lesson 2 act reading - prose fiction - student copy

LESSON 2: CONQUERINGPROSE FICTION PASSAGES

Instructor: Each 2-hour lesson is planned for 90 minutes of lecture (30-minute test review and 60-minute expert tips, strategies, and reading practice) as well as a 30-minute buffer period to address students' questions and to allow to the instructor to incorporate outside materials, if need be.

OVERVIEW:CONTENT AND GENERAL STRATEGY (15 min)

PROSE FICTION is the first passage type that will appear on the ACT Reading section. This passage type is excerpted from well-known anecdotes and novels, and so you can expect to encounter a story with a narrator, descriptions of main characters, including their states of mind (emotions and thoughts), key events related to the main plot, and the narrator's attitude/tone toward the characters and events.

When tackling this passage type, remember that there is no logical order to the paragraphs and the passage content cannot be easily subjected to direct logical analysis. Instead, you should pay careful attention to the key elements of a STORY. It is most highly recommended that you spend more time pre-reading (approximately four minutes) to account for the lack of logical organization and analytical structure of the passage. This extra time will be compensated because the prose fiction passage questions takes less time compared to other passage type questions.

The questions require you to understand the main characters and how the key events relate to the overarching plot. For example, keep these pertinent QUESTIONS in mind as you read the passage:

1. Who are the main characters? How do they relate to one another?

2. What is their disposition (sad, happy, excited, humorous)?

3. What are the key events the characters go through? What is the major event? What are the minor subplot events?

4. What is the narrator/author's attitude/tone toward the characters?

Remember that it is crucial to focus on the main plot (the overall event the characters are going through) as well as the characters' emotions and attitudes, which is often implied through dialogues and the narrator's descriptions of the characters and events.

ACT - Critical Reading - Lesson 2 1

Here are some TIPS/STRATEGIES to help you decipher the prose fiction passages:

1. Look for hints of character dialogues and brief character descriptions, such as momentary frowns or a sarcastic, humorous comment.

2. Remember to scan for and underline/circle key adjectives and action verbs, which will indirectly highlight the characters' emotions and attitudes.

3. Think of the prose passage as an intriguing MOVIE, with main characters and a plot. You need to quickly understand the characters and events as well as their subtle emotional states of mind. By making it fascinating and captivating, your mind is subconsciously trained to read actively, to scan and underline important contextual clues (key adjectives and verbs), and to search for the answer.

4. You are usually given line references for specific questions pertaining to the character or the plot. However, when you are not given the specific reference, remember to quickly match key terms in the question to the relevant part of the passage. This is why it is important to circle/underline key terms/phrases in your pre-reading.

5. Remember that if you have difficulty with understanding the main plot and characters, you can directly jump to the questions and let them refer you to the passage. Once you do a few questions, you should be able to get an idea of what the passage is about.

6. If you are still in doubt, ELIMINATE at least one WRONG answer type, and then GUESS (there is no penalty)!

SAMPLE PROSE FICTION PASSAGEAND QUESTION TYPES (30 min)

Let us consider the following sample prose fiction passage and the particularly relevant question types. Please note the ample margin spaces are provided for you to quickly jot down major details of character descriptions, events, and the author's tone/attitude.

The following sample is adapted from James Joyce’s short story “Grace” in Dubliners.

She was an active, practical woman of middle age. Not long

before she had celebrated her silver wedding and renewed her

intimacy with her husband by waltzing with him to Mr. Power’s

Line accompaniment. In her days of courtship, Mr. Kernan had seemed to

(5) her a not ungallant figure: and she still hurried to the chapel


door whenever a wedding was reported and, seeing the bridal pair,

recalled with vivid pleasure how she had passed out of the Star

of the Sea Church in Sandymount, leaning on the arm of a jovial

well-fed man, who was dressed smartly in a frock-coat and

(10) lavender trousers and carried a silk hat gracefully balanced upon

his other arm. After three weeks she had found a wife’s life

irksome and, later on, when she was beginning to find it

unbearable, she had become a mother. The part of mother presented

to her no insuperable difficulties and for twenty-five years she

(15) had kept house shrewdly for her husband. Her two eldest sons were

launched. One was in a draper’s shop in Glasgow and the other was

clerk to a tea-merchant in Belfast. They were good sons, wrote

regularly and sometimes sent home money. The other children were

still at school.

