Read the paragraph from Talia’s short story.He began to advance toward me, like a soldier in the heat of battle. I stood at the podium, my papers in one hand, and watched as he stepped to the microphone. He slipped his glasses on and gave me a pointed stare. I had no idea what he was about to say.
Read the excerpt from chapter 7 of Obasan by Joy Kogawa."Maybe,” I said feebly, "he’s trying to be conciliatory and see the point of view of the other side. Or maybe he believes the welfare of the whole is more important than the welfare of the part and the fears of the collective can only be calmed by the sacrifice of a minority. Isn’t that the way it’s always been?” "Some people,” Aunt Emily answered sharply, "are so busy seeing all sides of every issue that they neutralize concern and prevent necessary action. There’s no strength in seeing all sides unless you can act where real measurable injustice exists. A lot of academic talk just immobilizes the oppressed and maintains oppressors in their positions of power.”
Read the poem "Sonnet in Primary Colors” by Rita Dove.
Read the excerpt from "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.”When a writer while pretending to record scenes, incidents, and their impact is in reality engaged in inducing hypnotic stupor in his readers through a bombardment of emotive words and other forms of trickery, much more has to be at stake than stylistic felicity. Generally normal readers are well armed to detect and resist such underhand activity. But Conrad chose his subject well—one which was guaranteed not to put him in conflict with the psychological predisposition of his readers or raise the need for him to contend with their resistance. He chose the role of purveyor of comforting myths.Read the passage from Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.Now and then a boat from the shore gave one a momentary contact with reality. It was paddled by black fellows. You could see from afar the white of their eyeballs glistening. They shouted, sang; their bodies streamed with perspiration; they had faces like grotesque masks—these chaps; but they had bone, muscle, a wild vitality, an intense energy of movement that was as natural and true as the surf along their coast. They wanted no excuse for being there. They were a great comfort to look at.
Which excerpt is historical evidence that supports Achebe’s claim about why Heart of Darkness is popular despite its racist elements?
Read the passage from "The Tell-Tale Heart.”Why would they not be gone? . . . . Oh God! what could I do? . . . . Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God!—no, no! They heard!—they suspected!—they knew!—they were making a mockery of my horror! . . . . I must scream or die! and now—again!—hark! louder! louder! louder! louder!
Read the passage from "Two Kinds.”She walked over and stood in front of the TV. I saw her chest was heaving up and down in an angry way."No!” I said, and I now felt stronger, as if my true self had finally emerged. So this was what had been inside me all along."No! I won’t!” I screamed.She yanked me by the arm, pulled me off the floor, snapped off the TV. She was frighteningly strong, half pulling, half carrying me toward the piano as I kicked the throw rugs under my feet. She lifted me up and onto the hard bench. I was sobbing by now, looking at her bitterly. Her chest was heaving even more and her mouth was open, smiling crazily as if she were pleased I was crying."You want me to be something that I’m not!” I sobbed. "I’ll never be the kind of daughter you want me to be!”"Only two kinds of daughters,” she shouted in Chinese. "Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind! Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter!”
Read the passage from an argumentative essay.Healthcare costs are becoming an issue for many Americans. In just two years, the average family has seen an increase of 3 percent in insurance costs. The increase rises to 25 percent when you include families who buy insurance on an exchange. At this rate, health care will soon be completely unaffordable for most Americans. Therefore, lowering the cost of health insurance must be a priority for lawmakers.
In an argument, what is the difference between reasons and evidence?
Read the stanza from "Sonnet in Primary Colors” by Rita Dove.Each night she lay down in pain and roseto the celluloid butterflies of her Beloved Dead,Lenin and Marx and Stalin arrayed at the footstead.And rose to her easel, the hundred dogs pantinglike children along the graveled walks of the garden, Diego’slove a skull in the circular windowof the thumbprint searing her immutable brow.
Which phrases or sentences best build the ideas about why women often choose to remain unknown? Select two options.
Which motivators are examples of extrinsic motivation? Select three options.
Read the excerpt from a creative nonfiction assignment.The dog trotted behind me as I hiked through the woods. A dog is a loyal companion, I thought to myself, even when the person it's loyal to is a total stranger. Up ahead, I saw my old friend, Lake Tasika. I looked at the dog. He looked at me, tail waving. I looked at the lake. It looked back at me. "Jump in,” it said in cool laps against the bank, though I’d never jumped in before. "Why not?” I said aloud to the dog. The dog barked his affirmation, though I was no expert on the meaning behind dog barks. I dropped my pack and ran.
Read the passage from A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen.Helmer: To desert your home, your husband and your children! And you don't consider what people will say!Nora: I cannot consider that at all. I only know that it is necessary for me.Helmer: It's shocking. This is how you would neglect your most sacred duties. Read the passage from A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf.That refuge she would have sought certainly. It was the relic of the sense of chastity that dictated anonymity to women even so late as the nineteenth century. Currer Bell, George Eliot, George Sand, all the victims of inner strife as their writings prove, sought ineffectively to veil themselves by using the name of a man. Thus they did homage to the convention, which if not implanted by the other sex was liberally encouraged by them (the chief glory of a woman is not to be talked of, said Pericles, himself a much-talked-of man), that publicity in women is detestable.
Read the excerpt from chapter 7 of Obasan by Joy Kogawa.There have been a few others. So counting that last fast visit, there have been nine trips in all. And in between visits, there’s the army, the navy, the air force of letters—all the Aunt Emily correspondence jamming up our small metal box in the Granton PO.
When revising an essay, how can a writer best connect ideas more clearly?
Read the passage from "Two Kinds.”In spite of these warning signs, I wasn't worried. Our family had no piano and we couldn't afford to buy one, let alone reams of sheet music and piano lessons. So I could be generous in my comments when my mother bad-mouthed the little girl on TV."Play note right, but doesn't sound good! No singing sound," complained my mother."What are you picking on her for?" I said carelessly. "She's pretty good. Maybe she's not the best, but she's trying hard." I knew almost immediately I would be sorry I said that."Just like you," she said. "Not the best. Because you not trying." She gave a little huff as she let go of the sound dial and sat down on the sofa.The little Chinese girl sat down also to play an encore of "Anitra's Dance" by Grieg. I remember the song, because later on I had to learn how to play it.
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