The Grass Is Always Greener on the Other Side (and over the Septic Tank)

Read the following line:


Your eyes are as green as the grass in the summer time.


This is an example of...


A) Simile
B) Hyperbole
C) Personification
D) Irony

Scroll down for the answer.

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The green eyes are being compared to the green grass, so the only two answer choices that could deal with a comparison are simile and hyperbole.  Since there is no exaggeration going on and the comparison uses as, then we can figure out that the answer is A. Simile.

A big thanks to Alison for this question!  Alison, green eyes are also symbolic of jealousy and I'm sure all of your classmates are full of envy over how smart you are.

Haiku

Read the following poem by Basho:


It is deep autumn
My neighbor
How does he live, I wonder.


What is most likely the meaning of this poem?


a. The speaker worries about how his neighbor is going to make it through the cold nights
b. The speaker is approaching death and is now beginning to concern himself with the welfare of those around him
c. The speaker has just realized he knows nothing about his neighbor's life
d. The speaker cannot understand how the neighbor is still alive.




















Scroll down for the answer.










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Since this is a poem, a short one at that, we must look for clues to see if there is more to this than meets the eye.  The only clue we are given is that it is autumn.  Autumn is an archetype that means approaching old age and death.  With this in mind, the correct answer is b.

Did You Ever Think as a Hearse Goes by....

 Read the following passage from Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman and answer the question:

Mr. Vandemar, on the other hand, simply walked. It was too consistent, too steady and inexorable a walk to be described as a stroll: Death walks like Mr. Vandemar.

Which literary device represents Death?

a. allusion
b. hyperbole
c. tone
d. personification

Scroll down for the answer.

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Answer: D - one of the clues that alerts the reader of personification is that sometimes the thing personified will be capitalized (like Death here).  This is not always the case, but when you see something like Death or Time capitalized, then think personification.

Thanks to Ms. Parsons for this question!  I was trying to come up with some clever thing to say about Death and her class, but nothing really seemed to work (they were all either cheesy, morbid, or both), so... :(

Rock the Vote!

Read the passage:

A old man was sitting in the front row at a town meeting, heckling the mayor as he delivered a long speech. Finally the mayor could stand it no longer, so he pointed to the heckler and said, "Will that gentleman please stand up and tell the audience what he has ever done for the good of the city?"

"Well Mr. Mayor," the man said in a firm voice. "I voted against you in the last election."
 
Which word best describes the tone of the mayor?
 
a. whimsical
b. indignant
c. amused
d. scathing
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Scroll down for the answer.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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To answer a tone question, it is best to figure out what you think the tone (opinion of the speaker) is and then find a word that matches it.  You may not know what the words mean - don't despair.  Figure out which words are NOT the right answer and choose from what is left.
 
The mayor is certainly upset and a tad bit angry at his interruption, so we need a tone word that reflects this. 
 
a. is incorrect.  Whimsical means happy and care-free.
b. is correct. Indignant means someone who is angry and feels that they are not being treated fairly.
c. is incorrect.  Amused means the speaker finds something funny about the situation.
d. is incorrect.  This is the best wrong answer since scathing does mean the person is angry; however, scathing means that the speaker is angry and trying to hurt the other person with his/her remarks.
 
Story taken from: http://thejokes.co.uk/american-humor.php
~

OK, I Admit, This One Is Completely Unfair

 Read the following super short story by agentoboe:

     It is quiet here. I only perceive darkness, yet it is a blessing. There is nothing to fear, nothing to hide; everything is concealed in this temporary world—a universe that, in itself, seems infinite, but inevitably will be shattered. 
     Suddenly, light pierces our senses, suddenly, brutally. Our tranquility is ravaged as The Claws descend upon us. We remain silent as ever. 
     I am lifted out of our sanctum. I am prepared. This is my destiny, I think, as my very being is ripped apart. With one violent twist, and I exist no longer. No I am. Just I was. 

Look carefully - all the clues are here to tell us that this story is most likely told from the point of view of a(n) . . .

a. Oreo

b. little alien doll in the claw game from Toy Story

c. baby in the womb

d. flying purple space whale

Scroll down for the answer.

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Let's look at the clues.  At first it is dark.  That rules out b. since the little dolls have plenty of light to see by while talking to Buzz inside of the claw game.

The Claws - this clue would seem to point to b., but we've already ruled that one out.  Since our perspective is skewed, we can assume that our narrator really doesn't understand what is happening.  The Claws can eb anything grabbing thing.  That rules out d.  And really, did you need anything to rule out d.?  A purple flying space whale??????

The last clue is the violent twist, which (hopefully) rules out the baby in the womb and leaves us with an Oreo being pulled out of the pack and being twisted to open it up to eat the creme filling first.

a. is the correct answer.  I know for certain, because the story is entitled, "Oreo."

By the way, every normal person would have said "perspective" in the question instead of "point of view".  I said it the way I did because the NCFinal likes to say "point of view" not to mean 1st, 2nd, 3rd limited, and 3rd omniscient, but rather as "perspective."

This super short story and a few more like it can be found here: http://community.sparknotes.com/2012/07/10/read-five-super-short-stories/slide/6

The Sky Is Falling!

Read the following haiku by Baiko:



Plum petals falling
I look up...the sky,
a clear crisp moon.


This haiku is primarily about:


a. global warming
b. death
c. autumn
d. love










Scroll down for the answer.






















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b. is the correct answer. Why? Because of archetypes. Archetypes are symbols that stay the same in all cultures. Here we have leaves falling to the ground, which puts us in autumn time. Autumn is typically associated with death since the trees begin to die (or at least look like they are dying). Also the sky is crisp. The sky only has a crisp look when it gets cold outside, another indication of autumn or winter. Add to that the moon, which tells us that it is nighttime (yes, I know you can see the moon during the day, but typically it is associated with night). Night is, you guessed it, symbolic of death. So everything symbolically points to death, which is what this poem is about. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Baiko, the author. Oh, wait a minute, you can’t – he’s DEAD!

~

Houston, We Have a Problem

 Read the following very short story:

“Houston, We Have a Problem” by J. Matthew Zoss

I’m sorry, but there’s not enough air in here for everyone. I’ll tell them you were a hero.

From the story, we can assume:

a. their spacecraft must have been hit by a comet
b. they are locked in a bank vault and running out of air
c. one person is going to kill the other person
d. both characters are going to die in a sunken submarine







Scroll down for the answer.








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a. is incorrect.  From the title you can guess that it involves space travel, but nothing to suggest a comet strike.  This is the best wrong answer.
b. is incorrect.  From the story you can tell that they are running out of air, but nothing to suggest that it is in a bank vault.
c. is correct.  One will kill the other so that he can breath longer.
d. is incorrect.  Nothing to suggest either inference in this answer.  This is the worst answer choice.