The Eclipse

Total Eclipse

Objective:

• Analyze Dillard’s word choices

throughout a portion of her essay

that focuses on the fear of the unknown.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

How do changes around us reveal who we are?

As you read, think about:

• why people thought a total eclipse was a sign

• what effect an eclipse has after it passes

<<START>>

After reading, answer the following questions:

...

Multiple Choice

1- In this excerpt, Dillard’s central focus is

• A- the moment when a solar eclipse reaches totality

• B- a time when she experienced a bizarre hallucination

• C- learning that she and her husband perceived the world differently

• D- how the wisdom of other times in history applies today

Multiple Choice

2- Dillard’s writing style in the essay serves to

• F- objectively teach readers key facts about eclipses

• G- reflect her disoriented state of mind during the experience

• H- amuse readers with her humor about her limited understanding

• J- persuade readers that nothing is more amazing than an eclipse

Multiple Choice

3- What was the main effect of experiencing the eclipse?

• A- Dillard lost her memory of events before the eclipse.

• B- People became physically separated from each other.

• C- No one was able to speak or hear during totality.

• D- The appearances of everyday things changed dramatically.

EXTREME OR ABSOLUTE LANGUAGE

• Notice & Note: Highlight examples of extreme or absolute language in paragraph 1.

• Analyze: How do these word choices prepare the reader to learn about the experience of viewing an eclipse?

Extreme or Absolute Language

NOTICE the word choices in paragraph 1 are one way the author alerts readers to the big surprise that awaits them if they ever are lucky enough to actually experience an eclipse.

THINK the strong language Dillard uses, such as entirely and frail, and how it can shape readers’ expectations—and understanding—of what an eclipse is really like.

How do these word choices prepare the reader to learn about the experience of viewing an eclipse?

These word choices dislodge readers from their potentially bored sense of certainty by putting them on notice that they are about to be surprised and disoriented. Dillard helps to prepare readers to be dazzled by what they will read by telling them to discard their expectations as inadequate or even wrong.

Assessment

After reading the whole text, answer the following questions.... Please!!

Multiple Choice

What is one message the author presents in the text?

• An eclipse has a scientific explanation that few people understand.

• What happens during an eclipse has never been fully explained by science.

• One must experience an eclipse to understand it scientifically.

• Experiencing an eclipse is different than knowing what scientifically causes it.

Multiple Choice

What best describes the author’s purpose for including paragraph 3?

• To present a vividly poetic account of an experience

• To give factual details about a scientific process in nature

• To explain a perspective that differs from accepted facts

• To show how eclipses are usually perceived by average people

Multiple Choice

Read the sentences from paragraph 5.

I turned back to the sun. It was going. The sun was going, and the world was wrong. The grasses were wrong; they were platinum.

How does the author’s use of the word wrong influence the reader’s perception of the text?

• It implies that the narrator is concerned about the effects of the eclipse on the world around her.

• It demonstrates that a change in lighting can change people's moods in drastic ways.

• It emphasizes the power of an eclipse to transform the familiar into something new.

• It encourages the reader to consider the frightening effects of an eclipse.

Multiple Choice

Read the sentences from paragraph 6.

I looked at Gary. He was in the film. Everything was lost.

The author’s use of simple, direct sentences contributes to a tone of —

• wonder

• frustration

• intrigue

• disbelief

Multiple Choice

Read the sentence from paragraph 6.

We had all started down a chute of time.

What is the figurative meaning of this sentence?

• Time moved more quickly during the eclipse.

• Our surroundings made it feel like a different time.

• We were falling through a tunnel of different eras.

• The eclipse made us realize how much changes between eras.

Multiple Choice

Read the sentences from paragraph 8.

There was no sound. The eyes dried, the arteries drained, the lungs hushed. There was no world.

The author’s use of language contributes to a tone of —

• judgment

• nostalgia

• awe

• finality

Multiple Choice

Read the sentence from paragraph 8.

The hatch in the brain slammed.

