U6 Contemporary Literature Review

In these excerpts, which cultural theme do both authors explore? 

Wangero, though, went on through the chitlins and corn bread, the greens and everything else. She talked a blue streak over the sweet potatoes. Everything delighted her.
(Alice Walker, "Everyday Use")

My mother, in a cheerful mood that evening, decided to cook a big pot of khichuri . . ., and for a change your mother insisted on helping, standing in the kitchen deep-frying pieces of potato and cauliflower.
(Jhumpa Lahiri, "Once in a Lifetime")

• Many cultures celebrate a unique type of food.

• Family is an essential part of many cultures.

• Many cultures take offense if food that is offered is refused.

• Helpfulness is a universal value across the world.

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.7

CCSS.RI.11-12.7

CCSS.RI.8.7

CCSS.RL.11-12.7

CCSS.RL.9-10.7

Which of these excerpts from "Freeway 280" by Lorna Dee Cervantes best exemplifies the themes of hope and resilience?

• 1. The freeway conceals it 
     all beneath a raised scar.

• 1. old gardens 
     come back stronger than they were, 
     trees have been left standing in their yards.

• 1. I scramble over the wire fence 
     that would have kept me out.

• 1. Once, I wanted out, wanted the rigid lanes 
     to take me to a place without sun

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

Read the following excerpt from "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker:

"The truth is," I said, "I promised to give them quilts to Maggie, for when she marries John Thomas."
She gasped like a bee had stung her.
"Maggie can't appreciate these quilts!" she said. "She'd probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use."
"I reckon she would," I said. "God knows I been saving 'em for long enough with nobody using 'em. I hope she will!" I didn't want to bring up how I had offered Dee (Wangero) a quilt when she went away to college. Then she had told they were old-fashioned, out of style.

Based on this excerpt, which description most likely describes the significance of the story's title?

• People connect with their culture by continually revisiting past traditions.

• Artifacts and mementos are the only method for understanding a culture.

• Culture is best passed on and understood through oral storytelling traditions.

• People don't need strong family ties to connect with their traditional heritage.

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.9

CCSS.RI.11-12.9

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

tenuous

• Strong or substantial
• Robust and durable
• Firm and solid
• Weak or insubstantial

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

cleavage

• A type of geological formation.
• A method of cooking meat.
• A style of painting.
• The process of splitting or dividing something into parts.

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

consummated

• Started or initiated.
• Completed or fulfilled.
• Ignored or overlooked.
• Interrupted or paused.

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

enmity

• friendship
• alliance
• cooperation
• hostility

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Why would a modernist author write about the consequences of greed when an author from the age of reason wrote a book with a similar theme?

• to show how the consequences have changed or remained the same over time

• to put an end to the literary discussion about the consequences of greed

• to ensure that no other modernist can write a book about the consequences of greed

• to emphasize how authors are unable to come up with new ideas in fiction writing

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.7

CCSS.RI.11-12.7

CCSS.RL.11-12.7

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.7

A commercial that compares dry skin to a desert is using which literary device?

• Metaphor
• Alliteration
• Personification
• irony

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

Which part of this excerpt from Jhumpa Lahiri's "Once in a Lifetime" indicates Hema's mother's Bengali heritage?

I asked how long you would be staying with us—a week? Two? My mother couldn't say; it all depended on how long it took your family to get settled and find a place. The prospect of having to give up my room infuriated me. My feelings were complicated by the fact that, until rather recently, to my great shame, I'd regularly slept with my parents on the cot in their room, and not in the room where I kept my clothes and things. My mother considered the idea of a child sleeping alone a cruel American practice, and therefore did not encourage it, even when we had the space.

• I asked how long you would be staying with

• The prospect of having to give up my room infuriated me.

• I'd regularly slept with my parents on the cot in their room, and not in the room where I kept my clothes and things.

• My mother considered the idea of a child sleeping alone a cruel American practice

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.1

CCSS.RI.11-12.1

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2