Life-changing journeys

Which citation is correctly punctuated in MLA style?

"Mario Campos Gutiérrez, supervisor of Grupo Beta Sur, estimates that half eventually get here—after repeated attempts" (Nazario 4).

Read the excerpt from chapter 8 of The Travels of Marco Polo. Let us go on now to tell of a large city which forms part of the province of Aden but has a petty ruler of its own. This city, which lies about 400 miles north-west of the port of Aden, is called Shihr. It is ruled by a count, who maintains strict justice in his domain. He has several cities and towns under his sway but is himself subject to the sultan of Aden. The people are Saracens and worship Mahomet. The city has a very good port; for I assure you that many merchant-ships come here well loaded with goods from India, and from here they export many goods to India. In particular they export innumerable fine chargers and sturdy pack-horses of great worth and price, on which the merchants make a handsome profit. What are most likely the author's purposes for writing this text? Select two options.

-to inform readers by describing the city of Shihr -to inform readers by giving facts about the ruler of Shihr

What are the primary functions of body paragraphs in a comparative essay that focuses on genres? Select fouroptions.

-to provide evidence that supports the writer's ideas -to analyze the texts, ideas, or objects being compared -to highlight similarities between the texts being discussed -to point out differences between the texts being discussed

The following sentence has a dangling modifier. After reading the book it was based on, several key plot elements were missing from the movie. Which revision best corrects the error in this sentence?

After reading the book that the movie was based on, I noticed that the movie was missing several key plot elements.

The following sentence has a dangling modifier. Having been taught to cook by her grandmother, most recipes were found easy to follow. Which revision corrects the error in the sentence?

Having been taught to cook by her grandmother, she found most recipes easy to follow.

The following sentence has a dangling modifier. Noticing that it had been turned over by the storm, the patio table was flipped back on its feet. Which revision corrects the error in the sentence?

Noticing that the patio table had been turned over by the storm, Anton flipped it back on its feet.

Read the excerpt from chapter 8 of The Travels of Marco Polo. I should add that ships cannot sail to the other islands that lie farther south, beyond Madagascar and Zanzibar, because the current sets so strongly towards the south that they would have little chance of returning. Therefore they do not venture to go. You may note that ships coming from Maabar to this island make the voyage in twenty days, whereas the return trip takes them all of three months; and this is due to the continual southward set of the current. It flows in the same direction the all time—southward, ever southward. These more southerly islands, which men do not willingly visit because of this southward drift, are very numerous, and it is said that they are inhabited by gryphon birds, which make their appearance here at certain seasons of the year. What indicates that the author's purpose is to inform readers about travel south of Madagascar and Zanzibar?

The author shares facts and specific details about the difficulty of sailing in the region.

The following sentence has a misplaced modifier. The group members met on Saturday working on the project together. Which revision corrects the error in the sentence?

The group members who were working on the project together met on Saturday.

Sunil is writing a comparative essay. In one paragraph, he analyzes a history book. In the next paragraph, he analyzes a diary written about the events and time period covered in the history book. What will Sunil's next paragraph most likely include?

a comparison of the two genres

Read the sentence. After the thunderstorm, the sky was bright, and the open barrels were brimming with rainwater. What type of phrase is the underlined phrase?

a participial phrase

What would best conclude an essay comparing different genres?

a summary of the main points of comparison and contrast

Read the sentences. Alaskan brown bears are known to be fierce and protective parents. Encountering a bear and its cub could be dangerous, and hikers should be particularly cautious. Which phrase is a gerund phrase?

encountering a bear

Read the sentence from Nikita's analysis of "The Children of the Drug Wars." Nazario feels that refugee kids totally shouldn't be sent back to the same dangerous things they've left. This sentence should be revised to make it more

formal.

Which statement about Dhofar from chapter 8 of The Travels of Marco Polo shows an objective perspective?

"The city has many other cities and towns under its sway."

Which in-text citation is correctly formatted in MLA style?

(Smith 179)

Read the excerpt from chapter 8 of The Travels of Marco Polo and study the map. [This] is an island lying about 1,000 miles south of Socotra. The people are Saracens who worship Mahomet. They have four sheikhs—that is to say, four elders—who exercise authority over the whole island. You must know that this island is one of the biggest and best in the whole world. It is said to measure about 4,000 miles in circumference. The people live by trade and industry. More elephants are bred here than in any other province; and I assure you that not so many elephant tusks are sold in all the rest of the world put together as in this island and that of Zanzibar. Which labeled location is the place where more elephants are bred than anywhere else, according to the excerpt?

