Upper Level Literature Pretest

Theme is __________

• where you go to ride roller coasters

• the same thing as topic or main idea

• a universal message, moral, or lesson from the text

• never easy to find

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.4.9

CCSS.RL.5.9

CCSS.RL.7.2

The Wind and the Sun had a dispute as to which

of the two was the stronger. They agreed that the

one should be called stronger who should first

make a man in the road take off his cloak.

The Wind began to blow great guns, but the man

only drew his cloak closer about him to keep out

the cold. At last the gust was over.

Then the Sun took his turn. He shone and it was

warm and bright. The man opened his cloak,

threw it back, and at last took it off, and lay down

in the shade where it was cool.

So the Sun carried his point against the Wind.

What is the theme of this text?

• Gentleness often succeeds where force does not.

• The Sun and Wind had a dispute.

• The Sun is better than the Wind.

• Strength is the best option.

A Lion lay asleep in the forest, his great head resting on his paws. A timid little Mouse came upon him unexpectedly, and in her fright and haste to get away, ran across the Lion’s nose. Roused from his nap, the Lion laid his huge pawangrily on the tiny creature to kill her.

“Spare me!” begged the poor Mouse. “Please let

me go and some day I will surely repay you.”

The Lion was much amused to think that a Mouse

could ever help him. But he was generous and

finally let the Mouse go.

Some days later, while stalking his prey in the forest, the Lion was caught in the toils of a hunter’s net. Unable to free himself, he filled the forest with his angry roaring.

The Mouse knew the voice and quickly found the Lion struggling in the net. Running to one of the great

ropes that bound him, she gnawed it until it parted, and soon the Lion was free.

“You laughed when I said I would repay you,” said the Mouse. “Now you see that even a Mouse can

help a Lion.”

What is the theme of this story?

On our first day of school, Roberto and I got up early. I dressed in a pair of overalls, which I hated because they had suspenders, and a flannel checkered shirt, which Mamá had bought at the Goodwill store. As I put on my cap, Roberto reminded me that it was bad manners to wear a hat indoors. I thought of leaving it at home so that I would not make the mistake of forgetting to take it off in class, but I decided to wear it. Papá always wore a cap and I did not feel completely dressed for school without it.

On our way out to catch the school bus, Roberto and I said goodbye to Mamá. Papá had already left to look for work, either topping carrots or thinning lettuce. Mamá stayed home to take care of Trampita, and to rest because she was expecting another baby.

When the school bus arrived, Roberto and I climbed in and sat together. I took the window seat and, on the way, watched endless rows of lettuce and cauliflower whiz by. The furrows that came up to the two lane road looked like giant legs running alongside us. The bus made several stops to pick up kids and, with each stop, the noise inside got louder. Some kids were yelling at the top of their lungs. I did not know what they were saying. I was getting a headache. Roberto had his eyes closed and was frowning. I did not disturb him. I figured he was getting a headache too.

What point of view is presented in this text?

• No point of view

• First-person point of view

• Second-person point of view

• Third-person Point of view

How does the point of view from the text in question 4 impact how the story is told?

There lay the great fiery dragon in the sun, sound asleep, and so the faithful servant had time to look about him. Not far away was a great deep trench, like a drain in a swampy field; that was a path that the dragon had made by going to the river for a drink of water every day. The faithful servant dug a hole in the bottom of this trench, and there he hid himself as snugly as a cricket in the crack in the kitchen floor. By and by the dragon awoke and found that he was thirsty, and then started down to the river to get a drink. The faithful servant lay as still as a mouse until the dragon was just above where he was hidden; then he thrust his sword through its heart, and there it lay, after a turn or two, as dead as a stone.

After that, he had only to fill the cup at the fountain, for there was nobody to say no to him. Then he cast the feather into the air, and there was the North Wind, as fresh and as sound as ever. The North Wind took him upon its back, and away it flew until it came home again.

The faithful servant thanked them all around — the Four Winds and the old woman — and as they would take nothing else, he gave them a few drops of the Water of Life, and that is the reason that the Four Winds and their mother each are as fresh and young now as they were when the world began.

What point of view is used in this story?

• No point of view

• First-person point of view

• Second-person point of view

• Third-person point of view

An omniscient third-person narrator is ______________

• a narrator who doesn't know anything that is happening in the story

• a narrator who likes the story

• a narrator who knows everything that is happening in the story

• a narrator who only knows some things happening in the story

Tags

CCSS.RL.2.10

CCSS.RL.2.2

CCSS.RL.2.3

CCSS.RL.4.3

CCSS.RL.4.4

A summary is _________

• A word-for-word exact re-telling of a text

• A brief statement or account of the main points of a text

• A one-word statement about what a text is about

• A longer version of a text with more detail

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RI.5.9

CCSS.RI.6.2

CCSS.RL.4.2

Write a summary of the following text:

Once upon a time there was a prince who wanted to marry a princess; but she would have to be a real princess. He travelled all over the world to find one, but nowhere could he get what he wanted. There were princesses enough, but it was difficult to find out whether they were real ones. There was always something about them that was not as it should be. So he came home again and was sad, for he would have liked very much to have a real princess.

One evening a terrible storm came on; there was thunder and lightning, and the rain poured down in torrents. Suddenly a knocking was heard at the city gate, and the old king went to open it.

It was a princess standing out there in front of the gate. But, good gracious! what a sight the rain and the wind had made her look. The water ran down from her hair and clothes; it ran down into the toes of her shoes and out again at the heels. And yet she said that she was a real princess.

“Well, we’ll soon find that out,” thought the old queen. But she said nothing, went into the bed-room, took all the bedding off the bedstead, and laid a pea on the bottom; then she took twenty mattresses and laid them on the pea, and then twenty eider-down beds on top of the mattresses.

On this the princess had to lie all night. In the morning she was asked how she had slept.

“Oh, very badly!” said she. “I have scarcely closed my eyes all night. Heaven only knows what was in the bed, but I was lying on something hard, so that I am black and blue all over my body. It’s horrible!”

Now they knew that she was a real princess because she had felt the pea right through the twenty mattresses and the twenty eider-down beds.

Nobody but a real princess could be as sensitive as that.

So the prince took her for his wife, for now he knew that he had a real princess; and the pea was put in the museum, where it may still be seen, if no one has stolen it.

There, that is a true story.