English 12B Checkpoint 21
Which excerpt from The War of the Worlds effectively reveals how the author relates the climax of the narrative through the narrator's thoughts?
All this had happened with such swiftness that I had stood motionless, dumbfounded and dazzled by the flashes of light. Had that death swept through a full circle, it must inevitably have slain me in my surprise. But it passed and spared me, and left the night about me suddenly dark and unfamiliar.
Read the sentence from The War of the Worlds. I turned, and as I did so the screw must have come out, for the lid of the cylinder fell upon the gravel with a ringing concussion. Which option is the accurate synonym of the word concussion as it is used in the sentence?
crash
Which options most accurately explain how the author of The War of the Worlds uses the crash landing of the spaceship to introduce Ogilvy's character?
Ogilvy tries to help those inside the cylinder. His actions characterize him as compassionate. AND Ogilvy goes to the site of the crash to explore the area the morning after seeing the shooting star. Once there, he examines the cylinder. His actions characterize him as curious.
Which excerpts from The War of the Worlds effectively use setting to provide a contrast to the horror of the plot? (Select all that apply.)
They shouted consolation and promises, and went off back to the town again to get help. One can imagine them, covered with sand, excited and disordered, running up the little street in the bright sunlight just as the shop folks were taking down their shutters and people were opening their bedroom windows. AND An enormous hole had been made by the impact of the projectile, and the sand and gravel had been flung violently in every direction over the heath, forming heaps visible a mile and a half away. The heather was on fire eastward, and a thin blue smoke rose against the dawn.
Read the excerpt from The War of the Worlds, in which the first Martian exits the spacecraft. A sudden chill came over me. There was a loud shriek from a woman behind. I half turned, keeping my eyes fixed upon the cylinder still, from which other tentacles were now projecting, and began pushing my way back from the edge of the pit. I saw astonishment giving place to horror on the faces of the people about me. ... I looked again at the cylinder, and ungovernable terror gripped me. I stood petrified and staring. What option accurately analyzes the impact of the narrator's thoughts and actions on the tone of the excerpt?
A fearful tone is created through the narrator's thoughts of horror and his glance at the cylinder.
Read the excerpt from The War of the Worlds. Most of the spectators had gathered in one or two groups—one a little crowd towards Woking, the other a knot of people in the direction of Chobham. Evidently they shared my mental conflict. There were few near me. One man I approached—he was, I perceived, a neighbour of mine, though I did not know his name—and accosted. But it was scarcely a time for articulate conversation. "What ugly brutes!" he said. "Good God! What ugly brutes!" He repeated this over and over again. "Did you see a man in the pit?" I said; but he made no answer to that. We became silent, and stood watching for a time side by side, deriving, I fancy, a certain comfort in one another's company. What context clues accurately point to the meaning of the verb accosted in the excerpt? (Select all that apply.)
for articulate conversation AND One man I approached
Read the excerpt from The War of the Worlds. After the glimpse I had had of the Martians emerging from the cylinder in which they had come to the earth from their planet, a kind of fascination paralysed my actions. I remained standing knee-deep in the heather, staring at the mound that hid them. I was a battleground of fear and curiosity. What options most accurately analyze what the narrator achieves by using the metaphor in the sentence "I was a battleground of fear and curiosity"? (Select all that apply.)
By comparing himself to a battleground, the narrator shows that his turmoil is extreme, and that the events that have generated such strong feelings are extremely serious and violent. AND The narrator uses the metaphor to describe his fascination with the Martians as they exit the cylinder, providing him with a way to analyze his conflicting emotions. Fear paralyzes him, but curiosity forces him to remain in harm's way.
Read the excerpt from The War of the Worlds, in which the narrator reflects for the first time on the effects of the Martian attack. It came to me that I was upon this dark common, helpless, unprotected, and alone. Suddenly, like a thing falling upon me from without, came—fear. Which options most accurately analyze how the author structures this part of the text to develop elements of the narrative? (Select all that apply.)
By placing this revelation after instead of during the first attack by the Martians, the author shows that the narrator's fear is new to him, which provides insight into the narrator's character. AND By placing this revelation after instead of during the first attack by the Martians, the author indicates that further complications in the plot are in store. AND By placing this revelation after instead of during the first attack by the Martians, the author shows that the people were unprepared for what happened.
Read the excerpt from The War of the Worlds, in which the crowd begins to disperse just before the first Martian exits the cylinder. When I returned to the common the sun was setting. Scattered groups were hurrying from the direction of Woking, and one or two persons were returning. The crowd about the pit had increased, and stood out black against the lemon yellow of the sky—a couple of hundred people, perhaps. There were raised voices, and some sort of struggle appeared to be going on about the pit. Strange imaginings passed through my mind. As I drew nearer I heard Stent's voice: "Keep back! Keep back!" A boy came running towards me. "It's a-movin'," he said to me as he passed; 'a-screwin' and a-screwin' out. I don't like it. I'm a-goin' 'ome, I am." What options accurately depict the impact of the boy's words on pacing within the excerpt? (Select all that apply.)