C - Madagascar

The following sentence has a misplaced modifier. Tired of studying and writing research papers, summer vacation came as a relief to the student. Which revision corrects the error in the sentence?

Summer vacation came as a relief to the student, who was tired of studying and writing research papers.

Read the sentence from Rina's comparative essay, and decide how she can make her language formal and objective. The narrative becomes scarier when Enrique can no longer keep his eyes open. Which choice best replaces the underlined word?

more suspenseful

Selena wrote this topic sentence in her analysis of Enrique's Journey. The writer shows why it is dangerous for migrants to sleep during their trip north. Which piece of evidence from the biography bestsupports Selena's analysis?

"For a while, he stands on a narrow ledge at the end of a fuel tanker. It is just inches above the wheels. He cannot let himself fall asleep; one good shake of the train, and he would tumble off."

Read the excerpt from "A Genetics of Justice" by Julia Alvarez. Images of the dictator hung in every house next to the crucifix and Ia Virgencita with the declaration beneath: In this house Trujillo is Chief. The pale face of a young military man wearing a plumed bicorne hat and a gold-braided uniform looked down beneficently at my mother as she read her romantic novelas and dreamed of meeting the great love of her life. Sometimes in her daydreams, her great love wore the handsome young dictator's face. Never having seen him, my mother could not know the portrait was heavily retouched. Which quotation provides the best evidence for the central idea of this excerpt?

"Never having seen him, my mother could not know the portrait was heavily retouched."

Read the excerpt from chapter 8 of The Travels of Marco Polo. And let me tell you something else. They have sheep here that have no ears, nor even ear-holes; but in the place where ears ought to be they have little horns. They are small creatures and very pretty. And here is something else that may strike you as marvelous: their domestic animals—sheep, oxen, camels, and little ponies—are fed on fish. They are reduced to this diet because in all this country and in all the surrounding regions there is no grass; but it is the driest place in the world. Which detail from the passage best shows a subjective perspective?

"They are . . . very pretty."

Read the excerpt from "A Genetics of Justice" by Julia Alvarez. When my sisters and I cared too much about our appearance, my mother would tell us how Trujillo's vanity knew no bounds. How in order to appear taller, his shoes were specially made abroad with built-in heels that added inches to his height. How plumes for his Napoleonic hats were purchased in Paris and shipped in vacuum-packed boxes to the Island. How his uniforms were trimmed with tassels and gold epaulettes and red sashes, pinned with his medals, crisscrossing his chest. How he costumed himself in dress uniforms and ceremonial hats and white gloves—all of this in a tropical country where men wore guayaberas in lieu of suit jackets, short-sleeved shirts worn untucked so the body could be ventilated. My mother could go on and on. Which quotation provides the best evidence for the central idea of this excerpt?

"Trujillo's vanity knew no bounds."

Read these sentences from Hafiza's essay comparing biographies and autobiographies. One difference between biographies and autobiographies is immediately noticeable: the narrator's point of view. Biographies are written from a third-person perspective, while autobiographies are written from a first-person perspective. Which quotations from Enrique's Journey provide evidence supporting Hafiza's point that this text is a biography? Select two options.

-"Enrique's palms burn when he holds on to the hopper. He risks riding no-hands. Finally, he strips off his shirt and sits on it." -"Enrique's head throbs. The sun reflects off the metal. It stings his eyes, and his skin tingles. It drains the little energy he has left."

Read the excerpt from "A Genetics of Justice" by Julia Alvarez. Perhaps because she had innocently revered him, my mother was now doubly revolted by this cold-blooded monster. He became something of an obsession with her—living as she was by then in exile with my father, isolated from her family who were still living on the Island. As my sisters and I were growing up, Trujillo and his excesses figured in many of my mother's cautionary tales. Which details does the author include to support the central idea about how her mother felt about the dictator? Select three options.

-"doubly revolted" -"obsession" -"cautionary tales"

Which underlined phrases are gerund phrases? Select two options.

