Great Power, Great Responsibility

Question

K. Reiter

I would give up anything to be normal
But not my superpower
I would give up all the riches
For just one true friend

5 I would do anything for just a day
In which kids do not snicker
When I walk to class and sit
For just one day of high school

I would try anything if I can
10 Save my city but also
Eat ice cream after basketball
For just one scoop with friends

I would give you anything you want
If you could wipe away
15 The look of a superhero from my face
For just one day of a regular life

Party Problem
A. Gautam

After a busy day of skipping breakfast, little lunch and a very light dinner, Darla was exhausted. She was a little hazy when her dog appeared by her bedside and she asked, “Ralph, why the long face?” Darla didn’t even laugh at her own joke.

Just then, her phone buzzed with a text from her best friend Lori.

“Still on at 3?”

Darla was about to reply with a question mark when she realized that Lori had added her to a group text on accident. Texts started flooding in like an overflowing river in April. Darla quickly understood that her three best friends were planning a celebration for her early acceptance into Yale. At 12, Darla was going to college, which was a big deal indeed. But Darla loved attention as much as she loved eating rotten food. How can I stop this? Darla asked herself as she walked into the kitchen for a late-night snack. After all, her stomach was a hollow pit. The light was on, and she saw her mother fixing a sandwich.

“Mom, why are you eating after 10?” Darla asked her mother who was supposedly on a diet. She saw her mother hide a chocolate bar in the drawer quicker than Flash.

“Kid, why are you still up? Hush. I don’t think I'm allergic to wheat. I miss bread too much,” Laney explained. Her doctor had asked her to keep a close watch on her diet to rule out the allergen that was hard to test.

“I need your help. Lori and others are throwing a party for me. Help me get out of it. She accidentally sent a text to me with the details,” Darla blurted it out.

“Wait a minute, maybe she did it on purpose. That’s just to throw you off. Maybe the real party is a secret,” Laney said. She always considered Lori her second kid and knew her well.

“Could it be?” Darla argued. “I am going 200 miles away. She can’t let me go just like that. What is the plan then?”

“Don’t sweat too much. Anything Lori plans will be pain free for you. Trust me. Go read something boring to sleep. Maybe a dictionary will make your life more meaningful,” Laney said, laughing.

“Wow. Yeah. I will go now,” Darla said, shaking her head at her mother’s jokes that always sent her running. I wonder if I make such corny jokes, she asked herself.

How is the structure of passage 1 different from the structure of passage 2?
Responses
A It describes a speaker’s feelings of loneliness through repetition. It describes a speaker’s feelings of loneliness through repetition.
B It describes the struggles of someone powerful in each stanza. It describes the struggles of someone powerful in each stanza.
C It uses meter and rhyme to express heavy sentiments of the speaker. It uses meter and rhyme to express heavy sentiments of the speaker.
D It relies on line breaks to draw attention to important words.

Answer 1

The correct response is A: It describes a speaker’s feelings of loneliness through repetition.

In Passage 1, the speaker expresses feelings of isolation and a desire for normalcy amidst their superpower through repeated phrases like "I would give up" and "For just one day." This repetition underscores their emotional state of wanting more meaningful connections and experiences.

In Passage 2, the narrative structure focuses on a character's internal thoughts and interactions, presenting a more straightforward storytelling approach rather than emphasizing feelings through repetition.

Thus, the structure of Passage 1 emphasizes emotional repetition, while Passage 2 provides a more descriptive and narrative-driven format, focusing on character dynamics and dialogue.