Mr. Blue Sky

Read the song lyrics below for "Mr. Blue Sky" by The Electric Light Orchestra about a nice sunny day after a long rainy and cloudy period:

Runnin' down the avenue
See how the sun shines brightly in the city
On the streets where once was pity
Mr. Blue Sky is living here today, hey hey

 

Mr. Blue Sky please tell us why

You had to hide away for so long (so long)

Where did we go wrong?

Mr. Blue Sky please tell us why

You had to hide away for so long (so long)

Where did we go wrong?

What literary term is being used in this song? 

a. apostrophe

b. metaphor

c. simile

d. dramatic irony

e. 3rd person omniscient narrator 

 

 

By the way, you would probably recognize this song from the opening of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 with Baby Groot:

 

Scroll down for the answer:

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The way to figure this answer out is to knock out all answers you know are NOT the right one.  Apostrophe is probably a term you are not as familiar with, so we can put that as a maybe.  The others, however, you are familiar with.  We can rule out metaphor because there is no comparison.  Likewise with simile - plus there is no "like" or "as".  As far as dramatic irony goes, there is nothing that we know that the characters in this song do not, so we can rule that out.  That leaves us with 3rd Person Omniscient.  Even if you are unclear on which person point of view this is told in, there is not knowledge of Mr. Blue Sky's thoughts, so we are not omniscient in this clip, so we can rule out that answer.  

That brings us back to apostrophe.  It is the only answer that isn't eliminated, so we can go with that one.  Only choose answer choices you are not familiar with if you can rule out the other answers.

Apostrophe - talking to something or some concept that cannot talk back to you.

 

 

Polar Night

 Read the following passage from "Polar Night" by Norah Burke. The story is about a female polar bear who is getting ready for winter. At this point in the story, she has just killed a seal and heard a noise. She hid and this is what happens next:

Presently she saw upright seals coming along the shore. They were rather rare creatures, these, and dangerous for all they were so weak. The places they lived had light and noise, and smelled of good food. The she-bear often drew near the places, attracted by those smells. She hunted these land-seals too, and ate them when she could. They were not like the sea-seals, though. They wore seal fur, and their skins were rubbed with seal blubber, but there was a different taste inside.

Based on this passage, the term "land-seal" probably means:

a. sea lions
b. leopard seals
c. some unknown animals
d. humans







Scroll down for the answer...





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The correct answer is d. humans.  We get this because these creatures have lights and are dangerous.  The only creatures to create light that can also be a threat to polar bears are humans.  The fact that they are referred to as "seals" in any capacity comes from the fact that the perspective is from a bear who does not understand everything.  

Look, in the sky! It's a bird. It's a plane! It's Superman!

 Look at the comic book panels below.  Batman and Robin are trapped and cannot free themselves, then...

This particular piece of poor story telling is an example of which literary device?

a. rhetorical device
b. deus ex machina
c. extended metaphor
d. verisimilitude








Scroll down for the answer.











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We have several terms that you may not be familiar with. 
Rhetorical Device - anything that makes the reader look at the text from a different perspective
Deus Ex Machina - a plot device that appears only to help a character out of a sticky situation
Extended Metaphor - a metaphor that keeps going through a long passage
Verisimiltude - resembling truth

Of these, the only one that fits is b. deus ex machina.  This plot device often cheapens the story so much, that it is rarely used by good writers.

Not Sure If Lady Macbeth Is Evil or If Macbeth Is Just Whipped

 Read the following passage from Macbeth.  This takes place right after Macbeth kills the king, a man he admires.  He is a bit upset that his hands are covered in the king's blood.

“Neptune’s ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No. This my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red.”


What literary term is being used to express Macbeth's inability to deal with his guilt?

a. imagery

b. verbal irony

c. juxtaposition

d. hyperbole

Scroll down for the answer.

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a. is incorrect.  While it does describe the blood, it is not being used to express guilt.

b. is incorrect. There is no irony in this passage.

c. is incorrect.

d. is correct.  Macbeth is saying that the whole ocean does not have enough water in it to wash away all the blood on his hands.  

My Pretty Rose Tree

 Read the following poem by William Blake:

My Pretty Rose Tree

A flower was offered to me,
Such a flower as May never bore;
But I said, 'I've a pretty rose tree,'
And I passed the sweet flower o'er.

Then I went to my pretty rose tree,
To tend her by day and by night;
But my rose turned away with jealousy,
And her thorns were my only delight.

Why is the speaker's "only delight" the thorns of the rose tree?

a. the speaker is not fond of flowers, which is why he passed over the flower offered him
b. the speaker's girlfriend/wife is upset with him because of another woman is hitting on him
c. the speaker is a bitter old man with nothing but memories of better days
d. the speaker should have taken the rose offered
e. who the heck knows?


  








Scroll down for the answer.







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In this poem, the rose is symbolic of a woman.  One woman offered herself to him and he refused because he is faithful to his wife/girlfriend.  However, his wife/girlfriend is jealous and this causes problems in their relationship.

The Martian - Makes No Sense

 Read the following excerpt from Andy Weir's novel The Martian.  The protagonist has been stranded on Mars and has been keeping a log of his thoughts and actions while stuck there.  This excerpt begins with NASA officials trying to figure out how to get him home and ends with one of the protagonist's log entries.

     "Any idea on how to keep him alive for four years?"
     "Nope."
     "Work on that, too."
     "Will do," Venkat said.
     Teddy swiveled his chair and looked out the window to the sky beyond.  Night was edging in.  "What must it be like?" he pondered.  "He's stuck out there.  He thinks he's totally alone and that we all gave up on him.  What kind of effect does that have on a man's psychology?"
     He turned back to Venkat.  "I wonder what he's thinking right now."

LOG ENTRY: SOL 61
     How come Aquaman can control whales?  They're mammals! Makes no sense.


What literary device is being used for humorous effect?

a. juxtaposition
b. allusion
c. pun
d. rhetorical device

Scroll down for the answer.








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a. is correct.  Juxtaposition is the placing of one scene right next to the other scene.  Here we follow up on a serious issue with a silly one for humorous effect.

Go Gawain!

 Read the following from J. R. R. Tolkien's work, The Fall of Arthur:

Greatest was Gawain,
   whose glory waxed
as times darkened,
   true and dauntless,
among knights peerless
   ever anew proven,
defence and fortress
   of a falling world


What word could replace "waxed" in the second line?
a. faded
b. increased
c. faltered
d. fearless

How cool is it that I own this book?

Scroll down for the answer.




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a. and c. are incorrect.  They both mean the same thing, so if one was correct, so would the other.
d. means nothing in this sentence.
b. is correct.  While others failed, Gawain just got stronger, braver, and better.  His glory increased.