Author's Craft "The Nuclear Tourist"

What does the author of "The Nuclear Tourist" use to CRAFT tension in the following passage:

A few minutes later we reached Zalesye, an old farming village, and wandered among empty houses. ... On the floor of one home a discarded picture of Lenin— pointy beard, jutting chin—stared sternly at nothing, and hanging by a cord on a bedroom wall was a child’s doll. It had been suspended by the neck as if with an executioner’s noose.

• Descriptive and figurative language

• Personal observation

• Scientific language

• Irony

What does the author of "The Nuclear Tourist" use to CRAFT mystery in the following passage:

"As the sarcophagus crumbled and leaked, work began on what has been optimistically named the New Safe Confinement.... Everything about this place seems like science fiction."

• Descriptive and figurative language

• Personal observation

• Scientific language

• Irony

What does the author of "The Nuclear Tourist" use to CRAFT surprise in the following passage:

Mounted over the door of an old science class was an educational poster illustrating the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation. Heat to visible light to x-rays and gamma rays—the kind that break molecular bonds and mutate DNA. How abstract that must have seemed to the schoolkids before the evacuation began. DNA mutations, or changes, can cause illnesses such as cancer.

• Descriptive and figurative language

• Personal observation

• Scientific Language

• Irony

What does the author of "The Nuclear Tourist" use to CRAFT tension in the following passage:

Throughout the night firefighters and rescue crews confronted the immediate dangers—flames, smoke, burning chunks of graphite. What they couldn’t see or feel—until hours or days later when the sickness set in— were the invisible poisons… From the high-rises of Pripyat, less than two miles away, Chernobyl workers and their families stood on balconies and watched the glow.

In the morning—it was the weekend before May Day8 —they went about their routines of shopping, Saturday morning classes, picnics in the park. It was not until 36 hours after the accident that the evacuation began. The residents were told to bring enough supplies for three to five days and to leave their pets behind. The implication was that after a quick cleanup they would return home. That didn’t happen. 

• Descriptive and figurative language

• Personal observation

• Scientific language

• Irony

Which of the following statements from "The Nuclear Tourist" is an example of the author's personal observation?

• In 2011, Chernobyl, site of the world’s worst catastrophe at a nuclear power plant, was officially declared a tourist attraction.

• The asphalt roof of the plant began burning, and ... so did the graphite blocks that made up the reactor’s core. A plume of smoke and radioactive debris rose high into the atmosphere and began bearing north toward Belarus and Scandinavia.

• After the accident a concrete and steel structure—the sarcophagus—was hastily erected to contain the damaged reactor.

• As the sarcophagus crumbled and leaked, work began on what has been optimistically named the New Safe Confinement.... Everything about this place seems like science fiction.

Which effect does the following passage most likely have on the audience?

As the sarcophagus crumbled and leaked, work began on what has been optimistically named the New Safe Confinement.... Everything about this place seems like science fiction.

• Tension

• Mystery

• Surprise

Read this passage from “The Nuclear Tourist:"

 

Mounted over the door of an old science class was an educational poster illustrating the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation. Heat to visible light to x-rays and gamma rays—the kind that break molecular bonds and mutate DNA. How abstract that must have seemed to the schoolkids before the evacuation began. DNA mutations, or changes, can cause illnesses such as cancer.

Given this information, what is the most likely purpose of the scientific language in this passage?

• to explain why no students were able to survive the evacuation

• to help readers imagine the ghostly scene in the science classroom

• to show how the poster is another reminder of the accident’s terrible effects

• to point out that the science class was part of an old medical school and hospital

Which effect does the following passage most likely have on the audience?

Mounted over the door of an old science class was an educational poster illustrating the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation. Heat to visible light to x-rays and gamma rays—the kind that break molecular bonds and mutate DNA. How abstract that must have seemed to the schoolkids before the evacuation began. DNA mutations, or changes, can cause illnesses such as cancer.

• Mystery

• Tension

• Surprise

Read this passage from “The Nuclear Tourist”: 

Throughout the night firefighters and rescue crews confronted the immediate dangers—flames, smoke, burning chunks of graphite. What they couldn’t see or feel—until hours or days later when the sickness set in— were the invisible poisons… From the high-rises of Pripyat, less than two miles away, Chernobyl workers and their families stood on balconies and watched the glow.

In the morning—it was the weekend before May Day8 —they went about their routines of shopping, Saturday morning classes, picnics in the park. It was not until 36 hours after the accident that the evacuation began. The residents were told to bring enough supplies for three to five days and to leave their pets behind. The implication was that after a quick cleanup they would return home. That didn’t happen. 

What is an example of irony in the passage above?

• throughout the night firefighters and rescue crews confronted the immediate dangers

• to help readers imagine the ghostly scene in the science classroom

• flames, smoke, burning chunks of graphite

• the residents were told to bring enough supplies for three to five days and to leave their pets behind

Which effect does the following passage most likely have on the audience?

Throughout the night firefighters and rescue crews confronted the immediate dangers—flames, smoke, burning chunks of graphite. What they couldn’t see or feel—until hours or days later when the sickness set in— were the invisible poisons… From the high-rises of Pripyat, less than two miles away, Chernobyl workers and their families stood on balconies and watched the glow.

In the morning—it was the weekend before May Day8 —they went about their routines of shopping, Saturday morning classes, picnics in the park. It was not until 36 hours after the accident that the evacuation began. The residents were told to bring enough supplies for three to five days and to leave their pets behind. The implication was that after a quick cleanup they would return home. That didn’t happen. 

• Mystery

• Tension

• Surprise