- Unit 3 Progress Check: MCQ -

Glass Menagerie Question 14: In the second and third paragraphs, the specific references to time ("the thirties") and place ("Spain," "Chicago, Cleveland, Saint Louis") primarily serve to . . .

A. reinforce the notion that the play is part of a "world of reality" (paragraph 5) that will be reconstructed from "memory" (paragraph 4) ------------------------------------------------- Reasoning: The specific references to an earlier time and actual places reinforce Tom's notion that the play is a "world of reality" constructed as a "memory play."

Letter Home Question 12: Overall, the poem can best be interpreted as a . . .

A. social commentary using a historical period ------------------------------------------------- Reasoning: The poem presents specific details of an individual speaker's experience—e.g., her realization that "no one needs a girl" (line 9) and the necessity that she pass as a white woman in order to look for a job—that highlight wider issues of race and gender. Because the poem was written in the year 2000 and is set in 1910, it can reasonably be inferred that the historical speaker's experiences are intended to present an indirect commentary on current social concerns, namely workplace discrimination based on race and gender.

Sredni Vashtar Question 6: Which lines from the passage would best support a reader's claim that one of the central themes of the passage is independence?

B. "Such few pleasures as he could contrive for himself gained an added relish from the likelihood that they would be displeasing to his guardian, and from the realm of his imagination she was locked out—an unclean thing, which should find no entrance" (paragraph 2) ------------------------------------------------- Reasoning: Conradin's imagination offers him a realm where his guardian is "locked out—an unclean thing, which should find no entrance." In the fantasy realms he creates for himself, he is able to make his decisions independent of an authoritative figure's oversight.

Glass Menagerie Question 16: In the fifth paragraph, Tom's description of the "gentleman caller" has which effect?

B. It prompts Tom to admit that he is prone to attaching figurative meaning to characters. ------------------------------------------------- When describing the "gentleman caller," Tom admits that he is prone to attaching figurative meaning to characters, describing himself as having "a poet's weakness for symbols" and explicitly says that he is using even the "gentleman caller," the "most realistic character in the play," as a symbol for "the long-delayed but always expected something that we live for."

Sredni Vashtar Question 1: In the third sentence of the first paragraph, the narrator's description of Mrs. De Ropp as "those three-fifths of the world that are necessary and disagreeable and real" suggests that . . .

B. Mrs. De Ropp is a strict person who fails to appreciate Conradin's creative spirit ------------------------------------------------- Reasoning: The description of Mrs. De Ropp as "necessary and disagreeable and real" suggests that she is a strict person who would not appreciate someone like Conradin, who thrives on his creative spirit.

Letter Home Question 8: Which of the following does the speaker imply about her "plain English and good writing" (line 6)?

B. That she had mistakenly believed that these skills would be sufficient to get her a job ------------------------------------------------- Reasoning: The speaker had mistakenly believed that her skills would enable her to find work. She "kept thinking" they would "secure / for [her] some modest position."

Sredni Vashtar Question 5: Toward the end of the final paragraph, Conradin's "exchange" of "a long-secreted hoard of small silver" with the butcher-boy is significant because it . . .

B. develops the idea that Conradin finds joy in acts that would be displeasing to Mrs. De Ropp ------------------------------------------------- Reasoning: The "exchange" reinforces the pleasure that Conradin takes in acts that would displease Mrs. De Ropp, such as purchasing "a large polecat-ferret" for his secret hideaway.

Sredni Vashtar Question 2: The second paragraph ("Mrs. De Ropp . . . entrance") suggests that Conradin is able to cope with his situation primarily by . . .

C. retreating to the security of an interior world ------------------------------------------------- Reasoning: Conradin's retreat into his imagination, in "the disused tool-shed of respectable proportions," is the primary way that he copes with his situation.

Glass Menagerie Question 15: According to Tom, the presence of the "gentleman caller" mentioned in the fifth paragraph reinforces a conflict between . . .

C. waiting and fulfillment ------------------------------------------------- Reasoning: The gentleman caller is described as "the most realistic character in the play, being an emissary from a world of reality"; Tom also says that he represents "the long-delayed but always expected something that we live for."

Glass Menagerie Question 13: In the first paragraph, Tom's claim that he is "the opposite of a stage magician" and that he tells the "truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion" suggests that he . . .

C. will tell the "truth" in a way that his audience can accept ------------------------------------------------- Reasoning: Tom's claim suggests that he will tell the "truth" in a way that his audience can accept. He will provide a "pleasant disguise" for what might be a harsh reality.

Sredni Vashtar Question 4: Which of the following effects does the "large polecat-ferret" mentioned toward the end of the final paragraph have on the development of Conradin's character?

