English Unit 4

Why should you first consider the author's purpose before evaluating a work?

A. so that you can understand how the plot relates to the theme

B. so that you can decide if the work accomplishes that purpose

C. so that you will not be tricked by any of the devices used by the author

D. so that you can identify the theme of the literary work

B. so that you can decide if the work accomplishes that purpose

When you understand the purpose, you can evaluate whether the author has used the right form and methods to achieve that purpose.

Part I: Which genre of writing appeals most to you? Why?

Part II: What is it about the author’s purpose that is most effective? Why?

Part 1: The genres that appeal most to me are fantasy and adventure. These genres make a story exciting by adding fictional characters, plot, and suspense. An example of a book that has these two genres is Warrior Cats. Warrior Cats is about cats living in clans and they go on journeys and battles.

Part 2: These books teach about friendship, overcoming difficulties, and hope. The sequence of events makes the author's purpose most effective because the characters try to resolve many conflicts. For example, in the book Dawn, the clans go on a journey to find a new home. The clans used to fight, but now they have to work together to overcome difficulties along the way.

Why is it important to analyze the plot structure of a story you’re evaluating?

A. The structure of the plot is the only way that an author can convey a message.

B. The realism of the characters is essential for an entertaining story.

C. Creating suspense is the most common approach to holding the reader’s interest.

D. An interesting story must have a highly complicated plot.

C. Creating suspense is the most common approach to holding the reader’s interest.

Details of plot structure, such as the building of suspense toward the story’s climax, may either enhance or lessen the effectiveness of a story.

Which of following would be a problem in a work of science fiction?

A. realistic descriptions of events that occur 100 years from new

B. a character who was born in the year 2060

C. an imaginative description of a planet in another galaxy

D. a reference to cell phones as new technology

D. a reference to cell phones as new technology

If the intent is to create a future world, then describing today's technology as new would confuse readers.

Which approach is best when discussing the quality of a literary work with other readers?

A. Be honest about your assessment of the work, but be sensitive to other readers’ responses and perspectives.

B. If you didn't enjoy the work, don’t contribute to the discussion unless asked a question.

C. Only discuss the work's strengths if the work was written by one of your classmates.

D. Say whatever you feel about the literary work, regardless of how much or how little other readers liked it.

A. Be honest about your assessment of the work, but be sensitive to other readers’ responses and perspectives.

Honesty is important, but so are the other readers’ feelings about the work.

When reading literature for a discussion, what should you focus on?

A. the author's grammar

B. the author's intent

C. the author's imagination

D. the author's attitude

B. the author's intent

Your job as a reader is to determine how well the work fulfills the author's intentions.

Which of the following is NOT an important criterion for evaluating a work of poetry?

A. the vividness of imagery

B. the poem’s emotional impact

C. word choices related to tone

D. character development

D. character development

Poems use imagery and careful word choice to evoke an emotional response.

How do you keep your personal preference and opinion of genres and literary works out of a school assignment that asks you to evaluate a text outside of your preferred readings?

When evaluating a text outside of preferred readings, it is important to think about the author's purpose, writing techniques, and effectiveness instead of personal preference.

A good evaluation should focus on the author achieving their goals. Readers should analyze theme, character development, and setting using clear criteria. We should use opinions to evaluate literature. Specific textual evidence can help support an evaluation and reduce bias.

How can a search engine assist you in your research project?

A. A search engine can help you locate the best academic journal and then tell you how to obtain it.

B. A search engine can help you find people to interview for your project and their contact information.

C. A search engine can help you find general information on a topic and then tell you where to find books on the subject.

D. A search engine can help you find specific information by sifting through extensive amounts of online information.

D. A search engine can help you find specific information by sifting through extensive amounts of online information.

Google, Bing, and Yahoo are commonly used search engines.

What type of informational text should be evaluated based on the reasons and explanations for why something happened?

A. a persuasive article

B. an article that proposes a solution to a problem

C. a vividly descriptive essay

D. an article connecting a cause to an effect

D. an article connecting a cause to an effect

This organizational pattern should explain what brought about an event or the results of an event.

Which question should you ask when evaluating a work of literature?

A. What would happen in a sequel to this work of literature?

B. Which part of this work of literature is easiest to read?

C. What is the theme of this work of literature?

D. How well has this author accomplished his or her purpose?

D. How well has this author accomplished his or her purpose?

When you evaluate a literary work, first figure out what the author was trying to do with the story, poem, or play. Then decide if he or she was successful.

Your science teacher asks you to write a brief report about a new piece of technology used in automobiles. Which document would work best as a source of information for this report?

A. a recent magazine article about unusual cars that are being produced this year

B. a website that lets car lovers share information about their vehicles

C. the owner’s manual for your uncle’s vintage Volkswagen bus

D. an encyclopedia entry about cars from a reference book in your school’s library

A. a recent magazine article about unusual cars that are being produced this year

The best sources for a research report like this are focused on your specific topic and contain very up-to-date information.

To evaluate a work effectively, you must first determine what?

A. why the author prefers one genre over another

B. what the author’s personal background is

C. what the author was trying to achieve

D. whether the author’s point of view is acceptable

C. what the author was trying to achieve

You must have a specific idea of the author’s purpose to evaluate whether the work achieves it effectively.

