Fluent Essays

12th Grade AP English. Interpreting a Novel. Read passage excerpts and answer 25 questions. Example Question:Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Inland”People that build their houses inland,People that buy a plot of groundShaped like a house, and build a house there,Far from the sea-board, far from the soundOf water sucking the hollow ledges,Tons of water striking the shore,—What do they long for, as I long forOne salt smell of the sea once more?People the waves have not awakened,Spanking the boats at the harbors head,What do they long for, as I long for,—Starting up in my inland bed,Beating the narrow walls, and findingNeither a window nor a door,Screaming to God for death by drowning,—One salt taste of the sea once more?1. Use the poem to answer the question.What is the effect of the imagery in the last stanza?A.It evokes a sense of loneliness.B.It highlights the narrator’s fears.C.It creates a sense of suffocation.D.It portrays the ocean as a violent entity.E.It shows the relationship between land and ocean. semester_test.pdf Unformatted Attachment Preview Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Inland” People that build their houses inland, People that buy a plot of ground Shaped like a house, and build a house there, Far from the sea-board, far from the sound Of water sucking the hollow ledges, Tons of water striking the shore,— What do they long for, as I long for One salt smell of the sea once more? People the waves have not awakened, Spanking the boats at the harbors head, What do they long for, as I long for,— Starting up in my inland bed, Beating the narrow walls, and finding Neither a window nor a door, Screaming to God for death by drowning,— One salt taste of the sea once more? 1. Use the poem to answer the question. What is the effect of the imagery in the last stanza? • A. It evokes a sense of loneliness. • B. It highlights the narrator’s fears. • C. It creates a sense of suffocation. • D. It portrays the ocean as a violent entity. • E. It shows the relationship between land and ocean. 2. Use the poem to answer the question. What is the tone of the poem? • A. wistful • B. faithful • C. desperate • D. heartbroken • E. determined 3. Use the poem to answer the question. In line 8, the phrase ”salt smell of the sea” creates a sense of • A. endless water in the sea. • B. the sea’s unique aroma. • C. the sea’s danger. • D. the sea’s power. • E. the narrator’s hope for the sea. 4. Use the poem to answer the question. What makes the poet’s voice stand out as longing? • A. the reference to God • B. the first-person point of view • C. the use of rhetorical questions • D. the evocative description of the ocean • E. the sense of pity toward inland people ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Excerpt from Chapter 2 of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina Stepan Arkadyevitch was a truthful man in his relations with himself. He was incapable of deceiving himself and persuading himself that he repented of his conduct. He could not at this date repent of the fact that he, a handsome, susceptible man of thirty-four, was not in love with his wife, the mother of five living and two dead children, and only a year younger than himself. All he repented of was that he had not succeeded better in hiding it from his wife. But he felt all the difficulty of his position and was sorry for his wife, his children, and himself. Possibly he might have managed to conceal his sins better from his wife if he had anticipated that the knowledge of them would have had such an effect on her. He had never clearly thought out the subject, but he had vaguely conceived that his wife must long ago have suspected him of being unfaithful to her, and shut her eyes to the fact. He had even supposed that she, a worn-out woman no longer young or good-looking, and in no way remarkable or interesting, merely a good mother, ought from a sense of fairness to take an indulgent view. It had turned out quite the other way. Oh, it’s awful! oh dear, oh dear! awful! Stepan Arkadyevitch kept repeating to himself, and he could think of nothing to be done. And how well things were going up till now! how well we got on! She was contented and happy in her children; I never interfered with her in anything; I let her manage the children and the house just as she liked. It’s true it’s bad her having been a governess in our house. That’s bad! There’s something common, vulgar, in flirting with one’s governess. But what a governess! (He vividly recalled the roguish black eyes of Mlle. Roland and her smile.) But after all, while she was in the house, I kept myself in hand. And the worst of it all is that she’s already ... it seems as if ill-luck would have it so! Oh, oh! But what, what is to be done? There was no solution, but that universal solution which life gives to all questions, even the most complex and insoluble. That answer is: one must live in the needs