Balboa Quiz

What is the definition of theme? Choose TWO answers that apply.

• Key message or insight of a text

• A soundtrack from a film

• A lesson a reader learns through a characters' experiences in the story.

• A character's integrity

True or False: Authors explicitly tell readers the theme of a story somewhere in the text.

• True

• False

True or False: A reader can learn the theme of a story through its characters, plot and setting.

• True

• False

Which phrase in paragraph 7 helps the reader understand the meaning of the word thunder in the same paragraph?

• make a people fear god

• growling of the cat

• two great incisors

• the weapon explodes

What is foreshadowing?

• A hint, warning or indication of a future event.

• A dark, looming presence in a story.

• A believable plot that mirrors a true event..

Which phrase from paragraph 9 helps the reader understand the meaning of the word hindsight?

• He should have brought

• at the foot of the mountain

• They have no more interest

• no amount of swearing

How does Balboa justify his brutal behavior toward the Indians in paragraph 22?

• By relating it to his struggles with religion and spirituality

• By suggesting that his superiority to the Indians justifies his behavior

• By comparing the tragedies occurring in Spain to the Indians' plight

• By blaming his behavior on his own personal shortcomings

Read this excerpt from paragraph 25. "Did the curse worry Balboa? Perhaps a little. He occasionally revisits a particularly spectacular feat of bloodshed-the time Leoncico tore a chieftain's head from his shoulders-with a pang of concern."

How does this excerpt contribute to the readers' understanding of Balboa?

• It foreshadows Balboa's fate.

• It flashes back to a significant event in Balboa's past.

• It implies a supernatural influence on Balboa's life.

• It reveals Balboa's limited conscience.

What is symbolism?

• the place or type of surroundings where something is positioned or where an event takes place

• the main events of a play, novel, movie, or similar work

• a literary device (objects/ideas) that represents something meaningful beyond its literal meaning

• the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual

Which two examples of symbolism does the author use in the selection?

• The drum represents Balboa's mortality.

• The jaguar represents the fall of the Indians.

• The lion represents what Balboa would like to be.

• The monk represents the idea of Balboa's conscience.

• The ship represents being punished for one's crimes.