(20) Mr. Kernan sent a letter to his office next day and remained

in bed. She made beef-tea for him and scolded him roundly. She

accepted his frequent intemperance as part of the climate, healed

him dutifully whenever he was sick and always tried to make him

eat a breakfast. There were worse husbands. He had never been

(25) violent since the boys had grown up, and she knew that he would

walk to the end of Thomas Street and back again to book even a

small order.

Two nights after, his friends came to see him. She brought

them up to his bedroom, the air of which was impregnated with a

(30) personal odor, and gave them chairs at the fire. Mr. Kernan’s

tongue, the occasional stinging pain of which had made him

somewhat irritable during the day, became more polite. He sat

propped up in the bed by pillows and the little color in his

puffy cheeks made them resemble warm cinders. He apologized to

(35) his guests for the disorder of the room, but at the same time

looked at them a little proudly, with a veteran’s pride.

He was quite unconscious that he was the victim of a plot

which his friends, Mr. Cunningham, Mr. McCoy and Mr. Power had

disclosed to Mrs. Kernan in the parlor. The idea had been Mr.

(40) Power’s, but its development was entrusted to Mr. Cunningham. Mr.

Kernan came of Protestant stock and, though he had been converted

to the Catholic faith at the time of his marriage, he had not

been in the pale of the Church for twenty years. He was fond,

moreover, of giving side-thrusts at Catholicism.

(45) Mr. Cunningham was the very man for such a case. He was an


elder colleague of Mr. Power. His own domestic life was not very

happy. People had great sympathy with him, for it was known that

he had married an unpresentable woman who was an incurable

drunkard. He had set up house for her six times; and each time

(50) she had pawned the furniture on him.

Everyone had respect for poor Martin Cunningham. He was a

thoroughly sensible man, influential and intelligent. His blade

of human knowledge, natural astuteness particularized by long

association with cases in the police courts, had been tempered by

(55) brief immersions in the waters of general philosophy. He was well

informed. His friends bowed to his opinions and considered that

his face was like Shakespeare’s.

When the plot had been disclosed to her, Mrs. Kernan had

said:

(60) “I leave it all in your hands, Mr. Cunningham.”

After a quarter of a century of married life, she had very

few illusions left. Religion for her was a habit, and she

suspected that a man of her husband’s age would not change

greatly before death. She was tempted to see a curious

(65) appropriateness in his accident and, but that she did not wish to

seem bloody-minded, would have told the gentlemen that Mr.

Kernan’s tongue would not suffer by being shortened. However, Mr.

Cunningham was a capable man; and religion was religion. The

scheme might do good and, at least, it could do no harm. Her

(70) beliefs were not extravagant. She believed steadily in the Sacred

Heart as the most generally useful of all Catholic devotions and

approved of the sacraments. Her faith was bounded by her kitchen,

but, if she was put to it, she could believe also in the bansheeand in the Holy Ghost.

Specific Detail questions:

These questions (about three or four in the prose fiction passage) are most straightforward of all question types in the ACT Reading. They ask you to go back to the passage and find specific details that will help you to pick the best answer. Remember that explicit (direct) questions only require explicit, straightforward answers, so you do not need to think too deeply about the implied or secondary meanings of an event or character.


Examples:

1. According to his friends, Mr. Cunningham resembles:

A. Mr. KernanB. a policemanC. ShakespeareD. Mr. Power

2. According to the passage, people feel sorry for Mr. Cunningham because:

A. he is sensible, influential, and intelligent.B. he was the victim of a plot by his friends.C. he has a long association with police courts.D. he is married to a drunkard.