-A healthy lifestyle requires getting regular exercise. -Watching too much television may contribute to depression.

Based on the map, where does Marco Polo go after he visits Hormuz and continues to travel east? Select twooptions.

-Cathay -Mongolia

Which underlined phrases are infinitive phrases? Select two options.

-It is important to measure all ingredients by weight when you bake. -To work in a professional kitchen, it is necessary to learn about food safety.

Which underlined phrases give specific details about place? Select two options.

-Last week, construction workers began building a new fire station around the corner. -Sometime last summer, the fruit stand down the street was replaced with a car wash.

Read the topic sentence from a paragraph from Aaron's comparative essay. Like a crime movie, an episode from a television crime series generally focuses on the commission and investigation of a crime. What can be inferred about the rest of the essay from this sentence? Select four options.

-The preceding paragraph was about crime movies. -The essay compares genres of visual crime fiction. -This paragraph will offer details about episodic crime series. -The later paragraphs will present a comparison of the genres.

Read the excerpt from chapter 8 of The Travels of Marco Polo. Now that I have given you this second-hand account of the gryphon bird, let me add that the Great Khan sent special emissaries here to learn about these islands, and again to treat for the release of a previous emissary who had been detained as a captive. And these later emissaries, and the other who had been held captive, had much to tell him of the marvels of these strange islands. I assure you that they brought back with them the tusks of a wild boar of monstrous size. He had one of them weighed and found that its weight was 14 lb. You may infer for yourselves what must have been the size of the boar that had such tusks as this. Indeed they declare that some of these boars are as big as buffaloes. There are also giraffes in plenty, and wild asses too. Altogether their beasts and birds are so different from ours that it is a marvel to hear tell of them and a greater marvel to behold them. To return for a moment to the gryphon birds, I should explain that the islanders call them rukhs and know them by no other name and have no idea what a gryphon is. But I feel sure from the monstrous size they attribute to the birds that they cannot be anything but gryphons. Which details from the text best support the author's purpose to inform the reader that the islands are amazing to him? Select three options.

-There are plenty of giraffes and wild asses on the islands. -The wild boars on the island are as big as buffaloes, with 14 lb tusks. -The gryphon birds are monstrous in size.

Which underlined phrases are participial phrases? Select two options.

-Tired from practice, the quarterback returned to the locker room. -The volleyball team won the match, moving on to the state tournament.

Which literary elements typically appear in a travelogue? Select three options.

-a person's account of his or her experiences -descriptions of sights, cultures, climates, and lands -drawings, photographs, maps, or memorabilia

Hiroshi is planning to write an essay comparing news reports and editorials. Which ideas should he brainstorm about in order to write an effective essay? Select four options.

-the characteristics of editorials -the characteristics of news reports -how news reports and editorials are similar -how news reports and editorials are different

Which details are important to notice when comparing and contrasting two texts from different genres? Select three options.

-the point of view -the language use -the author's purpose

Which details are important to notice when comparing and contrasting two texts from different genres? Select threeoptions.

-the point of view -the language use -the author's purpose

What are the primary purposes of a thesis statement in an essay comparing different genres? Select two options.

-to establish the essay's main idea -to introduce the subtopics of the essay

Which statement best defines a travelogue?

A travelogue is a piece of writing or a lecture about a trip or journey.

Read the excerpt from "A Genetics of Justice" by Julia Alvarez. Passage A: Given this mandate of silence, I was a real thorn in my mother's side. She had named me, her second of four daughters, after herself—so we shared the same name. Of all her babies, she reports, l was the best behaved, until l learned to talk. Then, I would not shut up. I always had to answer her back when I disagreed with her. Childhood was rocky, but adolescence was a full-fledged war. Passage B: Unfortunately for my mother, I grew up to be a writer publishing under my maiden name. Which statement correctly analyzes how the passages work together to create a central idea?

Alvarez contrasts her mother's insistence on silence with her own desire to tell stories

Read the excerpt from "A Genetics of Justice" by Julia Alvarez. My mother, especially, lived in terror of the consequences of living as free citizens. In New York City, before Trujillo was killed, Dominican exiles gathered around the young revolutionary Juan Bosch planning an invasion of the Island. Every time my father attended these meetings, my mother would get hysterical. If the SIM found out about my father's activities, family members remaining behind were likely to be in danger. Even our own family in New York could suffer consequences. Five years earlier, in 1955, Galindez, an exile anti-Trujillo teaching at Columbia University, had disappeared from a New York subway. The same thing could happen to us. I don't know if my father complied or just got too busy trying to make a living in this country. But after a few months of hotheaded attendance, he dropped out of these political activities and his silence deepened. Which statement best analyzes how the author develops the central idea across the paragraphs?

