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ELA 9

English Language Arts 9 · Worksheets

Theme, purpose and the big picture

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

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Theme, purpose and the big picture

English Language Arts 9 · 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. Read: “All season, Ben had played for the highlight — the end-to-end rush, the goal that would get him noticed. In the final game, with ten seconds left, he saw Carter open beside the net. Ben passed. Carter scored. On the bus home, Ben could not stop grinning.” Which theme does this passage best suggest?

    1. a) Hockey players should always pass the puck.
    2. b) Winning the final game is all that matters.
    3. c) Success can mean more when it is shared.
    4. d) People who want attention never succeed.

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

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

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

  5. 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) Students who miss a week of school can fall far behind.
    3. c) Wren should have lent her notes to her sick classmate.
    4. d) A broken arm can make it very hard to keep up at school.

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

  7. Text 1, a coach's saying: “Nobody remembers the practice you skipped. You remember the game you weren't ready for.” Text 2, from a student's journal: “I practised the piano piece every night for a month. At the recital my mind went blank, but my hands knew the way.” Which idea do both texts share?

    1. a) Performing in front of people is always frightening.
    2. b) Natural talent matters more than hours of hard work.
    3. c) Steady preparation pays off when it matters most.
    4. d) Coaches and music teachers expect far too much.

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

  9. 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

  10. Read: “Oh, good. Another group project. Nothing brings people together like four students, one deadline, and a shared document that only I have opened.” The tone of this passage is best described as

    1. a) anxious
    2. b) sorrowful
    3. c) grateful
    4. d) sarcastic

Answer key · Theme, purpose and the big picture

English Language Arts 9 · maddyhelps.com

  1. c) Success can mean more when it is shared. — Ben changes from wanting his own highlight to grinning over someone else's goal, and a theme usually lives in a change like that. “Always pass the puck” shrinks the idea to a hockey rule, and “never succeed” overgeneralizes.
  2. d) 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.
  3. b) 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.
  4. d) 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.
  5. 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.
  6. b) 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.
  7. c) Steady preparation pays off when it matters most. — Text 1 warns what happens without practice and Text 2 shows what happens with it; both say preparation counts when the pressure is on. Nerves on stage appear only in Text 2, so they cannot be the shared idea.
  8. c) 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.
  9. 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.
  10. d) sarcastic — “Oh, good” and “nothing brings people together” say the opposite of what the speaker means, since only the speaker has opened the document. Reading the words at face value leads to “grateful.”