3. How many children do the Kernans have?

A. NoneB. OneC. TwoD. More than two

Inference questions:

These question types can be spotted with words such as "suggest," "infer," "imply," and "indicate." Remember that inference questions require you to make an implied conclusion based on the explicit information and details given in the passage. These question types tend to be a bit more difficult than the specific detail questions since you have to take an extra mental step to understand the implied meaning of the particular details. Therefore, inference questions have implied answers, so do not pick straightforward explicit answers.

Examples:

1. The second paragraph (lines 20-27) suggests that the Kernans' marriage is characterized primarily by:

A. Mr. Kernan's violent behavior toward his wife.B. Mrs. Kernan's patience with her husband.C. Mr. Kernan's fondness for his wife's beef-tea.D. Mr. Kernan's willingness to go to the store for his wife.

2. It can be reasonably inferred from this passage that Mrs. Kernan's attitude toward religion is:

A. fervently piousB. practical but faithfulC. skepticalD. nonexistent


3. One can reasonably infer from this passage that the goal of the friends' plan, mentioned in line 37, is to:

A. make Mr. Kernan a good, practicing Catholic.B. cure Mr. Kernan of his alcohol abuse.C. turn Mr. Kernan into a better husband.D. go to Thomas Street for Mrs. Kernan while her husband recovers.

Character generalization questions:

These question types are only specific to the Prose Fiction passage. You are required to synthesize the detailed descriptions of a character into simple generalizations. For example, if a character is described as publicly defaming another person or rebelling against a standard set of rules, then you can generalize that the character is slanderous and subversive.

Example:

1. Mrs. Kernan would most likely agree with which of the following characterizations of her husband:

A. He is foolish and excessive.B. He is sensible and intelligent.C. He is irreverent but generally considerate.D. He is proud of his accomplishments.

Point-of-view questions:

These questions (which do not occur as often) require you to describe the narrator's point of view.

Example:

1. The narrator's point of view is that of:

A. a detached observerB. Mr. KernanC. a biased observerD. the Kernans' child

Cause-Effect questions:

These questions (which do not occur as often) require you to recognize the cause or effect of an event in the story. The cue words in the question stem are: "resulted in," "led to," "caused by," and "because." You are usually asked to focus on how the actions of one character affected another's. Remember that you are not asked to make inferences, but rather find the explicit cause or effect.ACT - Critical Reading - Lesson 2 6

Example:

1. According to the passage, the visit paid by Mr. Kernan's friends resulted in:

A. his unpleasant behavior toward them.B. a completely healed tongue.C. his boasting of weathering two days of sickness.D. his politeness.

PRACTICE EXERCISES

Sample Prose Fiction Passage #1 (15 min):

Passage I

PROSE FICTION: This passage is adapted from Virginia Woolf’s The Voyage Out (1915).

Uncomfortable as the night, with its rocking movement, and salt smells, may have been, and in one case undoubtedly was, for Mr. Pepper had insufficient clothes upon his bed, the breakfast

Line next morning wore a kind of beauty. The voyage had begun, and had(5) begun happily with a soft blue sky, and a calm sea. The sense of

untapped resources, things to say as yet unsaid, made the hour significant, so that in future years the entire journey perhaps would be represented by this one scene, with the sound of sirens, hooting in the river the night before, somehow mixing in.

(10) The table was cheerful with apples and bread and eggs. Helen handed Willoughby the butter, and as she did so cast her eye on him and reflected, “And she married you, and she was happy, I suppose.” She went off on a familiar train of thought, leading on to all kinds of well-known reflections, from the old wonder, why

(15) Theresa had married Willoughby? “Of course, one sees all that,” she thought, meaning that one sees that he is big and burly, and has a great booming voice, and a fist and a will of his own; “but—” here she slipped into a fine analysis of him which is best represented by one word,

(20) “sentimental,” by which she meant that he was never simple and honest about his feelings. For example, he seldom spoke of the dead, but kept anniversaries with singular pomp. She suspected him of nameless atrocities with regard to his daughter, as indeed she had always suspected him of bullying his wife. Naturally she

