essays.
Form
Purpose
4. Define abstract language. In which kind of essay does it frequently appear?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. Fill in the chart to define the elements of an essay.
Element
Definition and Purpose
Introduction
Thesis
Argument
Conclusion
6. List three rhetorical devices commonly found in essays.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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Applying Literary Forms: The Essay
1. Use the chart to identify the type—expository, persuasive, or personal—and specific purpose of
each essay.
Selection
Type
Purpose
Nature
Walden
The Present
Civil Disobedience
Self-Reliance
2. Underline the abstract language in the following excerpt from “Civil Disobedience.” Then
explain whether the language helps the author accomplish his purpose.
But a government in which the majority rule in all cases cannot be based on justice, even as
far as men understand it. Can there not be a government in which the majorities do not virtually
decide right and wrong but conscience?—in which majorities decide only those questions to
which the rule of expediency is applicable?…Law never made men a whit more just; and, by
means of their respect for it, even the well-disposed are daily made the agents of injustice.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. State the thesis of “The Present” by Annie Dillard. What techniques does she use to develop the
thesis?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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4. Choose the type or types of argument that are used in each example below.
opinion
fact
personal experience
logic
a. …if one honest man, in this state of Massachusetts, ceasing to hold slaves, were actually to
withdraw from this copartnership, and be locked up in the county jail therefor, it would be the
abolition of slavery in America.
___________________________________________________________________________
b. The virtue in most request is conformity.
___________________________________________________________________________
c. I am dazed from a long day of interstate driving homeward: I pull in at a gas station in
Nowhere, Virginia, north of Lexington.
___________________________________________________________________________
d. The Vedas say, “All intelligences awake with the morning.”
___________________________________________________________________________
e. I have paid no poll tax for six years.
___________________________________________________________________________
5. Choose the type or types of rhetorical device from the box that are used in each quote below.
(Some quotes may have more than one rhetorical device.)
parallelism
repetition
rhetorical question
a. A great man is coming to eat at my house. I do not wish to please him: I wish that he should
wish to please me.
___________________________________________________________________________
b. Simplify, simplify. Instead of three meals a day, if it be necessary eat but one, . . .
___________________________________________________________________________
c. I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being
circulate through me; I am part or particle of God.
___________________________________________________________________________
d. At my back the sun is setting—how can I not have noticed before that the sun is setting?
___________________________________________________________________________
e. Misunderstood! It is a right fool’s word! Is it so bad then to be misunderstood?
___________________________________________________________________________
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Meeting the Standards
American Tradition, Unit 2
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Understanding Part 3: American Gothic
Complete this page after you read about American Gothic on page 197 of your textbook.
Identify four authors who were considered American gothic writers.
1. _________________________________
3. _________________________________
2. _________________________________
4. _________________________________
Identify five themes examined by these authors.
5. _________________________________
8. _________________________________
6. _________________________________
9. _________________________________
7. _________________________________
10. What did Washington Irving accomplish in his fiction?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
11. What is the purpose of writing that is allegorical?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
12. What are the features of Gothic fiction?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
13. What literary form became established in the 1800s? Why did it become popular?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
14. List Edgar Allan Poe’s contributions to literary form.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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Meeting the Standards
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Applying Part 3: American Gothic
Think about what you have learned about American Gothic. Then answer the following questions
after you have read the selections in Part 2 of Unit 2.
Write the phrase from the box that most accurately describes the theme of each story. Then
explain how the theme specifically applies.
sin and guilt
good and evil
madness and death
failure of Puritanism
1. The Fall of the House of Usher ____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. The Devil and Tom Walker ______________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. The Raven____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. The Minister’s Black Veil ________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. Describe the setting of “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Explain why it is typical of gothic
fiction.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
6. Writers of American gothic fiction like Melville often used their work to explore the frailties
of human nature. Why might the whaling ship of Moby Dick be a good setting to explore this
theme?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
© EMC Publishing, LLC
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Meeting the Standards
American Tradition, Unit 2
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Practice Test
During high school, students take tests to measure how well they meet standards.
Students also take national assessment tests such as the SAT and ACT, which
colleges use as one criterion for evaluating applicants. These tests include reading
tests in which students are asked to read a passage and answer multiple-choice
questions to test their understanding of the passage.
The practice test on the following pages is similar to the ACT reading test. It
contains a passage, followed by multiple-choice questions. You will fill in circles for
your answers on a separate sheet of paper. Your answer sheet for this practice test is
below on this page.
Questions on this practice test focus on the historical background and literary
elements you studied in this unit. The questions also address learning standards
such as these literature standards:
• Students identify and analyze elements of plot, including conflict and resolution
and exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution, in a variety of
fiction.
• Students recognize and explain themes and symbols.
• Students identify and analyze rhythm, rhyme, sound devices, and figurative
language and their effect on meaning and mood.
• Students recognize the author’s tone.
• Students analyze and compare a variety of traditional, classical, and contemporary
literary works, and identify their literary elements.
• Students describe and analyze literary elements, figurative language, and
chronology.
• Students explain how a literary work may reflect the historical period in which it
was written.
Practice Test Answer Sheet
Name: __________________________________
Date: ___________________________________
Fill in the circle completely for the answer choice you think is best.
14
1.
2.
3.
4.
A

F

A

F

B

G

B

G

C

H

C

H

D

J

D

J

American tradition, Unit 2
0001-0018_MTS_G11_U2_SG_Nat.indd 14
5.
6.
7.
8.
A

F

A

F

B

G

B

G

C

H

C

H
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D
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J
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D

J

9.
10.
11.
12.
A

F

A

F

B

G

B

G

Meeting the Standards
C

H

C

H

D

J
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D
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J