The boy's words serve to speed up the pacing of the plot because, as he is talking to the narrator, he is running past him to get away. AND The plot's forward movement is slow at the beginning of the excerpt because there is little action. The boy's words increase the tension and counteract that lag. AND The narrator is not close enough to see clearly into the pit, so the boy's words provide the narrator with the information he needs, which moves the plot forward.
Read the excerpt from The War of the Worlds, in which the narrator describes the first sighting of one of the Martians. Those who have never seen a living Martian can scarcely imagine the strange horror of its appearance. The peculiar V-shaped mouth with its pointed upper lip, the absence of brow ridges, the absence of a chin beneath the wedgelike lower lip, the incessant quivering of this mouth, the Gorgon groups of tentacles, the tumultuous breathing of the lungs in a strange atmosphere, the evident heaviness and painfulness of movement due to the greater gravitational energy of the earth—above all, the extraordinary intensity of the immense eyes—were at once vital, intense, inhuman, crippled and monstrous. There was something fungoid in the oily brown skin, something in the clumsy deliberation of the tedious movements unspeakably nasty. Even at this first encounter, this first glimpse, I was overcome with disgust and dread. Which options accurately analyze the purpose of this lengthy description? (Select all that apply.)
The detailed description increases suspense because the narrator's dread implies something bad is going to happen. AND The detailed description justifies the horror the narrator feels from this experience.
Read the excerpt from The War of the Worlds. Many people in Berkshire, Surrey, and Middlesex must have seen the fall of it, and, at most, have thought that another meteorite had descended. No one seems to have troubled to look for the fallen mass that night. Which options most accurately state the inferences that can be made based on the sentence "No one seems to have troubled to look for the fallen mass that night"? (Select all that apply.)
The narrator thinks the public is lazy and apathetic. AND The narrator views the public as complacent and unconcerned.
Read the excerpt from The War of the Worlds. I was at home at that hour and writing in my study; and although my French windows face towards Ottershaw and the blind was up (for I loved in those days to look up at the night sky), I saw nothing of it. Yet this strangest of all things that ever came to earth from outer space must have fallen while I was sitting there, visible to me had I only looked up as it passed. Some of those who saw its flight say it travelled with a hissing sound. I myself heard nothing of that. Many people in Berkshire, Surrey, and Middlesex must have seen the fall of it, and, at most, have thought that another meteorite had descended. No one seems to have troubled to look for the fallen mass that night. Which option accurately explains the use of flashback in this excerpt?
The flashback increases suspense. For example, when the narrator claims that he "loved in those days to look up at the night sky," he implies that he does not do that in the present but does not explain why.
Read the excerpt from The War of the Worlds. Beyond the pit stood the little wedge of people with the white flag at its apex, arrested by these phenomena, a little knot of small vertical black shapes upon the black ground. As the green smoke arose, their faces flashed out pallid green, and faded again as it vanished. Then slowly the hissing passed into a humming, into a long, loud, droning noise. Slowly a humped shape rose out of the pit, and the ghost of a beam of light seemed to flicker out from it. Forthwith flashes of actual flame, a bright glare leaping from one to another, sprang from the scattered group of men. It was as if some invisible jet impinged upon them and flashed into white flame. It was as if each man were suddenly and momentarily turned to fire. Then, by the light of their own destruction, I saw them staggering and falling, and their supporters turning to run. Which options accurately describe how the author develops the plot in the excerpt? (Select all that apply.)
The narrator does not react at first as he watches the men with the flag and hears the sounds in the pit. His inaction keeps the tension steadily increasing as the narrator comes to realize the men are being killed. AND The narrator is attentive to the men with the white flag and the humming sound, so he immediately understands what has happened when the men are killed, increasing the tension in the plot.
Read the excerpt from The War of the Worlds, which includes a description of setting shortly after the Martians' first deadly attack. The undulating common seemed now dark almost to blackness, except where its roadways lay grey and pale under the deep blue sky of the early night. It was dark, and suddenly void of men. Overhead the stars were mustering, and in the west the sky was still a pale, bright, almost greenish blue. The tops of the pine trees and the roofs of Horsell came out sharp and black against the western afterglow. The Martians and their appliances were altogether invisible, save for that thin mast upon which their restless mirror wobbled. Patches of bush and isolated trees here and there smoked and glowed still, and the houses towards Woking station were sending up spires of flame into the stillness of the evening air. What options accurately explain how the narrator's feelings are reflected in the setting? (Select all that apply.)
The setting details help to reveal the narrator's feelings of both relief and apprehension. For example, although the Martians are not seen any longer, the remnants of the attack are still quite visible, and it's not clear whether the danger is over. AND The narrator is distressed by the deceptive quiet of the evening, as reflected in the setting details. For example, he still sees smoke from the widespread destruction.
Read the excerpt from The War of the Worlds. A large portion of the cylinder had been uncovered, though its lower end was still embedded. As soon as Ogilvy saw me among the staring crowd on the edge of the pit he called to me to come down, and asked me if I would mind going over to see Lord Hilton, the lord of the manor. The growing crowd, he said, was becoming a serious impediment to their excavations, especially the boys. Which context clues effectively help indicate the meaning of the word excavations as it is used in the excerpt? (Select all that apply.)
was still embedded AND edge of the pit AND had been uncovered
