“[Grover] took the empty glass from me gingerly, as if it were dynamite, and set it back on the table.”

Based on the context clues, which synonym best matches the meaning of gingerly?

Authors often give human characteristics and behaviors to nonhuman objects. This technique is called personification. Which of the following sentences from chapter 5 demonstrates personification?

Percy describes Annabeth as having a “stereotypical” look. A stereotype is a widely held belief about a particular group of people that may not be true. Select the phrases in this excerpt that illustrate Percy’s stereotypical belief about girls from California.

“She was probably my age, maybe a couple of inches taller, and a whole lot more athletic looking. With her deep tan and her curly blond hair, she was almost exactly what I thought a stereotypical California girl would look like, except her eyes ruined the image. They were startling gray, like storm clouds . . .”

“I watched the satyr playing his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire. I wondered if Grover could work that kind of magic with music. I wondered if he was still inside the farmhouse, getting chewed out by Mr. D” (76).

Which word best helps in understanding the meaning of fleeing in the simile in this excerpt?

“In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, I saw a figure lumbering toward us on the shoulder of the road. The sight of it made my skin crawl.”

Which phrase is an example of figurative language?

“When I was young, I nicknamed him Smelly Gabe. I’m sorry, but it’s the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.”

Which words in this sentence DO NOT help in understanding the meaning of reeked?

“Was her little boy doing all right? I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off and all that but secretly I was really really glad to see her.”

Which words in this excerpt best help in understanding the meaning of smothering?

“I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time.”

What word in this sentence best helps in understanding the meaning of irritable?

“All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandanas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.”

Which words in this sentence do NOT help in understanding the meaning of ancient?