© EMC Publishing, LLC
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DIRECTIONS: There are three passages in this test. Each passage is followed
by several questions. After reading the passage, choose the best answer to each
question and fill in the corresponding oval on your answer document. You may
refer to the passages as often as necessary.
Passage I
POETRY: This passage is adapted from the poem
“Abraham Lincoln” by William Cullen Bryant.
Oh, slow to smite and swift to spare,
Gentle and merciful and just!
Who, in the fear of God, didst bear
The sword of power, a nation’s trust!
5
10
15
In sorrow by thy bier we stand,
Amid the awe that hushes all,
And speak the anguish of a land
That shook with horror at thy fall.
Thy task is done; the bond are free;
We bear thee to an honored grave,
Whose proudest monument shall be
The broken fetters of the slave.
Pure was thy life; its bloody close
Hath placed thee with the sons of light,
Among the noble host of those
Who perished in the cause of Right.
1. Which is used as a symbol in the poem?
A. Sword
B. Bier
C. Awe
D.Grave
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Meeting the Standards
2. Which two words specifically create the
predominant mood of the poem?
F. Honored and proudest
G. Horror and bloody
H.Anguish and perished
J. Task and life
3. What does the speaker say is Lincoln’s
greatest accomplishment?
A. Gaining the nation’s trust
B. Being slow to go to war
C. Freeing the slaves
D.Dying for a noble cause
4. Which aspect of the poem is not typical of
“Fireside poets”?
F. Its conventional symbolism
G. Its historical subject
H.Its regular meter and rhyme
J. Its sentimental tone
GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE
American tradition, Unit 2
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Passage II
ESSAY: This passage is adapted from the essay
“Life Without Principle” by Henry David Thoreau.
5
10
15
20
25
30
16
There is a coarse and boisterous
money-making fellow in the outskirts of
our town, who is going to build a band-wall
under the hill along the edge of his meadow.
The powers have put this into his head to
keep him out of mischief, and he wishes
me to spend three weeks digging there with
him. The result will be that he will perhaps
get some more money to hoard, and leave
for his heirs to spend foolishly. If I do this,
most will commend me as an industrious
and hard-working man;
but if I choose to devote myself to certain
labors which yield more real profit, though
but little money, they may be inclined to
look on me as an idler. Nevertheless, as
I do not need the police of meaningless
labor to regulate me, and do not see
anything absolutely praiseworthy in this
fellow’s undertaking, any more than in
many an enterprise of our own or foreign
governments, however amusing it may be to
him or them, I prefer to finish my education
at a different school.
If a man walk in the woods for love of
them half of each day, he is in danger of
being regarded as a loafer; but if he spends
his whole day as a speculator, shearing off
those woods and making earth bald before
her time, he is esteemed an industrious and
enterprising citizen. As if a town had no
interest in its forests but to cut them down!
American tradition, Unit 2
0001-0018_MTS_G11_U2_SG_Nat.indd 16
5. What is Thoreau using when he describes
“shearing off those woods and making earth
bald before her time”?
A. Hyperbole
B. Simile
C. Paradox
D.Personification
6. To what does the “different school” probably
refer?
F. The author’s own reading
G. Nature
H.Harvard
J. The tutelage of the author’s friends
7. Why is the selection typical of the
Transcendental philosophy?
A. It advocates civil disobedience.
B. It values society over the individual.
C. It describes spirituality.
D.It shows respect for the natural world.
8. What word is used by Thoreau to persuade
readers through connotation?
F. Mischief
G. Heirs
H.Hoard
J. Foreign
GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE
Meeting the Standards
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5/15/09 1:03:14 PM
Passage III
PROSE FICTION: This passage is adapted from
the short story “The Masque of the Red Death”
by Edgar Allen Poe.
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
The “Red Death” had long devastated the
country. No pestilence had ever been so
fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar
and its seal—the redness and horror of
blood. There were sharp pains, and sudden
dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the
pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains
upon the body, and especially upon the
face of the victim, were the pest ban which
shut him out from the aid and from the
sympathy of his fellow men. And the whole
seizure, progress, and termination
of the disease were the incidents of half
an hour.
But the Prince Prospero was happy
and dauntless and sagacious. When his
dominions were half depopulated, he
summoned to his presence a thousand
hale and lighthearted friends from among
the knights and dames of his court, and
with these retired to the deep seclusion
of one of his castellated abbeys. This was
an extensive and magnificent structure,
the creation of the prince’s own eccentric
yet august taste. A strong and lofty wall
girded it in. This wall had gates of iron. The
courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces
and massy hammers and welded the bolts.
They resolved to leave means neither of
ingress or egress to the sudden impulses
of despair or of frenzy from within. The
abbey was amply provisioned. With such
precautions the courtiers might bid defiance
to contagion. The external world could take
care of itself. In the meantime it was folly to
grieve, or to think. The prince had provided
all the appliances of pleasure. There were
buffoons, there were improvisatori, there
were ballet-dancers, there were musicians,
there was Beauty, there was wine. All these
and security were within. Without was the
“Red Death.”
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Meeting the Standards
9. What is the narrative point of view of this
story excerpt?
A. First-person narrator
B. Third-person objective narrator
C. Third-person omniscient narrator
D.Third-person unreliable narrator
10. What is the tone created by the imagery in
the first paragraph?
F. Sad
G. Regretful
H.Fearful
J. Passionate
11. Which element of the story’s setting is typical
of the American gothic style?
A. It is urban.
B. It is medieval.
C. It is luxurious.
D.It is natural.
12. What is the conflict between?
F. People and nature
G. Individual and society
H.An individual and himself
J. Two people
END OF TEST
American tradition, Unit 2
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Master Vocabulary List
The following vocabulary terms are defined on the indicated pages in your textbook.
annihilate, 223
arduous, 190
aversion, 190
base, 140
beguiling, 213
blight, 130
blithe, 159
calamity, 159
clod, 130
communion, 129
contempt, 159
craven, 213
earnest, 171
efface, 143
encumbrance, 173
endeavor, 187
entreat, 212
equivocal, 224
ethereal, 172
exhilaration, 159
expedient, 185
fluctuate, 176
foe, 137, 166
18
American Tradition, unit 2
0001-0018_MTS_G11_U2_SG_Nat.indd 18
forlorn, 145
hoary, 130
impetuous, 232
inordinate, 226
insensible, 130
insipid, 226
lapse, 132
manifest, 229
obeisance, 213
obliterate, 203
obstinate, 233
ominous, 214
ostentation, 206
palpable, 227
parsimony, 206
patriarch, 130
pensive, 131
perennial, 159
posterity, 173
precarious, 200
predominate, 190
prevalent, 200
prodigious, 234
propitiate, 203
redeem, 166
resignation, 170
resolute, 203
sanctity, 159
saturate, 171
scoffing, 140
sepulcher, 130
sire, 166
specious, 224
speculate, 206
sublime, 145
superfluous, 175
surcease, 212
surmise, 203
temperance, 159
tempest, 214
undaunted, 214
undulation, 174
unscrupulous, 187
vanquish, 137
venerable, 131
volatile, 178
Meeting the Standards
© EMC Publishing, LLC
5/15/09 1:03:14 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
Thanatopsis, page 128
Build Vocabulary: Latin Roots
Each word below from “Thanaptopsis” has a Latin root. Use a dictionary to find the root
and its meaning and the word’s definition. Write the root, its meaning, and the definition
of the given word on the lines provided. Then write two more words that have the same
root. Finally, use the original word in a sentence of your own.
1. communion (page 129)
Root and meaning: _____________________________________________________________
Definition: ____________________________________________________________________
Additional words: ______________________________________________________________
Sentence: _____________________________________________________________________
2. insensible (page 130)
Root and meaning: _____________________________________________________________
Definition: ____________________________________________________________________
Additional words: ______________________________________________________________
Sentence: _____________________________________________________________________
3. magnificent (page 130)
Root and meaning: _____________________________________________________________
Definition: ____________________________________________________________________
Additional words: ______________________________________________________________
Sentence: _____________________________________________________________________
4. patriarch (page 130)
Root and meaning: _____________________________________________________________
Definition: ____________________________________________________________________
Additional words: ______________________________________________________________
Sentence: _____________________________________________________________________
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Meeting the Standards
AMERICAN TRADITION, UNIT 2
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5/15/09 1:04:13 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
Thanatopsis, page 128
Analyze Literature: Theme
A theme is a central message or observation revealed through a literary work. Complete
the concept web to analyze the theme of “Thanatopsis.” After reading “Thanatopsis,” think
about its main idea. Ask yourself what message William Cullen Bryant is trying to express.
This is the poem’s theme. Write the theme in the center oval. Write ideas, details, or images
that contribute to the theme in the surrounding ovals.
Theme
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Meeting the Standards
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
Thanatopsis, page 128
Analyze Literature: Figurative Language
“Thanaptopsis” uses rich figures of speech to express ideas. These include personification,
simile, metaphor, and hyperbole. Remember, personification is a figure of speech that
describes animals, things, ideas, or forces of nature as though they were human with human
characteristics. Simile uses the word like or as to compare two unlike things. Metaphor
describes one thing as though it were another. Hyperbole is a deliberate exaggeration.
Write lines from the poem or summaries of examples for each type of figure of speech. Note that
some figures of speech may fit in more than one category. Then answer the question that follows.
1. Personification
a. ___________________________________________________________________________
b. ___________________________________________________________________________
c. ___________________________________________________________________________
2. Simile
a. ___________________________________________________________________________
b. ___________________________________________________________________________
c. ___________________________________________________________________________
3. Metaphor
a. ___________________________________________________________________________
b. ___________________________________________________________________________
4. Hyperbole ____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. Explain how at least two of the types of figurative language used in the poem help communicate
its theme effectively.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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Meeting the Standards
AMERICAN TRADITION, UNIT 2
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5/15/09 1:04:15 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
Thanatopsis, page 128
Selection Quiz
Multiple Choice
Write the letter of the correct answer on the line.
_____ 1. According to the speaker, one should go outside and listen to Nature’s teachings when
one is
A. bursting with joy.
B. mourning a loved one’s death.
C. fearing one’s own death.
D. confused about life.
_____ 2. The speaker says “All that tread / The globe are but a handful to the tribes / That slumber
in its bosom.” “The tribes that slumber” refers to
A. everyone who has died.
B. the world’s population.
C. the people who are asleep.
D. native ancestors.
_____ 3. The speaker tells readers not to worry about dying friendless because
A. everyone has someone who mourns him.
B. they will have no feelings after death.
C. God is a friend to those in the grave.
D. the living will join them eventually.
_____ 4. At the end of the poem, the speaker says readers should approach death
A. as something comforting.
B. as a frightening reality.
C. as an inevitable stage in life.
D. with sincere prayers.
True or False
Write T if the statement is true or F if the statement is false.
_____ 5. The poem is written in rhyming couplets.
_____ 6. The speaker says that Nature is unchanging.
_____ 7. The speaker says that woods, rivers, and oceans are decorations for man’s tomb.
_____ 8. The speaker compares dying to sleeping.
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AMERICAN TRADITION, UNIT 2
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Meeting the Standards
© EMC Publishing, LLC
5/15/09 1:04:16 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
Old Ironsides, page 136
Analyze Literature: Diction
Diction is an author’s choice of words. In “Old Ironsides,” the poet Oliver Wendell Holmes
uses words related to war, nature, and ships. Complete the following chart by listing words
from the poem with meanings related to each category. Then use the information to help
answer the question below the chart.
War
Nature
Ships
What is the poem’s tone? Write three words to describe it. How does the poem’s diction affect the
tone? Explain.
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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Meeting the Standards
AMERICAN TRADITION, UNIT 2
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5/15/09 1:04:16 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
Old Ironsides, page 136
Analyze Literature: Purpose
The purpose of a writer is his or her aim, or goal. Four common purposes are to inform,
to describe, to tell a story, and to persuade. Think about the poem “Old Ironsides” and
Holmes’s reason for writing it. Then answer the following questions about the author’s
purpose in “Old Ironsides.”
1. What is the author’s purpose in the poem?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Does the author mainly use facts, logic, personal experience, or emotion to accomplish the
purpose? Give examples to support your answer.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. Do you think Holmes accomplishes his purpose? Explain why or why not.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. Rewrite the poem as a brief essay, using details from the poem. Write to accomplish the same
purpose that Oliver Wendell Holmes has in the poem.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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AMERICAN TRADITION, UNIT 2
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Meeting the Standards
© EMC Publishing, LLC
5/15/09 1:04:17 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
Old Ironsides, page 136
Selection Quiz
True or False
Write T if the statement is true or F if the statement is false.
_____ 1. The poem refers to a real ship called the U.S.S. Constitution.
_____ 2. The ship described in the poem was used in the Revolutionary War.
_____ 3. The speaker had been a sailor on the ship.
_____ 4. The ship was ultimately destroyed.
Multiple Choice
Write the letter of the correct answer on the line.
_____ 5. In the first stanza, the speaker says the ship’s “ensign” should be
A. displayed in a museum.
B. punished.
C. repaired.
D. torn down.
_____ 6. In the second stanza, the people described on the ship are
A. Greek goddesses.
B. brave sailors.
C. stern officers.
D. heroes and war prisoners.
_____ 7. In the last stanza, the speaker says the ship should be
A. displayed in Boston Harbor.
B. used in another war.
C. destroyed by the government.
D. sunk in a storm.
_____ 8. In which way is the poem typical of works by the Fireside poets?
A. It is suitable for recitation.
B. It is written in blank verse.
C. It was not written for ordinary readers.
D. It tells a story.
© EMC Publishing, LLC
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Meeting the Standards
AMERICAN TRADITION, UNIT 2
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5/15/09 1:04:18 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
Stanzas on Freedom, page 139
Analyze Literature: Fireside Poet
The Fireside poets were the first American readers to receive literary recognition and
popularity for their work. Review the traits of the poetic works of the Fireside poets on
page 127 of your textbook. Then analyze the poems of James Russell Lowell as the work of
a Fireside poet. Complete the chart by providing examples and details from James Russell
Lowell’s “Stanzas on Freedom” and the poet’s life that reflect the conventional writings of a
Fireside poet. Then answer the question below the chart.
Traits of Fireside Poets
and Their Works
Examples in Stanzas on Freedom
1. Conventional in form
2. Conventional in rhyme and meter
3. Suitable for memorization and recitation
4. About domestic life, legends, history, or politics
5. Socially involved writers
6. Sentimental and moralistic tone by today’s
standards
7. Given this and other poems by the Fireside poets you have read, what makes their works
pleasant, compelling, and deserving popularity? Support your position with specific examples.
Answer the question on your own paper.
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Meeting the Standards
© EMC Publishing, LLC
5/15/09 1:04:19 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
Stanzas on Freedom, page 139
Analyze Literature: Poetry Critique
When you critique a poem, you evaluate how effectively it communicates an idea or creates
a mood or emotion. To critique a poem, examine the use of poetic techniques such as
sound devices, rhythm, figurative language, and imagery as well as its ideas. Answer the
questions below to critique “Stanzas on Freedom.”
1. Evaluate the poem’s use of rhyme and rhythm. Are the rhyme and rhythm appropriate for the
poem’s subject matter? Do they add to its effect? Explain.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Identify a simile and symbols used in the poem. Do they make the poem’s message more
effective?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. Evaluate the poem’s use of concrete language to create vivid imagery. Give examples. How does it
compare to the poem’s use of abstract language?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. Identify rhetorical devices such as repetition, rhetorical questions, and abstract language. Do they
help accomplish the poet’s purpose?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. Does the poem communicate an important idea? Does it create a mood or communicate an
emotion that is especially vivid or with which you particularly identify? Explain.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
6. Write an evaluation of “Stanzas on Freedom.” Use your observations above plus other relevant
information.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
© EMC Publishing, LLC
0019_0082_MTS_G11_U2_Lessons.indd 27
Meeting the Standards
AMERICAN TRADITION, UNIT 2
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5/15/09 1:04:20 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
Stanzas on Freedom, page 139
Selection Quiz
Multiple Choice