(25) fell to comparing her own fortunes with the fortunes of her


friend, for Willoughby’s wife had been perhaps the one woman Helen called friend, and this comparison often made the staple of their talk. Ridley was a scholar, and Willoughby was a man of business. Ridley was bringing out the third volume of Pindar when

(30) Willoughby was launching his first ship. They built a new factory the very year the commentary on Aristotle—was it?—appeared at the University Press. “And Rachel,” she looked at her, meaning, no doubt, to decide the argument, which was otherwise too evenly balanced, by declaring that Rachel was not comparable to her own

(35) children. “She really might be six years old,” was all she said, however, this judgment referring to the smooth unmarked outline of the girl’s face, and not condemning her otherwise, for if Rachel were ever to think, feel, laugh, or express herself, instead of dropping milk from a height as though to see what kind

(40) of drops it made, she might be interesting though never exactly pretty. She was like her mother, as the image in a pool on a still summer’s day is like the vivid flushed face that hangs over it. Meanwhile Helen herself was under examination, though not

(45) from either of her victims. Mr. Pepper considered her; and his meditations, carried on while he cut his toast into bars and neatly buttered them, took him through a considerable stretch of autobiography. One of his penetrating glances assured him that he was right last night in judging that Helen was beautiful. Blandly

(50) he passed her the jam. She was talking nonsense, but not worse nonsense than people usually do talk at breakfast, the cerebral circulation, as he knew to his cost, being apt to give trouble at that hour. He went on saying “No” to her, on principle, for he never yielded to a woman on account of her sex. And here,

(55) dropping his eyes to his plate, he became autobiographical. He had not married himself for the sufficient reason that he had never met a woman who commanded his respect. Condemned to pass the susceptible years of youth in a railway station in Bombay, he had seen only military women, official women; and his ideal was a

(60) woman who could read Greek, if not Persian, was irreproachably fair in the face, and able to understand the small things he let fall while undressing. As it was he had contracted habits of which he was not in the least ashamed. Certain odd minutes every day went to learning things by heart; he never took a ticket

(65) without noting the number; he devoted January to Petronius, February to Catullus, March to the Etruscan vases perhaps; anyhow he had done good work in India, and there was nothing to regret in his life except the fundamental defects which no wise man regrets, when the present is still his. So concluding he looked

(70) up suddenly and smiled. Rachel caught his eye. “And now you’ve chewed something thirty-seven times, I suppose?” she thought, but said politely aloud, “Are your legs troubling you to-day, Mr. Pepper?”


*Before you answer the questions, please describe the MAIN PLOT of the story and the author's TONE/ATTITUDE toward the characters/events:

1. According to the passage, Mr. Pepper’s interests include all of the following EXCEPT:A. Petronius.B. Pindar.C. Catullus.D. Etruscan vases.

2. Helen would most likely agree with the characterization of Willoughby as:

F. inscrutable.G. honest and simple.H. emotional.J. unkind.

3. Given the way he is presented in the passage, Mr. Pepper can best be described as:

A. uncritical.B. hard-working.C. inflexible.D. selfless.

4. Helen compares Ridley to Willoughby in all of the following respects EXCEPT:

F. their careers.G. their children.H. landmarks in their careers.J. their physical appearance.

5. As described in the first paragraph, the discomfort during the night results from:


A. insufficient bedclothes.B. the rocking movement of the

ship.C. sound of sirens hooting in the

river.D. the rough sea.

6. One can infer that Ridley is:

F. Rachel’s father.G. Theresa’s husband.H. Helen’s son.J. Helen’s husband.

7. The passage suggests Mr. Pepper’s attitude towards women is that:

A. few deserve his respect.B. they are beautiful.C. they talk nonsense.D. several read Greek and a few Persian.

8. The analogy made in lines 41-43 suggests that:

F. Rachel resembles her mother in appearance but perhaps lacks her mother’s vitality and substance.

G. Rachel’s face is exactly like her mother’s.H. Rachel resembles her mother in some lights but not all.J. Compared to her animated mother, Rachel is merely a pale

reflection without substance.9. One can infer from lines 70-73 that:

A. Rachel pretends to be interested in the state of Mr. Pepper’s legs although she is really interested only in his peculiar chewing habits.