of the day— that is, forget oneself. To forget himself in sleep was impossible now, at least till nighttime; he could not go back now to the music sung by the decanter-women; so he must forget himself in the dream of daily life. Then we shall see, Stepan Arkadyevitch said to himself, and getting up he put on a gray dressing-gown lined with blue silk, tied the tassels in a knot, and, drawing a deep breath of air into his broad, bare chest, he walked to the window with his usual confident step, turning out his feet that carried his full frame so easily. He pulled up the blind and rang the bell loudly. It was at once answered by the appearance of an old friend, his valet, Matvey, carrying his clothes, his boots, and a telegram. Matvey was followed by the barber with all the necessaries for shaving. Are there any papers from the office? asked Stepan Arkadyevitch, taking the telegram and seating himself at the looking-glass. 5 On the table, replied Matvey, glancing with inquiring sympathy at his master; and, after a short pause, he added with a sly smile, They’ve sent from the carriage-jobbers. Stepan Arkadyevitch made no reply, he merely glanced at Matvey in the looking-glass. In the glance, in which their eyes met in the looking-glass, it was clear that they understood one another. Stepan Arkadyevitch’s eyes asked: Why do you tell me that? don’t you know? Matvey put his hands in his jacket pockets, thrust out one leg, and gazed silently, goodhumoredly, with a faint smile, at his master. I told them to come on Sunday, and till then not to trouble you or themselves for nothing, he said. He had obviously prepared the sentence beforehand. Stepan Arkadyevitch saw Matvey wanted to make a joke and attract attention to himself. Tearing open the telegram, he read it through, guessing at the words, misspelt as they always are in telegrams, and his face brightened. 10 Matvey, my sister Anna Arkadyevna will be here tomorrow, he said, checking for a minute the sleek, plump hand of the barber, cutting a pink path through his long, curly whiskers. Thank God! said Matvey, showing by this response that he, like his master, realized the significance of this arrival—that is, that Anna Arkadyevna, the sister he was so fond of, might bring about a reconciliation between husband and wife. 5. Use the excerpt to answer the question. Which quote best contributes to Tolstoy’s style of emphasizing small, everyday details? • A. “He had never clearly thought out the subject, but he had vaguely conceived that his wife must long ago have suspected him of being unfaithful to her, and shut her eyes to the fact.” • B. “‘Oh, it’s awful! oh dear, oh dear! awful!’ Stepan Arkadyevitch kept repeating to himself, and he could think of nothing to be done.” • C. “To forget himself in sleep was impossible now, at least till nighttime; he could not go back now to the music sung by the decanter-women; so he must forget himself in the dream of daily life.” • D. ‘Matvey, my sister Anna Arkadyevna will be here tomorrow,’ he said, checking for a minute the sleek, plump hand of the barber, cutting a pink path through his long, curly whiskers.” • E. “‘Thank God!’ said Matvey, showing by this response that he, like his master, realized the significance of this arrival—that is, that Anna Arkadyevna, the sister he was so fond of, might bring about a reconciliation between husband and wife.” 6. Use the excerpt to answer the question. “Possibly he might have managed to conceal his sins better from his wife if he had anticipated that the knowledge of them would have had such an effect on her. He had never clearly thought out the subject, but he had vaguely conceived that his wife must long ago have suspected him of being unfaithful to her, and shut her eyes to the fact.” What do these sentences reveal about Stepan’s character? • A. Stepan is an introspective person. • B. Stepan is not afraid of consequences. • C. Stepan struggles to understand his wife. • D. Stepan does not care if he hurts his wife. • E. Stepan has fallen in love with another woman. 7. Use the excerpt to answer the question. Which sentence best describes how Tolstoy uses dialogue in this passage? • A. Tolstoy uses dialogue frequently to develop character. • B. Tolstoy uses dialogue evenly to balance the narration. • C. Tolstoy uses dialogue frequently to convey strong emotion. • D. Tolstoy uses dialogue sparingly, when conversation comes naturally. • E. Tolstoy uses dialogue sparingly, mostly to express important occurrences. 8. Use the excerpt to answer the question. Tolstoy is known for emphasizing morals and ethics in his works, and he lived during a time period when women had little say over their lives. How do you think this context contributed to Tolstoy’s development of Stepan and Dolly’s marriage? Use details from the passage to support your response. Your answer should be one paragraph in length. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ozymandias” I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert…Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed: And on the pedestal these words appear: My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away. 9. Use the poem to answer the question. Which statement best describes how the diction of the last three lines affects the meaning of the poem? • A. The phrase “nothing beside remains” conveys a sense of isolation, highlighting Ozymandias’s loss of power. • B. The phrase “round the decay” suggests that death is approaching, heightening the sense of the traveler’s fear. • C. The phrase “lone and level sands” paints an image of open terrain, evoking the idea that the traveler is seeking Ozymandias. • D. The phrase “boundless and bare” expresses a sense of limitless potential, underlining Ozymandias’s power during his reign. • E. The phrase “of that colossal wreck” suggests the narrator’s disappointment in Ozymandias, emphasizing the building expectation. 10. Use the poem to answer the question. Which of the following lines from the poem supports the idea that the sculptor thinks poorly of Ozymandias? • A. “Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone” • B. “Stand in the desert…Near them, on the sand,” • C. “And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command” • D. “Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,” • E. “Nothing beside remains. Round the decay” 11. Use the poem to answer the question. How do the words on the pedestal contribute to the tone of the poem? • A. It mocks the sculptor’s efforts. • B. It makes fun of the king’s pride. • C. It highlights the sculptor’s respect for the king. • D. It creates a contrast between the statue and its subject. • E. It emphasizes that the king is in despair because the statue is alone. 12. Use the poem to answer the question. Shelley makes a point about power by • A. referencing an ancient ruler. • B. criticizing an ancient dynasty. • C. highlighting how old lands change over time. • D. making connections between religion and history. • E. describing the relationship between art and history. 13. Use the poem to answer the question. What does this poem most convey about power? • A. It is desired. • B. It is dangerous. • C. It is temporary. • D. It is unchanging. • E. It is unimportant. 14. Use the poem to answer the question. Which phrase from the poem contains irony? • A. “Half sunk a shattered visage lies” (line 4) • B. “sneer of cold command” (line 5) • C. “King of Kings” (line 10) • D. “ye Mighty, and despair” (line 11) • E. “Of that colossal Wreck” (line 13) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1 of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Everything was in confusion in the Oblonskys’ house. The wife had discovered that the husband was carrying on an intrigue with a French girl, who had been a governess in their family, and she had announced to her husband that she could not go on living in the same house with him. This position of affairs had now lasted three days, and not only the husband and wife themselves, but all the members of their family and household, were painfully conscious of it. Every person in the house felt that there was no sense in their living together, and that the stray people brought together by chance in any inn had more in common with one another than they, the members of the family and household of the Oblonskys. The wife did not leave her own room, the husband had not been at home for three days. The children ran wild all over the house; the English governess quarreled with the housekeeper, and wrote to a friend asking her to look out for a new situation for her; the man-cook had walked off the day before just at dinner time; the kitchen-maid, and the coachman had given warning. Three days after the quarrel, Prince Stepan Arkadyevitch Oblonsky—Stiva, as he was called in the fashionable world—woke up at his usual hour, that is, at eight o’clock in the morning, not in his wife’s bedroom, but on the leather-covered sofa in his study. He turned over his stout, well-cared-for person on the springy sofa, as though he would sink into a long sleep again; he vigorously embraced the pillow on the other side and buried his face in it; but all at once he jumped up, sat up on the sofa, and opened his eyes. Yes, yes, how was it now? he thought, going over his dream. Now, how was it? To be sure! Alabin was giving a dinner at Darmstadt; no, not Darmstadt, but something American. Yes, but then, Darmstadt was in America. Yes, Alabin was giving a dinner on glass tables, and the tables sang, Il mio tesoro—not Il mio tesoro though, but something better, and there were some sort of little decanters on the table, and they were women, too, he remembered. Stepan Arkadyevitch’s eyes twinkled gaily, and he pondered with a smile. Yes, it was nice, very nice. There was a great deal more that was delightful, only there’s no putting it into words, or even expressing it in one’s thoughts awake. And noticing a gleam of light peeping in beside one of the serge curtains, he cheerfully dropped his feet over the edge of the sofa, and felt about with them for his slippers, a present on his last birthday, worked for him by his wife on gold-colored morocco. And, as he had done every day for the last nine years, he stretched out his hand, without getting up, towards the place where his dressing-gown always hung in his bedroom. And thereupon he suddenly remembered that he was not sleeping in his wife’s room, but in his study, and why: the smile vanished from his face, he knitted his brows. 