Write the letter of the correct answer on the line.
_____ 1. In the first stanza, the speaker addresses men who
A. want to end slavery.
B. have free fathers.
C. are enslaved.
D. own slaves.
_____ 2 . In the second stanza, what does the speaker say will make “the roused blood rush like red
lava” through women’s veins?
A. names they are called by men
B. news about slave rebellions
C. speeches by abolitionists
D. stories about enslaved women
_____ 3. Which word best describes the poem’s tone?
A. apologetic
B. angry
C. arrogant
D. rational
_____ 4. “If there breathe on earth a slave,
Are you truly free and brave?”
One rhetorical device NOT used in these lines is
A. parallelism.
B. emotionally charged language.
C. rhetorical question.
D. abstract language.
True or False
Write T if the statement is true or F if the statement is false.
_____ 5. The poem is antiabolitionist.
_____ 6. The speaker does not think women should participate in the freedom movement.
_____ 7. The speaker says that true freedom means not feeling free unless everyone is free.
_____ 8. The speaker sympathizes with free people who do not speak out against slavery.
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5/15/09 1:04:21 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls / A Psalm of Life, page 142
Analyze Literature: Sound Devices
Complete the chart by identifying the patterns of rhythm and rhyme and examples of the
sound devices used in the poem “The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls.” Then answer the question
below the chart.
Sound Device
Examples
Rhyme Scheme (pattern of end rhyme)
Rhythm (pattern of beat or stresses in a
line—can be regular or irregular)
Repetition (intentional reuse of a
sound, word, phrase, or sentence)
Alliteration (repetition of initial
consonant sounds in words close to
each other)
Assonance (repetition of vowel sounds
in the stressed syllables of nonrhyming
words)
Onomatopoeia (use of words or
phrases that imitate the sounds of
the entities to which they refer—for
example, click)
In what way does the use of sound effects in the poem make it typical of a poem by a Fireside poet?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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5/15/09 1:04:21 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls / A Psalm of Life, page 142
Analyze Literature: Allusion
An allusion is a reference to a well-known person, event, object, or work from history or
literature. Answer the questions about allusions in “A Psalm of Life.”
1. The second line of the poem is an allusion to an English nursery rhyme and song. Identify the
rhyme. What purpose does the allusion serve in this part of the poem?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Line 7 comes from the book of Genesis in the Bible. It is also part of the funeral service in the
Anglican Book of Common Prayer. Why do you think Longfellow chose to allude to a well-known
saying instead of stating his idea in an original way?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. Line 13 is a paraphrase of a remark by the Roman statesman and philosopher Seneca: Vita brevis
est, ars longa. Chaucer paraphrased the saying as “The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.”
What does the saying mean in the context of Longfellow’s poem? What insight does the history
of the saying give into the poem’s themes?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. Is it important to identify the allusions in this poem? Or would readers find the poem as
meaningful if they did not understand that these lines were allusions? Explain.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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5/15/09 1:04:22 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls / A Psalm of Life, page 142
Analyze Literature: Rhythm and Rhyme
Rhythm in a poem is created by the meter, which is based on the number of stressed
syllables in a line. The following chart illustrates the types of feet, or syllable patterns,
that may be used by a poet:
iambic
unstressed, stressed
re ly
trochaic
stressed, unstressed
jack et
anapestic
two unstressed, one stressed
ab so lute
dactylic
one stressed, two unstressed
par ti cle
spondaic
two stressed
home work
We also describe the rhythm of a line in a poem by designating the number of feet in the line:
monometer (one foot)
pentameter (five feet)
dimeter (two feet)
hexameter (six feet)
trimeter (three feet)
heptameter (seven feet)
tetrameter (four feet)
octameter (eight feet)
Answer the following questions about the rhythm and rhyme of the poem “A Psalm of Life.”
1. Which type of foot is used in “A Psalm of Life”? Give an example to illustrate it.
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. How many feet are in each line of the poem?
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. What two words identify the meter of the poem?
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. A poem’s rhyme scheme is described by assigning a different letter of the alphabet to each rhyme.
What is this poem’s rhyme scheme?
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. What tone does the poet create with rhythm and rhyme? Does the tone fit the poem’s form?
Does it help communicate its theme effectively? Explain.
_____________________________________________________________________________
6. Is the poem’s form, rhythm, and rhyme typical of a Fireside poet? Explain.
_____________________________________________________________________________
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5/15/09 1:04:23 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls / A Psalm of Life, page 142
Selection Quiz
Part 1: The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls
Fill in the Blank
Fill in the blank with the word from the box that best completes each sentence. One word
will be used more than once.
hostler
waves
traveler
curlew
1. In the first stanza, a ____________________ rushes toward town.
2. The poet describes the ____________________ as having soft, white hands.
3. In the third stanza, a call is made by a ____________________.
4. The speaker says the ____________________ will never return to the shore.
Part 2: A Psalm of Life
Multiple Choice
Write the letter of the correct answer on the line.
_____ 5. The speaker of the poem is
A. a young man.
B. an old man.
C. a writer of psalms.
D. a minister.
_____ 6. The speaker objects to the philosophy that
A. people can change the world.
C. life merely leads to the grave.
B. it is wrong to live for pleasure.
D. the soul lives on after death.
_____ 7. “Footprints on the sands of time” symbolize
A. a great man’s fame.
C. human beings’ brief life span.
B. a person’s contributions to
D. humanity’s permanent marks on
the world.
nature.
_____ 8. At the end of the poem, the speaker encourages readers to
A. pray and worship.
C. relax and enjoy.
B. think and dream.
D. work and achieve.
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5/15/09 1:04:24 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
from Snow-Bound, page 148
Build Vocabulary: Synonyms and Antonyms
Part 1: Synonyms
Write a word from the box that is a synonym for each of the following words from “SnowBound.” You may use a dictionary to help identify synonyms.
ancient
lament
changed
prohibition
damper
story
floating
struggling
irritable
threatening
1. draught
________________________
6. dirge
________________________
2. embargo
________________________
7. hovering
________________________
3. hoary
________________________
8. anecdote
________________________
9. querulous
________________________
4. floundering ________________________
5. ominous
________________________
10. transfigured ________________________
Part 2: Antonyms
Each of the words in the box are words from “Snow-Bound.” Write a word from the box
that is an antonym for each of the words listed. You may use a dictionary to help identify
antonyms.
bare-boughed
ominous
drowsy
prompt
hoary
querulous
meek
stout
mirth
waning
11. _______________________, promising
16. _______________________, gloom
12. _______________________, youthful
17. _______________________, skinny
13. _______________________, good-natured
18. _______________________, leafy
14. _______________________, waxing
19. _______________________, wakeful
15. _______________________, late
20. _______________________, bold
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5/15/09 1:04:25 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
from Snow-Bound, page 148
Analyze Literature: Imagery and Setting
The poem “Snow-Bound” uses imagery to describe different settings in the narrative.
Imagery is figurative or descriptive language used to create word pictures. The imagery
describes each setting in the poem with sensory details, or details that tell how something
looks, sounds, feels, smells, or tastes. Quote images that appeal to the senses listed for each
narrative part identified below.
1. The storm threatens (Lines 1–30)
Sight
a. ____________________________________________________________________
b. ____________________________________________________________________
Touch a. ____________________________________________________________________
b. ____________________________________________________________________
Sound a. ____________________________________________________________________
b. ____________________________________________________________________
2. During the storm (Lines 93–115)
Sight
a. ____________________________________________________________________
Sound a. ____________________________________________________________________
b. ____________________________________________________________________
c. ____________________________________________________________________
3. A fire is lighted (Lines 116–174)
Sight
a. ____________________________________________________________________
b. ____________________________________________________________________
Sound a. ____________________________________________________________________
b. ____________________________________________________________________
4. The storm ends (Lines 175–215)
Touch a. ____________________________________________________________________
b. ____________________________________________________________________
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5/15/09 1:04:26 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
from Snow-Bound, page 148
Analyze Literature: Character
Because “Snow-Bound” is a narrative poem, or a poem that tells a story, it includes
characters. Most of the characters are not described directly. You must infer what the
main character or characters are like based on details in the poem.
Answer the questions about the poem. Then complete the chart that follows by listing
details from the text and identifying what you can infer about the story’s protagonist or
protagonists from them.
1. What is the narrative point of view of the poem?
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Identify the character or characters who are the poem’s protagonists.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Text
Inference
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
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5/15/09 1:04:26 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
from Snow-Bound, page 148
Selection Quiz
Multiple Choice
Write the letter of the correct answer on the line.
_____ 1. The form of the poem is a(n)
A. dramatic monologue.
B. lyric.
C. epic.
D. narrative.
_____ 2. The setting of the poem is
A. a farm.
B. a small town.
C. the wilderness.
D. a city.
_____ 3. The time period described in the poem is
A. an evening.
C. one week.
B. 24 hours.
D. one month.
_____ 4. The word that best describes the mood of the poem is
A. suspenseful.
C. cozy.
B. depressing.
D. exciting.
_____ 5. The words that best describe the writing of the poem are
A. flowery and romantic
C. heroic and dramatic.
B. straightforward and natural.
D. tempestuous and moody.
Short Answer
Write your answer to each of the following questions in the space provided.
6. In actuality, what are the “marvellous shapes, strange domes and towers” that the speaker
describes?
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. To get to the barn, what must the characters do?
_____________________________________________________________________________
8. What do the characters do when night falls?
_____________________________________________________________________________
9. Who comes to the speaker’s house at the end of the poem?
_____________________________________________________________________________
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5/15/09 1:04:27 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
from Nature / The Rhodora, page 157
Build Vocabulary: Word Analogies
A word analogy consists of two word pairs. Each pair has the same relationship. For
example, the words in a pair may be synonyms, antonyms, descriptions, a part to the
whole, or an item to a category. To complete an analogy, analyze the relationship of the
first word pair. Then choose the word that completes the second pair so it has the same
relationship.
Write the selection word from the box that correctly completes each analogy.
blithe
nook
sanctity
calamity
paramount
solitude
contempt
perennial
temperance
court
permeated
tranquil
exhilaration
plumes
volatile
ignorance
resolute
1. Chaos is to turmoil as disaster is to _________________________.
2. Prudent is to careless as unhappy is to _________________________.
3. Bear is to fur as peacock is to _________________________.
4. Stubborn is to rigidity as moderate is to _________________________.
5. Always is to never as impermanent is to _________________________.
6. Watch is to observe as pursue is to _________________________.
7. Plain is to beautiful as depression is to _________________________.
8. Courteous is to respect as scornful is to _________________________.
9. Frightening is to terror as holy is to _________________________.
10. Smart is to intelligence as alone is to _________________________.
11. Ambiguous is to indefinite as changeable is to _________________________.
12. Brave is to courageous as steadfast is to _________________________.
13. Isolate is to contained as penetrate is to _________________________.
14. Uneducated is to intelligence as schooled is to _________________________.
15. Subordinate is to low-level as dominant is to _________________________.
16. Bred is to born as cranny is to _________________________.
17. Agitation is to calm as upheaval is to _________________________.
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5/15/09 1:04:28 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
from Nature / The Rhodora, page 157
Analyze Literature: Metaphor
Think about Emerson’s thesis in the selection from Nature—human beings are part
of nature and should retain the ties to nature. Explain the meaning of the following
metaphors in “Nature.” Remember, a metaphor is a figure of speech in which one thing
is spoken of or written about as though it were another. Then tell how each metaphor
supports Emerson’s thesis.
1. In good health, the air is a cordial of incredible virtue. (page 159)
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Within these plantations of God…a perennial festival is dressed, and the guest sees not how he
should tire of [it] in a thousand years. (page 159)
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. I become a transparent eyeball. (page 159)
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. For nature is not always tricked in holiday attire. (page 159)
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. Man is the dwarf of himself. (page 160)
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
6. To the wise, therefore, a fact is true poetry, and the most beautiful of fables. (page 161)
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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5/15/09 1:04:29 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
from Nature / The Rhodora, page 157
Extend the Text: Write a Quotation Journal
Write quotes from the selection from Nature that you find important in the left column.
Identify the page on which you found the quotation. Then respond to the quotation in the
right column by telling why you feel this is an important quotation.
Quotation
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Reaction
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5/15/09 1:04:30 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
from Nature / The Rhodora, page 157
Analyze Literature: Imagery
“The Rhodora” uses vivid imagery in its lines. Complete the following chart. Tell what you
visualize when you read the given lines of “The Rhodora.” Identify concrete language in the
lines that help you form the visualization. Then answer the questions below the chart.
Image
What I Visualize
Concrete Language
(Words that specifically name or
describe something and that may
engage the senses)
Lines 1–2
Lines 3–4
Lines 5–6
Lines 7–8
1. What tone is created by the images and the concrete words that describe them?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Explain the philosophy expressed by Emerson in the second stanza. How is it supported by the
imagery in the first stanza?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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5/15/09 1:04:30 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
from Nature / The Rhodora, page 157
Selection Quiz
Part 1: from Nature
True or False
Write T if the statement is true or F if the statement is false.
_____ 1. Emerson says that children can see nature better than adults can.
_____ 2. The author says that nature’s power to delight exists only in man himself.
_____ 3. According to the essay, people used to be more attuned to nature than they are now.
_____ 4. The speaker says that nature has successfully united man with himself.
_____ 5. The essay asserts that work, poverty, and human emotions are superficial facets of life.
_____ 6. The speaker says that each person should build his or her own world.
Part 2: The Rhodora
Multiple Choice
Write the letter of the correct answer on the line.
_____ 7. The rhodora is a
A. bird.
B. flower.
C. goddess.
D. philosophy.
_____ 8. A creature in the poem that admires the rhodora is a
A. god.
C. bee.
B. rose.
D. redbird.
_____ 9. The feature of the rhodora that the speaker particularly praises is its
A. power.
C. ignorance.
B. beauty.
D. secrecy.
_____ 10. What does the speaker say he supposes “in simple ignorance”?
A. that he and the rhodora have C. that the rhodora will last forever
a common creator
B. that the rhodora is wasted on D. that the rhodora was created to
the earth and sky
be admired
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5/15/09 1:04:31 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
Concord Hymn, page 165
Build Background: Lexington and Concord
“Concord Hymn” by Ralph Waldo was sung at the dedication of the Obelisk Monument at
the Old North Bridge. More than 230 years after the first shots of the American Revolution,
the towns of Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, are popular attractions for both
history and literature buffs. In Lexington at the Minute Man National Historical Park, you
can see the North Bridge and the Obelisk Monument described by Emerson. The Obelisk
is believed to be the country’s first memorial to its war casualties. You can also see the
Minute Man Statue, installed in 1875. Each year, the Battle of Lexington and Concord is
reenacted on the Lexington Battle Green. In nearby Concord, Wright’s Tavern is a National
Historical Landmark. It was built in 1747 and served as a meeting place for the Minutemen
in the battle.
Also in Concord, you can visit the Ralph Waldo Emerson House as well as The Old Manse,
residence of Emerson and later Nathaniel Hawthorne. In Lexington, the Wayside, home of Louisa
May Alcott and later Hawthorne, is also open to the public. Finally, you can visit nearby Walden
Pond, where Henry David Thoreau built a small cabin and lived for two years.
Find out about these historical sites by looking at their Web sites. Then answer the questions.
1. Why do you think the Revolutionary War landmarks and the eighteenth-century literary
