study questions

PART A: What is the meaning of "effigy"

Model

(pit)How does the sentencing at the beginning of the story affect the narrator?

The narrator becomes faint and drifts in and out of consciousness from the shock, not quite sure what is real and what is not.

(butterfly)PART B: Which detail from the text best supports the answer to Part A?

"'The stomp of your foot, on one mouse, could start an earthquake, the effects of which could shake our earth and destinies down through Time, to their very foundations.'

(holocaust)Which of the following quotes best summarizes Mandelbaum's perspective after surviving the Holocaust?

"...it's a matter of being vigilant, a matter of trying to do as much as you can in order to enlighten people [about] how dangerous it is when you become a bystander."

PART B: Which detail from the text best supports the answer to Part A?

"Gods were then 'fed' and 'nourished' with sacrificed blood and flesh, which ensured the continued balance and prosperity of Aztec society."

(pit)PART B: Which of the following quotes best supports the answer to Part A?

"Inch by inch — line by line — with a descent only appreciable at intervals that seemed ages — down and still down it came!

(pit)PART B: Which of the following phrases best supports the answer to Part A?

"They had devoured... all but a small remnant of the contents of the dish

PART B: Which quote from paragraph 5 best supports the answer to Part A?

"images of gods"

(pit)PART B: Which of the following quotes best supports the answer to Part A?

"oh! horror! — oh! any horror but this! With a shriek, I rushed from the margin, and buried my face in my hands — weeping bitterly."

(butterfly) the passage, the author builds suspense. What structural choice contributes most directly to the suspense?

A. The author describes all the different ways things could go wrong if the men interfered with the past.

(holocaust)Which of the following statements best describes a central idea of the text?

During the Holocaust, Mandelbaum had the good fortune to escape the gas chamber because he had experience as an electrician.

(butterfly)PART A: Which statement identifies the main theme of the short story?

Everything that has taken place in the past is intricately connected, and one small action can have major consequences.

(butterfly)Eckels carelessly steps off the Path out of fear, and disrupts the past in a way that will likely impact the future.

PART B: Which quote from the text best supports the answer to Part A?

(holocaust)PART A: What does the word "emaciated" most closely mean

Starved

PART A: Which statement identifies the central idea of the text?

The Aztecs participated in sacrificial rituals to honor the gods and maintain their way of life.

(pit)PART A: How does the author's description of the pendulum build suspense in the passage?

The author describes the slow descent of the pendulum, creating suspense by showing how little chance the narrator has of escape from its steady, mechanical path

(pit)Which of the following best describes how the narrator's point of view impacts the text?

The first-person point of view limits the narrative to what the narrator knows and senses, thus heightening the elements of fear and suspense

(pit)PART A: Which of the following statements best expresses a major theme of the text?

There is no greater fear than that of death and nothingness.

(butterfly)How are the details of Travis' explanation about how they should behave in the past important to the story's theme

Travis stresses how delicate the balance between the past and the future is by discussing how small changes can have big consequences.

(pit)PART A: What does the word "voracity" most likely mean

hunger

(holocaust)PART B: Which phrase from the text best supports the answer to Part A?

stuffing paper... to fatten their cheeks"