Final Summative Test Review

Directions: In order to receive credit, answer all parts of the question on your own sheet of notebook paper in complete sentences. This will be due the day of your final exam.

“All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury (handout and website)

  1. What does the title of the story mean? Is it an effective title? What is another title you might give this story, and why?
  2. Why is Margot unhappy on Venus?
  3. Why do the children dislike Margot? Why does she not like to play their games? Give evidence from the story to support your ideas.
  4. Did the children mean to leave Margot in the closet, or did they only forget about her in their excitement? Use evidence from the story to support your point of view.
  5. How was the concept of jealousy important in the story? How was the idea of being different important?
  6. What inferences can you make about Margot’s feelings as she comes out of the closet at the end of the story? Provide evidence from the story for your point of view.
  7. Did the other children understand the implications of what they had done? How do you know?

“Searching for Summer” by Joan Aiken (handout and website)

  1. Why do the couple feel at ease and happy as they leave?
  2. What are the main reasons why Tom and Lily decide to stay with the Hatchings?
  3. What do Tom and Lily do while they are there? What is their emotional state?
  4. What do Tom and Lily remember they must do? Why might they be reluctant to leave
  5. Describe the personality of Mrs. Hatching (cite one text detail that helped you come to that conclusion)
  6. What would Mr. Noakes do if he found a bit of sunshine?
  7. How would Mr. Noakes’s idea change the place?
  8. Who is Mr. Noakes? Describe his personality. (cite one text detail that helped you come to that conclusion). How does his appearance match his personality?
  9. How does Mr. Noakes’s response to the Hatchings differ from everyone else’s?
  10. How does Mr. Noake react to when Lily tells him that they are looking for sunshine?
  11. How have the sky and climate changed? Why have they changed?
  12. What do Tom and Lily hope to do?
  13. What is the wedding party’s reaction? Why do they react that way?

“By the Waters of Babylon” by Stephen Vincent Benet (textbookp. 310 and website)

  1. Why does John set out on his Journey?
  2. What does John discover is untrue about the land of the Gods?
  3. When and where does the story take place?
  4. What is the theme of the story?
  5. What does John plan to do when he returns to his tribe?
  6. What is Johns attitude like at the end of the story?

“Harrison Bergeron”(textbook p. 38, handout, and website)

  1. What is the state of U.S. society as described in the first paragraph of the story? How has “equality” been achieved?
  2. Consider the characters of Hazel and George. Why isn’t Hazel handicapped? How does George seem to feel about his handicaps?
  3. Consider the character of Harrison in terms of both his physical qualities and personality traits.
  4. What is the significance of the dance that Harrison performs with the ballerina? How does the style in which the story is written change in this passage?
  5. How are we as readers supposed to react to Harrison and the ballerina’s execution?
  6. How do Hazel and George react to the televised murder of their son?

“There Will Come Soft Rains” (bookp. 326 and website)

  1. When and where does the story take place?
  2. List three functions the house performs.
  3. Describe the changes the house undergoes during the story.
  4. What has happened to the McClellan family and the town?
  5. What do you think is the theme of the story?
  6. In the third-person point of view, a narrator outside the action describes the events and characters. How does the third-person narrator of the story maintain the reader’s interest in a story with no human characters?