landmarks are popular for tourists? Do you think visiting historical and literary landmarks is
worthwhile? Explain why or why not.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Suppose you were an elementary school teacher. Which landmark or landmarks of Lexington
and Concord would be most important for your students to visit? Which would be most
inspiring? Explain why.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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5/15/09 1:04:32 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
Concord Hymn, page 165
Analyze Literature: Text-to-Text Connection
“Concord Hymn” and “Old Ironsides,” page 137, both deal with historical events. Compare
and contrast the two poems by using the chart. Complete the chart by identifying the
subject and purpose of each poem, giving examples of figurative language and diction,
and identifying the tone and theme for each selection in the appropriate column. Then
tell how each feature is alike in the two poems in the third column. Finally, use the charted
information to help answer the question below the chart.
Concord Hymn
Old Ironsides
Both Concord Hymn and
Old Ironsides
Subject
Purpose
Figurative Language
(identify and give
examples)
Diction (identify and give
examples)
Tone
Theme
In your opinion, which work is more successful in accomplishing its purpose? Explain, using
information from the chart.
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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5/15/09 1:04:33 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
Concord Hymn, page 165
Selection Quiz
True or False
Write T if the statement is true or F if the statement is false.
_____ 1. The setting of the poem is near a bridge.
_____ 2. The event described in the poem takes place in April.
_____ 3. The speaker took part in the battle that is described.
_____ 4. The speaker condemns “the shot heard round the world.”
Multiple Choice
Write the letter of the correct answer on the line.
_____ 5. The occasion for which the poem was written was
A. the beginning of the Revolutionary War at Concord, Massachusetts.
B. the American victory of the Revolutionary War.
C. a ceremony for a monument to the Battle of Lexington and Concord.
D. the hundredth anniversary of the beginning of the Revolutionary War.
_____ 6. What figurative language is used in the following lines?
“And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.”
A. hyperbole
B. simile
C. paradox
D. personification
_____ 7. According to the poem, the people who fired the first shot were
A. farmers.
B. shopkeepers.
C. British soldiers.
D. American militiamen.
_____ 8. The speaker’s last hope is that
A. the battle will be remembered by the next generation.
B. the war will be won by American patriots.
C. the battle’s heroes will be recognized individually.
D. a monument to the battle will not decay.
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5/15/09 1:04:34 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
from Walden / The Present, page 170
Build Vocabulary: Root Words, Prefixes, and Suffixes
Many English words are made up of root words, prefixes, and suffixes. Use a dictionary
to identify the meanings of the root word, prefix, and/or suffix of each word below. The
prefix, root, and/or suffix are given for each word. You will find the meaning of the word’s
root word in its etymology or in the etymology of a related word. For example, you may
find the meaning of the Latin root obscurus for obscurity in the etymology for the related
word obscure. You may have to look up the prefixes and suffixes separately to find their
meanings.
Write each word part and its meaning. Finally, define the word in your own words
based on the definitions of its parts.
Word
Root, Language of
Origin, and Meaning
Prefix, Suffix, and
Meaning
Definition
1. superfluous
(super- + fluere)
2. fluctuate
(fluere + -ate)
3. enterprise
(enter- + prendre)
4. somnolence
(somnus + -ence)
5. contemplation
(con- + templum +
-tion)
6. obscurity
(obscurus + -ity)
7. resignation
(resignare + -ation)
8. nostalgia
(nostos + -algia)
9. evolution
(evolvere + -tion)
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5/15/09 1:04:35 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
from Walden / The Present, page 170
Connecting with Literature: Walden Pond Ecology
Read the following paragraphs. Then answer the questions that follow.
“Instead of the white lily,…the blue flag (Iris versicolor) grows thinly in the
pure water, rising from the stony bottom all around the shore, where it is visited by
hummingbirds in June; and the color both of its bluish blades and its flowers and
especially their reflections, is in singular harmony with the glaucous water.”
This is one example of the detailed notes about nature that Thoreau took
during his two years at Walden Pond. Recently the descriptions have been of great
interest not just to literary scholars but to scientists. Thanks to Thoreau’s notes,
scientists have discovered that more than 25 percent of Walden’s plant species have
been lost in the last hundred years. Another 36 percent of species, including lilacs,
roses, and buttercups, are endangered. Scientists blame climate change for the lost
and endangered species; the average temperature of Concord, Massachusetts, has
increased by about four degrees in that time period.
1. Describe two traits about Thoreau’s nature writing that are unusual.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. What can you infer about Thoreau’s character from his nature writing?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. In your opinion, how would Thoreau have felt about his observations being used by modern-day
scientists? Explain.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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5/15/09 1:04:35 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
from Walden / The Present, page 170
Analyze Literature: Setting
The selection from Walden has vivid descriptions of the differing settings. Use the chart to
analyze the mood created by the settings. Complete the chart by identifying vivid details
that describe the settings of Walden and then describing the mood created by the details.
(For the chart, the paragraphs on pages 171–174 are numbered from 1 through 9.) After
you complete the chart, answer the question below it.
Paragraph
Setting Details
Mood
Paragraph 2 beginning in column
1, page 171: “Near the end of
March…”
Paragraph 4 beginning in column 1,
page 172: “So I went on for some
days…”
Paragraph 5 beginning in column
2 page 172: “By the middle of
April…”
Paragraph 9 beginning in column
1, page 174: “Every morning was a
cheerful invitation…”
Summarize an idea or philosophy of Thoreau’s that you find particularly compelling. What effect do
the setting and the mood of the essay have on his expression of the idea?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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5/15/09 1:04:36 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
from Walden / The Present, page 170
Analyze Literature: Character
When you read a personal essay, you can identify character traits that the narrator
possesses. You can make inferences about the character traits based on what the narrator
says and does. Complete the chart by telling what Thoreau says or does in the selection
from Walden and describing Thoreau’s character traits based on the words or actions.
Then answer the opinion question below the chart.
What Thoreau Says or Does
Character Traits Revealed
At Thoreau’s funeral, his good friend Ralph Waldo Emerson complimented him as “a speaker and
actor of the truth.” He also said the following: “Had his genius been only contemplative, he had been
fitted to his life, but with his energy and practical ability he seemed born for great enterprise and for
command; and I so much regret the loss of his rare powers of action, that I cannot help counting it
a fault in him that he had no ambition. Wanting this, instead of engineering for all America, he was
the captain of a huckleberry-party.” Do you agree with Emerson’s assessment of Thoreau’s ambition?
What does he mean by saying “he was the captain of a huckleberry-party”? Do you agree?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
from Walden / The Present, page 170
Analyze Literature: The Essay
An essay is a short nonfiction work that presents a single main idea, or thesis, about a
particular topic. Review information about essays in Understanding Literature: The Essay
on page 154 of your textbook. Then answer the following questions about the essay “The
Present” by Annie Dillard.
1. What type of essay is “The Present”? Name three traits that identify it as this type of essay.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. What verb tense does the writer use? What effect does this have on the style, tone, and message of
the essay?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. What can you infer about the author of the essay? Use specific details to support your inferences.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. Summarize the analogy and the metaphor Dillard uses in the eighth paragraph. How effective are
they at supporting her thesis? Explain.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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5/15/09 1:04:38 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
from Walden / The Present, page 170
Selection Quiz
Part 1: Walden
Multiple Choice
Write the letter of the correct answer on the line.
_____ 1. Thoreau says that “the mass of men lead lives of quiet
A. accomplishments.”
C. desperation.”
B. faith.”
D. tragedies.”
_____ 2. Thoreau says that the “most memorable season of the day” is
A. morning.
C evening.
B. noon.
D. night.
_____ 3. Thoreau says he leaves the woods because
A. he is disenchanted with his plan.
B. his life there is too difficult.
C. he has other lives to live.
D. others need him.
_____ 4. Most of all, Thoreau values
A. success.
B. religious faith.
C. loving relationships.
D. individuality.
Part 2: The Present
Fill in the Blank
Fill in the blank with the word from the box that best completes each sentence.
driving
mountain
present
puppy
5. The experience the author describes occurs after she has been ___________________ all day.
6. The poet’s sense of touch is awakened by a small ____________________.
7. The author’s moment of extraordinary awareness occurs as she is looking at an enormous
____________________.
8. According to the author, the ____________________ is “an invisible electron; its lightning path
traced faintly on a blackened screen is fleet, and fleeting, and gone.”
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
from Civil Disobedience / from Self-Reliance, page 184
Build Vocabulary: Denotation and Connotation
The denotation of a word is its dictionary definition. The connotation of a word is its
emotional association or implication. A word’s connotation may be positive, negative, or
neutral. Read the sentence in which each selection word below appears. Then tell whether
the word’s connotation is positive, negative, or neutral and explain its connotation in your
own words. Finally, write a sentence of your own, using the word with the connotation you
have described.
1. arduous (page 190, last line of column 2)
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. endeavor (page 187, second line of last paragraph of column 1)
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. expedient (page 185, ninth line of column 1)
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. impetuous (page 188, nineteenth line of column 1)
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. mediocrity (page 191, fourth line of column 2)
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
from Civil Disobedience / from Self-Reliance, page 184
Analyze Literature: Fact and Opinion
A fact is a statement that can be proven by direct observation or by consulting a reliable
source. An opinion expresses an attitude or desire and cannot be proven true or false. Some
opinions make a value judgment, often by using loaded words such as cruel. Some opinions
are policy statements, using words such as should or must to tell how things should be.
Some opinions are predictions, making statements about the future. Summarize three
facts in “Civil Disobedience.” Then, complete the chart by giving examples of the types of
opinions found in the essay. Finally, answer the question below the chart.
Facts:
1 _____________________________________________________________________________
2 _____________________________________________________________________________
3 _____________________________________________________________________________
Opinions:
Paragraph
Value Statement/Loaded
Words
Policy Statement (should/
must)
Prediction
(may, will, would)
1
2
3
4
What type of opinion does Thoreau use most? Explain whether this technique is effective.
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
from Civil Disobedience / from Self-Reliance, page 184
Analyze Literature: Aphorism
An aphorism is a short, memorable saying that makes an often witty observation about life.
Some aphorisms from “Self-Reliance” are written below. Elaborate on each aphorism by
giving more details, formulating an example, or illustrating it with a figure of speech.
1. “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.” (page 190, column 1, paragraph 2)
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. “Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members.”
(page 190, column 1, paragraph 3)
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. “Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.” (page 190, column 2, paragraph 4)
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. “Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of our own mind.” (page 190, column 2, paragraph 4)
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” (page 191, column 1, paragraph 2)
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
6. “To be great is to be misunderstood.” (page 191, column 1, paragraph 2)
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
from Civil Disobedience / from Self-Reliance, page 184
Analyze Literature: Text-to-Text Connection
Persuasive writers and speakers often use rhetorical devices: techniques used to achieve
a particular effect on the audience. Complete the chart by providing examples of the
rhetorical devices used in the selections from “Civil Disobedience” and “Self-Reliance.”
Then answer the question below the chart.
Civil Disobedience
Self-Reliance
Rhetorical Questions
Metaphor/Simile
Examples
Analogy
Diction (loaded words)
In your opinion, which writer uses rhetorical devices more effectively in his essay? Explain.
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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5/15/09 1:04:42 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
from Civil Disobedience / from Self-Reliance, page 184
Selection Quiz
Part 1: Civil Disobedience
True or False
Write T if the statement is true or F if the statement is false.
_____ 1. Thoreau argues that governments should take care of most of their people’s needs.
_____ 2. Thoreau says that most people serve their country only with their bodies.
_____ 3. Thoreau was put into jail for organizing a crowd to demonstrate against income taxes.
_____ 4. Thoreau supports his assertion that governments are bad by saying they have mistreated
individuals such as Washington and Franklin.
Part 2: Self-Reliance
Multiple Choice
Write the letter of the correct answer on the line.
_____ 5. According to Emerson, what is in conspiracy against its members?
A. government
C. society
B. church
D. family
_____ 6. According to Emerson, which virtue “is in most request” by society?
A. compassion
C. self-reliance
B. intelligence
D. conformity
_____ 7. What advice does Emerson give about speaking one’s mind?
A. Formulate your opinions
C. Speak your mind honestly
before speaking.
each day.
B. Find out what others think
D. Be consistent in your
before you speak.
opinions.
_____ 8. According to Emerson, what causes a great institution to exist?
A. one man
C. a few great thinkers
B. a cooperative group of people
D. a wise philosophy
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
Letter to Sophia Ripley, page 195
Build Vocabulary: Latin Roots
The word digressing (see page 195, paragraph 1, line 12 of your textbook) has a Latin root.
Using a dictionary as a source of information, write the root of digressing and give its
meaning. Then for digressing and each of the related words, which all have the same root,
write each word’s prefix and the meaning of the prefix. Use the meanings of the root and
prefix to write a definition of each word. Then write its dictionary meaning.
digressing: Root and meaning: ________________________________________________________
1. digressing: Prefix and meaning: ___________________________________________________
My definition: _________________________________________________________________
Dictionary definition: ___________________________________________________________
2. progress: Prefix and meaning: _____________________________________________________
My definition: _________________________________________________________________
Dictionary definition: ___________________________________________________________
3. ingress: Prefix and meaning: ______________________________________________________
My definition: _________________________________________________________________
Dictionary definition: ___________________________________________________________
4. egress: Prefix and meaning: _______________________________________________________
My definition: _________________________________________________________________
Dictionary definition: ___________________________________________________________
5. congress: Prefix and meaning: ____________________________________________________
My definition: _________________________________________________________________
Dictionary definition: ___________________________________________________________
6. regress: Prefix and meaning: ______________________________________________________
My definition: _________________________________________________________________
Dictionary definition: ___________________________________________________________
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
Letter to Sophia Ripley, page 195
Analyze Literature: The Letter Form
After reading Letter to Sophia Ripley, answer the questions to analyze the use of the letter
form by Margaret Fuller.
1. Write a paraphrase of the first sentence of the letter.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Characterize the diction (word choice) of the letter. Support your characterization with specific
examples.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. Characterize the style of the letter. What effect do the letter’s diction, sentence style, and sentence
length have on the letter’s style? Is the style appropriate for its topic and purpose?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. What implication does Fuller make about the typical conversational topics of women? Do
you think she would have made the same observation in an essay that she makes in the letter?
Explain.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. Why are letters valuable historical documents? How might current changes in letter-writing
habits affect future historians?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
Letter to Sophia Ripley, page 195
Selection Quiz
Multiple Choice
Write the letter of the correct answer on the line.
_____ 1. Fuller’s proposal is to start a weekly meeting for women to
A. work for women’s rights.
B. discuss ways to improve the city of Boston.
C. share experiences of being discriminated against.
D. hold conversations about serious issues.
_____ 2. Fuller characterizes Boston as a city
A. that ignores women’s needs.
B. that claims to be intellectual.
C. that is crime-ridden.
D. that focuses on wealthy society.
_____ 3. Which best describes Fuller’s tone about her idea?
A. enthusiastic but realistic
B. hopeful but not confident
C. humble and tentative
D. cynical and negative
