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







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

Caps for Sale

Read the following passage taken from the book Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina:

Once there was a peddler who sold caps. But he was not like an ordinary peddler carrying his wares on his back. He carried them on top of his head.

First he had on his own checked cap, 

then a bunch of gray caps, 

then a bunch of brown caps, 

then a bunch of blue caps, 

and on the very top a bunch of red caps.

He walked up and down the streets, holding himself very straight so as not to upset his caps. As he went along he called,

“Caps! Caps for sale! Fifty cents a cap!”

In the above passage, what does the word "upset" mean?

a. tip over
b. make someone sad or irritated
c. to stand straight up
d. to move fast




















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a. is the correct answer

b. is incorrect - you didn't read, did you?  Whenever the EOC asks you what a word means and it seems to be an easy word - watch out.  Many easy words have multiple meanings.

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... :(

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







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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.  

Leaks

Look at this ad found in the restroom at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh:

What literary term is being used in this ad to draw attention and help viewers remember it later when they may need these services?

A. situational irony

B. rhetorical device

C. hyperbole

D. pun

Scroll down for the answer.

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Humor is subjective, but also quite effective in helping readers/viewers remember something they saw.  For advertising, remembering the product or service is essential.  This ad is using bathroom humor (in the bathroom, naturally) to stick with the reader.  That most likely narrows it down to a. situational irony or d. pun (though neither of these are required to be humorous).  In this case, the joke is the play on the word "leaks", so d. pun is the correct answer.

What? What?

 Look at this cartoon strip:

What is most likely the word that was blanked out in the last panel?

a. something profane
b. "bingo"
c. "irony"
d. no word was there, just ". . ."








Scroll down for the answer.





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O.K., this shouldn't have been too hard.  Let's stop and think.  A teacher is putting this up, so chances are that he is not going to put something profane on the site.  So we can rule out A.  Irony is something unexpected and it would be unexpected that an irony detector detects everything but irony, so C. is a good answer.  While it might look as if he is repeating her last word, "Bingo" makes no sense, so we can rule out B.  D. would only work if the cartoonist was expecting you to figure out the joke, so it might could work.  So we have b, which works, and d, which might would work.  Always go with the sure thing.  C. is the correct answer.

Never...Where?

 Read this passage from Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman and answer the question.

"It's a bit small," said the woman.

"Compact," corrected the camel-hair coat, smoothly. "Easy to take care of."

Based on context clues provided in the passage, which word best describes the meaning of the word compact?

a. spacious

b. decorous

c. tight

d. abundant

Scroll down for the answer.

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Correct Answer: C. 

Thanks to Ms. Parsons for this question!  I have it on good authority from one of her students whose first name starts with the letter S that Ms. Parsons is the best teacher in all of East Duplin High!