Use the excerpt from Walden by Henry David Thoreau to answer the question.

Question

I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers. A man thinking or working is always alone, let him be where he will. Solitude is not measured by the miles of space that intervene between a man and his fellows.
What is the best way to interpret the paradox “I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude”?

(1 point)
Responses

He is asking them to focus on the downside of being lonely.
He is asking them to focus on the downside of being lonely.

He is asking them to focus on the importance of close relationships.
He is asking them to focus on the importance of close relationships.

He is asking them to consider the benefits of having companions.
He is asking them to consider the benefits of having companions.

He is asking them to consider the benefits of spending time alone.

Macbeth
by William Shakespeare



Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.



From Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Question
Use the passage to answer the question.

How does the analogy in this excerpt from Shakespeare’s Macbeth help to develop meaning?

(1 point)
Responses

It hints that some lives are better lived than others.
It hints that some lives are better lived than others.

It gives a clue as to how the characters wanted to live their lives.
It gives a clue as to how the characters wanted to live their lives.

It suggests that life is more valuable when a person has friends.
It suggests that life is more valuable when a person has friends.

It highlights the fact that life is fleeting.

Sinking and Swaddled
by Beth Gilstrap

She swore she felt the earth drop—like a hitch in an elevator—several miles from her mother’s house. She thought of all those bedlinens agitated, curled, heaped on top of her mother, sunk along with everything else, beams, roof tiles, the acrylic nails her mom wore, the senselessness of waste.

"Sinking and Swaddled" from Deadheading and Other Stories © Beth Gilstrap. Published by Red Hen Press, 2021.

Question
Use the passage to answer the question.

The author’s use of words like drop and agitated denote which type of literary device, which conveys the feeling of movement and action?

(1 point)
Responses

visual imagery
visual imagery

kinesthetic imagery
kinesthetic imagery

auditory imagery
auditory imagery

tactile imagery
tactile imagery

Which description is an example of dramatic irony?(1 point)
Responses

A person is asked how something tastes, and he states that it is awful and then proceeds to eat several more bites.
A person is asked how something tastes, and he states that it is awful and then proceeds to eat several more bites.

A wife cuts and sells her hair to buy a watch chain for her husband, who has sold his watch to buy combs for her hair.
A wife cuts and sells her hair to buy a watch chain for her husband, who has sold his watch to buy combs for her hair.

A roofing contractor on a multistory building has a fear of heights.
A roofing contractor on a multistory building has a fear of heights.

A marriage counselor files for divorce from her fourth husband.

The Slow March of Light
by Heather B. Moore

One of the men stepped in front of her, so she stepped around him, but he moved again.

“Let me pass,” she said in a low voice.

“Where are you from?” he said.

Luisa glanced up at him. He needed a shave, but otherwise, he looked like most men in East Berlin. Dark clothing, face too thin, eyes haunted.

“Leave her be,” came a sharp reprimand behind them. An elderly woman emerged from the entryway of the apartment building they were next to. She clutched a threadbare shawl about her bony shoulders.

The Slow March of Light © Heather B. Moore, published by Shadow Mountain Publishing

Question
Use the paragraphs to answer the question.

How does the author’s use of imagery in the fourth and fifth paragraphs convey information about the historical setting?

(1 point)
Responses

The imagery conveys the violence that often occurred in East Berlin.
The imagery conveys the violence that often occurred in East Berlin.

The imagery implies that people in East Berlin did not get enough to eat.
The imagery implies that people in East Berlin did not get enough to eat.

The imagery reveals how people in East Berlin hated those from West Berlin.
The imagery reveals how people in East Berlin hated those from West Berlin.

The imagery shows how people in East Berlin supported one another.
The imagery shows how people in East Berlin supported one another.

Answer 1

Here are the best interpretations and responses for each question based on the provided excerpts:

1. Walden by Henry David Thoreau

   • Question: What is the best way to interpret the paradox “I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude”?
   • Response: He is asking them to consider the benefits of spending time alone.

2. Macbeth by William Shakespeare

   • Question: How does the analogy in this excerpt from Shakespeare’s Macbeth help to develop meaning?
   • Response: It highlights the fact that life is fleeting.

3. Sinking and Swaddled by Beth Gilstrap

   • Question: The author’s use of words like drop and agitated denote which type of literary device, which conveys the feeling of movement and action?
   • Response: kinesthetic imagery

4. Dramatic Irony

   • Question: Which description is an example of dramatic irony?
   • Response: A wife cuts and sells her hair to buy a watch chain for her husband, who has sold his watch to buy combs for her hair.

5. The Slow March of Light by Heather B. Moore

   • Question: How does the author’s use of imagery in the fourth and fifth paragraphs convey information about the historical setting?
   • Response: The imagery implies that people in East Berlin did not get enough to eat.

These responses align logically with the themes and devices presented in the texts.