Novel: From A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Question 7 • CA-Common Core English Language Arts 11 B
Read the excerpt below from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and answer the question that follows. Most children brought up in Brooklyn before the First World War remember Thanksgiving Day there with a peculiar tenderness. It was the day children went around “ragamuffin” or “slamming gates,” wearing costumes topped off by a penny mask. How does Smith use language to reveal setting?
Answer
A
She uses syntax such as “First World War” and “Thanksgiving Day.”
B
She uses themes such as “First World War” and “Thanksgiving Day.”
C
She uses diction such as “First World War” and “Thanksgiving Day.”
D
She uses diction to structure the words in a way to make them easier to understand.
Explanation
Smith uses diction—the specific words and phrases she chooses—to establish when and where the passage takes place. References to Brooklyn, the First World War, and Thanksgiving Day give the setting a clear place and historical period. “Diction” is the correct term; syntax refers to how words are arranged, not the choice of words.
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