Use a Rag!

 What literary term is being employed to make this ad effective?

a. archetype
b. allusion
c. irony
d. personification






Scroll down for the answer.





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This ad is to make you think about saving the planet by not using too many paper towels.  This is only made possible if the towel color is green, since green is an archetypal symbol of life - especially sine the remaining color is black, which is an archetype for death. The correct answer is a.

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.

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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.  

However, It's a Loud Party Everyday on the Eastern Front

Read this passage from All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

“Wearily I stand up and look out the window. Then I take one of the books, intending to read, and turn over the leaves. But I put it away and take out another. There are passages in it that have been marked. I look, turn over the pages, take up fresh books. Already they are piled up beside me. Speedily more join the heap, papers, magazines, letters.
    I stand there dumb. As before a judge.
    Dejected.
    Words, Words, Words- they do not reach me.
    Slowly I place the books back in the shelves.
    Nevermore.
    Quietly, I go out of the room.”


What is Remarque’s purpose for using repetition of “Words, Words, Words?”

A. Speaker wants to demonstrate his poetic prowess
B. Speaker’s mindset is joyful because he gets to read again
C. Speaker is bored as he’s stuck in his room
D. Speaker is frustrated that he cannot find what he is searching for amongst his books

Scroll down for the answer.

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Answer- D- The speaker is hastily picking up book after book to find something. Words like wearily and dejected demonstrate his negative state of mind. Option C does suggest negativity, but because he is frantically jumping from one book to the next, Option D’s suggest of searching for an unknown entity is the best option.

Thanks to Lydia and Kris, two extremely bright students from Mrs. Stamey's class that I am sure will get a scholarship to UNC someday. 

Paranormal Romance...

 Look at this movie poster:

What literary term is being used to grab attention?

a. alliteration
b. pun
c. verbal irony
d. satire


















Scroll down for the answer.










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a. is incorrect.  There is nothing alliterative in the title.  You can make a case for "Some Sagas..." as alliteration, but it is not being used to grab the viewer's attention.
b. is correct - play on the word "suck"
c. is incorrect - there is nobody talking, so we really cannot have verbal irony.
d. is incorrect - this movie is a parody, but parodies and satires often get confused.  Satires often poke fun in order to bring awareness to a social issue.

Menace!

Read the following page from Menace #5 (Marvel comics 1953):

Based on how it is used in the opening blurb, what does the word "yarn" mean?

a. a type of string
b. a story
c. an undead creature
d. a type of comic book








Scroll down for the answer.













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The context of the opening blurb suggests that the word "yarn", as used in the blurb, means b. story.  However, if you put d. type of comic book, I would say that you at least got the best wrong answer.



You're still wrong, though.  :)

I Hated This Movie

Read this passage from Anecdotage.com:

Shortly after the release of Titanic in 1997, Leonardo DiCaprio was approached by a 14-year-old European girl - who got down on the ground and latched onto his leg. "I looked at her," DiCaprio recalled, "and she just pressed her head against my leg. I said, 'Hi... What are you doing, sweetheart?' and she kept clutching. There was just a sort of obsessed look in her eye. She wasn't looking at me, though... I sort of grabbed her face and said, 'Hi, it's okay, you can get off my leg. It's fine.' She kept saying, 'No, no, no, no!'... I had to gently pry her hands off."

What is the most likely reason the author included the first phrase?

The author:
a. wanted to make sure the reader knew Leonardo is a famous actor.
b. really liked that movie.
c. thought the reader would feel the same way as the girl.
d. felt that this wouldn't have happened except in 1997.








Scroll down for the answer.














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This is an author's purpose question.  What these questions try to do is to make you think about what the author was trying to do.  In this case, the author was most likely trying to make sure the reader understood who Leonardo is so that the rest of the story would make sense.  The correct answer is a.

~

What Has It Got in Its Pocketsess?

 View the picture below:

What two literary terms drive the humor in this image?

a. verbal irony and periphrasis
b. alliteration and dramatic irony
c. allusion and pun
d. archetypes and imagery






Scroll down for the answer.




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a. is incorrect - verbal irony requires that something is said.  Nobody talks in this picture.  
b. is incorrect.  While it does seem that there may be some dramatic irony going on, it really doesn't add to the humor.  Plus there is no alliteration whatsoever in this picture.
c. is correct!  It is an allusion to The Hobbit, obviously, but the humor comes in that it is also an allusion to the cartoon series Precious Moments. Allusions are difficult if you are not familiar with the source material being referenced, so you may need to rely on eliminating other answers that you know are incorrect and then choosing from the ones left.  The pun is the word precious, being used by both stories.
d. is incorrect, but is the best wrong answer.  There are archetypes in this picture, but they are not being used for humorous intent.