_____ 4. In the end, Fuller’s plan
A. never came to fruition.
B. was carried out unenthusiastically.
C. had mixed results.
D. was very successful.
True or False
Write T if the statement is true or F if the statement is false.
_____ 5. Fuller believes that only older women will be interested in her plan.
_____ 6. Fuller feels that women’s conversations include too much gossip.
_____ 7. Fuller thinks women do not speak clearly because they have not been given enough
opportunity.
_____ 8. Fuller implies that Boston women are more serious about issues than women in the rest of
the country.
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
The Devil and Tom Walker, page 198
Build Vocabulary: Synonyms and Antonyms
Synonyms are words that have the same meaning or a similar meaning. Antonyms are
words with opposite meanings.
Write a synonym and an antonym for each boldfaced word in the following sentences from the
selection. You may use a dictionary or a thesaurus to find synonyms and antonyms.
1. Synonym: _____________________ Antonym: _________________________
About the year 1727, just at the time at the earthquakes were prevalent in New England, and
shook many tall sinners down upon their knees… (page 200)
2. Synonym: _____________________ Antonym: _________________________
Tom had long been picking his way cautiously through this treacherous forest; stepping from tuft
to tuft of rushes and roots, which afforded precarious footholds among deep sloughs. … (page
200)
3. Synonym: _____________________ Antonym: _________________________
Many and bitter were the quarrels they had on the subject, but the more she talked the more
resolute was Tom not to be damned to please her. (page 203)
4. Synonym: _____________________ Antonym: _________________________
He built himself, as usual, a vast house, out of ostentation, but left the greater part of it
unfinished and unfurnished, out of parsimony. (page 206)
5. Synonym: _____________________ Antonym: _________________________
All her avarice was awakened at the mention of hidden gold … (page 203
6. Synonym: _____________________ Antonym: _________________________
Such, according to the most authentic old story, was all that was to be found of Tom’s wife.
(page 204)
7. Synonym: _____________________ Antonym: _________________________
Tom consoled himself for the loss of his property, with the loss of his wife, for he was a man of
fortitude. (page 204)
8. Synonym: _____________________ Antonym: _________________________
There was one condition which need not be mentioned, …but there were others about which…
he was inflexibly obstinate. (page 205)
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5/15/09 1:04:46 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
The Devil and Tom Walker, page 198
Analyze Literature: Tone
Choose a word or words from the box to identify the tone of each passage below from “The
Devil and Tom Walker.” Then write specific words in the passage that help communicate
the tone.
humorous
gloomy
ironic
critical
depressing
1. He had a wife as miserly as himself: they were so miserly that they even conspired to cheat each
other. Whatever the woman could lay hands on, she hid away; a hen could not cackle but she was
on the alert to secure the new-laid egg. (page 200)
Tone: ________________________________________________________________________
Words from the passage: _________________________________________________________
2. They lived in a forlorn-looking house that stood alone, and had an air of starvation. A few
straggling savin trees, emblems of sterility, grew near it; no smoke ever curled from its chimney;
no traveller stopped at its door. (page 200)
Tone: ________________________________________________________________________
Words from the passage: _________________________________________________________
3. The swamp was thickly grown with great gloomy pines and hemlocks, some of them ninety feet
high, which made it dark at noonday, and a retreat for all the owls of the neighborhood. (page
200)
Tone: ________________________________________________________________________
Words from the passage: _________________________________________________________
4. One would think that to meet with such a singular personage, in this wild, lonely place, would
have shaken any man’s nerves, but Tom was a hard-minded fellow, not easily daunted, and he
had lived so long with a termagant wife, that he did not even fear the Devil. (page 203)
Tone: ________________________________________________________________________
Words from the passage: _________________________________________________________
5. Tom consoled himself for the loss of his property, with the loss of his wife, for he was a man of
fortitude. (page 204)
Tone: ________________________________________________________________________
Words from the passage: _________________________________________________________
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
The Devil and Tom Walker, page 198
Analyze Literature: Theme
The following questions will help you determine the theme, or larger meaning, of any story.
Answer the questions to help you state the theme of “The Devil and Tom Walker.”
1. What is the story’s subject?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. What objects, settings, and/or characters might be considered symbols, signifying abstract ideas
beyond their literal meanings? What does each symbolize?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. What clues might the story’s title give to its themes?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. What is the main character’s conflict? How is it resolved?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. Does the narrator state any lessons or morals? If so, what?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
6. What is the theme of “The Devil and Tom Walker”? State it as a universal truth that goes beyond
the specific characters, setting, and plot of the story.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
The Devil and Tom Walker, page 198
Selection Quiz
Multiple Choice
Write the letter of the correct answer on the line.
_____ 1. The money buried in the woods came from
A. a bank robbery.
C. a wealthy landowner.
B. Captain Kidd, a pirate.
D. an Indian tribe.
_____ 2. When Tom first meets the devil, he is
A. delighted.
B. disbelieving.
C. cynical.
D. frightened.
_____ 3. How does Tom change after he becomes wealthy?
A. He becomes a regular churchgoer.
C. He helps people build new houses.
B. He is generous to poor neighbors.
D. He acts kinder to people who
owe him money.
_____ 4. After Tom is seen no more, what happens to his money?
A. It goes to his wife’s relatives.
C. It is stolen by angry neighbors.
B. It is distributed to his former
D. It is replaced by wood chips
customers.
and shaving.
Short Answer
Write your answer to each of the following questions in the space provided.
5. The story is set outside what city?
_____________________________________________________________________________
6. What happens to Tom’s wife?
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. What physical change does Tom experience after he takes the money?
_____________________________________________________________________________
8. What occupation does Tom adopt after taking the money?
_____________________________________________________________________________
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
The Raven / Alone / Letter to John Allan, page 212
Build Vocabulary: Definitions
Matching
Write the letter of the correct definition on the line next to the matching vocabulary word.
_____
1. beguiling
A. not discouraged
_____
2. countenance
B. having an awkward appearance
_____
3. divining
C. to keep oneself from doing something
_____
4. entreat
D. foreshadowing evil
_____
5. idle
E. leading by deception
_____
6. ominous
F. not occupied
_____
7. refrain
G. to come to an end
_____
8. surcease
H. discovering intuitively
_____
9. undaunted
I. facial expression
J. ask earnestly
_____ 10. ungainly
Write your own sentence using each word below. You can find examples of sentences with the words
on the pages indicated.
11. craven (page 213)
_____________________________________________________________________________
12. obeisance (page 213)
_____________________________________________________________________________
13. quaint (page 212)
_____________________________________________________________________________
14. placid (page 214)
_____________________________________________________________________________
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
The Raven / Alone / Letter to John Allan, page 212
Analyze Literature: Plot
Because “The Raven” is a narrative poem, it has a plot. (See page 759 to review the elements
of plot.) Summarize what occurs in each part of the plot below. Then answer question 7.
1. Exposition ____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Rising action __________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. Conflict ______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. Climax _______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. Falling action __________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
6. Resolution ____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Do you think that plot is equally, less, or more important in a narrative poem like “The Raven”
than in a short story? Explain.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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5/15/09 1:04:51 PM
Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
The Raven / Alone / Letter to John Allan, page 212
Analyze Literature: Sound Devices
Answer the following questions to analyze the sound devices Poe uses in “The Raven.”
1. How many stressed syllables does each line of the poem contain?
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. What is the rhyme scheme of each stanza?
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. Give three examples of internal rhyme in the poem. Identify each example by line number.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. Give three examples of repetition in the poem. Identify each example by line number.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. Give four examples of onomatopoeia in the poem. Identify each example by line number.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
6. Identify the mood of the poem. Explain how the sound devices contribute to this mood.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
The Raven / Alone / Letter to John Allan, page 212
Analyze Literature: Text-to-Text Connection
Complete the chart by identifying each literary element in the poems “The Raven” and
“Alone.” Then answer the questions below the chart.
The Raven
Alone
Form
Speaker
Topic
Rhyme Scheme
Other Sound Devices
Mood
1. How are the two poems alike?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Both poems use the word demon at the end. Explain why you think this is significant or not.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. Which poem provides more insight into the author, Edgar Allan Poe? Explain why. What can
you learn from it?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
The Raven / Alone / Letter to John Allan, page 212
Selection Quiz
Part 1: The Raven
Short Answer
Write your answer to each of the following questions in the space provided.
1. What is the narrator doing at the very beginning of the poem?
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Why is the narrator feeling bad?
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. What answer does the raven give when the narrator asks his name?
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. Where is the raven at the end of the poem?
_____________________________________________________________________________
Part 2: Alone and Letter to John Allan
Multiple Choice
Write the letter of the correct answer on the line.
_____ 5. The speaker of “Alone” describes his life as
A. stormy.
C. creative.
B. privileged.
D. tragic.
_____ 6. The imagery in the poem mainly describes
A. school.
C. nature.
B. a city.
D. ghosts.
_____ 7. The purpose of Poe’s letter to John Allan is to
A. tell him he has published stories.
C. tell him he is in jail.
B. ask for news about his family.
D. ask him for help.
_____ 8. Poe says John Allan has not spoken to him for
A. one month.
C. three years.
B. one year.
D. ten years.
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
The Fall of the House of Usher, page 221
Build Vocabulary: Latin Roots
Each word in the chart has a Latin root. Use a dictionary to find the root and its meaning
and the word’s definition. (Some words may have more than one root.) Then write at least
one more word that has the same root.
Word
Root and Meaning
Definition
Additional Words
annihilate (page 223)
equivocal (page 224)
specious (page 224)
inordinate (page 226)
palpable (page 227)
impetuous (page 232)
prodigious (page 234)
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
The Fall of the House of Usher, page 221
Analyze Literature: Imagery
“The Fall of the House of Usher” has much vivid imagery. To complete the chart, tell
whether each image appeals to the sense of sight, sound, touch, taste, or smell. Then write
three or four words in the image that appeal to that sense and identify the mood that the
image creates. Finally, find one more image to add to the chart.
Image
Sense
Diction
Mood or Effect
1. “I looked upon the scene before me—upon
the vacant eyelike windows—upon a few
rank sedges—and upon a few white trunks of
decayed trees…” (page 223)
2. “There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of
the heart…” (page 223)
3. “… an atmosphere which had no affinity
with the air of heaven, but which had reeked
up from the decayed trees…a pestilent and
mystic vapor…” (page 224)
4. “The door of massive iron…its immense
weight caused an unusually sharp grating
sound, as it moved upon its hinges.” (page
231)
5. “The once occasional huskiness of his tone
was heard no more; and a tremulous quaver,
as if of extreme terror, habitually characterized
his utterance.” (page 231)
6. “…there came indistinctly to my ears…the
echo (but a stifled and dull one certainly) of
the very cracking and ripping sound which Sir
Launcelot had described.” (page 233)
7.
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
The Fall of the House of Usher, page 222
Analyze Literature: Text-to-Text Connection
In addition to gothic fiction, Poe wrote detective fiction. Read the excerpt from “The
Purloined Letter” and answer the question.
At Paris, just after dark one gusty evening in the autumn of 18—, I was enjoying the twofold
luxury of meditation and a meerschaum, in company with my friend C. Auguste Dupin, in his
little back library, or book-closet, au troisieme, No. 33, Rue Dunot, Faubourg St. Germain. For
one hour at least we had maintained a profound silence; while each, to any casual observer, might
have seemed intently and exclusively occupied with the curling eddies of smoke that oppressed
the atmosphere of the chamber. For myself, however, I was mentally discussing certain topics
which had formed matter for conversation between us at an earlier period of the evening; I mean
the affair of the Rue Morgue, and the mystery attending the murder of Marie Roget. I looked
upon it, therefore, as something of a coincidence, when the door of our apartment was thrown
open and admitted our old acquaintance, Monsieur G—, the Prefect of the Parisian police.
We gave him a hearty welcome; for there was nearly half as much of the entertaining as of
the contemptible about the man, and we had not seen him for several years. We had been sitting
in the dark, and Dupin now arose for the purpose of lighting a lamp, but sat down again, without
doing so, upon G.’s saying that he had called to consult us, or rather to ask the opinion of my
friend, about some official business which had occasioned a great deal of trouble. …
“Why, I will tell you,” replied the Prefect, as he gave a long, steady, and contemplative puff,
and settled himself in his chair. “I will tell you in a few words; but, before I begin, let me caution
you that this is an affair demanding the greatest secrecy, and that I should most probably lose the
position I now hold, were it known that I confided it to any one.
“Proceed,” said I.
“Or not,” said Dupin.
“Well, then; I have received personal information, from a very high quarter, that a certain
document of the last importance, has been purloined from the royal apartments. The individual
who purloined it is known; this beyond a doubt; he was seen to take it. It is known, also, that it
still remains in his possession.”
Describe the tone, style, and diction of the excerpt. How do they differ from those of “The Fall of the
House of Usher”? How do the characters and events differ?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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The Fall of the House of Usher, page 221
Selection Quiz
Multiple Choice
Write the letter of the correct answer on the line.
_____ 1. Before the narrator arrives at the house of Usher, he recalls that Roderick’s most
prominent trait was
A. graciousness.
C. reserve.
B. intelligence.
D. selfishness.
_____ 2. Roderick’s main preoccupation is
A. the condition of his home.
B. his sister’s situation.
C. his library.
D. his enemies.
_____ 3. While burying Roderick’s sister, the narrator notices that
A. her face has a blush.
C. she does not resemble her brother.
B. she has an angry expression.
D. she moves.
_____ 4. A trait of the story that is typical of gothic fiction is its
A. religious themes.
C. noble characters.
B. gory violence.
D. grotesque events.
Short Answer
Write your answer to each of the following questions in the space provided.
5. What atmosphere is created by the house at the beginning of the story?
_____________________________________________________________________________
6. How does Roderick behave when the narrator arrives to visit him?
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Who appears in the house right before the narrator leaves at the end of the story?
_____________________________________________________________________________
8. What feature of the Usher house causes its destruction at the end of the story?
_____________________________________________________________________________
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
Death of Edgar Allan Poe, page 241
Build Vocabulary: Word Analogies
A word analogy consists of two word pairs. Each pair has the same relationship. For
example, the words in the pair may be synonyms, antonyms, descriptions, a part to the
whole, or an item to a category. To complete an analogy, analyze the relationship of the
first word pair. Then choose the word that completes the second pair so it has the same
relationship.
Write the selection word from the box that correctly completes each analogy.
brusque
adolescence
interred
profound
millennium
refuse
obscurely
vortex
conjure
diminutive
1. Compassionate is to charitable as rude is to _________________________.
2. Fixed is to repaired as buried is to _________________________.
3. Trip is to journey as trash is to _________________________.
4. Disagreeable is to amiable as shallow is to _________________________.
5. Hundred is to centennial as thousand is to _________________________.
6. Generous is to selfish as clearly is to _________________________.
7. Clothing is to attire as whirlpool is to _________________________.
8. Destroy is to create as dispel is to _________________________.
9. Bright is to dull as huge is to _________________________.
10 . Middle age is to old age as infancy is to _________________________.
Write an analogy of your own for each of the following selection words.
11 . hostile (page 241)
_____________________________________________________________________________
12. adolescent (page 241)
_____________________________________________________________________________
13. stupor (page 242)
_____________________________________________________________________________
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Death of Edgar Allan Poe, page 241
Analyze Literature: Free Verse
Answer the questions to analyze the verse form of “Death of Edgar Allan Poe.”
