PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Revision
"On Summer"
"The Talk"
"Talk"
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
1. In “On Summer,” why does the author quote the poem about Mary Mack?
a. She wants to present an exceptionally fine example of modern poetry.
b. She wants to give an example of the street rhymes she chanted as a child.
c. She wants to show she can memorize poems easily.
d. She wants to show the ways in which young children pick on each other.
2. How did Lorraine Hansberry's family spend steamy summer nights in Chicago?
a. They stayed up all night.
b. They camped out in the basement.
c. They slept outdoors in the park.
d. They listened to music.
3. How does Lorraine Hansberry support her main idea in “On Summer”?
a. with many facts and statistics
b. with quotations from famous people
c. with quotations from family members
d. with a series of anecdotes, or brief stories
4. Where did Lorraine Hansberry's mother take her one summer to visit her grandmother?
a. Indiana
b. Nebraska
c. Tennessee
d. Georgia
5. Which of the following defines the term diction?
a. metaphor
b. repetition
c. exaggeration
d. word choice
6. Hansberry would most likely agree with which of the following statements?
a. It is better to grow up in the country than in the city.
b. The ideas and feelings of children are not to be trusted.
c. People care less about weather as they grow older.
d. People should not be afraid to change their opinions.
7. Which of the following best describes the character of the woman whom the author meets in Maine?
a. forceful
b. contented
c. harsh
d. timid
8. What is the main idea, or central message, in Lorraine Hansberry's “On Summer”?
a. No one wants to die in summer.
b. Life is often unfair.
c. Everyone should live life to the fullest.
d. Most children have strange ideas.
9. At the end of the essay, how has the author's attitude toward summer changed?
a. from dislike to hatred
b. from dislike to respect
c. from hope to despair
d. from confidence to doubt
10. Hansberry writes that she associates autumn with melancholy. Which word below is most nearly opposite in meaning to melancholy?
a. ugliness
b. pushiness
c. cheerfulness
d. curiosity
11. Hansberry calls autumn's melancholy “pretentious.” Which of the following is the best synonym for pretentious?
a. showy
b. reckless
c. unclear
d. lazy
12. I came actively to associate displeasure with most of the usually celebrated natural features and social by-products of the season: the too-grainy texture of sand; the too-cold coldness of the various waters we constantly try to escape into, and the icky-perspiry feeling of bathing caps.
Which item below best describes the writer's tone in this passage?
a. solemn
b. satirical
c. scathing
d. light
13. When Hansberry says that her grandmother “was born in slavery and had memories of it and they didn't sound anything like Gone With the Wind,” how would you describe the writer's tone?
a. melancholy
b. ironic
c. self-mocking
d. formal
14. Most essays have a main idea, either stated or implied. What is the author's main idea in “On Summer”?
a. Summer is the cruelest time for a person to die.
b. Life is often unpredictable; sometimes it is unfair.
c. Since we cannot know the future, we should live life to the fullest.
d. Women are intuitively well equipped to deal with death.
15. Why do you think Hansberry mentions her grandparents' experiences as slaves?
a. to surprise the reader with little-known facts
b. to show the reader that her family is just two generations away from slavery
c. to teach the reader some facts about slavery in American history
d. to persuade the reader to believe what she says about summer
16. The author of “On Summer” would most likely agree with which of the following statements?
a. Rural areas are better places than cities to raise children.
b. The perceptions of children are inaccurate.
c. People become less concerned about the weather as they grow older.
d. People should not be afraid to revise their opinions.
17. At the end of the essay, how has the author's attitude toward summer changed?
a. from dislike to contempt
b. from dislike to respect
c. from respect to reverence
d. from indifference to engagement
18. In “Talk,” why does the farmer get angry at his dog?
a. He didn’t like the tone of the dog’s voice.
b. His dog didn’t try to protect him from the talking yam.
c. The dog informed him that the yam was talking, not the cow.
d. The dog ran away as soon as the yam started talking.
19. Why do the men go to see the chief?
a. They want permission to move into the village where it is safer.
b. They want to protect him from things that talk.
c. They want him to fix the problem of the talking things.
d. They want to warn him about the talking yam.
20. Which of the following means the opposite of renegade?
a. humorous
b. loyal
c. serious
d. scarce
21. What kind of behavior might be expected from someone with a renegade attitude?
a. scrupulous
b. disloyal
c. excitable
d. solemn
22. In “Talk,” what does each man think when he first hears the story that the farmer tells.
a. He thinks the farmer is lying.
b. He thinks it is a frightening event.
c. He thinks he better leave for the village.
d. He thinks that it is not important.
23. A central truth or message of “Talk” is that
a. People don’t worry much about other people’s problems.
b. No one likes to hear stories of talking animals.
c. Chiefs do not have all the answers.
d. People feel better when others share their anxiety.
24. Which of the following do “The Talk” and “Talk” have in common?
a. Both selections focus on challenges related to growing up.
b. Both selections leave the main conflict unresolved.
c. Both selections are set in a faraway location.
d. Neither selection uses ordinary people as the main characters.
Which of the following identifies a difference, or point of contrast, between “The Talk” and “Talk”?
a. Soto uses diction to create humor, but Courlander and Herzog do not.
b. “The Talk” includes serious underlying issues, but “Talk” does not.
c. The main characters in “The Talk” are common people, whereas the main characters in “Talk” are fantastic characters.
d. “The Talk” describes ordinary occurrences, whereas “Talk” describes fantastic occurrences.
26. In “The Talk,” what is the cause of the boys' anxiety?
a. their grades in school
b. their clumsiness at sports c. their physical appearance
d. their parents' disapproval
27. One difference between “The Talk” and “Talk” is
a. “The Talk” is meant to be funny but “Talk” is not.
b. events in “The Talk” are believable, but events in “Talk” are not believable.
c. the characters in “The Talk” are humorous, but those in “Talk” are not.
d. the setting of “The Talk” is realistic, but the setting of “Talk” is not.
28. Which of the following devices appears in the writers’ diction in both “Talk ”and “The
Talk”?
a. hyperbole
b. foreshadowing
c. verbal humor
d. slang
29. One similarity between “The Talk” and “Talk” is that
a. both selections take place in the United States.
b. both selections are told from the third-person point of view.
c. both stories are meant to entertain and to communicate a message.
d. both selections relate the real-life experiences of the authors.
30. “The Talk” is an essay and is nonfiction; “Talk” is a folk tale and is fiction. Does being fiction or nonfiction make the message of one more “serious” than the other? Explain your answer.
30. Ans: Although one is nonfiction and one is fiction, the messages are equally serious.
