Hail Hydra!

This is a test.  This is only a test.

O.K., students, I know you'll have to ask your teacher what this thing is.  You young teachers out there, I know you'll have to ask the, um, teachers with more life experience what this is.

Ah, the good old days when you only have four TV stations to choose from...

Anyway, the forces of evil have now taken over and it is time to test! If you need some last minute tips, try here:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Extreme-English-Teacher-Acing-State-Reading-Comprehension-Tests-5283540 (it's free)

Otherwise, I'll leave you with one last question:

In Marvel comics, the oath that all Hydra agents take is:


"Hail, Hydra! Immortal Hydra! We shall never be destroyed! Cut off a limb, and two more shall take its place! We serve none but the Master—as the world shall soon serve us! Hail Hydra!"

What literary term is being used here?

a. metaphor

b. allusion

c. archetype

d. hyperbole

Scroll down for the answer.

________________________

The answer is b. allusion.  It is a reference to the Greek myth of the hydra monster that Hercules fought.  Don't know your Greek myths?  Get on that this summer.  Not only are they fun to read, but mythology is fair game for allusions on any state test, the SAT, and the ACT.

Good luck!

Teachers, give any student extra credit if they shouted out "Hail Hydra!" when they saw the Hydra logo.

Bad Food, Bad Dog

Look at the ad below:

What is this an example of?

a. allusion

b. verbal irony

c. archetypes

d. dramatic irony

e. imagery

Scroll down for the answer.

The correct answer is:

d. dramatic irony - the guy is so smug.  He's sure he has the police beat!  But because he didn't feed his dog the right dog food, the dog is ratting him out behind his back.  He doesn't see the dog, but we (and the police) do!

I Thought It Was a Punctuation Mark

Read the following words spoken by Macbeth in the play aptly named Macbeth.  He is on his way to the king's room to kill him when he sees a dagger floating in the air in front of him:

Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand?
Come, let me clutch thee!
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.

What is the purpose of the apostrophe in the above lines?

a. to show which weapon Macbeth will use to commit a murder

b. to show Macbeth's unstable state of mind

c. to provide imagery for the audience to envision the background

d. to show that Macbeth is not a killer

Scroll down for the answer.

________________________________

Two things are helpful in getting this question correct.  One is having read the story previously and the other is to know what an apostrophe is.  An apostrophe is speaking to an object that has no capacity to respond (similar but the not the same as personification).  Knowing this will lead you to think that if he is talking to a dagger that floats before him and cannot be touched, he must be freaking out.  That will bring you to either b. or d.  If you've read the story, you know that Macbeth is indeed a killer.  He starts the play by chopping a man in half.  The correct answer is b.  

Cry, the Beloved Country

Read this excerpt from Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

“There is a lovely road that runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass-covered and rolling, and they are lovely beyond any singing of it. The road climbs seven miles into them, to Carisbrooke; and from there, if there is no mist, you look down on one of the fairest valleys of Africa.”


What literary device is being utilized in this passage?

A. Pun
B. Allusion
C. Foreshadowing
D. Imagery







Scroll down for the answer.

_____________________________________

Answer- D- The visual portrayed here gives the reader, who may be unfamiliar with this terrain, a clear idea of what the land looks like. Although, foreshadowing may also be present, without any other information provided from the novel, you, the test taker, must utilize only the information that you are being given.



Thanks, Maggie, from Mrs. Stamey's class.  The title of this book speaks of crying and you know who else cries often?  State fans during basketball season.

I'm So Ready for Summer

Ray Bradbury's short story, "All Summer in a Day" takes place on Venus.  When it was written, nobody knew what the surface of Venus was like, so Bradbury guessed that it was rainy.  Read this excerpt:

"Margot stood apart from them, from these children who could never remember a time when there wasn't rain and rain and rain.  They were all nine years old, and if there had been a day, seven years ago, when the sun came out for an hour and showed its face to the stunned world, they could not recall."

What is the reason for the repetition of the word rain in this passage?

a. to emphasis and draw attention to the fact that it always rains on Venus.
b. for the rhyme and meter of the line.
c. for the alliterarion value.
d. it is part of the verbal irony of the passage.






Scroll down for the answers.





________________________

a. is correct.  By repeating words the author makes you take notice of it.
b. is incorrect.  Look for rhyme and meter in poetry, not prose.
c. is incorrect
d. is incorrect


~

Shocking! Positively Shocking!

Read the following passage from the book Fahrenheit 451:

He could feel the poison working up his wrists and into his elbows and his shoulders, and then the jump-over from shoulder-blade to shoulder-blade like a spark leaping a gap. 

What type of literary term is being used is this passage?

A. Personification

B. Simile 

C. Metaphor 

D. Hyperbole 

Scroll down for the answer.

______________

Correct answer: B because he explains that the poison spreads through his body fast like a spark when it lights. 

From Mrs. Brooks class. Chasity P., Hannah P., Joseph A. and Shekeith M. from Mrs. Brooks class!  You know what else feels like a poison spreading through your body, killing you slowly but surely? The state EOC!

Bonus points if you can figure out which movie the title of this post comes from (answer in the comments section).

Yum!

When the cannibal showed up late for dinner, they gave him the cold shoulder.


The above is an example of:

a. dramatic irony
b. pun
c. irony
d. metaphor







Scroll down to see the answers








_____________________________________

The correct answer is b. pun since there is a play on the words "cold shoulder."