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.

  
  

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.

  
  

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

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

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

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.

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 

  
  

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.

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.