Alvarez explains that, although her parents reacted differently to the stress they endured, both became silent about the dictatorship.

Read the excerpt from "A Genetics of Justice" by Julia Alvarez. Passage A: In December 1960, four months after our arrival, Timemagazine reported the murder of the three Mirabal sisters, who along with their husbands had started the national underground Dominican Republic. My parents confiscated the magazine. To our many questions about what was going on, my mother always had the ready answer, "En boca cerrada no entran moscas." No flies fly into a closed mouth. Later, I found out that this very saying had been scratched on the lintel of the entrance of the SIM's torture center at La Cuarenta. Passage B: The novel would be a fictional retelling of the story of three Mirabal sisters, contemporaries of my mother, whose murder had been reported in that confiscated Time magazine. This time, my mother warned, I was not just going to anger family members, but I would be directly responsible for their lives. There were still old cronies of the dictator around who would love an excuse to go after my family, after my father, after her. This was one of the hardest challenges I had ever had to face as a writer. If my mother were indeed speaking the truth, could I really put my work above the lives of human beings? But if I shut up, wouldn't I still be fanning the members of the dictatorship with its continuing power of censorship and control over the imagination of many Dominicans? What central idea do these excerpts work together to develop?

Alvarez grappled with the issue of writing a novel about a dangerous subject.

Read the excerpts from the beginning, middle, and end of "A Genetics of Justice" by Julia Alvarez. Passage A: Perhaps because I was spared, at ten, from the dictatorship my parents endured most of their lives, I often imagine what it must have been like for them growing up under the absolute rule of Generalísimo Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. Passage B: I knew very little about what was actually going on in the Dominican Republic. Whenever la situación on the island came up, my parents spoke in hushed voices. Passage C: Then I started to work on my second novel. My mother heard from one of my sisters that I was writing about the dictatorship. . . . . . . Days later, my mother called me up to tell me she had just finished the novel. "You put me back in those days. It was like I was reliving it all," she said sobbing. "I don't care what happens to us! I'm so proud of you for writing this book." How does the author develop the central idea across these excerpts?

Alvarez shows how her lifelong fascination with her parents' life under the dictatorship was the basis for her writing.

Read the paragraph. Neighbors are already looking forward to the grand opening of the Englewood Aquatic Center and the recreation that the center's Olympic-sized pool will provide. With proof of address, residents will be able to sign up for discounted swimming lessons and attend weekly open swim sessions for free. The new swimming facility will take two years to build. It will be state of the art. Which revision uses a phrase to combine the last two sentences?

Constructing this new state-of-the-art swimming facility will take two years.

Read the excerpt from "A Genetics of Justice" by Julia Alvarez. Periodically, Trujillo would demand a tribute, and they would acquiesce. A tax, a dummy vote, a portrait on the wall. To my father and other men in the country, the most humiliating of these tributes was the occasional parade in which women were made to march and turn their heads and acknowledge the great man as they passed the review stand. If you did not march, your cédula would not be stamped, and without a stamped identification card, you could do nothing; in particular, you could not obtain your passport to leave the country under the pretext of wanting to study heart surgery. This was the second escape—this time with his whole family—that my father was planning. The day came when my mother had to march. Which statement best explains how the author develops the central idea throughout the passage?

Alvarez shows that refusing to obey Trujillo's requests could be dangerous.

Read the excerpt from "A Genetics of Justice" by Julia Alvarez. Periodically, Trujillo would demand a tribute, and they would acquiesce. A tax, a dummy vote, a portrait on the wall. To my father and other men in the country, the most humiliating of these tributes was the occasional parade in which women were made to march and turn their heads and acknowledge the great man as they passed the review stand. If you did not march, your cédula would not be stamped, and without a stamped identification card, you could do nothing; in particular, you could not obtain your passport to leave the country under the pretext of wanting to study heart surgery. This was the second escape—this time with his whole family—that my father was planning. The day came when my mother had to march. The parade went on for hours in the hot sun until my mother was sure she was going to faint. Her feet were swollen and hurting. The back of her white dress was damp with sweat. Finally when she thought she could not go one more step, the grandstand came into sight, a clutter of dress uniforms, a vague figure on the podium. Which statement best analyzes how the author develops the central idea across the paragraphs?

