Act Reading Humanities

One of the main arguments the author is trying to make in the passage is that: 

• until recently, foreign-born residents have not wanted to be involved in defining the American reality
• non-Western immigrants are changing the definition of what it means to be an American
• the United States immigration policy is inherently unfair
• America have changed the political affiliations of most non-Western immigrants.

Considering the information given in the first three paragraphs (lines 1-33), which of the following is the most accurate description of the author's girlhood and early adulthood?

• She grew up and was educated in Calcutta, moved to the United States, and lived in Manhattan
• She was born in Calcutta, was educated in England by Irish nuns, then moved to Manhattan.
• She was raised in Bangladesh, educated by Irish nuns in Calcutta, moved first to England and some time later arrived in the United States
• She was born in Faridpur, was educated in Calcutta, the moved to Manhattan

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CCSS.RI.11-12.3

CCSS.RI.6.3

CCSS.RI.7.3

CCSS.RI.8.3

CCSS.RI.9-10.3

The author sees her "literacy agenda" (line 44) and her "mission" (line 58) to be: 

• raising the political consciousness of recent immigrants to the United States
• creating characters whose cultural heritage is not easily identifiable
• reinterpreting, through her stories, what it means to be an American
• finding an audience for her stories and novels

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CCSS.RI. 9-10.6

CCSS.RI.11-12.6

CCSS.RL.11-12.6

CCSS.RL.8.6

CCSS.RL.9-10.6

Which of the following statements from the passage is an acknowledgment by the author that she was changed by American?

• "The astrologer meant to offer me a melancholy future" (line 19)
• "All my girlhood, I straddled the seesaw of contradictions" (line 24-25)
• "I'm someone who watches tractor pulls on obscure cable channels" (lines 68-69)
• "My characters can, I hope, transcend the straitjacket of simple psychologizing" (lines 73-74)

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CCSS.RL.2.6

CCSS.RL.8.3

The author refers to the village of Faridpur as a "phantom" (line 27) because: 

• it is a part of the Indian mythology her mother told her about
• she considers Manhattan, not Bangladesh, to be her home
• even though is was once part of India, it is not part of Bangladesh
• even though she considers it to be her ancestral home, she has never been there

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CCSS.RI.11-12.5

CCSS.RI.6.5

CCSS.RI.7.5

CCSS.RI.8.5

CCSS.RI.9-10.5

When the author says that she is "trying to extend it" (line 30), she most likely means that she: 

• wants to see people from non-European ethnicities included in what is considered mainstream America.
• prefers to be part of both the Indian and the American cultures.
• is trying to find a way to make her home in the United States permanent.
• is working to change regulations so that many more Indian immigrants can live in the United States.

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CCSS.RL.2.6

CCSS.RL.8.3

The author implies that she had to "sensitize editors" (line 48) because those editors: 

• dis not understand that many Asian Americans were already reading her work.
• gave superficial praise to her work, but would not publish her novels.
• were overtly discriminatory when it came to non-Western writers.
• tended to view the people she wrote about as one-dimensional.

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CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

CCSS.RI. 9-10.1

CCSS.RI.11-12.1

CCSS.RL.8.1

According to the passage, by reading her stories, many of the author's readers leaned that: 

• good fiction writing obscures cultural difference among characters.
• they have much more in common with the author's characters than they ever realized.
• stories about immigrants to the United States generally have many more characters than do other types of stories.
• because of their immigrant status, people from non-Western counties have developed a stronger inner life than have most native-born Americans.

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CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

CCSS.RI. 9-10.9

CCSS.RI.11-12.9

CCSS.RL.8.2

The first paragraph states that, at the time of the author's birth, India was: 

• engaged in a war with England
• not an independent country
• still part of Bangladesh
• governed by Irish

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CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

CCSS.RI. 9-10.2

CCSS.RI.11-12.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

When the author says that the people she writes about "are culturally and politically several hundred year old" (lines 75-76), she most likely means that her characters: 

• have cultural and political viewpoints that are repressive and outdated
• have rejected Bengali, British, Irish, and American values
• have experienced an incredible amount of change in just one lifetime
• are really her mother's and grandmother's ancestors

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CCSS.RL.2.6

CCSS.RL.8.3