(01.01 MC)Read the excerpt from The Great Gatsby. Then answer the question that follows.There was music from my neighbour’s house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.Which of the following figurative language devices is present in this passage?

(02.07 HC)Read the short story. Then respond to the essay question that follows.”Bruce and the Spider”by James Baldwin   There was once a king of Scotland whose name was Robert Bruce. He had need to be both brave and wise, for the times in which he lived were wild and rude. The King of England was at war with him, and had led a great army into Scotland to drive him out of the land.   Battle after battle had been fought. Six times had Bruce led his brave little army against his foes; and six times had his men been beaten, and driven into flight. At last his army was scattered, and he was forced to hide himself in the woods and in lonely places among the mountains.   One rainy day, Bruce lay on the ground under a rude shed, listening to the patter of the drops on the roof above him. He was tired and sick at heart, and ready to give up all hope. It seemed to him that there was no use for him to try to do anything more.   As he lay thinking, he saw a spider over his head, making ready to weave her web. He watched her as she toiled slowly and with great care. Six times she tried to throw her frail thread from one beam to another, and six times it fell short.   “Poor thing!” said Bruce: “you, too, know what it is to fail.”   But the spider did not lose hope with the sixth failure. With still more care, she made ready to try for the seventh time. Bruce almost forgot his own troubles as he watched her swing herself out upon the slender line. Would she fail again? No! The thread was carried safely to the beam and fastened there.   “I, too, will try a seventh time!” cried Bruce.   He arose and called his men together. He told them of his plans and sent them out with messages of cheer to his disheartened people. Soon there was an army of brave Scotch-men around him. Another battle was fought, and the King of England was glad to go back into his own country.   I have heard it said, that, after that day, no one by the name of Bruce would ever hurt a spider. The lesson which the little creature had taught the king was never forgotten.In a well-written paragraph of 5–7 sentences, achieve the following: Identify the universal theme of “Bruce and the Spider.” Describe how the theme is universal. Explain how the author developed and delivered the theme to the reader.

(03.02 LC)A claim takes a clear and defendable position on a topic in an argumentative essay.

(01.05 LC)All of the following are elements of an effective introduction except

(01.01 LC)Marcus is revising an essay, and he noticed he used the word “repulsive.” He wants to replace the word with one that is less harsh. He wants to change the word based on its

(01.02 HC)Read the excerpt from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Then answer the question that follows.   I lived at West Egg, the—well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them. My house was at the very tip of the egg, only fifty yards from the Sound, and squeezed between two huge places that rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season. The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard—it was a factual imitation of some Hôtel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden. It was Gatsby’s mansion. Or, rather, as I didn’t know Mr. Gatsby, it was a mansion inhabited by a gentleman of that name. My own house was an eyesore, but it was a small eyesore, and it had been overlooked, so I had a view of the water, a partial view of my neighbor’s lawn, and the consoling proximity of millionaires—all for eighty dollars a month.   Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water, and the history of the summer really begins on the evening I drove over there to have dinner with the Tom Buchanans. Daisy was my second cousin once removed, and I’d known Tom in college. And just after the war I spent two days with them in Chicago.How does the use of juxtaposition in this excerpt affect the meaning of the passage affect your understanding of the setting?

(02.04 MC)Read the excerpt from the poem “She Sweeps with Many-Colored Brooms” by Emily Dickinson Then answer the question that follows.She sweeps with many-colored brooms,And leaves the shreds behind;Oh, housewife in the evening west,Come back, and dust the pond!You dropped a purple ravelling in,You dropped an amber thread;And now you’ve littered all the EastWith duds of emerald!And still she plies her spotted brooms,And still the aprons fly,Till brooms fade softly into starsAnd then I come away.Which of the following statements best explains the poet’s use of figurative language?

(01.01 MC)Read the excerpt from The Great Gatsby. Then answer the question that follows.And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.Which figurative language device is present in this line?

(01.05 MC)Which of the following hooks is an effective way to introduce a literary analysis of Countee Cullen’s Harlem Renaissance poetry?

(01.02 HC)Read the short story from Myths and Legends of the Great Plains. Then answer the question that follows.   Long ago, in the beginning, Deer had no horns. His head was smooth like a doe’s. Now Deer was a very fast runner, but Rabbit was a famous jumper. So, the animals used to talk about it and wonder which could go the farther in the same time. They talked about it a great deal. They decided to have a race between the two, and they made a pair of large antlers to be given to whoever could run the faster. Deer and Rabbit were to start together from one side of a thicket, go through it, and then turn and come back. The one who came out of the thicket first was to receive the horns.   On a certain day all the animals were there. They put the antlers down on the ground to mark the starting point. Everyone admired the horns. But Rabbit said, “I don’t know this part of the country; I want to look through the bushes where I am to run.”   So, the Rabbit went into the thicket, and stayed a long time. He was gone so long the animals suspected he was playing a trick. They sent a messenger after him. Right in the middle of the thicket he found Rabbit, gnawing down the bushes and pulling them away to make a clear road for himself.   The messenger came back quietly and told the animals. When Rabbit came back, they accused him of cheating. Rabbit said, “No,” but at last they all went into the thicket and found the road he had made. Therefore, the animals gave the antlers to Deer, saying that he was the better runner. That is why deer have antlers. And because Rabbit cut the bushes down, he is obliged to keep cutting them down, as he does to this day.How does the juxtaposition of the two main characters add to the meaning of this story?