BTS 5/6 Practice

Think of “Notable Visitors: Frederick Douglass (1817–1895)” by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History to answer Questions 1-2. Read the excerpt from "Notable Visitors: Frederick Douglass (1817–1895)." Then answer the question that follows.

He [Mr. Lincoln] spoke with great earnestness and much solicitude, and seemed troubled by the attitude of Mr. Greeley, and the growing impatience there was being manifested through the North at the war. He said he was being accused of protracting the war beyond its legitimate object, and of failing to make peace, when he might have done so to advantage.

Which words could be used in place of legitimate object in this excerpt?

• peaceful conclusion

• geographical boundary

• justifiable goal

Read the excerpt from “Notable Visitors: Frederick Douglass (1817-1895)” and answer the question that follows.

For the first time in my life, and I suppose the first time in any colored man’s life, I attended the reception of President Lincoln on the evening of the inauguration. As I approached the door, I was seized by two policemen and forbidden to enter. I said to them that they were mistaken entirely in what they were doing, that if Mr. Lincoln knew that I was at the door he would order my admission, and I bolted in by them. On the inside, I was taken charge of by two other policemen, to be conducted as I supposed to the President, but instead of that they were conducting me out the window on a plank. ‘Oh,’ said I, ‘this will not do, gentlemen,’ and as a gentleman was passing in I said to him, ‘Just say to Mr. Lincoln that Fred. Douglass is at the door.’ He rushed in to President Lincoln, and almost in less than half a minute I was invited into the East Room of the White House. A perfect sea of beauty and elegance, too, it was. The ladies were in very fine attire, and Mrs. Lincoln was standing there. I could not have been more than ten feet from him when Mr. Lincoln saw me; his countenance lighted up, and he said in a voice which was heard all around; ‘Here comes my friend Douglass.’ As I approached him he reached out his hand, gave me a cordial shake, and said: ‘Douglass, I saw you in the crowd today listening to my inaugural address. There is no man’s opinion that I value more than yours; what do you think of it?’ I said: ‘Mr. Lincoln, I cannot stop here to talk with you, as there are thousands waiting to shake you by the hand’; but he said again: ‘What did you think of it?’ I said: ‘Mr. Lincoln, it was a sacred effort,’ and then I walked off. ‘I am glad you liked it,’ he said. That was the last time I saw him to speak with him.

Which phrase describes the shift in the author’s tone in this excerpt?

• from hostile to proud

• from sad to adoring

• from angry to disappointed

Read the excerpt from Chapter 11 from Behind the Scenes. Then answer the questions that follow.

Great crowds began to gather in front of the White House, and loud calls were made for the President. The band stopped playing, and as he advanced to the centre window over the door to make his address, I looked out, and never saw such a mass of heads before. It was like a black, gently swelling sea. The swaying motion of the crowd, in the dim uncertain light, was like the rising and falling of billows—like the ebb and flow of the tide upon the stranded shore of the ocean. Close to the house the faces were plainly discernible, but they faded into mere ghostly outlines on the outskirts of the assembly; and what added to the weird, spectral beauty of the scene, was the confused hum of voices that rose above the sea of forms, sounding like the subdued, sullen roar of an ocean storm, or the wind soughing through the dark lonely forest. It was a grand and imposing scene, and when the President, with pale face and his soul flashing through his eyes, advanced to speak, he looked more like a demigod than a man crowned with the fleeting days of mortality

Part A. What comparison is being made through the author’s use of figurative language in this excerpt?

• The movement of the crowd is being compared with the movement of the sea.

• The sound of the band is being compared with the sound of waves crashing.

• The President is being compared to a ghost.

Part B Which quotation supports the answer to Part A?

• . “confused hum of voices . . . sounding like the subdued, sullen roar of an ocean storm”

• “The swaying motion of the crowd, in the dim uncertain light, was like the rising and falling of billows—like the ebb and flow of the tide upon the stranded shore of the ocean.”

• “the confused hum of voices . . . sounding like . . . the wind soughing through the dark lonely forest”

Think of the poem "O Captain! My Captain!" by Walt Whitman to answer Questions 4-5. Read the second stanza of the poem “O Captain! My Captain.” Then answer the question that follows.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells; Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills, For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding, For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning; Here Captain! dear father! This arm beneath your head! It is some dream that on the deck, You’ve fallen cold and dead.

What effect does the repetition of the words “for you” have on the reader?

• The reader feels that the words are directed toward them.

• The reader is surprised by the turn of events.

• The reader feels sorry that the captain is missing his own victory.

What is the central idea of the poem "O Captain! My Captain!"?

• The captain of a ship died from the cold, and the crew lost hope of reaching shore.

• The crew of a ship rose up against their captain, and he died in the battle.

• The leader died before he could enjoy the victory he had achieved.