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Feature
Girl in History
Marie Devers
1I usually don’t like to admit this, but at one time I disliked history. My teacher, Mr. Wittmeyer, was wonderful, and the material seemed interesting. When I listened to his lectures, however, I inevitably drifted off, got called on to answer, and had absolutely no clue what to say.
2Last month, we studied the Juch family of Poland. Jennalee Juch was a traveling musician who played her music all over the Austrian countryside. Her biography amazed me because I was a musician who played the piano, and I always wanted to travel across Europe. Suddenly, in my mind, I was a fifteenth-century troubadour packing her belongings and heading to the mountains. Next thing I knew, Mr. Wittmeyer asked me a question about whichever topic the class had moved on to, and as usual, I couldn’t answer.
3That’s how I did feel (notice the past tense) about history and social studies—that is—until Mr. Wittmeyer gave us a project that changed everything.
4The project required our whole class to visit the library and use the school computer program to research our family histories. Every year, this project is assigned to eighth graders. Everyone always gets excited that his or her family may have come from aristocracy, when in reality most of us came from farmers and commoners and people who were not much different from ourselves. I had a feeling I came from a long line of ancestors who were just like me: average.
5Mr. Wittmeyer directed my classmates and me to the computer laboratory and taught us how to use the program installed on the computers. The program allowed students to search their names to discover information about their ancestors.
6While using the software, I learned that my last name revealed that my ancestors had come from Italy. The computer quickly found links to biographies of my family members who had lived long ago. I learned that one of my relatives had been married to the brother of an Italian prime minister! Because my ancestor was a very high-profile person, information was easy to locate. My ancestor had been a musician. She played something called the harpsichord, a forerunner of the piano.
7I found it difficult to believe that one of my ancestors and I had such an authentic connection. The software showed me a picture of my ancestor, and I immediately noticed a resemblance. I daydreamed about an assembly with my fascinating relatives where we discussed the revolutionary changes between their time and mine.
8At the conclusion of our class period, after my classmates gathered around my computer to witness my gigantic discovery, I made sure to personally thank Mr. Wittmeyer because his project helped me learn to love history.
The author includes the information in the first paragraph of this passage
Responses
A to encourage the reader to study history.to encourage the reader to study history.
B to help the reader compare the narrator to her ancestors.to help the reader compare the narrator to her ancestors.
C to give the reader background details about the narrator.to give the reader background details about the narrator.
D to furnish the reader with a summary of the entire passage.
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The best answer to the question regarding the purpose of the information in the first paragraph of the passage is:
C to give the reader background details about the narrator.
In the first paragraph, the author introduces the narrator's initial dislike for history despite having a great teacher and an interesting subject. This background establishes the narrator's perspective and sets the stage for the transformation in her attitude toward history as the story unfolds.
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