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English 30-1

English 30-1 · Worksheets

Mixed review · Reading and devices

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

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Mixed review · Reading and devices

English 30-1 · maddyhelps.com

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Circle the best answer for each question. Use the space to note the evidence or reasoning that decided it.

  1. A question asks what a text suggests about a character rather than what it states. The best answer will be one that

    1. a) is supported by details in the text, even though it is never said outright
    2. b) describes what most people would do in that situation
    3. c) is the most dramatic of the four options
    4. d) repeats a line from the text word for word

  2. Personification is

    1. a) an exaggeration for effect
    2. b) a reference to another work
    3. c) giving human qualities to something not human
    4. d) a comparison using like or as

  3. Tone is best described as

    1. a) the subject the text is about
    2. b) the writer's attitude toward the subject or audience
    3. c) the order events are told in
    4. d) the feeling created in the reader

  4. A simile differs from a metaphor because a simile

    1. a) gives human traits to an object
    2. b) compares two unlike things
    3. c) compares using like or as
    4. d) exaggerates for effect

  5. A writer begins an essay with a short personal anecdote before making an argument. The most likely reason is to

    1. a) confuse the reader deliberately
    2. b) prove the argument with evidence
    3. c) summarize the essay's conclusion
    4. d) draw the reader in and make the argument feel concrete

  6. In the phrase “a deafening silence,” the device is

    1. a) an oxymoron, pairing contradictory words
    2. b) personification
    3. c) hyperbole
    4. d) a paradox that resolves on reflection

  7. Read: “She set the letter on the table, unopened, and went back to washing dishes that were already clean.” The detail about the dishes suggests that she is

    1. a) expecting a visitor
    2. b) angry with the sender
    3. c) avoiding the letter
    4. d) proud of her housekeeping

  8. Situational irony occurs when

    1. a) a character says the opposite of what is meant
    2. b) what happens is the opposite of what was expected
    3. c) the setting contrasts with the mood
    4. d) the reader knows something a character does not

  9. Read: “Another meeting, another hour of my life I will never see again — truly, we are blessed.” The tone is best described as

    1. a) nostalgic
    2. b) sarcastic
    3. c) sincere
    4. d) anxious

  10. A text whose purpose is to persuade will most likely

    1. a) explain a process in neutral steps
    2. b) tell a story in chronological order
    3. c) describe a scene in sensory detail
    4. d) present a position and support it with appeals to the reader

Answer key · Mixed review · Reading and devices

English 30-1 · maddyhelps.com

  1. a) is supported by details in the text, even though it is never said outright — Suggests signals inference. The right answer is anchored in evidence you can point to; wrong answers are usually true-sounding generalizations that the text itself does not support.
  2. c) giving human qualities to something not human — The wind clawed at the shutters gives the wind hands it does not have. Naming it is easy marks; saying what it does — making the storm feel deliberate and hostile — is the actual answer.
  3. b) the writer's attitude toward the subject or audience — Tone belongs to the writer; mood belongs to the reader. A writer can adopt a bitter tone about a subject and create a mood of unease in you — two different things, often confused.
  4. c) compares using like or as — Both compare unlike things; the simile announces itself with like or as. Her voice was gravel is a metaphor; her voice was like gravel is a simile.
  5. d) draw the reader in and make the argument feel concrete — Openings do work: an anecdote builds interest and grounds an abstract claim in something human. It is not proof, which is why the argument still needs evidence afterward.
  6. a) an oxymoron, pairing contradictory words — Two words that cannot both be true sit side by side: that is an oxymoron. A paradox is a longer statement that seems self-contradictory until you think it through, such as saying that less is more.
  7. c) avoiding the letter — The dishes are already clean, so the washing is not about dishes — it is something to do instead of opening the letter. The unopened letter and the pointless task together imply avoidance.
  8. b) what happens is the opposite of what was expected — Verbal irony is saying the opposite; dramatic irony is the reader knowing more than the character; situational irony is the outcome contradicting the expectation.
  9. b) sarcastic — The words say blessed while the situation says the opposite, and that gap is verbal irony used sarcastically. Tone questions are usually settled by one or two loaded words.
  10. d) present a position and support it with appeals to the reader — Purpose shows up in choices: a persuasive text argues and appeals, an expository text explains, a narrative tells. Identifying purpose first makes every other question about the text easier.