Alvarez traces how Trujillo demanded the tributes, how her family reacted, and how it was finally her mother's turn to pay tribute.

Read the paragraph. The event lasted two days and was even more successful than we had anticipated. We washed more than one hundred cars and raised almost $1,000. Now we are well on our way to finalizing our plans—a trip to the city to see a Broadway play! How does the infinitive phrase "to see a Broadway play" contribute to the text?

It adds a specific detail about place that is relevant to the text's topic.

Read the excerpt from chapter 8 of The Travels of Marco Polo and study the map. Let us go on now to tell of a large city which forms part of the province of Aden but has a petty ruler of its own. This city, which lies about 400 miles north-west of the port of Aden, is called Shihr. It is ruled by a count, who maintains strict justice in his domain. He has several cities and towns under his sway but is himself subject to the sultan of Aden. The people are Saracens and worship Mahomet. The city has a very good port; for I assure you that many merchant-ships come here well loaded with goods from India, and from here they export many goods to India. In particular they export innumerable fine chargers and sturdy pack-horses of great worth and price, on which the merchants make a handsome profit. Based on the text and the map, which labeled location sends products to Shihr?

Kalhat

Read the excerpt from "A Genetics of Justice" by Julia Alvarez. Perhaps because she had innocently revered him, my mother was now doubly revolted by this cold-blooded monster. He became something of an obsession with her—living as she was by then in exile with my father, isolated from her family who were still living on the Island. As my sisters and I were growing up, Trujillo and his excesses figured in many of my mother's cautionary tales. What is the central idea in this paragraph?

The author's mother thought of Trujillo constantly.

Read the excerpt from "A Genetics of Justice" by Julia Alvarez. Images of the dictator hung in every house next to the crucifix and Ia Virgencita with the declaration beneath: In this house Trujillo is Chief. The pale face of a young military man wearing a plumed bicorne hat and a gold-braided uniform looked down beneficently at my mother as she read her romantic novelas and dreamed of meeting the great love of her life. Sometimes in her daydreams, her great love wore the handsome young dictator's face. Never having seen him, my mother could not know the portrait was heavily retouched. What is the central idea of this paragraph?

The images of Trujillo portrayed him falsely.

Read the excerpt from chapter 8 of The Travels of Marco Polo. Kalhat is a large city lying inside the gulf which is also Kalhat. It is a fine city on the sea-coast 600 miles north-west of Dhofar. The people are Saracens who worship Mahomet. They are subject to Hormuz; and whenever the malik of Hormuz is at war with neighbors more powerful than himself, he comes to this city, because it is strongly built and situated, so that here he is afraid of no one. No corn is grown here, but it is imported by sea from other places. This city has a very good port, much frequented by merchant ships from India. They find a ready market here for their wares, since it is a centre from which spices and other goods are carried to various inland cities and towns. Many fine war horses are exported from here to India, to the great gain of the merchants. The total number of horses shipped to India from this port and the others I have mentioned is past all reckoning. Which detail best supports the author's opinion that Kalhat is a secure city?

The malik of Hormuz fears no one when he is in Kalhat.

Read the two excerpts. "Remembering to Never Forget: Dominican Republic's 'Parsley Massacre'" by Mark Memmott: Seventy-five years ago, thousands of Haitians were murdered in the Dominican Republic by a brutal dictator. It was one of the 20th Century's least-remembered acts of genocide. As many as 20,000 people are thought to have been killed on orders given by Rafael Trujillo. But the "parsley massacre" went mostly unnoticed outside Hispaniola. Even there, many Dominicans never knew about what happened in early October 1937. They were kept in the dark by Trujillo's henchmen. "A Genetics of Justice" by Julia Alvarez: At this point I would always ask her why she and my father had returned to live in the country if they knew the dictatorship was so bad. And that's when my mother would tell me how, under pressure from his friends up north, Trujillo pretended to be liberalizing his regime. How he invited all exiles back to form political parties. How he announced that he would not be running in the next elections. My father had returned only to discover that the liberalization was a hoax staged so that the regime could keep the goodwill and dollars of the United States. My father and mother were once again trapped in a police state. How do the passages work together to develop a central idea?