1. The verse form of “Death of Edgar Allan Poe” is called free verse. Compare the rhythm and
rhyme scheme of the poem to those of the poems “The Raven,” page 212, and “Alone,” page 216.
How do they differ?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Based on your comparison and analysis, how would you define “free verse”?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. The free verse form of “Death of Edgar Allan Poe” differs from the traditional forms of “The
Raven” and “Alone.” But the poem has other traditional elements. Name three traditional poetic
elements in the poem. Give an example of each.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. Do you think free verse is an appropriate form for the content of “Death of Edgar Allan Poe”?
Why or why not?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. Many contemporary poets use free verse. Why do you think they prefer it to traditional verse
forms used by many poets in the nineteenth century?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
Death of Edgar Allan Poe, page 241
Selection Quiz
True or False
Write T if the statement is true or F if the statement is false.
_____ 1. The author of the poem knew Edgar Allan Poe personally.
_____ 2. In the poem, Poe thinks that he was a greater poet than Shakespeare.
_____ 3. Poe says he wrote his first poetry when he was a teenager.
_____ 4. The poet suggests that Poe was not considered a genius because of his subject matter.
Multiple Choice
Write the letter of the correct answer on the line.
_____ 5. The place where Poe died was
A. Boston.
B. New York City.
C. Liverpool.
D. Baltimore.
_____ 6. The Shakespearean character to whom the poet compares Poe is
A. Romeo.
B. Macbeth.
C. Hamlet.
D. King Lear.
_____ 7. According to the poem, what was Poe’s status as a writer when he died?
A. He was ignored.
B. He was respected.
C. He was despised.
D. He was loved.
_____ 8. Which word best describes the tone of the poem?
A. tragic
B. sarcastic
C. scary
D. heroic
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
The Minister’s Black Veil, page 244
Build Vocabulary: Context Clues
If you encounter an unfamiliar word in your reading, you can often figure out the word’s
meaning by using context clues. For example, sometimes a word is defined by restating
its meaning in different words. Sometimes the meaning of a word appears after the word,
enclosed in commas or parentheses. Sometimes antonyms or examples are provided.
Use context clues to figure out the meaning of the following words from “The Minister’s
Black Veil.” For each word, quote or summarize the context clues in the word’s sentence or nearby
sentences. Next, write a definition in your own words. Finally, use the word in a sentence of your own.
1. inanimate (page 245) ___________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. phenomenon (page 245) _________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. refrain (page 245) ______________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. venerable (page 245) ___________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. subtle (page 246) ______________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
6. unwonted (page 246) ___________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
The Minister’s Black Veil, page 244
Analyze Literature: Plot
Complete the chart to identify the parts of the plot (exposition, rising action, climax, falling
action, or resolution), summarize the story, and explain the significance of each event to
the meaning or theme of the story.
Event
Part of Plot
Summary
Significance of Event
Sunday morning service
After the service
Young lady’s funeral
Wedding
Meeting with Elizabeth
Mr. Hooper’s years of
service
Preparing to die
Death
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
The Minister’s Black Veil, page 244
Analyze Literature: Point of View
Answer the questions to analyze the story’s narrative point of view.
1. What pronouns are used by the narrator? Give two examples. What point of view does this
indicate?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Is the point of view objective (not seeing into the mind of any character), omniscient (seeing
into the mind of all characters), or limited omniscient (seeing into the mind of one or two
characters)? Give specific examples to support your answer.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. How would the story’s meaning or theme differ if it were told in first-person with Mr. Hooper as
the narrator?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. How would the story’s meaning or theme differ if it were told in first-person with Elizabeth as
the narrator?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. State the theme of the story. How does the story’s point of view make the theme more effective or
less so?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
The Minister’s Black Veil, page 244
Selection Quiz
Multiple Choice
Write the letter of the correct answer on the line.
_____ 1. How does Mr. Hooper’s veil affect his vision?
A. It has no effect.
C. It makes people and things look darker.
B. It makes everything look fuzzy.
D. It allows him a very narrow view of
the world.
_____ 2. What effect does the veil have on the townspeople?
A. It has no effect.
C. It encourages them to get veils too.
B. It makes them laugh.
D. It frightens them.
_____ 3. What does the narrator imply during the scene at the funeral?
A. Mr. Hooper killed someone.
C. Mr. Hooper is not really a minister.
B. Mr. Hooper has secrets about
D. Mr. Hooper is a poor minister.
the deceased.
_____ 4. The wedding that Mr. Hooper presides at is
A. elegant.
C. joyous.
B. dismal.
D. tragic.
_____ 5. Elizabeth’s first reaction to the veil is
A. unworried.
B. shocked.
C. pleased.
D. frightened.
_____ 6. Mr. Hooper removes the veil
A. after a month.
B. after ten years.
C. on his deathbed.
D. never.
True or False
Write T if the statement is true or F if the statement is false.
_____ 7. Before he puts on the veil, Mr. Hooper is known as an exceptionally energetic preacher.
_____ 8. After he puts on the veil, Mr. Hooper breaks his engagement with Elizabeth.
_____ 9. Mr. Hooper’s parishioners eventually grow accustomed to his veil.
_____ 10. At the end of the story, the narrator explains the meaning of the veil.
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
Loomings from Moby Dick, page 254
Build Vocabulary: Word Facts
Use a dictionary to help answer questions 1–6 with the selection words in the box. Then
write sentences using three of the words.
battery
mutiny
circumambulate
pedestrian
expedition
urbane
judicious
1. Which word comes from a Latin word for “to go around”?
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Which word means “a grouping of artillery pieces”?
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. Which word comes from a Middle French word for revolt?
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. Which word is a synonym of suave?
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. Which two words have the Latin root meaning “foot”?
_____________________________________________________________________________
6. Which word is a synonym of discreet?
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Use three of the words in the box in sentences of your own.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
Loomings from Moby Dick, page 254
Analyze Literature: Moby-Dick Criticism
The first critics of Melville’s Moby-Dick were not very impressed by the novel. An English
critic wrote that it was “an ill-compounded mixture of romance and matter-of-fact.…
The style of his tale is in places disfigured by mad (rather than bad) English.” However,
twentieth-century critics began taking a different view. In 1919, Raymond M. Weaver
wrote, “The people of Moby-Dick are among the most vivid known to fiction.…The effect
of the book rests on the blend of fact, fancy, and profound reflection, upon a brilliant
intermingling of sheer artistry and moralizing at large.” In the 1950s, Carl Van Doren
wrote that “description cannot report the extraordinary mixture in Moby-Dick of vivid
adventures, minute details, cloudy symbolisms, thrilling pictures of the sea in every mood,
sly mirth and cosmic ironies, real and incredible characters, wit, speculation, humor, color.
The style is mannered but felicitous, warm, insinuating, pictorial, allusive, and witty.…”
Today, many critics agree that Moby-Dick is one of the greatest American novels.
Write a critique of “Loomings.” Respond to specific points made by the critics quoted above as
well as describing your own responses. Use specific examples from the excerpt to support your ideas.
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
Loomings from Moby Dick, page 254
Analyze Literature: Figures of Speech
Complete the chart to analyze the figures of speech in “Loomings.” First identify the type of
figurative language shown in the example, choosing from the box below. (Some examples
may include more than one type of figurative language.) Then explain the meaning and
effect of the figure of speech.
hyperbole
metaphor
Example
simile
Type of Figurative Language
understatement
Meaning/Effect
“Whenever I find myself growing
grim about the mouth, whenever it
is a damp, drizzly November in my
soul…” (page 254)
“Posted like silent sentinels all around
the town, stand thousands upon
thousands of mortal men fixed in
ocean reveries.” (page 255)
“But look! here come more crowds,
pacing straight for the water,…And
there they stand—miles of them—
leagues.” (page 255)
“But here is an artist. He desires
to paint the dreamiest,…most
enchanting bit of romantic
landscape.…But though the picture
lies thus tranced, and though this
pine-tree shakes down its sighs like
leaves upon this shepherd’s head, yet
all were vain, unless the shepherd’s
eyes were fixed upon the magic
stream before him.” (pages 255–256)
“I go as a simple sailor…True, they
rather order me about some, and
make me jump from spar to spar, like
a grasshopper in a May meadow.”
(page 257)
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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________
Loomings from Moby Dick, page 254
Selection Quiz
Multiple Choice
Write the letter of the correct answer on the line.
_____ 1. What evidence does the narrator give that everyone longs to go out to sea?
A. the lines of men signing up to
C. the numerous stories about ships
join the Navy
and sailors
B. the crowds gazing at the sea in
D. the many people who go for
New York City
vacation cruises
_____ 2. Which word best describes the narrator’s character?
A. easy-going
C. dishonest
B. resentful
D. prudent
_____ 3. Which is not a reason the narrator gives for going to sea?
A. It was determined by fate.
C. He has many friends at sea.
B. He likes to get paid.
D. He enjoys fresh air and exercise.
_____ 4. Which word best describes the tone of the selection?
A. scholarly
C. worshipful
B. suspenseful
D. amusing
Fill in the Blank
Fill in the blank with the word from the box that best completes each sentence.
Ishmael
sailor
slave
whale
5. In the first sentence, the narrator asks readers to call him ____________________.
6. The role the narrator says he always takes on at sea is that of a(n) ____________________.
7. The narrator says that chief among his motives was the “overwhelming idea” of the
____________________.
8. The narrator says he doesn’t mind taking orders at sea because realistically, everyone is a(n)
____________________.
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Answer Key
New England Renaissance Study Guide
Historical Context
1. American literature; 2. American history; 3. World history; 4. 1800–1819; 5. 1820–1829;
6. 1830–1839; 7. 1840–1848; 8. Transcendentalism; 9. 1803—Louisiana Purchase; 10. It was
undergoing the Industrial Revolution. 11. The Library of Congress was created and Webster
published his first English dictionary.
1821
1831
1837/1838
1845
American Literature Saturday Evening Post is created
American History The United States buys Florida from Spain
World History Napoleon dies in exile
American Literature William Lloyd Garrison creates The Liberator American
History Nat Turner holds a slave rebellion
American Literature Little, Brown Publishing Company is created American
History Underground Railroad begins
World History Queen Victoria becomes monarch of Great Britain
American Literature Poe publishes “The Raven”; Thoreau begins living
at Walden Pond
American History President Tyler annexes Texas, starting Mexican-American
War World History Potato famine starts in Ireland, causing Irish emigration
12. Slavery will be abolished. 13. The United States’ population was growing while Ireland’s was
shrinking.
Possible answers:
A.1. The Louisiana Purchase and Corps of Discovery inspired westward movement.
2. Westward expansion led to Indian wars as well as wars with Britain and Spain; the 13
colonies expanded to 25 states.
B. 1. Inventions of cloth-making machines started the Industrial Revolution in New England,
which led to harsh labor practices and then to strikes.
2. Inventions of the telegraph and the steam locomotive made westward expansion less
daunting.
C.1. Andrew Jackson’s presidency led to a more democratic government, including granting
voting rights to all free men instead of just wealthy landowners.
2. Free public education became more widespread.
D.1. The Indian Removal Act forced eastern Native American tribes to move west of the
Mississippi River.
2. African Americans rebelled against slavery and the North widely supported abolition;
women joined movements to reform health, free slaves, and receive voting rights; many
became teachers.
E. 1. In Europe, the Romantic Movement emphasized nature and the individual, greatly
influencing American literature.
2. American writers became known in Europe, but most could not make a livings a writers
because there was no international copyright protection.
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Understanding Part 1: Fireside Poets
1. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; 2. William Cullen Bryant; 3. Oliver Wendell Holmes; 4. James
Russell Lowell; 5. John Greenleaf Whittier; 6. They had conventional form, meter, and rhyme.
7. “Hiawatha” and “Evangeline” by Longfellow; “Snow-Bound” by Whittier; 8. American
domestic life, myths and legends, history and politics; 9. “Schoolroom poets”; Students often
learned and memorized their poems
Applying Part 1: Fireside Poets
American Domestic Life: “Snow-Bound”; Mythology and Legends: none; History: “Old
Ironsides”; Politics: “Stanzas on Freedom”; 1. Possible answer: It has a conventional form and
meter (iambic pentameter); it teaches a moral lesson; it would be appropriate for students to
learn and memorize. 2. Possible answer: Yes, it is sentimental, or uses unearned emotion; it
describes an exaggerated patriotism, using exclamation points and diction and phrases such
as battle, cannons, “eagle of the sea.” 3. Yes; it uses quatrains in iambic tetrameter with an
abab rhyme scheme. 4. Slavery; it is appropriate because it discusses a serious subject in an
entertaining, enjoyable form for reading; it could be easily memorized so that people would
remember its argument. 5. Possible answer: They would have liked the poem’s regular rhyme
and rhythm, its lesson about how the natural world continues with or without human beings,
and its descriptive, somewhat sentimental lines such as “the little waves, with their soft, white
hands.” 6. Possible answer: In the evening, family members realize a storm is coming; the next
day everything is covered with snow. The boys clear a path and feed the animals in the barn. The
family builds a fire in the house and enjoys a cozy evening while the storm continues outside.
After a week spent reading books in the house, the family receives a newspaper and can finally
go outside again.
Understanding Part 2: Transcendentalism
1. There is a realm of spiritual truths beyond what humans know through their senses.
2. In moments of heightened contemplation; or by living close to nature; 3. One’s conscience;
because each person is capable of intuiting truths directly. 4. the self; 5. Ralph Waldo Emerson;
6. Henry David Thoreau; 7. Bronson Alcott; 8. Margaret Fuller; 9. Elizabeth Palmer Peabody;
Emerson: advised people to trust their own better natures; wrote “Self Reliance,” which taught
that one’s own mind is the only sacred thing. Thoreau: lived the self-reliance that Emerson
taught; built and lived in a small cabin near Walden Pond; wrote Walden, a record of American
individualism
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Applying Part 2: Transcendentalism
Possible answers: 1. “Nature always wears the colors of the spirit”; “I am part or particle of God.”
2. God has made some beautiful objects in nature with no purpose other than to be beautiful.
It suggests the Transcendental belief in finding spirituality in nature and in the importance of
the self: “The self-same power that brought me there brought you.” 3. It seems to fit with the
Fireside poets because it has a conventional form, rhyme, and rhythm, and it tells about history
and patriotism. 4. Life is best lived simply; work, conventional socializing, and news are simply
time-wasters that keep people from knowing the greater truths of life. The laws of the universe
become simpler as a person’s live becomes simpler. 5. Dillard proves the point because when
she stops for a few minutes and focuses on her senses; she becomes fully aware of the beauty of
nature and of other creatures, represented by the puppy; she appreciates the present moment
and learns spiritual truths. 6. As machines, with their bodies, as soldiers and police do; with
their heads, as politicians and lawyers do; and with their consciences, as patriots and reformers
do. It reflects the Transcendentalist belief that a person’s only authority should be his or her
conscience. 7. Each person is an authority on life and on what is true and right; if he or she
follows his conscience instead of following what others think is right, he or she will do great
things. This also reflects the Transcendentalist emphasis on the self and its belief that a man’s
only authority should be his own conscience. 8. It describes, from a woman’s point of view, the
Transcendentalist emphasis on the self, on self-reliance, and on a person’s only authority being
his own conscience.
Understanding Literary Forms: The Essay
1. a short nonfiction work that present a single main idea, or thesis, about a particular topic;
2. There was great industrial growth and social change in the U.S.; intellectuals turned inward to
examine values and beliefs, leading to growth of the essay form. 3. Form: Expository; Purpose:
to inform or enlighten reader; Form: Persuasive; Purpose: to convince reader to accept a
certain point of view; Form: Personal; Purpose: to explore a topic related to life or interests of
writer; 4. words or phrases that cannot be directly perceived by the senses; Persuasive essays
use it to move readers emotionally to accept an argument. 5. Introduction: beginning of an
essay; Purpose: catches readers’ attention, states topic and thesis, provides background. Thesis:
main idea supported in a nonfiction work; Purpose: tells readers the writer’s planned focus.
Argument: form of persuasion that makes a case to readers to accept a proposition or course of
action; Purpose: to appeal to readers with facts, logic, and personal experience. Conclusion: end
of an essay; Purpose: return to the thesis and reemphasize reasons to accept argument.
6. parallelism, repetition, rhetorical questions
Applying Literary Forms: The Essay
1. Possible answers: “Nature”: personal/expository; Purpose: to describe man’s relationship
to nature; to explain some philosophical ideas about nature. “Walden”: personal. Purpose: to
describe a personal experience with living a simpler, more independent life. “The Present”:
personal: to describe an experience of feeling in touch with oneself, the present, and the
universe. “Civil Disobedience”: personal/expository; Purpose: to describe a personal philosophy
and experience with peaceful protest; to explain a philosophy about peaceful protest; “SelfReliance”: personal/persuasive; Purpose: to describe a personal philosophy of trusting one’s