What is the figurative meaning of this sentence?

• Part of the brain is shut off from the rest.

• Part of the mind is concealed like the sun.

• The narrator feels strangely disconnected.

• The narrator realizes and understands something.

Multiple Choice

Read the following paragraph about the text.

Scientists can explain the eclipse. People experience the eclipse in different ways.

The narrator has a surreal experience of the eclipse.

What is the best way to rewrite this paragraph to include sentence variety?

• Scientists can explain the eclipse, but people experience the eclipse in different ways. The narrator has a surreal experience of the eclipse, but other people might experience it differently.

• Scientists can explain the eclipse. People experience the eclipse in different ways. The narrator is having a surreal experience of the eclipse.

• Scientists can explain the eclipse, but people experience the eclipse in different ways. For example, the narrator has a surreal experience of the eclipse.

• Scientists can explain many things about the eclipse. People experience the eclipse in different ways. The narrator writes about a surreal experience of the eclipse.

Multiple Choice

In this excerpt, Dillard’s central focus is...

• The moment when a solar eclipse reaches three-fourth

• The moment when a solar eclipse reaches half way

• The moment when a solar eclipse reaches the turning point

• The moment when a solar eclipse reaches totality

Multiple Choice

Dillard’s writing style is the essay serves to...

• - Reflect her oriented state of mind during the storm

• - Reflect his oriented state of existing years after

• - Reflect humans oriented state of the body during the experience

• - Reflect her disoriented state of mind during the experience

Multiple Choice

In Paragraph 8, how does the repetition of words and ideas emphasize what Dillard sees and how she thinks about the eclipse?

• The repetition reveals that this was the weakest visual impression the illustrator was left with and suggested that this is something powerless.

• The repetition reveals that this was the strongest visual impression the author was left with and suggested that this is something timeless.

• The repetition reveals that it is the hopeless visual impression the author was left with and suggested that this is something timeless.

• It doesn't reveal the strongest visual impression, the musician was not left with and suggested that this is something word.

Multiple Choice

What happens during the total eclipse?

• The earth moves between the moon and the sun, blocking most or part of the sun’s light, depending on the viewer’s location.

• The moon moves between the earth and the sun, blocking most or part of the sun’s light, depending on the viewer’s location.

• The sun moves between the earth and the moon, blocking most or part of the sun’s light, depending on the viewer’s location.

• The moon moves between the stars and the sky, blocking most or part of the sun’s light, depending on the viewer’s location.

Multiple Choice

What was the main effect of experience the eclipse?

• The appearances of someday things do not change dramatically.

• The appearances of everyday things changed dramatically.

• The appearances of yourself change dramatically.

• The appearances of your friends change dramatically.

Multiple Choice

Complete the sentence with the best word.

As the falling tide began to _______, we gathered shells left behind.

• recede

• saturate

• wane

• hue

Multiple Choice

Complete the sentence with the best word.

Water began to ________ the furniture as the flood waters rose.

• hue

• wane

• saturate

• recede

Multiple Choice

The moon will _______ each month until it temporarily.

• hue

• recede

• saturate

• wane

Multiple Choice

The artist mixed paints until she had the perfect _____ for the sky.

• hue

• saturate

• recede

• wane

Multiple Choice

What is the title of the story?

• from Total Sun

• from Total Stars

• from Total Eclipse

• from Total Moon

Multiple Choice

Who is the author of the story?

• Orphan Dillard

• Annie Dillard

• Annie Bennie

• John Knowles

Multiple Choice

What genre is the story?

• Literary Text

• Literary Fiction

• Literary Nonfiction

• Literary Fiction

Multiple Choice

What is the central focus of the essay?

• The moment when a star eclipse reaches totality.

• The moment when a moon eclipse reaches half way.

• The moment when a solar eclipse reaches totality.

• The moment when a student reaches the end of the school year.

Multiple Choice

Where was your English teacher born?

• Los Angeles, California

• Lares, Puerto Rico

• Bronx, New York

• Chicago, Illinois