B. Rachel has inherited the trait from her father of not saying what she means.C. Mr. Pepper has chronic leg problems that he deals with by thoroughly chewing his food.D. Rachel secretly finds Mr. Pepper ridiculous, but she is polite when speaking to him.

10. In the passage, the narrator represents the viewpoints of:

I. Helen. II. Mr. Pepper.III. Rachel.IV. Willoughby.

F. I onlyG. I and II onlyH. I, II, and IIIJ. I, II, and IV

*Now go back and classify each question type as discussed in the lesson.


LESSON 2 - HOMEWORK #1:THREE PROSE FICTION PASSAGES

SAMPLE PASSAGE #1:

Naomi Shihab Nye, "The Cookies." © 1982 by Naomi Shihab Nye.

On Union Boulevard, St. Louis, in the 1950's, there were women in their eighties who lived with the

shades drawn, who hid like bats in the caves they claimed for home. Neighbors of my grandmother,

they could be faintly heard through a ceiling or wall. A drawer opening. The slow thump of a shoe.

Who they were and whom they were mourning (someone had always just died) intrigued me. Me, the

child who knew where the cookies waited in Grandma's kitchen closet. Who lined five varieties up on


the table and bit from each one in succession, knowing my mother would never let me do this at home.

Who sold Girl Scout cookies door-to-door in annual tradition, who sold fifty boxes, who won The

Prize. My grandmother told me which doors to knock on. Whispered secretly, "She'll take three boxes

—wait and see."

Hand-in-hand we climbed the dark stairs, knocked on the doors. I shivered, held Grandma tighter,

remember still the smell which was curiously fragrant, a sweet soup of talcum powder, folded curtains,

roses pressed in a book. Was that what years smelled like? The door would miraculously open and a

withered face framed there would peer oddly at me as if I had come from another world. Maybe I had.

"Come in," it would say, or "Yes?" and I would mumble something about cookies, feeling foolish,

feeling like the one who places a can of beans next to an altar marked For the Poor and then has to

stare at it—the beans next to the cross—all through the worship. Feeling I should have brought more,

as if I shouldn't be selling something to these women, but giving them a gift, some new breath,

assurance that there was still a child's world out there, green grass, scabby knees, a playground where

you could stretch your legs higher than your head. There were still Easter eggs lodged in the mouths of

drainpipes and sleds on frozen hills, that joyous scream of flying toward yourself in the snow. Squirrels

storing nuts, kittens being born with eyes closed; there was still everything tiny, unformed, flung wide

open into the air!

But how did you carry such an assurance? In those hallways, standing before those thin gray wisps of

women, with Grandma slinking back and pushing me forward to go in alone, I didn't know. There was

something here which also smelled like life. But it was a life I hadn't learned yet. I had never outlived

anything I knew of, except one yellow cat. I never had saved a photograph. For me life was a bounce,

an unending burst of pleasures. Vaguely I imagined what a life of recollection could be, as already I

was haunted by a sense of my own lost baby years, golden rings I slipped on and off my heart. Would I

be one of those women?

Their rooms were shrines of upholstery and lace. Silent radios standing under stacks of magazines. Did

they work? Could I turn the knobs? Questions I wouldn't ask here. Windows with shades pulled low,

so the light peeping through took on a changed quality, as if it were brighter or dimmer than I

remembered. And portraits, photographs, on walls, on tables, faces strangely familiar, as if I was

destined to know them. I asked no questions and the women never questioned me. Never asked where

the money went, had the price gone up since last year, were there any additional flavors. They bought

what they remembered—if it was peanut-butter last year, peanut-butter this year would be fine. They

brought the coins from jars, from pocketbooks without handles, counted them carefully before me,

while I stared at their thin crops of knotted hair. A Sunday brooch pinned loosely to the shoulder of an

everyday dress. What were these women thinking of?


