"Snow lay on the croft..."

In the second sentence of the first paragraph, the narrator describes old Christmas’ “imprisonment” as “sweet” to suggest that

• Tom and Maggie’s life together is wonderful

• holiday traditions, while nice, are too predictable

• many are barred by social conditions from celebrating the holiday

• Tom and Maggie cannot escape their home in the wintry conditions

• the holiday provides a welcome break from the dreariness of winter

Answer explanation

Answer E:

Correct. In the excerpt, the personified old Christmas has spun a winter storm that has made the weather outside so unbearable that it has essentially imprisoned people in their homes. However, the imprisonment is nice because of the celebration of the holiday with family, good food, and bright decorations.

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.1

CCSS.RI.11-12.1

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

In the first sentence of the passage, what is the main purpose for exaggerating the condition of the “petrified” animals?

• To explain how frightened the animals were by the winter storm

• To emphasize the profound stillness of the winter scene

• To contrast the animals’ figures against the backdrop of white snow

• To bemoan the animals’ inability to share old Christmas’s blessing on the people indoors

• To personify the animals by relating their feelings about old Christmas’s “cruel-seeming spell”

Answer explanation

Answer B:

Correct. In this case, the word “petrified” is referring to organic matter that has changed into a stony substance, using hyperbole to exaggerate the idea that the animals are standing as still as rocks, which correlates with the excerpt’s declaration that there was “no sound or motion in anything.”

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CCSS.RI. 9-10.2

CCSS.RI.11-12.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

The narrator most likely includes the image of the “dark-red gables” in the description of the outdoors in the first paragraph to

• parallel the dark mood of the characters

• present a landscape appropriate for Christmas

• focus on the significance of the river’s sound

• foreshadow a scene of outdoor children’s games

• introduce a contrast between the indoors and outdoors

Answer explanation

Answer E:

Correct. The image of “dark-red gables” on the houses functions to prepare a contrast between weather’s “cruel-seeming spell” on the outdoors and old Christmas’s blessings (including “brightness” and “richness”) on the homes of the well-to-do.

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.1

CCSS.RI.11-12.1

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

In context, the “cruel-seeming spell” in the second sentence of the first paragraph is best understood to refer to the

• paralysis of the animals

• transformation of the landscape

• curse of poverty during holidays

• relentlessness of time

• deceptiveness of the carolers

Answer explanation

Answer B:

Correct. “Cruel-seeming spell” refers to all the changes that the winter and snow have brought to the landscape, including the fields “clothed” in “whiteness,” the gates that were “blocked up,” and most of all, the fact that there was “no sound or motion in anything but the dark river that flowed and moaned like an unresting sorrow.” The “spell” is presented in the passage as only “seeming” cruel because “old Christmas” means for it to enhance the indoor landscape through contrast.

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CCSS.RI.11-12.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

According to the narrator, Time, personified as the father of old Christmas in the last sentence of the first paragraph (“But the . . . heart”), demonstrates which human attribute?

• Generosity

• Hatred

• Kindness

• Senility

• Neutrality

Answer explanation

Answer E:

Correct. The narrator’s personification of Time as possessing an “unrelenting purpose” and refusing to share the “secret how to bless men impartially” evidences a detachment from human affairs and lack of connection, unlike “old Christmas.”

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CCSS.RI.11-12.10

CCSS.RI.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.11-12.10

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

In the third sentence of the final paragraph (“There had been singing . . . cloud”), the narrator uses an extended metaphor comparing carolers to angelic singers in order to demonstrate Maggie’s

• childlike enthusiasm

• devout principles

• romantic imagination

• blind naïveté

• altered perspective

Answer explanation

Answer C:

Correct. Maggie is enthralled by the “supernatural” singing, which invades her dreams and leads to her envisioning resting angels thrusting away “men in fustian clothes.” This comparison of the carolers to angels conveys both the literal beauty of the singing and Maggie’s idealistic, starry-eyed reaction to that beauty. The contrast between Maggie’s perspective and “Tom’s contemptuous insistence” that the singers are ordinary people they know further emphasizes her romantic imagination.

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CCSS.RL.2.10

CCSS.RL.2.2

CCSS.RL.2.3

CCSS.RL.4.3

CCSS.RL.4.4

In the final sentence of the passage (“But the . . . snowballs”), what is the main purpose of the allusion to “dyspeptic Puritans”?

• To highlight the significance of the plum pudding’s appearance

• To express thankfulness for the ability to have a Christmas meal

• To create a comparison between the cold weather and Puritan traditions

• To describe the challenge Maggie faced in preparing the plum pudding

• To emphasize the religious importance of the family’s adherence to Christmas traditions

Answer explanation

Answer A:

Correct. The allusion to “dyspeptic Puritans” suggests that the “symbolic blue flames” around the plum-pudding signified the Puritan “nether fires” that might destroy the dish and its significance in celebrating Christmas; thus, the allusion serves to highlight the pudding’s physical appearance, with its “handsome roundness” and “symbolic blue flames.”

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.1

CCSS.RI.11-12.1

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

At the end of the second sentence of the first paragraph (“make the sunshine . . . day-star”), the narrator makes a comparison between human faces and the Sun in order to

• imply that during good financial times it is easy to escape winter and enjoy time with friends and family

• suggest that even the poor and downtrodden feel better with friends and family nearby

• show that holiday cheer can provide friends and family a warm escape on even the coldest of dark winter days

• demonstrate the warmth a group of friends and family can provide when gathered together indoors

• describe how the bright and rich colors of the holiday season reflect off the faces of friends and family

Answer explanation

Answer A:

Correct. Old Christmas wants “sunshine of familiar human faces” to help those in their homes enjoy their time together away from the bitter cold. It is clear that this is only possible during good times because the poor and downtrodden homes are ones “where the human faces had had no sunshine in them.”

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CCSS.RI. 9-10.2

CCSS.RI.11-12.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2