Voices and Viewpoints

Read this excerpt from Langston Hughes's "The Negro Speaks of Rivers":

I've known rivers:

I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

Which type of poem is this work?

• a lyric poem

• a free verse poem

• a narrative poem

• a concrete poem

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CCSS.RL.7.4

What is the primary motivation of a media piece about the dangers of drunk driving?

• to increase awareness of a major social issue that puts people in danger

• to encourage people to take political action against companies that produce alcohol

• to promote the commercial interests of car manufacturers

• to entertain people with a tense true story about loss

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Read the excerpt from MLK, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech:

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic

shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

What is the allusion in this excerpt?

• Dr. King alludes to Lincoln's freeing of the slaves.

• Dr. King alludes to America as a land of equal opportunity.

• Dr. King alludes to the Founding Fathers and America's core values.

• Dr. King alludes to the recent achievements of the civil rights movement.

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Read the stanza from "The Rainy Day":

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;

It rains, and the wind is never weary;

My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,

But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,

And the days are dark and dreary.

How does the structure of "The Rainy Day" affect the poem?

• The rhyme and meter are both simple and rhythmic helping the speaker communicate that life can be bleak and dull.

• The rhyme and meter are both lighthearted and bouncy, helping the speaker communicate that life shouldn't be taken too seriously.

• The rhyme and meter are jazzy and uneven, helping the speaker communicate the unpredictably of life.

• The rhyme and meter are harsh and sharp, helping the speaker communicate his severe emotional pain.

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Read this stanza from "The Rainy Day":

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;

It rains, and the wind is never weary;

My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,

But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,

And the days are dark and dreary.

What does the word mouldering mean in this stanza?

• decaying

• growing

• impressive

• confusing

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Read these lines from "Invictus."

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

What does the phrase "the Horror of the shade" mean?

• the monstrosity of failure

• the misery of death

• the evil of defeat

• the torment of regret

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What is the purpose of this media piece?

• to persuade the viewer to join the navy

• to convince the reader to see the world

• to convince the American public that the navy is a good institution

• to demonstrate that everyone who joins the navy also loves to travel

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CCSS.RL.11-12.6

The speaker in "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" uses the I pronoun.

The speaker in "We Real Cool" uses the we pronoun.

Which statement is accurate?

• Both poems, despite their different points of view, speak for an entire race.

• "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" is deeply personal; "We Real Cool" speaks for a group.

• Both poems, despite their different points of view, are about one specific person.

• "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" speaks for a group; "We Real Cool" reflects on the poet's own youth.

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Read the passage from Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address."

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

What does Lincoln point out about the founding of the United States?

• It happened a long time ago.

• The United States was originally ruled by Britain.

• The nation was founded upon very specific ideals.

• The founding of the nation was marked by great truggle and strife.

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In "The Gettysburg Address," President Lincoln argues that all those who have come to Gettysburg to dedicate the cemetery there cannot "consecrate" or "hallow" the ground. That is, neither he nor anyone else can confer honor upon this place.

Is Lincoln's reasoning in support of this argument sound?

• Yes, because he then notes that the courageous sacrifices of those who died there have already made Gettysburg a place of honor and solemn respect.

• Yes, because he points out that to make Gettysburg an honored place would be to celebrate the awful violence and destruction of war.

• No, because he ultimately asserts that his speech remembering those who died at Gettysburg will turn the battlefield into a shrine.

• No, because he later states that Gettysburg was already viewed as a sanctified or holy place long before the battle was fought there.

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