Total Eclipse

What is one message the author presents in the text?

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

  
  

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

  
  

• One must experience an eclipse to understand it scientifically.

  
  

• Experiencing an eclipse is different than knowing the scientific cause.

  
  

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

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.

  
  

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.6

CCSS.RI.11-12.6

CCSS.RL.11-12.6

CCSS.RL.8.6

CCSS.RL.9-10.6

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

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.6

CCSS.RI.11-12.6

CCSS.RI.8.9

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."

The author’s repeated use of the word wrong —

• demonstrates that a change in lighting can change people’s moods in drastic ways

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

  
  

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

  
  

• implies that the effects of the eclipse will last a long time

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.5

CCSS.RI.6.5

CCSS.RI.7.5

CCSS.RI.8.5

CCSS.RI.9-10.5

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 —

• empathy

  
  

• frustration

• intrigue

• disbelief

Tags

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 author expressing through the figurative language used in this sentence?

• Time is moving more quickly during the eclipse.

• The setting makes it feel like a different time. 

  
  

• The theme is that time changes during an eclipse

  
  

• Details about time passing contribute to the plot.

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.10

CCSS.RI.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.11-12.10

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

In paragraph 8, the author becomes involved with her reporting of the event by —

• presenting a simple factual explanation of the eclipse

• focusing on the nostalgia people feel about the eclipse

  
  

• sharing personal details about life before the eclipse

  
  

• using lyrical language to describe reactions to the eclipse 

  
  

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.10

CCSS.RI.6.10

CCSS.RI.7.10

CCSS.RI.8.10

CCSS.RI.9-10.10

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.

Tags

CCSS.RL.2.6

CCSS.RL.8.3

Which two paragraphs about the text demonstrate good sentence variety?

• The eclipse begins. The world begins to change. Its appearance alters. It looks like a scene from another time.

  
  

• The world begins to change. The moon eclipses the sun. Lighting is strange. Everything looks different.

  
  

• As the eclipse begins, the world begins to change. Its appearance alters. It looks like a scene from another time.

  
  

• As the eclipse begins, everything begins to change. As the sun is covered, odd lighting makes the world look different.

  
  

• The world begins to change as the moon eclipses the sun. Lighting is strange. Everything looks different.

  
  

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.7

CCSS.RI.9-10.7

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.7

CCSS.RL.9-10.7