From Here to the Sargasso

9.  How does the setting advance the plot of the story?

• A.  It allows the characters to witness an uncommon event.
• B. It gives the characters the opportunity to identify a problem.
• C. It offers the characters a chance to develop new relationships.
• D.  It causes the characters to feel unsafe.

10.  Which sentence shows that the narrator is aware of the feelings of others?

• F.  It doesn't seem to be as strong, though, and the first turtle is putting an increasing amount of distance between them.
• G.  The baby turtle seems to be taking a break from his attempts to free himself from the nest.
• H.  We hurry back to the next, where a few other beachwalkers have been drawn in as well.
• J.  I can tell her mind is on my little brother, Charlie.

11.  Why doesn't the narrator watch the other turtles hatch at the end of the story?

• A.  He is consumed by his thoughts about the first turtle's destiny.
• B.  He doesn't have the patience to observe such a long process.
• C.  He is concerned that his mother has started worrying again.
• D.  He doesn't want to ruin the experience

12.  What is the primary theme of this story?

• F.  The young must make their own path in life.
• G. Home is wherever a person feels accepted.
• H.  People have a responsibility to protect nature.
• J.  Strangers can bond while sharing an experience.

13.  What is the best summary of the story?

• A.  While on vacation the narrator and his mother come across a nest of hatching sea turtles. The narrator listens as a woman explains to her young daughter that the small turtles will travel far across the ocean.  A small crowd watches the turtles make their way across the sand.  The narrator tries to continue watching the first turtle after the waves pull it out to sea, but the creature is soon hidden from view.
• B. The narrator is on a family vacation in Florida.  While on an evening walk along the beach, the narrator and his mother have the opportunity to watch baby sea turtles hatch and struggle toward the ocean.  The turtles remind the mother of her younger son, who is traveling alone to Los Angeles.  The narrator hopes that the first newly hatched sea turtle will overcome the odds and survive in the ocean.
• C. The narrator and his mother decide to walk on the beach at sunset, but it soon become dark.  They meet a little girl and her mother, who explains that a nest of sea turtles has unexpectedly begun to hatch.  The woman asks whether the narrator and his mother have a cell phone so that she can call her husband but they do not.  The narrator and his mother leave, but the return when the little girl yells that a turtle is out of the next.
• D. A little girl tells people walking on the beach that some baby turtles are hatching.  The narrator and his mother join the girl and her mother in watching the turtles, which are hatching about 10 days earlier than expected.  The girl asks her mother where the first turtle is going and learns that it must swim to the Sargasso Sea.  The narrator admires the small turtles' determination to cross the sand and reach the water.

14.  Using the first-person point of view allows the author to -- 

• F. describe the occasion's importance to the local residents.
• G. Explain the narrator's complex relationship with his mother
• H. present each character's thoughts about the event.
• J. help the reader feel closely connected with the narrator's experience.

15.  Why are the woman's comments about the nest in paragraphs 6 through 10 important to the story?

• A.  They explain why it is problematic that the turtles are hatching early.
• B.  They establish that the woman is knowledgeable about the life cycle of turtles.
• C. They reveal the significance of seeing the turtles hatch from their nest.
• D.  They show that the local residents think tourists disregard the safety of the turtles.

16.  In paragraph 19, the author refers to the turtle's onlookers as a "group of fans" to show that --

• F. people are leading the turtle to the ocean
• G.  the crowd wants the turtle to succeed
• H.  the narrator feels like part of the crowd
• J.  the narrator wishes more people could see the event.

17.  The narrator's observations in paragraph 2 are important to the story because they --

• A.  imply that Charlie values his personal interests more than family
• B. suggest that the narrator envies his brother
• C. illustrate the family's desire to spend time together
• D. convey the mother's anxiety about Charlie