The Teacher Who Changed My Life

Which statement best summarizes the central idea of "The Teacher Who Changed My Life"?

• Miss Marjorie Hurd had a major influence on the life of Nicholas Gage, who became an accomplished journalist at least partially due to her efforts in the classroom.

• Miss Marjorie Hurd was a phenomenal and inspirational teacher, and readers should celebrate their teachers in the same way that Gage has shown appreciation for Miss Hurd.

• Miss Marjorie Hurd was treated like a member of Gage’s family because of her influence on his life and career.

• Miss Marjorie Hurd replaced Gage’s mother as the most influential woman in his life, despite Miss Hurd’s efforts to help Gage honor the memory of his mother.

What is Gage's purpose for writing "The Teacher Who Changed My Life"?

• Gage is informing readers of the struggles of Greek immigrants in America during the 1940s and 1950s.

• Gage is paying tribute to Miss Hurd and acknowledging the positive impact she had on his life.

• Gage is describing how he became a successful journalist despite the challenges he faced in childhood.

• Gage is persuading readers to write essays thanking their most influential teachers.

Which of the following quotations best supports the inference that Gage is an exceptionally talented writer?

• “There, she drilled us on grammar until I finally began to understand the logic and structure of the English language” (paragraph 7).

• “I wrote that the coming of spring always reminded me of the last time I said goodbye to my mother on a green and gold day in 1948” (paragraph 8).

• “During my last year in college, an article I wrote about a friend who had died in the Philippines [...] led to my winning the Hearst Award for College Journalism” (paragraph 13).

• “She was the catalyst that sent me into journalism and indirectly caused all the good things that came after” (paragraph 21).

How does the following excerpt from "The Teacher Who Changed My Life" develop the central idea?

“One day, after discussing how writers should write about what they know, she assigned us to compose an

essay from our own experience. Fixing me with a stern look, she added, 'Nick, I want you to write about

what happened to your family in Greece.' I had been trying to put those painful memories behind me and left

the assignment until the last moment. Then, on a warm spring afternoon, I sat in my room with a yellow pad

and pencil and stared out the window at the buds on the trees. I wrote that the coming of spring always

reminded me of the last time I said goodbye to my mother...”

• It explains how Miss Hurd’s influence helped Gage to finally establish a better relationship with his father.

• It demonstrates how Miss Hurd’s tough love and high expectations pushed Gage to find his unique voice as a writer.

• It contextualizes Miss Hurd's desire because she wanted to learn more about Greece so she made Gage write about his culture.

• It establishes a connection between Gage's relationship with Miss Hurd and his relationship with his mother.

Which group of words best conveys the author’s tone?

• grim-faced, sad, painful

• unimaginable, ecstatic, triumphant

• intelligent, courageous, foreign

• appreciative, admiring, joyous

Why did Miss Hurd want Gage to write about what happened to his family in Greece?

• She was interested in his childhood and wanted to know more about it.

• She thought he was forgetting his mother, so she wanted him to use the assignment to remember her.

• She recognized Gage's innate talent and thought his experiences would help him to create a powerful, moving essay.

• She thought the president would read Gage’s essay and act to fix the political crisis in Greece.

Which of the following quotations best captures Gage’s perspective of the United States in his adulthood?

• “As Father drove us to our new home- a tenement in Worcester, Mass.- and pointed out the huge brick building that would be our first school in America, I clutched my Greek notebooks from the refugee camp, hoping that my few years of schooling would impress my teachers in this cold, crowded country” (paragraph 4).

• “Although my father could only give me $50 and encouragement toward a college education, I managed to finance four years at Boston University with scholarships and part-time jobs in journalism” (paragraph 13).

• “Without telling me, Miss Hurd also submitted the essay to a contest sponsored by the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, Pa., and it won a medal” (paragraph 11).

• “This is truly the land of opportunity, and I would have enjoyed its bounty even if I hadn’t walked into Miss Hurd’s classroom in 1953” (paragraph 21).

How is the central idea developed over the course of the text?

• Gage compares the influence of his father to that of Miss Hurd to develop the central idea of his essay.

• Gage uses flashbacks to his time in Greece, his interactions with Miss Hurd, and his current successes to develop the central idea.

• Gage uses characterization of Miss Hurd through her interactions with him and a description of their relationship as adults to develop the central idea of this essay.

• Gage uses figurative language, a repetitive description of Miss Hurd, and an analysis of his success in order to develop the central idea of this essay.

Which of the following quotations does NOT describe Gage’s experiences with overcoming adversity (obstacles or challenges)?

• “When I stepped off a ship in New York Harbor on a gray March day in 1949, I was an undersized 9-year-old in short pants who had lost his mother and was coming to live with the father he didn’t know” (paragraph 2).

• “By the time I met Marjorie Hurd four years later, I had learned English, been placed in a normal, graded class and had even been chosen for the college preparatory track in the Worcester public school system” (paragraph 5).

• “For a refugee who had never seen a motorized vehicle or indoor plumbing until he was 9, this was an unimaginable honor” (paragraph 14).

• “A few years ago, I answered the telephone and heard my former teacher’s voice telling me, in that won’t-take-no-for-an-answer tone of hers, that she had decided I was to write and deliver the eulogy at her funeral” (paragraph 21).

Which of the following quotations best supports Gage's purpose for writing "The Teacher Who Changed My Life"?

• “For the first time I began to understand the power of the written word. A secret ambition took root in me” (paragraph 12).

• “I agreed (she didn’t leave me any choice), but that’s one assignment I never want to do. I hope, Miss Hurd, that you’ll accept this remembrance instead” (paragraph 21).

• “She taught for a total of 41 years and continually would make a ‘project’ of some balky student in whom she spied a spark of potential” (paragraph 16).

• “A formidable, solidly built woman with salt-and-pepper hair, a steely eye, and a flat Boston accent, Miss Hurd had no patience for layabouts” (paragraph 6).