And the door would close softly behind me, transaction complete, the closing click like a drawer

sliding back, a world slid quietly out of sight, and I was free to return to my own universe, to Grandma

standing with arms folded in the courtyard, staring peacefully up at a bluejay or sprouting leaf.

Suddenly I'd see Grandma in her dress of tiny flowers, curly gray permanent, tightly laced shoes, as

one of them—but then she'd turn, laugh, "Did she buy?" and again belong to me.

Gray women in rooms with the shades drawn . . . weeks later the cookies would come. I would stack

the boxes, make my delivery rounds to the sleeping doors. This time I would be businesslike, I would

rap firmly, "Hello Ma'am, here are the cookies you ordered." And the face would peer up, uncertain . . .

cookies? . . . as if for a moment we were floating in the space between us. What I did (carefully

balancing boxes in both my arms, wondering who would eat the cookies—I was the only child ever

seen in that building) or what she did (reaching out with floating hands to touch what she had bought)

had little to do with who we were, had been, or ever would be.

Main Plot:

Author's Tone/Attitude:

Questions:

1. Which of the following statements represents a justifiable interpretation of the meaning of the story?

A. The girl's experience selling Girl Scout cookies influenced her choice of careers.

B. The girl's experiences with elderly women made her aware of the prospect of aging.

C. Because she spent so much time with her grandmother, the girl preferred the company of older

people to that of other children.

D. The whole experience of selling Girl Scout cookies was a dream or hallucination and had nothing to

do with who the girl really was.

2. When she delivered the Girl Scout cookies, the girl most likely adopted a businesslike attitude because:

A. she hoped that such an attitude would persuade the elderly women to buy more cookies.

B. her grandmother had urged her to be more polite.

C. she wanted to avoid recalling the thoughts she had during her previous visit.

D. the elderly women really wanted little to do with her.

3. The girl was taken aback by the sight of her grandmother (5th paragraph) because:

A. the grandmother has a look of disapproval on her face.


B. it seems odd that her grandmother should be staring at a bluejay.

C. the grandmother asks if the woman bought any cookies.

D. it occurs to the girl that her grandmother is an old woman.

4. What conclusion can most justifiably be drawn about the adult woman who narrates the story?

A. She understands her reaction to the elderly women better now than she did as a girl.

B. She now looks down on elderly women and their way of living.

C. She is concerned about living conditions for the poor.

D. She believes she should never have tried to sell cookies to the women.

SAMPLE PASSAGE #2:

Prose Fiction: Excerpted from "The Tell Tale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe.

1True!-nervous-very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am! But why willyou say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses-not destroyed-notdulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heavenand in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe5how healthily-how calmly I can tell you the whole story.

It is impossible to tell how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, ithaunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved theold man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I hadno desire. I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! One of his eyes resembled that of a10vulture-a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my bloodran cold; and so by degrees-very gradually-I made up my mind to take the life ofthe old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.

Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you shouldhave seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded-with what caution-15with what foresight-with what dissimulation I went to work!

I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him. Andevery night, about midnight, I turned the latch of his door and opened it-oh, so gently!And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern,all closed, closed, so that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head. Oh, you20would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly-very,very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man's sleep. It took me an hour to placemy whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed.Ha!-would a madman have been so wise as this? And then, when my head was wellin the room, I undid the lantern cautiously-oh, so cautiously-cautiously (for the25hinges creaked)-I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vultureeye. And this I did for seven long nights-every night just at midnight-but I foundthe eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the oldman who vexed me, but his Evil Eye. And every morning, when the day broke, I wentboldly into the chamber, and spoke courageously to him, calling him by name in a


30hearty tone, and inquiring how he had passed the night. So you see he would havebeen a very profound old man, indeed, to suspect that every night, just at twelve, Ilooked in upon him while he slept.