instincts; to persuade people to follow this philosophy; 2. government, majority, justice, right,
wrong, conscience, expediency, law, respect, injustice. Possible answers: The abstract diction is
effective because it brings to mind specific issues that most readers have strong feelings about.
3. Possible answer: The human consciousness, which distinguishes people, can separate them
from other parts of the universe. She relates in detail a personal experience in which she became
acutely aware of the world around her but lost the consciousness of it when she thought about it
rationally. 4. a. opinion; b. opinion; c. personal experience; d. fact; e. personal experience, fact;
5. a. parallelism, repetition; b. repetition; c. parallelism, repetition; d. repetition, rhetorical
question; e. repetition, rhetorical question
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Understanding Part 3: American Gothic
1. Washington Irving; 2. Edgar Allan Poe; 3. Nathaniel Hawthorne; 4. Herman Melville;
5. frailties of human nature; 6. sin and guilt; 7. madness and death; 8. good and evil; 9. failure of
traditional religion, especially Puritanism; 10. He exposed the greed and pretentiousness of the
new American aristocrats. 11. to teach lessons about the human condition; 12. It has medieval
settings and grotesque, mysterious, violent incidents. 13. the short story; Short stories were often
published in periodicals. 14. As a critic, he defined the format of the short story as a literary
form; as a writer he popularized the psychological tale of horror and the detective story.
Applying Part 3: American Gothic
Possible answers: 1. madness and death; The brother and sister in the House of Usher are going
mad because of their isolation in the strange house. They both die after mistakenly thinking
the sister is dead. 2. good and evil; Tom Walker sins by becoming rich as a money lender after
selling his soul to the devil. 3. madness and death; The speaker is driven nearly mad by his
grief for his sweetheart. 4. sin and guilt; The minister wears the black veil throughout his life
to express guilt for specific and/or general sins during his lifetime. 5. The story takes place in
a decaying, dilapidated, isolated mansion. It is typical because it is the type of place in which
grotesque, mysterious events are likely to occur. 6. A whaling ship would be likely to contain
many different types of characters; as they interact on a long voyage, there would be much
opportunity to examine their individual and collective frailties.
Practice Test
1. A; 2. H; 3. C; 4. F; 5. D; 6. G; 7. D; 8. H; 9. C; 10. H; 11. B; 12. F
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Thanatopsis
Build Vocabulary: Latin Roots
Students’ sentences will vary. 1. Root and meaning: communio, “mutual participation” from
communis, “common”; Definition: “an act or instance of sharing”; Possible additional words:
communicate, community; 2. Root and meaning: sentire, “to feel”; Definition: “not aware”;
Possible additional words: sense, sensory, sensor; 3. Root and meaning: magnificus, “noble in
character” from magnus and ficus, “great” and “much”; Definition: “marked by grandeur”;
Possible additional words: magnificence, magnifico, magnify; 4. Root and meaning: pater,
“father”; Definition: “father or founder”; Possible additional words: patrimony, patriot, patron
Analyze Literature: Theme
Answers will vary. Possible answers: Theme: We should not be afraid of death. Supporting
details: Nature’s wonders will surround us after death. We will share death with kings and wise
and good people. Everyone living will eventually die as we will. Death is like sleep with pleasant
dreams.
Analyze Literature: Figurative Language
Possible answers: 1. a. “Nature…speaks a various language” b. “The vales stretching in pensive
quietness” c. “The complaining brooks”; 2. a. “When thoughts of the last bitter hour come like
a blight over thy spirit”; b. “Thou go not like the quarry-slave at night”; c. “Approach thy grave
like one who wraps the drapery of his couch about him”; 3. a. “to be a brother to the insensible
rock”; b. “Woods…brooks…old oceans…are but the solemn decorations all of the great tomb of
man”; 4. “the hills rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun”; 5. Possible answers: The personification
helps characterize Nature as a compassionate, caring mother; the metaphors show the profound
connection between man and nature.
Selection Quiz
1. C; 2. A; 3. D; 4. A; 5. F; 6. F; 7. T; 8. T
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Old Ironsides
Analyze Literature: Diction
War: ensign, battle, cannons, vanquished, foe, victors, conquered, shattered; Nature: sky, ocean,
air, clouds, wind, floods, waves, shore, eagle, sea, thunder, storms, lightning, gale; Ships: ensign,
deck, hulk, sink, mast, sail; Possible answer: The poem’s tone is passionate, dramatic, and
patriotic. Words such as cannons, victors, vanquished, and conquered communicate the passion
and patriotism of war while the words from nature describing storms add to the dramatic tone.
Analyze Literature: Purpose
1. to persuade the American people and authorities that the U.S.S. Constitution has too much
historical and patriotic value to be destroyed; 2. The author mainly uses emotional appeals to
accomplish his purpose, using dramatic images of war and of the ship itself to instill a patriotic
outrage about the noble ship. 3. Possible answer: Yes, he accomplishes his purpose because the
form, style, and message were crafted to attract a wide audience of simple, patriotic Americans.
4. Students’ essays will vary.
Selection Quiz
1. T; 2. F; 3. F; 4. F; 5. D; 6. D; 7. D; 8. A
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Stanzas on Freedom
Analyze Literature: Fireside Poet
Possible answers: 1. Yes; four stanzas of eight rhyming lines each; 2. Yes, regular rhythm and
rhyming couplets; 3. Yes, it is about a noble subject and its rhyme and rhythm make it easy and
enjoyable to memorize and recite; 4. About an important political topic, the abolition of slavery;
5. Lowell was involved in abolition and this is why he wrote an anti-slavery poem. 6. Students
may say yes because it is not subtle but uses words guaranteed to have a strong emotional appeal
such as brave, free, chains, brothers or no because it is a serious appeal to people’s better instincts
to abolish a corrupt institution. 7. The rhythm and meter give the poems a musical quality; the
story lines of some of the poems are compelling.
Analyze Literature: Poetry Critique
Possible answers: 1. The poem uses a musical rhythm and a compelling rhyme; they emphasize
the speaker’s passion about the issue and appeal to readers. 2. Simile: Women hearing “deeds
to make the roused blood rush like red lava through” their veins. It appeals to people’s sense
of right and wrong and expresses the speaker’s anger about injustice. Symbols include chains,
fetters, hearts, and hand. They have an emotional effect, bringing to readers’ minds concrete
images that emphasize the abstract notions of freedom and slavery the speaker is discussing.
3. The poet uses some well-chosen concrete language to create persuasive images in readers’
minds, such as “New England air,” “red lava,” “leathern hearts,” and “chains.” He also uses
much abstract language, such as “free and brave,” “slaves unworthy to be freed,” and “that
we owe mankind a debt.” 4. The poet uses many rhetorical questions such as “are ye fit to be
mothers of the brave and free?” that pull readers into the poet’s argument. He uses repetition
of words such as slave, free, brave, and chain that emphasizes his topic and theme. He uses
abstract language such as free, brave, mankind, and truth that has many emotional connections
for readers. 5. The poem is most effective in communicating the important idea that slavery is
wrong and that free people should work to stop it. It is less effective in creating a mood but does
communicate outrage and impatience. 6. Students’ evaluations will vary.
Selection Quiz
1. B; 2. D; 3. B; 4. A; 5. F; 6. F; 7. T; 8. F
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The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls / A Psalm of Life
Analyze Literature: Sound Devices
Rhyme: aabba rhyme scheme; Rhythm: regular; Repetition: “tide rises, tide falls”; “the sea, the
sea”; “returns.” Alliteration: curlew/calls, sea/sands, steeds/stalls/stamp. Assonance: tide/rises/
twilight, waves/efface. Onomatopoeia: neigh. The sound effects make it conventional in form,
rhythm, and rhyme, making it a good choice for studying in school, memorizing, and reciting.
Analyze Literature: Allusion
Possible answers: 1. “Row, row, row your boat…Life is but a dream.” It introduces a theme and
begins with an idea that is familiar and not intimidating to most people. 2. The allusion adds
richness for readers, who will be reminded of religious views of life and death. 3. In Longfellow’s
poem, the saying refers to the traditional pessimistic view of life to which the young man is
objecting. Knowing that the saying comes from a Roman philosopher reminds readers that
people have always wrestled with the idea of the briefness of life. Knowing Chaucer’s use of it
helps readers better understand its meaning. 4. Identifying and understanding the allusions
makes reading the poem a richer experience. Allusions bring in associations from readers’ other
reading and experiences that add meaning to the poem.
Analyze Literature: Rhythm and Rhyme
1. trochaic; “Tell me”; 2. Most lines have four feet. Some have three or more than four;
3. trochaic tetrameter; 4. abab; 5. Possible answers: The tone is self-assured and encouraging.
The tone fits the form because it has a pleasant rhyme and rhythm. It helps communicate the
theme of a rational, positive life. 6. Possible answer: It’s typical because it has a conventional
form, rhythm, and rhyme.
Selection Quiz
1. traveler; 2. wave; 3. hostler; 4. traveler; 5. A; 6. C; 7. B; 8. D
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from Snow-Bound
Build Vocabulary: Synonyms and Antonyms
Possible answers: 1. damper; 2. prohibition; 3. ancient; 4. struggling; 5. threatening;
6. lament; 7. floating; 8. story; 9. irritable; 10. changed; 11. ominous; 12. hoary; 13. querulous;
14. waning; 15. prompt; 16. mirth; 17. stout; 18. bare-boughed; 19. drowsy; 20. meek
Analyze Literature: Imagery and Setting
Possible answers: 1. Sight a. “The sun rose cheerless over hills of gray”; b. “gave at noon a sadder
light than waning moon”; Touch a. “a hard, dull bitterness of cold”; b. “felt the strong pulse
throbbing there beat with low rhythm our inland air”; Sound a. “heard the horse whinnying
for his corn”; b. “we heard the roar of Ocean on his wintry shore”; 2. Sight a. “The sun through
dazzling snow-mist shone”; Sound a. “The shrieking of the mindless wind”; b. “The moaning
tree-boughs swaying blind”; c. “on the glass the unmeaning beat of ghostly finger-tips of sleet”;
3. Sight a. “The sun, a snow-bound traveller, sank from sight beneath the smothering bank”; b.
“the old, rude-furnished room burst, flower-like, into rosy bloom”; Sound a. “heard the sharp
crackle”; b. “the merrier up its roaring draught the great throat of the chimney laughed”; 4.
Touch a. “We felt the stir of hall and street”; b. “The chill embargo of the snow was melted”
Analyze Literature: Character
1. first-person (plural); 2. children in a farmer’s family; Possible answers: 3. Text: “Meanwhile
we did our nightly chores—Brought in the wood . . . Littered the stalls . . . raked down the herd’s
grass for the cows”; Inference: The children are hard-working, obedient, unspoiled. 4. Text:
“‘Boys, a path!’ Well-pleased, (for when did farmer boy count such a summons less than joy?)”;
Inference: The children are enthusiastic and fun-loving. 5. Text: “A tunnel walled and overlaid
with dazzling crystal; we had read of rare Aladdin’s wondrous cave and to our own his name
we gave”; Inference: The children are creative and imaginative. 6. Text: “We minded that the
sharpest ear the buried brooklet could not hear . . . and, in our lonely life, had grown to have an
almost human tone”; Inference: The children are sensitive and social. 7. Text: “Read and reread
our little store, of books and pamphlets, scarce a score; one harmless novel, mostly hid from
younger eyes, a book forbid”; Inference: The family members like to read; they lead a simple life;
there is a variety of older and younger children.
Selection Quiz
1. D; 2. A; 3. C; 4. C; 5. B; 6. objects on the farm covered with snow; 7. dig a tunnel through the
snow; 8. build a fire and read; 9. the newspaper carrier
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from Nature / The Rhodora
Build Vocabulary: Word Analogies
1. calamity; 2. blithe; 3. plumes; 4. temperance; 5. perennial; 6. court; 7. exhilaration;
8. contempt; 9. sanctity; 10. solitudes; 11. volatile; 12. resolute; 13. permeated; 14. ignorance;
15. paramount; 16. nook; 17. tranquil
Analyze Literature: Metaphor
Possible answers: 1. When a person is feeling well, the enjoyment of nature is like a stimulating
drink. This emphasizes Emerson’s idea of the interaction of people and nature and the
profound joy or satisfaction that nature can provide to people. 2. Nature’s wonders are like
a constant party put on by God. People are like guests at the party who never grow tired of
it. The metaphor emphasizes the interaction of people and nature and the fact that God, the
“host,” has provided the splendors of nature for people. 3. The speaker is like an eye that does
not see; everything passes through it. It provides a means by which people become one with
nature instead of simply observing it. Emerson is describing the most complete “blending” of
people and nature. 4. Nature is not always typically “beautiful” like a person wearing holiday
finery. Emerson is saying that in true communication between people and nature, those with
unhappy dispositions may be reflected by nature’s more unattractive features. 5. People have
“shrunk” and no longer have the powerful connection with nature that they once enjoyed. This
emphasizes Emerson’s ideas that in contemporary times people are not fully emotionally and
spiritually engaged with nature. 6. A fact is an affecting, exciting part of life instead of a dull part
of life—it doesn’t have to be dressed in poems or fables—when people become wise and realizes
that the commonplace is actually miraculous.
Extend the Text: Write a Quotation Journal
Students’ choices of quotations and comments will vary.
Analyze Literature: Imagery
Possible answers: Lines 1–2. Visualize: A man walking in the springtime finds a flower in the
woods. Words: sea-winds, fresh, woods; Lines 3–4. Visualize: The blossom spreads its petals
out in a damp place where there is nothing but a slow brook. Words: leafless, blooms, damp,
nook, desert, sluggish, brook; Lines 5–6. Visualize: Some of the flower’s purple petals have
fallen into the water, making it more colorful. Words: purple, petals, pool, black, water; Lines
7–8. Visualize: A bird sits by the flower as if it is an animal like itself. Words: red-bird, plumes,
flower; 1. The tone is pleasantly surprised, impressed, respectful. 2. God made some things
beautiful simply for the sake of beauty, even if no one ever sees and appreciates them. Emerson
suggests that he has the same questions about why he exists that some might have about the
flower. The imagery of the first stanza forms a lively, concrete basis for the more abstract
philosophy of the second stanza.
Selection Quiz
1. T; 2. F; 3. T; 4. F; 5. F; 6. T; 7. B; 8. D; 9. B; 10. A
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Concord Hymn
Build Background: Lexington and Concord
Students’ answers will vary.
Analyze Literature: Text-to-Text Connection
Possible answers: Subject: “Concord Hymn”: memorial to the soldiers of the Battle of Lexington
and Concord; “Old Ironsides”: saving a battleship from the War of 1812; Both: remembering
a historical symbol; Purpose: “Concord Hymn”: to commemorate heroes of the Revolutionary
War; “Old Ironsides”: to remind people of the feats of the U.S.S. Constitution; Both: to remind
people of wars fought for their freedom; Figurative Language: “Concord Hymn”: hyperbole
(“the shot heard round the world”), personification (“Time the ruined bridge has swept…”;
“Bid Time and Nature gently spare the shaft”); “Old Ironsides”: metaphor (“The harpies of the
shore shall pluck the eagle of the sea!”; “And give her to the god of storms”); Diction: “Concord
Hymn”: words of war, bravery, and remembrance: embattled, foe, votive, memory, redeem,
spirit, heroes, time, nature; “Old Ironsides”: words of war and storms: ensign, banner, cannons,
victors, conquered, thunders, storm, lightning, gale; Both: words of patriotism and battle: flag,
conqueror/conquered; Tone: “Concord Hymn”: solemn; “Old Ironsides”: passionate, rousing;
Both: patriotic; Theme: Both: We should remember the bravery of those who have fought for
our country. Students’ answers to the question will vary.
Selection Quiz
1. T; 2. T; 3. F; 4. F; 5. C; 6. D; 7. A; 8. D
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from Walden / The Present
Build Vocabulary: Root Words, Prefixes, and Suffixes
1. superfluous, Root word: fluere, Latin, “to flow”; Prefix: super-, “more than”; Definition: extra,
unnecessary; 2. fluctuate, Root word: Latin fluere, “flow”; Suffix: -ate, “act on”; Definition: vary;
3. enterprise, Root word: Old French prendre, “to take”; Prefix: enter-, “internal”; Definition:
a project that is especially difficult or risky; 4. somnolence; Root word: Latin somnus, “sleep”;
Suffix: -ence, “action or process”; Definition: state of being drowsy; 5. contemplation, Root
word: Latin templum, “place marked for observation of auguries”; Prefix: con-, “with”; Suffix:
-tion, “action or process”; Definition: action of considering with continued attention;
6. obscurity, Root word: Latin obscurus, “dark, dim”; Suffix: -ity, “quality or state”; Definition:
not readily understood; 7. resignation, Root word: Latin resignare, “literally, to unseal, cancel”;
Suffix: -ation, “action or process”; Definition: the act of cancelling; 8. nostalgia, Root word:
Greek nostos, “return home”; Suffix: -algia, “pain”; Definition: the state of being homesick;
9. evolution, Root word: Latin evolvere, “to unroll”; Suffix: -tion, “action or process”; Definition:
a process of change in a certain direction
Connecting to Literature: Walden Pond Ecology
Possible answers: 1. It is very detailed; it has qualities that are both scientific and literary. 2. He
is very observant; he appreciates the natural world; he is interested in science. 3. He probably
would have been very pleased because he was interested in appreciating the natural world and
conserving it.
Analyze Literature: Setting
Possible answers: Paragraph 2. Setting Details: “tall arrowy white pines”; “pleasant hillside
covered with pine woods”; “small open field in the woods where pines and hickories were
springing up”; “ice in the pond….all dark colored and saturated with water”; “the railroad…its
yellow sand heap stretched away gleaming in the hazy atmosphere”; “rails shone in the spring
sun”; “heard the lark and pewee”; Mood: cheerful, optimistic; Paragraph 4. Setting Details:
“sitting amid the green pine boughs…and to my bread was imparted some of their fragrance”;
“sometimes a rambler in the wood was attracted by the sound of my axe”; Mood: pleasant;
Paragraph 5. Setting Details: “It was dark, and had a dirt floor…dank, clammy, and aguish”; “the
cellar, a sort of dust hole two feet deep”; “a stove, a bed, a place to sit, an infant…a silk parasol”;
Mood: simple, cozy; Paragraph 9. Setting Details: “the faint hum of a mosquito making its
invisible and unimaginable tour through my apartment at earliest dawn”; “There was something
cosmical about it, of the everlasting vigor and fertility of the world”; “The morning, which is
the most memorable season of the day, is the awakening hour”; Mood: spiritual, life-affirming;
Summary: Students’ answers will vary.
Analyze Literature: Character
Possible answers: What Thoreau Says or Does: goes to live in the woods by himself; Character
Traits: independent, thoughtful; What Thoreau Says or Does: builds his house; Character Traits:
