Unit Test — Cumulative exam

Question 24 • TX-English II A-CR

Which excerpt from chapter 1 of Animal Farm is an example of direct characterization?

Answer

“The two cart-horses, Boxer and Clover, came in together, walking very slowly and setting down their vast hairy hoofs with great care lest there should be some small animal concealed in the straw.”

“Boxer was an enormous beast, nearly eighteen hands high, and as strong as any two ordinary horses put together. A white stripe down his nose gave him a somewhat stupid appearance.”

“Clover made a sort of wall round them with her great foreleg, and the ducklings nestled down inside it and promptly fell asleep.”

“Last of all came the cat, who looked round, as usual, for the warmest place, and finally squeezed herself in between Boxer and Clover; there she purred contentedly throughout Major's speech without listening to a word of what he was saying.”

Explanation

Direct characterization tells the reader about a character through the narrator’s explicit description. Choice B directly describes Boxer as enormous and strong, and says the stripe on his nose gives him a somewhat stupid appearance. The other excerpts mainly show the animals’ behavior, allowing readers to infer their traits instead.

AI-written and checked against the verified answer.

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