Annie Dillard Total Eclipse

What is one message the author presents in the text?

• An eclipse has a scientific explanation that few people understand.

• What happens during an eclipse has never been fully explained by science.

• One must experience an eclipse to understand it scientifically.

• Experiencing an eclipse is different than knowing what scientifically causes it.

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CCSS.RI. 9-10.9

CCSS.RI.11-12.9

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

Which two statements describe what the author's language in paragraph 2 indicates about the changes that take place during an eclipse?

• They are gradual.

• They are surprising.

• They are beautiful

• They are extensive

• They are frightening.

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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

What best describes the author’s purpose for including paragraph 3?

• To present a vividly poetic account of an experience

• To give factual details about a scientific process in nature

• To explain a perspective that differs from accepted facts

• To show how eclipses are usually perceived by average people

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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

Read the sentences from paragraph 5.

I turned back to the sun. It was going. The sun was going, and the world was wrong. The grasses were wrong; they were platinum.

How does the author’s use of the word wrong influence the reader’s perception of the text?

• It implies that the narrator is concerned about the effects of the eclipse on the world around her.

• It demonstrates that a change in lighting can change people's moods in drastic ways.

• It emphasizes the power of an eclipse to transform the familiar into something new.

• It encourages the reader to consider the frightening effects of an eclipse.

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CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Read the sentences from paragraph 6.

I looked at Gary. He was in the film. Everything was lost.

The author’s use of simple, direct sentences contributes to a tone of —

• wonder

• frustration

• intrigue

• disbelief

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CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Read the sentence from paragraph 6.

We had all started down a chute of time.

What is the figurative meaning of this sentence?

• Time moved more quickly during the eclipse.

• Our surroundings made it feel like a different time.

• We were falling through a tunnel of different eras.

• The eclipse made us realize how much changes between eras.

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CCSS.RI.11-12.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Read the sentences from paragraph 8.

There was no sound. The eyes dried, the arteries drained, the lungs hushed. There was no world.

The author’s use of language contributes to a tone of —

• judgment

• nostalgia

• awe

• finality

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CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Read the sentence from paragraph 8.

The hatch in the brain slammed.

What is the figurative meaning of this sentence?

• Part of the brain is shut off from the rest.

• Part of the mind is concealed like the sun.

• The narrator feels strangely disconnected.

• The narrator realizes and understands something.

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CCSS.RL.2.6

CCSS.RL.8.3

In this excerpt, Dillard’s central focus is...

• The moment when a solar eclipse reaches three-fourth

• The moment when a solar eclipse reaches half way

• The moment when a solar eclipse reaches the turning point

• The moment when a solar eclipse reaches totality

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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

Dillard’s writing style is the essay serves to...

• - Reflect her oriented state of mind during the storm

• - Reflect her oriented state of existing years after

• - Reflect humans oriented state of the body during the experience

• - Reflect her disoriented state of mind during the experience

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CCSS.RI.1.4

CCSS.RI.2.1

CCSS.RI.3.1

CCSS.RL.2.1

CCSS.RL.3.1