5 Ah, ah, ah! Oo!... he muttered, recalling everything that had happened. And again every detail of his quarrel with his wife was present to his imagination, all the hopelessness of his position, and worst of all, his own fault. Yes, she won’t forgive me, and she can’t forgive me. And the most awful thing about it is that it’s all my fault—all my fault, though I’m not to blame. That’s the point of the whole situation, he reflected. Oh, oh, oh! he kept repeating in despair, as he remembered the acutely painful sensations caused him by this quarrel. Most unpleasant of all was the first minute when, on coming, happy and good-humored, from the theater, with a huge pear in his hand for his wife, he had not found his wife in the drawing-room, to his surprise had not found her in the study either, and saw her at last in her bedroom with the unlucky letter that revealed everything in her hand. She, his Dolly, forever fussing and worrying over household details, and limited in her ideas, as he considered, was sitting perfectly still with the letter in her hand, looking at him with an expression of horror, despair, and indignation. 10 What’s this? this? she asked, pointing to the letter. And at this recollection, Stepan Arkadyevitch, as is so often the case, was not so much annoyed at the fact itself as at the way in which he had met his wife’s words. There happened to him at that instant what does happen to people when they are unexpectedly caught in something very disgraceful. He did not succeed in adapting his face to the position in which he was placed towards his wife by the discovery of his fault. Instead of being hurt, denying, defending himself, begging forgiveness, instead of remaining indifferent even—anything would have been better than what he did do—his face utterly involuntarily (reflex spinal action, reflected Stepan Arkadyevitch, who was fond of physiology)—utterly involuntarily assumed its habitual, good-humored, and therefore idiotic smile. This idiotic smile he could not forgive himself. Catching sight of that smile, Dolly shuddered as though at physical pain, broke out with her characteristic heat into a flood of cruel words, and rushed out of the room. Since then she had refused to see her husband. It’s that idiotic smile that’s to blame for it all, thought Stepan Arkadyevitch. But what’s to be done? What’s to be done? he said to himself in despair, and found no answer. 15 15. Use the passage to answer the question. Which sentence best supports the theme “actions have consequences”? • A. “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” • B. “The wife had discovered that the husband was carrying on an intrigue with a French girl, who had been a governess in their family, and she had announced to her husband that she could not go on living in the same house with him.” • C. “He turned over his stout, well-cared-for person on the springy sofa, as though he would sink into a long sleep again; he vigorously embraced the pillow on the other side and buried his face in it; but all at once he jumped up, sat up on the sofa, and opened his eyes.” • D. “‘Yes, Alabin was giving a dinner on glass tables, and the tables sang, Il mio tesoro— not Il mio tesoro though, but something better, and there were some sort of little decanters on the table, and they were women, too,’ he remembered.” • E. “And, as he had done every day for the last nine years, he stretched out his hand, without getting up, towards the place where his dressing-gown always hung in his bedroom.” 16. Use the passage to answer the question. Based on the excerpt, what is a distinct feature of Tolstoy’s style? • A. Tolstoy uses figurative language to contrast with the realistic setting. • B. Tolstoy uses coordinating conjunctions to build the novel’s tension. • C. Tolstoy uses everyday, ungrammatical language to put readers into Stepan’s mindset. • D. Tolstoy uses a variety of sentence structures to convey a sense of chaos in the passage. • E. Tolstoy uses specific diction with negative connotations to develop Stepan as an unlikable character. 17. Use the passage to answer the question. Read the following paragraphs. “Most unpleasant of all was the first minute when, on coming, happy and goodhumored, from the theater, with a huge pear in his hand for his wife, he had not ... Purchase answer to see full attachment