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ELA 9

English Language Arts 9 · Worksheets

Mixed review · Theme, poetry and drama

Ten questions of mixed difficulty, covering Poetry and drama, Theme and purpose. Print it, or work through it on screen — the answer key starts on its own page.

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Mixed review · Theme, poetry and drama

English Language Arts 9 · maddyhelps.com

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

  1. Read this restaurant review: “The portions are, let us say, modest. Our server was friendly on both of the occasions he visited our table during our ninety-minute meal.” The tone of the review is best described as

    1. a) neutral and factual
    2. b) dryly critical
    3. c) angry and bitter
    4. d) warmly enthusiastic

  2. A cartoon shows a family of four at the supper table, each person staring at a phone. On the fifth chair sits the family dog, holding up a hand-lettered sign: “Anyone want to talk?” The cartoonist's main point is that

    1. a) children use their phones far more than parents do
    2. b) dogs understand their owners better than people think
    3. c) families are now too busy to sit down and eat together
    4. d) phones can cut people off even when they are together

  3. Read: “Every fall, drivers on Alberta highways hit deer at dusk. Slow down in the evening, watch the ditches, and remember: where there is one deer, there is often another.” The main purpose of this passage is to

    1. a) persuade drivers to take care around deer
    2. b) explain why deer cross highways at dusk
    3. c) tell an entertaining story about a deer
    4. d) describe how deer live during the fall

  4. Text 1, from an article: “Before the dam was built, the river flooded the valley every spring, and each flood left behind the rich soil the farms depended on.” Text 2, from a poem: “The storm that took the old spruce down / let sunlight reach the forest floor.” Which idea do both texts suggest?

    1. a) Something destructive can also make new growth possible.
    2. b) People should not interfere with the way nature works.
    3. c) Storms do more harm to forests than floods do to farms.
    4. d) Dams protect farms from the danger of spring floods.

  5. Which of these is a theme statement rather than a topic or a summary?

    1. a) Bravery and fear in the life of a young girl.
    2. b) This story is about courage, fear and growing up.
    3. c) Being brave sometimes means admitting you are afraid.
    4. d) A girl who is afraid of heights climbs a fire tower.

  6. In a story, Wren refuses to lend her notes to a classmate who was sick for a week. Later, Wren breaks her arm and falls behind, and that same classmate is the first to offer help. Which statement best expresses a theme of this story?

    1. a) Generosity means helping even people who did not help you.
    2. b) Wren should have lent her notes to her sick classmate.
    3. c) Students who miss a week of school can fall far behind.
    4. d) A broken arm can make it very hard to keep up at school.

  7. Two descriptions of a new skatepark. Text 1: “A 1.5-metre bowl, a flow section, and rails for every level.” Text 2: “Free parking, washrooms open 8 to 8, and a fence between the bowl and the playground.” Text 2 is most likely written for

    1. a) experienced skaters looking for a new challenge
    2. b) designers planning the next skatepark in town
    3. c) parents deciding whether to bring young children
    4. d) the city crew who will build the skatepark

  8. Text 1, a news brief: “Heavy rain forced the Harvest Fair to close two hours early on Saturday. Organizers say attendance was down by a third.” Text 2, a diary: “The Ferris wheel stopped with us at the very top in the pouring rain, and Nana laughed until she cried. Best fair ever.” The main difference between the texts is that

    1. a) the brief says the fair was a success, while the diary disagrees
    2. b) the brief counts the losses, while the diary finds joy in the rain
    3. c) the brief is made up, while the diary tells what really happened
    4. d) the diary gives more exact facts about the fair than the brief does

  9. Read this part of a script: “GRACE (to Liam): Of course I'll help you study for the test. (turning to the audience) The test I already saw on Ms. Ruiz's desk.” The words after “(turning to the audience)” are

    1. a) an aside, heard by the audience but not by Liam
    2. b) a flashback, showing an earlier scene in the play
    3. c) a monologue, spoken at length to the other characters
    4. d) a stage direction, telling the actor what to do

  10. Read: “The kitchen smelled of cardamom and toast; / the kettle rattled, and the window wept with steam.” These lines appeal mainly to which senses?

    1. a) hearing, touch and taste
    2. b) sight and taste only
    3. c) taste, touch and sight
    4. d) smell, hearing and sight

Answer key · Mixed review · Theme, poetry and drama

English Language Arts 9 · maddyhelps.com

  1. b) dryly critical — Nothing in the words is openly rude, but the facts chosen — portions that need a polite pause, a server who came twice in ninety minutes — add up to a quiet complaint. “Neutral” is the trap, since polite wording can still carry a judgment; “angry” overshoots, because the review never raises its voice.
  2. d) phones can cut people off even when they are together — The joke is the reversal: the dog is the only one who wants a conversation. The family is sitting down together, which rules out “too busy to eat together,” and every person at the table, parent and child, is on a phone.
  3. a) persuade drivers to take care around deer — The commands — slow down, watch, remember — show the writer wants drivers to do something. The fact about collisions is there to support the advice, and the passage never explains why deer cross.
  4. a) Something destructive can also make new growth possible. — The flood that leaves soil and the storm that lets in light both show damage making room for growth. You could read “don't interfere with nature” into Text 1's dam, but Text 2 has no people in it, and a synthesis answer has to fit every text.
  5. c) Being brave sometimes means admitting you are afraid. — A theme is a complete statement about life that could apply beyond one story. “Bravery and fear” names topics, the fire-tower sentence summarizes the plot, and “this story is about” lists subjects without saying anything about them.
  6. a) Generosity means helping even people who did not help you. — The classmate helps Wren after Wren refused to help her, which shows generosity that does not wait to be earned. Saying Wren should have lent her notes is a judgment about one character; a theme is an idea that reaches beyond the story.
  7. c) parents deciding whether to bring young children — Parking, washroom hours and a fence to keep little kids away from the bowl are what a parent checks before a trip. The details a writer chooses show who the writer has in mind; Text 1's bowl and rails are the ones aimed at skaters.
  8. b) the brief counts the losses, while the diary finds joy in the rain — Both texts cover the same rainy day, but the brief reports facts and costs, and the diary records a memory the rain made better. Nothing suggests the brief is made up, and it is the brief, not the diary, that gives exact numbers.
  9. a) an aside, heard by the audience but not by Liam — An aside is a short line spoken to the audience that the other characters cannot hear, which is how the audience learns Grace's secret. The words in brackets are the stage direction; the words after it are Grace's line.
  10. d) smell, hearing and sight — Cardamom and toast are smells, the rattling kettle is a sound, and the steamy window is something you see. Toast might make you think of taste, but the line says the kitchen smelled of it, not that anyone ate it.