Upon the eighth night I was more than usually cautious in opening the door. A watch'sminute hand moves more quickly than did mine. Never before that night had I felt theextent of my own powers-of my sagacity. I could scarcely contain my feelings of35triumph. To think that there I was, opening the door, little by little, and he not evento dream of my secret deeds or thoughts. I fairly chuckled at the idea; and perhaps heheard me; for he moved on the bed suddenly, as if startled. Now you may think that Idrew back-but no. His room was as black as pitch with the thick darkness (for theshutters were close fastened, through fear of robbers), and so I knew that he could not40see the opening of the door, and I kept pushing it on steadily, steadily.

I had my head in, and was about to open the lantern, when my thumb slipped upon thetin fastening, and the old man sprang up in bed, crying out: "Who's there?"

I kept quite still and said nothing. For a whole hour I did not move a muscle, and in themeantime I did not hear him lie down. He was still sitting up in the bed listening;-just45as I have done, night after night, hearkening to the death watches in the wall.

Main Plot:


Questions:

1. According to the narrator, what was his reason for wanting to kill the old man?

A. The man had wronged him in the past.B. He wanted to get his hands on the man's money.C. He believed the man intended to harm him.D. He was very disturbed by the man's eye.

2. Based on lines 16-32, it is most reasonable to assume that the old man:

A. had no idea the narrator intended to kill him.B. knew the narrator was up to something. C. usually went to bed very late.D. was planning to do something to the narrator.


3. As used in line 13, the word fancy most nearly means:

A. decorativeB. desireC. thinkD. like

4. At what point does the narrator shine the light of the lantern on the old man?

A. Immediately after the old man went to bedB. Immediately after he opened the old man's doorC. Immediately after he stuck his head into the old man's roomD. Immediately after he inquired how the old man had slept

5. Based on the information presented in lines 35-45, it is reasonable to assume that on the eighth night:

A. The old man felt uneasy and suspicious.B. The narrator no longer cared about being discovered.C. The narrator decided not to kill the old man.D. The old man thought somebody had broken into his house.

SAMPLE PASSAGE #3:

Passage I

PROSE FICTION: This passage is adapted from E. M. Forster’s A Room With A View (1908).

“The Signora had no business to do it,” said Miss Bartlett, “no business at all. She promised us south rooms with a view close together, instead of which here are north rooms, looking

Line into a courtyard, and a long way apart. Oh, Lucy!”(5) “And a Cockney, besides!” said Lucy, who had been further

saddened by the Signora’s unexpected accent. “It might be London.” She looked at the two rows of English people who were sitting at the table; at the row of white bottles of water and


red bottles of wine that ran between the English people; at the(10) portraits of the late Queen and the late Poet Laureate that hung

behind the English people, heavily framed; at the notice of the English church (Rev. Cuthbert Eager, M. A. Oxon.), that was the only other decoration of the wall. “Charlotte, don’t you feel, too, that we might be in London? I can hardly believe that all

(15) kinds of other things are just outside. I suppose it is one’s being so tired.” “This meat has surely been used for soup,” said Miss Bartlett, laying down her fork. “I want so to see the Arno. The rooms the Signora promised

(20) us in her letter would have looked over the Arno. The Signora had no business to do it at all. Oh, it is a shame!” “Any nook does for me,” Miss Bartlett continued; “but it does seem hard that you shouldn’t have a view.” Lucy felt that she had been selfish. “Charlotte, you mustn’t

(25) spoil me: of course, you must look over the Arno, too. I meant that. The first vacant room in the front—” “You must have it,” said Miss Bartlett, part of whose traveling expenses were paid by Lucy’s mother—a piece of generosity to which she made many a tactful allusion.

(30) “No, no. You must have it.” “I insist on it. Your mother would never forgive me, Lucy.” “She would never forgive me.” The ladies’ voices grew animated, and—if the sad truth be owned—a little peevish. They were tired, and under the guise of

(35) unselfishness they wrangled. Some of their neighbors interchanged glances, and one of them—one of the ill-bred people whom one does meet abroad—leant forward over the table and actually intruded into their argument. He said: “I have a view, I have a view.”

