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English 20-1

English 20-1 · Worksheets

Mixed review · Reading and story

Ten questions of mixed difficulty, covering Close reading, Story. Print it, or work through it on screen — the answer key starts on its own page.

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Mixed review · Reading and story

English 20-1 · maddyhelps.com

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Circle the best answer for each question. Show your work in the space provided.

  1. The best evidence for a claim about a character's state of mind is usually

    1. a) the title of the story
    2. b) a general summary of the plot
    3. c) a specific detail of what the character does or says
    4. d) the reader's own experience

  2. A flashback most often functions to

    1. a) confuse the reader deliberately
    2. b) end the story
    3. c) slow the story down for no particular reason
    4. d) supply earlier information that explains a character's present behaviour

  3. A story told in first person uses

    1. a) you, addressing the reader
    2. b) I and we, from inside one character's experience
    3. c) no pronouns at all
    4. d) he, she and they, with access to every mind

  4. Diction means

    1. a) a writer's choice of words
    2. b) the way a text is arranged on the page
    3. c) the story's main idea
    4. d) the rhythm of a line

  5. Connotation refers to

    1. a) the number of syllables in a word
    2. b) how often a word appears in a text
    3. c) the dictionary definition of a word
    4. d) the associations a word carries beyond its literal meaning

  6. In a visual text, the focal point is

    1. a) the photographer's name
    2. b) the element the eye is drawn to first
    3. c) the caption beneath the image
    4. d) the frame around the image

  7. A photograph taken from a low angle looking up at its subject usually makes the subject appear

    1. a) closer to the viewer's eye level
    2. b) vulnerable or small
    3. c) distant and unimportant
    4. d) powerful or imposing

  8. A passage describing a house as cramped, dim and airless rather than small, shaded and still mainly establishes

    1. a) a formal register
    2. b) the setting's exact dimensions
    3. c) a negative tone through connotation
    4. d) the narrator's reliability

  9. In a story, symbolism is most convincingly argued when

    1. a) a character mentions the object
    2. b) the object appears in the title
    3. c) a concrete object recurs at moments that link it to an abstract idea
    4. d) an object is described in detail once

  10. Setting contributes most to a story when it

    1. a) is described in vivid detail
    2. b) is a real place
    3. c) is mentioned in the first paragraph
    4. d) shapes what the characters can do, believe or become

Answer key · Mixed review · Reading and story

English 20-1 · maddyhelps.com

  1. c) a specific detail of what the character does or says — Markers reward precise textual support. A summary shows you read it; a quoted gesture or phrase shows you can point to where the meaning lives.
  2. d) supply earlier information that explains a character's present behaviour — The useful question is always why it appears where it does. A flashback placed just before a decision usually tells you what is really driving that decision.
  3. b) I and we, from inside one character's experience — First person gives immediacy and limits you to what that character knows, notices and is willing to admit. Both the access and the limit are things a writer chooses on purpose.
  4. a) a writer's choice of words — Diction is word choice, and it is the most reliable evidence for tone. Naming a word as formal, colloquial, archaic or clinical is more useful than calling the whole passage descriptive.
  5. d) the associations a word carries beyond its literal meaning — Slender, thin and scrawny denote roughly the same thing and connote very different attitudes. Connotation is usually where a writer's judgement is hiding.
  6. b) the element the eye is drawn to first — Composition, contrast, lighting and placement are all used to direct attention. Saying where a viewer looks first, and what put them there, is where an analysis of a visual should start.
  7. d) powerful or imposing — Camera angle positions the viewer. Looking up puts you below the subject; a high angle looking down does the opposite. It is a convention, so it can also be used ironically.
  8. c) a negative tone through connotation — Both sets of words describe the same house. The first set carries discomfort in its associations, and that judgement is the writer's attitude showing through the description.
  9. c) a concrete object recurs at moments that link it to an abstract idea — One appearance is a detail; a pattern is a symbol. Pointing to the repetition and to what accompanies it each time is what makes the reading persuasive rather than imposed.
  10. d) shapes what the characters can do, believe or become — Setting includes time, place and social conditions. If moving the story somewhere else would change nothing, the setting is scenery; if it would break the story, the setting is doing work.