D. It fulfills Conradin's imaginative ideal because he is able to transform it into "a god and a religion" (paragraph 3). ------------------------------------------------- Reasoning: The polecat-ferret provides an appealing outlet for Conradin's imaginative sensibility.

Letter Home Question 7: What is the source of the internal conflict acknowledged by the speaker?

E. She realizes that her race and gender will make it difficult for her to achieve her goals. ------------------------------------------------- Reasoning: Although the speaker has disguised her race, she is not confident that she can maintain this disguise. She indicates in lines 15-28, "Do I deceive / anyone? Were they to see my hands, brown / as your dear face, they'd know I'm not quite / what I pretend to be." Yet her more immediate concern is her realization that her gender will keep her from being hired for an office position: "no one needs a girl" (line 9). She understands that both her race and gender will make it difficult for her to achieve her goals.

Glass Menagerie Question 17: In the sixth paragraph, the description of Tom's father, the "fifth character in the play," introduces which idea?

E. The void created by the father's absence serves as an important character itself. ------------------------------------------------- Reasoning: The description of the father introduces the idea that there is a void created by the father's absence that is ever present and filled with meaning for the family.

Glass Menagerie Question 18: Which details from the passage would best support a reader's interpretation that escape is a central theme of the passage?

E. Tom's description of the gentleman caller and his reference to the postcard from Mazatlan ------------------------------------------------- Reasoning: The gentleman caller is described as "the most realistic character in the play, being an emissary from a world of reality that we were somehow set apart from," suggesting that the family had escaped, for better or worse, from reality. The father's "picture postcard from Mazatlan, on the Pacific coast of Mexico" that just says "Hello—Goodbye!" suggests that he escaped his familial responsibilities.

Sredni Vashtar Question 3: In the third sentence of the final paragraph, the "disused tool-shed" functions primarily as a setting in which Conradin . . .

E. discovers meaningful solitude ------------------------------------------------- Reasoning: Conradin does seem to discover meaningful solitude in the tool-shed. The narrator indicates that "within its walls Conradin found a haven."

Letter Home Question 10: Lines 27-28 ("Their . . . to me") emphasize the speaker's sense that her . . .

E. past life and true identity are always present ------------------------------------------------- Reasoning: The wash pots and the irons of the laundresses that "call" to her emphasize the speaker's sense that her past life is a permanent part of her identity.

Skill Categories, Skills, and My Scores:

Skill Category 1: Explain the function of character. Skill 1.A: Identify and describe what specific textual details reveal about a character, that character's perspective, and that character's motives (3/3). Skill 1.B: Explain the function of a character changing or remaining unchanged (2/3). Skill Category 2: Explain the function of setting. Skill 2.A: Identify and describe specific textual details that convey or reveal a setting (3/3). Skill Category 3: Explain the function of plot and structure. Skill 3.E: Explain the function of a significant event or related set of significant events in a plot (3/3). Skill 3.F: Explain the function of a conflict in a text (2/3). Skill Category 7: Develop textually substantiated arguments about interpretation of literature and that may establish a line of reasoning. Skill 7.B: Develop a thesis statement that conveys a defensible claim about an interpretation of literature and that may establish a line of reasoning (3/3).

Letter Home Question 11: Lines 29-34 ("I thought . . . ends") suggest that the speaker imitated Miss J— primarily because she . . .

D. regarded speech like Miss J—'s as a means of self-improvement ------------------------------------------------- Reasoning: These lines suggest that the speaker regarded imitating Miss J—'s speech as a means of self-improvement. She wanted to become educated like Miss J—.

Letter Home Question 9: In lines 21-40 ("There . . . home"), the speaker's juxtaposition of her life in New Orleans with her life at "home" primarily serves to emphasize . . .

A. the harsh reality of her situation ------------------------------------------------- Reasoning: The juxtaposition emphasizes and reinforces the harsh reality of her situation as a Black woman who leaves her rural home to make a better life for herself but discovers that the city has nothing for her.

Passage 1: Sredni Vashtar

Questions 1 - 6 Skill 1.A: 1/1 Skill 3.F: 1/1 Skill 2.A: 1/1 Skill 1.B: 1/1 Skill 3.E: 1/1 Skill 7.B: 1/1

Passage: Glass Menagerie

Questions 13 - 18 Skill 1.A: 1/1 Skill 2.A: 1/1 Skill 3.F: 0/1 Skill 1.B: 0/1 Skill 3.E: 1/1 Skill 7.B: 1/1

Passage: Letter Home

Questions 7 - 12 Skill 3.F: 1/1 Skill 1.A: 1/1 Skill 2.A: 1/1 Skill 1.B: 1/1 Skill 3.E: 1/1 Skill 7.B: 1/1