(40) Miss Bartlett was startled. Generally at a pension people looked them over for a day or two before speaking, and often did not find out that they would “do” till they had gone. She knew that the intruder was ill-bred, even before she glanced at him. He was an old man, of heavy build, with a fair, shaven face and

(45) large eyes. There was something childish in those eyes, though it was not the childishness of senility. What exactly it was Miss Bartlett did not stop to consider, for her glance passed on to his clothes. These did not attract her. He was probably trying to


become acquainted with them before they got into the swim. So she(50) assumed a dazed expression when he spoke to her, and then said:

“A view? Oh, a view! How delightful a view is!” “This is my son,” said the old man; “his name’s George. He has a view too.” “Ah,” said Miss Bartlett, repressing Lucy, who was about to

(55) speak. “What I mean,” he continued, “is that you can have our rooms, and we’ll have yours. We’ll change.” The better class of tourist was shocked at this, and sympathized with the new-comers. Miss Bartlett, in reply, opened

(60) her mouth as little as possible, and said: “Thank you very much indeed; that is out of the question.” “Why?” said the old man, with both fists on the table. “Because it is quite out of the question, thank you.” “You see, we don’t like to take—” began Lucy.

(65) Her cousin again repressed her. “But why?” he persisted. “Women like looking at a view; men don’t.” And he thumped with his fists like a naughty child, and turned to his son, saying, “George, persuade them!” “It’s so obvious they should have the rooms,” said the son.

(70) “There’s nothing else to say.” Lucy saw that they were in for what is known as “quite a scene,” and she had an odd feeling that whenever these ill-bred tourists spoke the contest widened and deepened till it dealt, not with rooms and views, but with—well, with something quite

(75) different, whose existence she had not realized before. Now the old man attacked Miss Bartlett almost violently: Why should she not change? What possible objection had she? They would clear out in half an hour. Miss Bartlett, though skilled in the delicacies of

(80) conversation, was powerless in the presence of brutality. It was impossible to snub any one so gross. Her face reddened with displeasure.

Main Plot:



Questions:

1. Lucy’s main impression of the pension is that:

A. it resembles a lodging house in London.B. it gives the feeling of being in London.C. many English people stay there.D. its proprietor is probably English.

2. Lucy’s chief complaint at the pension arises from:

F. dining with the English guests, who remind her of home.G. being served poor quality meat.H. seeing the Arno from her room.J. not having a south-facing room with a view.

3. The old man at the pension proposes that Miss Bartlett and Lucy:

A. exchange rooms with him and his son.B. go out for a swim with him.C. not argue in front of strangers.D. see the Arno from his son’s room.

4. One can infer from the passage that Lucy and Miss Bartlett are:

F. sisters.G. strangers meeting at the pension.H. traveling companions.J. old school friends.

5. In the passage, Miss Bartlett’s behavior towards Lucy can be described as:

A. motherly concern for Lucy’s happiness.B. stern and uncompromising.C. unselfish and full of gratitude towards Lucy’s mother.D. a mixture of deference and control.

6. In paragraphs 6–10, Lucy and Miss Bartlett disagree over:


F. who should take the first available room with a view.G. whether to accept the old man’s offer.H. Lucy’s selfishness.J. what Lucy’s mother would do.

7. One can reasonably infer from the passage that Miss Bartlett refuses the old man’s offer because:

A. of a mixture of pride and snobbery.B. she dislikes his appearance.C. she considers the offer inappropriate.D. she thinks Lucy’s mother would disapprove if she accepted.

8. The passage suggests that Miss Bartlett first finds the old man ill-bred primarily because:

F. he initiates a conversation with female strangers.G. of the childish look in his eyes.H. he interrupts her conversation with Lucy.J. he wears unattractive clothing.

9. Miss Bartlett would most likely agree with the characterization of the old man as:

A. immature.B. rude and offensive.C. impetuous but generous.D. manipulative.

10. Lines 76-77 represent the point of view of:

F. George.G. Miss Bartlett.H. the old man.J. the narrator.


lesson 2 act reading - prose fiction - student copy

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