The passages show how people often did not know or understand the extent of Trujillo's deceit.

Read the paragraph. Volunteering at the animal shelter in my neighborhood has been a very rewarding experience. I started volunteering with a good friend of mine during summer vacation last year. Volunteering at the shelter is a lot of hard work, and it isn't always fun. Volunteers spend a lot of time cleaning out cages. What does the gerund phrase "volunteering at the animal shelter" contribute to the text?

The phrase acts as a noun that is the subject of the sentence.

Read the paragraph. Attending career day this spring will be helpful to all seniors, regardless of their future plans. By talking to potential future employers, students can learn about careers they have never heard of before. They can also learn which college degrees may be the most useful to them later in life. What does the phrase "later in life" contribute to the text?

The phrase adds a specific detail about time that is relevant to the text's topic.

Read the excerpt from The Travels of Marco Polo and study the map. When the traveler leaves Kuh-banan he goes for fully eight days through a desert. . . . After these eight days he reaches a province called Tun and Kain, where there are cities and towns in plenty. It is situated on the northern borders of Persia. There is an immense plain here, in which stands the Solitary Tree, which the Christians call the Dry Tree. Based on the excerpt and the map, what makes the journey to Kain difficult?

mountains and dry conditions

Read the two excerpts. "Remembering to Never Forget: Dominican Republic's 'Parsley Massacre'" by Mark Memmott: As for Trujillo, he stayed in power until 1961, when he was assassinated. Last year, the BBC spoke with one of the army officers who killed the dictator. "The only way to get rid of him was to kill him," Gen. Antonio Imbert told the BBC. "A Genetics of Justice" by Julia Alvarez: On May 30, 1961, nine months after our escape from our homeland, the group of plotters with whom my father had been associated assassinated the dictator. Actually, Dominicans do not refer to the death as an assassination but as an ajusticiamiento, a bringing to justice. Finally, after thirty-one years, Trujillo was brought to justice, found guilty, and executed. But the execution was an external event, not necessarily an internal exorcism. All their lives my parents, along with a nation of Dominicans, had learned the habits of repression, censorship, terror. Those habits would not disappear with a few bullets and a national liberation proclamation. They would not disappear on a plane ride north that put hundreds of miles distance between the island and our apartment in New York. The subject of both passages is

the circumstances under which Trujillo died.

Read the thesis statements. (1)The editorial "Adoption Is the Only Choice" and the news article "Animal Shelters Overpopulated" both discuss the same topic, but they serve different purposes.(2)Federalists believed that a strong central government would ensure popular sovereignty and individuals' rights.(3)Despite the obstacles facing African Americans in the early 1900s, Paul R. Williams became a prominent Los Angeles architect and community leader.(4)Australia's geological age can be seen in several surface features, including the age of surface rocks, the erosion of surface features, and the impoverishment of the soil. Which thesis statement best introduces a comparative essay?

the first statement, because the essay will compare ideas that are similar but treated differently

Read the excerpt from chapter 8 of The Travels of Marco Polo. Many marketable commodities are produced here. And many ships come here laden with cloth of gold and various silken fabrics, and much else besides that I will not attempt to specify, and exchange them for local products. They arrive and depart with full cargoes and the merchants make a handsome profit on the transaction. Why does the author include information about trade in this text?

to illustrate the wealth and commercial success of the region

Read the excerpt from chapter 8 of The Travels of Marco Polo. This province produces great quantities of excellent white incense, and also dates in great abundance. No grain is grown here except rice, and not much of that; but it is imported from abroad at a big profit. Fish is plentiful, notably tunnies of large size, which are so abundant that two of them can be bought for a Venetian groat. The staple diet consists of rice, meat, and fish. What is the author's reason for writing this text?

to inform the reader about the products and foods that a region offers

Read the sentences. My goal when visiting Alaska is to see the northern lights. I learned that the city of Fairbanks and Denali National Park are the two best locations in the state for viewing and photographing the lights. Which phrase is an infinitive phrase?

to see the northern lights