8th ELA

General Clinton, concerned about what General Howe was planning and doing, made use of a mask to write a secret message in a letter to General Burgoyne.

Before writing the letter, Clinton had placed an hourglass-shaped mask on a piece of paper and then had formed the secret message within that shape.

The unmasked letter had enough false information in it to fool any American who happened to see it. But when Burgoyne viewed the letter with the mask, he read Clinton's view of the real situation: Howe has made a bad move; I don't have enough men to do anything about it.

Which statement best expresses the central idea of the excerpt?

• Generals were able to send secret messages to each other using a mask.

• General Howe failed to help the other generals defeat the Americans.

• The British were better at using codes than the Americans.

• False information in a letter could cause problems for the Americans.

In the summer of 1777, British General Sir Henry Clinton, in New York City, had to keep in touch with General John Burgoyne, whose troops were heading down the Hudson Valley, and with General Sir William Howe, who was supposed to link up with Burgoyne but instead had chosen to take Philadelphia.

Howe believed that "friends of [the British] Government" along the Hudson would make Burgoyne's task easy. But along the Hudson there were also many enemies of the British. A Peekskill man, for example, although paid to be a courier for Burgoyne, handed the general's message to the Americans. Other British couriers who rode south were never heard from again.

Which statement includes explicit information from the text?

• General Burgoyne’s misjudgments led to failures in communication between British troops.

• Several people pretended to be friends of General Howe but were actually spies for the Americans.

• General Clinton needed to communicate with other British leaders in order to coordinate attacks.

• General Burgoyne gave a message to a courier who ended up giving it to the Americans.

If Randy Pausch, the author of Last Lecture, had written a speech about receiving his cancer diagnosis and what he did following the diagnosis, which organizational structure would he most likely have used?

• chronological ordering

• compare and contrast

• central ideas and supporting details

• problem and resolution

Read the sentences from Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.

And I assure you I am not in denial. It’s not like I’m not aware of what’s going on.

Why is Pausch telling his audience this?

• He wants to convince them that they should stop focusing on his illness.

• He wants them to remember that he is in a difficult situation.

• He wants them to feel comfortable and accept his positive attitude.

• He wants to encourage them to have sympathy for him.

Read the sentence from Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.

And that’s something we should not lose sight of, is that the inspiration and the permission to dream is huge.

Why is Pausch telling his audience this?

He wants them to take his dreams seriously.

• He wants them to take his dreams seriously.

• He wants them to set high goals for themselves.

• He wants to make sure they are paying attention.

• He wants permission to set goals for them.

Which dialogue would be found in a drama?

Ming stated, "My dream is to be a movie actress someday."

• "Do you know where Jeremy and Frankie went?" asked Lyle.

• Ming stated, "My dream is to be a movie actress someday."

• Heather: If I wanted to clean all day, I would have stayed home.

• "Please put the baby's hat on him and take him for a nice walk."

In a drama script, stage directions are provided in order to

• help the actors find their way to the theater.

• help the audience understand what the play is about.

• tell the actors how to dress and move for the characters.

• tell the audience more about the characters.

In dramatic structure, dialogue is used to

• reveal information and move the plot.

• narrate the events of a story.

• describe the characters and setting.

• make a play more like a novel.

Read the excerpt from Monster.

STEVE

No, but I’ve seen a lot of ball games. I watch a lot of ball games.

Based on this dialogue, what can the reader infer about Steve?

• He is a good basketball player

• He enjoys watching ball games.

• He makes films of ball games.

• He is too lazy to play ball games.

Read the excerpt from Monster.

We see STEVE stand shakily and head back to the defense table. He looks out onto the onlookers and sees his parents. His MOTHER forces a smile and his FATHER makes a fist and nods emphatically. We see STEVE sit down, start to pick up a glass of water, and have to put it down because his hand is shaking so badly.

Which statement best describes Steve's parents?

• They think that Steve is innocent.

• They are willing to fight for their son.

• They think that the trial is a joke.

• They are trying to be strong for Steve.