by James Baldwin
But one day a stranger from the South came into the palace.
“Great king,” he said, “is it true that you offer a prize to the man who can tell a story that has no end?”
“It is true,” said the king.
“And shall this man have your fairest daughter for his wife, and shall he be your heir?”
“Yes, if he succeeds,” said the king. “But if he fails, he shall lose his head.”
“Very well, then,” said the stranger. “I have a pleasant story about locusts which I would like to relate.”
“Tell it,” said the king. “I will listen to you.”
The story-teller began his tale.
“Once upon a time a certain king seized upon all the corn in his country, and stored it away in a strong granary. But a swarm of locusts came over the land and saw where the grain had been put. After searching for many days they found on the east side of the granary a crevice that was just large enough for one locust to pass through at a time. So one locust went in and carried away a grain of corn; then another locust went in and carried away a grain of corn; then another locust went in an carried away a grain of corn.”
Day after day, week after week, the man kept on saying, “Then another locust went in and carried away a grain of corn.”
A month passed; a year passed. At the end of two years, the king said,—
“How much longer will the locusts be going in and carrying away corn?”
“O king!” said the story-teller, “they have as yet cleared only one cubit; and there are many thousand cubits in the granary.”
“Man, man!” cried the king, “you will drive me mad. I can listen to it no longer. Take my daughter; be my heir; rule my kingdom. But do not let me hear another word about those horrible locusts!”
And so the strange story-teller married the king’s daughter. And he lived happily in the land for many years. But his father-in-law, the king, did not care to listen to any more stories.
"The Endless Tale" by James Baldwin
Question
Use the passage to answer the question.
Which sentence should be included in an objective summary of the passage?
(1 point)
Responses
A stranger, who seems very intelligent, travels to see the king.
A stranger, who seems very intelligent, travels to see the king.
A stranger from the South travels to see the king about the rewards he has promised for a never-ending tale and tells him a tale about locusts.
A stranger from the South travels to see the king about the rewards he has promised for a never-ending tale and tells him a tale about locusts.
A king seizes all the corn in his country and stores it in a granary.
A king seizes all the corn in his country and stores it in a granary.
A stranger wins the rewards promised by the king, and ruins the king’s love of stories, by telling a boring, repetitive tale about locusts.
1 answer
An objective summary of the passage should provide a clear overview of the main events without subjective opinions or unnecessary details. The best sentence to include in an objective summary of the passage is:
A stranger from the South travels to see the king about the rewards he has promised for a never-ending tale and tells him a tale about locusts.
This captures the central elements of the story without adding judgment or interpretation.