practical; What Thoreau Says or Does: observes a snake, compares it to men; Character Traits:
observant, philosophical; What Thoreau Says or Does: asks neighbors to help him put up the
frame of his house; Character Traits: friendly, sociable; What Thoreau Says or Does: leaves the
house after two years; Character Traits: flexible, reasonable, not dogmatic; Opinion: Students’
answers will vary.
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Analyze Literature: The Essay
Possible answers: 1. personal; It explores a topic of interest to the writer; it has an intimate style;
it has an informal style and tone. 2. present tense; It gives the essay immediacy; it is appropriate
to emphasize the theme of being in the present moment. 3. She is sensitive and observant; she is
profoundly impressed by a very simple moment that others might ignore. 4. Analogy: looking at
the mountain after the feeling of “the present” has left her is like looking at a former lover whom
one remembers but has no feelings for anymore. Metaphor: “Self-consciousness was a bitter
birthday present from evolution”; it cuts us off from the rest of humanity. They help describe
her feeling of losing the present moment just as quickly as it has been captured.
Selection Quiz
1. C; 2. A; 3. C; 4. D; 5. driving; 6. puppy; 7. mountain; 8. present
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from Civil Disobedience/ from Self-Reliance
Build Vocabulary: Denotation and Connotation
Students’ sentences will vary. 1. negative; It connotes something that requires hard work.
2. positive; It connotes hard work for a worthy cause. 3. negative; It connotes something done
quickly for the sake of convenience and not because it is the best action. 4. negative: It connotes
reckless action. 5. negative: It connotes a lack of distinction or excellence.
Analyze Literature: Fact and Opinion
Possible answers: Facts: 1. Unjust laws exist. 2. Many men confront the government once a
year in the person of the tax collector. 3. Thoreau had paid no poll taxes for six years. Opinions:
1. Value Statement: “That government is best which governs least.” 2. Prediction: “Let every
man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be
one step toward obtaining it.” 3. Policy Statement: “I think that we should be men first, and
subjects afterwards.” 4. Loaded Words: “A very few—as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in
the great sense, and men—serve the state with their consciences also, and so necessarily resist
it for the most part; and they are commonly treated as enemies by it.” Thoreau seems to use
value statements and loaded words most. For example, “Under a government which imprisons
any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.” It is effective because it has a strong
emotional appeal.
Analyze Literature: Aphorism
Students’ answers will vary. Example, item 5: Many members of the media criticize politicians
for changing their minds. However, adjusting one’s opinion based on changing circumstances
actually shows an admirable flexibility.
Analyze Literature: Text-to-Text Connection
Possible answers: Rhetorical Questions: Civil Disobedience: “Why has every man a conscience
then?” “Now, what are they? Men at all? or small movable forts and magazines, at the service
of some unscrupulous man in power?”; Self-Reliance: “Is it so bad then to be misunderstood?”;
Metaphor/Simile: Civil Disobedience: “Is there not a sort of blood shed when the conscience is
wounded?” (page 189); “the State was as timid as a lone woman with her silver spoons” (page
189); “when an acorn and a chestnut fall side by side…” (page 189); Self-Reliance: “no kernel of
nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil…”; Examples: Civil Disobedience: “Why
does it always crucify Christ, and excommunicate Copernicus and Luther…”; Self-Reliance:
“Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus…”; “the Reformation, of Luther,
Quakerism, of Fox; Methodism, of Wesley…”; Analogy: Civil Disobedience: Government is
compared to a machine. (Paragraph 6, page 187); “If a plant cannot live according to nature, it
dies; and so a man.” (page 189); Self-Reliance: “Society is a joint stock-company in which the
members agree…”; Diction (Loaded Words): Civil Disobedience: just, conscience, right, wrong,
injustice, reform, truth; Self-Reliance: ignorance, trust, conspiracy, conformity; Students’
opinions will vary.
Selection Quiz
1. F; 2. T; 3. F; 4. T; 5. C; 6. D; 7. C; 8. A
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Letter to Sophia Ripley
Build Vocabulary: Latin Roots
Students’ first definitions will vary; digressing: Root and meaning: gradi, “to step or go”;
1. Prefix and meaning: dis-, “do the opposite of”; Dictionary definition: turning aside from
the main subject of attention; 2. progress: Prefix and meaning: pro-, “forward”; Dictionary
definition: advance; 3. ingress: Prefix and meaning: in-, “into”; Dictionary definition: the act of
entering; 4. egress: Prefix and meaning: e-, “out”; Dictionary definition: to go out; 5. congress:
Prefix and meaning: con-, “with”; Dictionary definition: the act of coming together and meeting;
6. regress: Prefix and meaning: re-, “back”; Dictionary definition: to go back; to return to an
earlier or less advanced state
Analyze Literature: The Letter Form
Possible answers: 1. Boston is supposedly intellectual but doesn’t provide opportunities for
women to meet and converse; so a weekly meeting for women would be useful for both older
and younger women to come together and discuss their lives and other important issues.
2. The diction is formal and abstract. Examples: pretensions, refinement, stimulus, aspirations,
ambition, endeavor, desirous, earnestness, deficiencies; 3. The style is stiff, formal, and
academic. The long, complex sentences and abstract diction create this style. It is appropriate
to the author’s subject: improving the intellectual lives of women. A more casual style or one
that included everyday concrete words and images would argue against the author’s main
point: women need to raise themselves above everyday domestic concerns. 4. Fuller implies
that women too often discuss “personalities or common-places”: everyday matters or gossip.
She might well have mentioned this in an essay because it is a fact that supports her argument;
moreover, the letter is essay-like. 5. Letters are valuable historical documents because they are
first-person records of a person’s activities and concerns. They also record changing styles of
writing and of life. Since people write fewer letters now, often relying on phone conversations or
e-mail, future historians may miss an important record of our times.
Selection Quiz
1. D; 2. B; 3. A; 4. D; 5. F; 6. T; 7. T; 8. F
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The Devil and Tom Walker
Build Vocabulary: Synonyms and Antonyms
Possible answers: 1. Synonym: widespread; Antonym: rare; 2. Synonym: dangerous; Antonym:
secure; 3. Synonym: firm; Antonym: unsure; 4. Synonym: splendor; Antonym: simplicity;
5. Synonym: greed; Antonym: generosity; 6. Synonym: genuine; Antonym: false; 7. Synonym:
strength; Antonym: weakness; 8. Synonym: stubborn; Antonym: flexible
Analyze Literature: Tone
Possible answers: 1. critical; miserly, conspired, cheat; 2. depressing (or gloomy); forlorn,
starvation, straggling, sterility; 3. gloomy (or depressing); gloomy, dark, retreat; 4. humorous;
hard-minded, daunted, termagant; 5. ironic; consoled, loss, fortitude
Analyze Literature: Theme
Possible answers: 1.what happens to a poor man when he sells his soul to the devil to become
wealthy; 2. the devil: man’s most selfish, evil instincts; the buried skull: men’s evil deeds
that exist around us but are hidden; the pirate’s loot: ill-gotten wealth; trees that look strong
but are rotten: people who seem moral but have hidden crimes or sins; black fingerprint on
Tom’s forehead: Tom’s crime or sin; Bible: goodness or redemption; 3. The title mentions the
devil along with a man’s name; it implies that the story tells what happens when a man sins
or commits a crime. 4. Tom’s conflict is that he freely sells his soul to become wealthy but
later worries that he has condemned himself to damnation. It is resolved when he is indeed
condemned by the devil himself. 5. “Such was the end of Tom Walker and his ill-gotten wealth.
Let all griping money brokers lay this story to heart.” 6. Possible response: People are punished
for their sins. People who are greedy and take advantage of others for personal gain will
eventually get what they deserve.
Selection Quiz
1. B; 2. C; 3. A; 4. D; 5. Boston, Massachusetts; 6. She disappears in the woods. 7. He has a black
fingerprint on his forehead. 8. money-lender; usurer
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The Raven / Alone / Letter to John Allan
Build Vocabulary: Definitions
Possible answers: 1. E; 2. I; 3. H; 4. J; 5. F; 6. D; 7. C; 8. G; 9. A; 10. B; 11–14. Students’ sentences
will vary.
Analyze Literature: Plot
Possible answers: 1. Exposition: The narrator is wearily reading alone in his home one
night, trying to recover from the loss of his love, when a knock comes on his door. 2. Rising
Action: The bird enters the narrator’s room; when the narrator asks who he is, the bird says,
“Nevermore.” 3. Conflict: The narrator, struggling with grief and depression, is confronted by a
frightening talking bird. 4. Climax: The narrator erupts angrily and demands to know whether
the raven will provide relief from his overwhelming grief. 5. Falling Action: The narrator
continues to demand answers from the raven, but the bird continues to say only, “Nevermore.”
6. Resolution: The raven continues sitting in the narrator’s room, and the narrator realizes his
grief will never be assuaged. 7. The plot may not be as important in a narrative poem, because
there are many poetic effects—sound devices, imagery, and figurative language—to fascinate
readers.
Analyze Literature: Sound Devices
1. eight; 2. abcbbb; 3. Possible answers: Line 1: dreary/weary; Line 6: Remember/December;
Line 25: peering/fearing; 4. Possible answers: Line 4: rapping, rapping; Lines 15–16: “visitor
entreating entrance at my chamber door”; Lines 34–35: “and this mystery explore”; 5. Possible
answers: Line 22: “tapping tapping”; Line 29: “an echo murmured”; Line 80: “faint foot-falls
tinkled”; 6. The mood is frightening. The rhythm and rhyme communicate the depressed,
obsessive nature of the narrator; the repetition emphasizes the narrator’s poor mental condition;
the onomatopoeia dramatizes the sounds the raven makes and the narrator’s reaction to him.
Analyze Literature: Text-to-Text Connection
The Raven: Form: narrative poem; Speaker: a man who is grieving for his dead sweetheart;
Topic: the grief and madness caused by the death of a loved one; Rhyme Scheme: abcbbb; Other
Sound Devices: rhythm, repetition, onomatopoeia, alliteration; Mood: frightening, obsessive,
depressed; Alone: Form: lyric poem; Speaker: a man examining his outlook on life; Topic:
the tracing of a person’s lonely, depressed nature to his childhood; Rhyme Scheme: rhyming
couplets; Other Sound Devices: repetition; Mood: lonely, depressed; Possible answers: 1. Both
poems are introspective, focusing on feelings, and yet examine outer forces. Both are dark.
2. The word demon is significant; it communicates a common theme that indicates the writer’s
state of mind and obsessions, even though the first poem is a fictional narrative and the second
is a more personal lyric. The word demon implies that the speaker believes he is haunted by
something evil outside himself. 3. Readers can expect that a lyric poem will express emotions
close to those of the poet himself, at least more than those expressed in a narrative, which is
dramatic and fictional. So one could infer that Poe experienced a lonely childhood that gave him
a depressed outlook for the rest of his life.
Selection Quiz
1. reading alone in his room; 2. His sweetheart has died. 3. “Nevermore.” 4. perched on a bust in
the narrator’s room; 5. A; 6. C; 7. D; 8. C
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The Fall of the House of Usher
Build Vocabulary: Latin Roots
1. Root and Meaning: nihil, “nothing”; Definition: destroy; Possible Additional Words: nihilism,
annihilation; 2. Root and Meaning: aequi, “equal”; voc, “voice”; Definition: of uncertain
nature; Possible Additional Words: equal, vocal; 3. Root and Meaning: speciosus, from species
“beautiful”; Definition: having deceptive attraction or allure; Possible Additional Words:
species, specific; 4. Root and Meaning: ordinare, “to arrange”; Definition: exceeding reasonable
limits; Possible Additional Words: ordinary, ordain; 5. Root and Meaning: palpare, “to stroke”;
Definition: easily perceptible; Additional Words: palpate, palpitation; 6. Root and Meaning:
impetere, “to attack”; Definition: marked by impulsive passion; Possible Additional Words:
impetus, impetuousness; 7. Root and Meaning: prodigere “to drive away”; Definition: strange,
unusual; Additional Words: prodigal, prodigy
Analyze Literature: Imagery
Students’ descriptions of moods may vary; 1. sight; vacant, eyelike, rank, decayed; dreary;
2. touch; iciness, sinking, sickening; fearful; 3. smell; reeked, decayed, pestilent, mystic;
repulsive; 4. sound; sharp, grating; startling; 5. sound; huskiness, tremulous, quaver, terror;
bizarre; 6. sound; echo, stifled, dull, cracking, ripping; shocking; 7. Additional quoted imagery
will vary.
Analyze Literature: Text-to-Text Connection
Possible answer: The style is straightforward and conversational; the tone is realistic; the diction
is common and ordinary. This is different from the bizarre, frightening tone and diction of “The
Fall of the House of Usher,” its complex, ornate style, and its grotesque characters and events.
Selection Quiz
1. C; 2.; B; 3. A; 4. D; 5. gloomy; scary; 6. incoherently; inconsistently; 7. the supposedly dead
sister; 8. the crack
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Death of Edgar Allan Poe
Build Vocabulary: Word Analogies
1. brusque; 2.interred; 3. refuse; 4. profound; 5. millennium; 6. obscurely; 7. vortex; 8. conjure;
9. diminutive; 10. adolescence; 11.–13. Students’ answers will vary.
Analyze Literature: Free Verse
Possible answers: 1. “Death of Edgar Allan Poe” does not have a regular rhythm and rhyme
scheme as the two other poems do. 2. Free verse is poetry that does not have regular rhyme,
meter, or stanzas. 3. Imagery: “the eternal, frozen mist of autumn dawn”; Onomatopoeia:
“whisper”; Metaphor: “I reaped no more than the hypnotic roses of crimes and terror”;
4. Possible answer: It is appropriate because it is in the form of stream-of-consciousness
musings from Poe; a well-organized verse form would contradict its content. 5. Contemporary
poets may find free verse more effective in reflecting a chaotic, constantly changing world.
Selection Quiz
1. F; 2. F; 3. T; 4. T; 5. D; 6. C; 7. A; 8. A
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The Minister’s Black Veil
Build Vocabulary: Context Clues
Students’ sentences will vary. 1. Context Clues: “giving a darkened aspect to all living and
inanimate things”—living is an antonym; Definition: nonliving; 2. Context Clues: “rumor of
some unaccountable phenomenon had preceded Mr. Hooper”; Definition: occurrence;
3. Context Clues: “A rumor…Few could refrain from twisting their heads toward the door”;
Definition: hold back; 4. Context Clues: “his oldest parishioner, a white-haired great-grandsire”;
Definition: old; 5. Context Clues: “It was tinged with the gentle gloom…reference to secret sin
and those sad mysteries”; Definition: delicate; elusive; 6. Context Clues: “There was nothing
terrible in what Mr. Hooper said…yet the hearers quaked…so sensible were the audience of
some unwonted attribute in their minister”; Definition: unusual
Analyze Literature: Plot
Possible answers: 1. Sunday morning service: exposition; The Reverend Mr. Hooper comes
to church wearing a black veil over his face, mystifying and frightening his parishioners;
Introduces the symbol of the black veil and demonstrates the profound effects such a seemingly
harmless item can have on people. 2. After the service: rising action; Parishioners discuss the
veil and speculate about its meaning; Increases suspense about the meaning of the veil and Mr.
Hooper’s character. 3. Young lady’s funeral: rising action; Mr. Hooper officiates at a young
lady’s funeral. He looks into her coffin, exposing his face briefly. There are rumors that the
corpse shudders and that the minister’s and lady’s spirits are walking hand in hand; Creates
suspicion that Mr. Hooper may be atoning for a sin involving the young lady. 4. Meeting with
Elizabeth: rising action; Elizabeth asks Mr. Hooper to take off the veil. When he refuses, she
breaks their engagement. Shows that Mr. Hooper’s veil does not have to do with Elizabeth and
that he feels lonely and frightened about wearing the veil. 5. Mr. Hooper’s years of service: rising
action; The veil separates Mr. Hooper from his parishioners. He seems saddened by the symbol,
and the parishioners are put off and scared by it. Shows that the veil is not a passing fancy but
something Mr. Hooper deeply believes in. 6. Preparing to die: climax; Parishioners, a minister,
and Elizabeth attend Mr. Hooper’s deathbed. The minister asks him to remove the veil or to
confess his sins. Creates the point of highest suspense—will Mr. Hooper take off the veil or
explain it? 7. Death: resolution; Mr. Hooper refuses to take off the veil and says that everyone
wears a black veil. He dies still wearing the veil. Leaves readers to figure out the meaning of the
veil.
Analyze Literature: Point of View
Possible answers: 1. Third-person pronouns are used (“He strove to win his people heavenward
. . .” “What grievous affliction hath befallen you?” she earnestly inquired.…They indicate the
third-person point of view. 2. The point of view is omniscient, seeing into the minds of several
parishioners and of Elizabeth but not of Mr. Hooper. After Mr. Hooper puts on the veil, he says
that the parishioners “felt as if the preacher had crept upon them and discovered their hoarded
iniquity of deed or thought.” He says that Elizabeth was “unappalled by awe” of the veil. 3. If Mr.
Hooper told the story himself, he would explain, truthfully or not, what the veil meant. It would
take away much of the mystery of the veil’s meaning. 4. If the story were told by Elizabeth, it
might focus more on her feelings and experiences caused by her fiancé’s donning the veil.
5. Although everyone sins, explicitly displaying one’s guilt or conscience to others can separate
one from others instead of bringing them together; people are fearful of displaying their
shortcomings and vulnerabilities. The point of view, which reports on some people’s feelings
but does not see into the mind of the protagonist, increases the suspense and mystery about the
protagonist’s actions.
Selection Quiz
1. C; 2. D; 3. B; 4. B; 5. A; 6. D; 7. F; 8. F; 9. F; 10. F
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Loomings from Moby-Dick
Build Vocabulary: Word Facts
1. circumambulate; 2. battery; 3. mutiny; 4. urbane; 5. expedition, pedestrian; 6. judicious;
Students’ sentences will vary.
Analyze Literature: Moby-Dick Criticism
Students’ critiques will vary.
Analyze Literature: Figures of Speech
Possible answers: Quote 1: metaphor: It describes a gloomy, depressed emotional state; it shows
that the narrator is sensitive and not always cheerful. Quote 2: simile: It creates a vivid image
of sea-loving people like statues throughout the city; hyperbole: It exaggerates the number of
people who are obsessed by the sea, supporting the narrator’s own love or obsession. Quote
3: hyperbole: It amusingly exaggerates the number of people who are obsessed by the sea,
supporting the narrator’s own love or obsession. Quote 4: simile: It makes the point that
nature’s greatest riches pale beside scenes of water. Quote 5: understatement: (“They rather
order me about some”) It amusingly describes the job of a sailor and emphasizes the narrator’s
easy-going personality. simile: It creates a vivid, cheerful picture of the job of a sailor.
Selection Quiz
1. B; 2. A; 3. C; 4. D; 5. Ishmael; 6. sailor; 7. whale; 8. slave
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