Which item would be the most reliable source to use for a research project about space travel?

A. a story someone wrote about what it would be like to travel in space

B. a series of recent posts by astronauts, on NASA’s website

C. a discussion board about people wanting to travel into space

D. a children’s magazine with an article about space travel

B. a series of recent posts by astronauts, on NASA’s website

A reliable source can be a primary document or a secondary source that has gone through a peer review and/or contains facts that can be verified by another source.

What should you do if you find sources written in very general or vague terms?

A. Use direct quotations from these sources in the body of your report.

B. Revise your claim or thesis statement to better fit the source.

C. Find different sources that contain more specific information about your topic.

D. Search for different sources that use specialized vocabulary or jargon.

C. Find different sources that contain more specific information about your topic.

Use sources with enough specific information to back up your claim.

How does your claim or thesis statement usually take shape when you are conducting research?

A. Claims take shape when you conduct a general Internet search using a search engine like Google.

B. Claims take shape when you have brainstormed topics of interest you’d like to research.

C. Claims take shape when you have drafted your body paragraphs and are ready to think about the introduction.

D. Claims take shape when you begin to see answers to your research question in sources.

D. Claims take shape when you begin to see answers to your research question in sources.

As you locate possible answers to your research question, you will decide what claim you can actually support.

What would be the best search terms to use for a research project about advances in orthopedic knee surgery?

A. knee surgery, new techniques

B. orthopedics, new techniques

C. surgery, new techniques

D. orthopedics, knee surgery

A. knee surgery, new techniques

Search terms are the words and phrases you enter into a search engine.

Which list contains four details that a citation for an online source must include?

A. title of the article, city where it was uploaded, date it was published, url of the website

B. author, title of the article, url of the website, date you accessed it

C. title of the article, date it was published, url of the website, date you accessed it

D. author, title of the article, city where it was uploaded, date you accessed it

B. author, title of the article, url of the website, date you accessed it

A citation contains specific information about each source used in a research project.

Which statement best describes the evaluation of an online source for research writing?

A. judging the source on its accessibility and length

B. judging sources on their sentence structure and word choice

C. judging the source on its interest level and organization

D. judging the source on its reliability and relevance

D. judging the source on its reliability and relevance

When evaluating a source, make sure it is credible and related to your research question.

Which list contains four details that a citation for a magazine article must include?

A. author of the article, title of the article, title of the magazine, date you found it

B. author, title of the article, url of the magazine’s website, copyright date

C. author of the article, title of the article, title of the magazine, copyright date

D. title of the article, title of the magazine, city where it was uploaded, date you accessed it

C. author of the article, title of the article, title of the magazine, copyright date

A citation contains specific information about each source used in a research report.

What should you evaluate in an article that claims men make better soldiers than women?

A. the order of the sequence of events outlined in the article

B. the use of sensory details to describe the soldiers

C. the solutions the author proposes to overcome inequality in the military

D. the reasoning and evidence used to support the claim

D. the reasoning and evidence used to support the claim

Writers must logically prove a claim or thesis statement.

What criteria would NOT be important for evaluating a contemporary short story?

A. whether the author has achieved his or her particular purpose

B. whether the author represents a historical event factually

C. whether the main conflict of the story is resolved in a satisfying way

D. whether the characters in the work are believable

B. whether the author represents a historical event factually

Contemporary fiction would not involve the use of historic settings.

Which of the following is an appropriate rule of thumb for evaluating a literary work?

A. Well-written literature should fulfill the author’s intentions.

B. Literary writers should only write about things they’ve experienced.

C. A poem should never be more than two pages in length.

D. All good literature should use full sentences and correct grammar.

A. Well-written literature should fulfill the author’s intentions.

Literature can be written at any length, on any subject, and in any style. If it doesn’t fulfill the author’s intentions, however, there is room for improvement.

Which statement describes the correct order for steps in a research process?

A. Write your research report, create a thesis statement, create a research plan and find sources, take notes from the sources, and then write a research question.

B. Create a thesis statement, create a research plan and find sources, take notes from the sources, write a research question, and then write your research report.

C. Write a research question, create a research plan and find sources, take notes from the sources, create a thesis statement, and then write your research report.

D. Create a research plan and find sources, write a research question, take notes from the sources, create a thesis statement, and then write your research report.

C. Write a research question, create a research plan and find sources, take notes from the sources, create a thesis statement, and then write your research report.

The steps of the research process provide a way for you to decide what and how to research, so you should always start with a research question and a plan based on that question.

When should you decide on your claim or thesis statement during the research process?

A. before you gather your resources from the Internet and the library

B. as soon as you have drafted your research question

C. as you begin to see an answer to your research question in the sources

D. after you’ve written a strong introduction with an engaging lead

C. as you begin to see an answer to your research question in the sources

You often do not know what your claim will be until you begin reading your sources in search of answers to your research question.

What would be the best search terms to use for a research project about the health benefits of exercise?

A. healthy, exercise, running

B. health benefits, exercise

C. healthy benefits, gym

D. running, gym, exercise

B. health benefits, exercise

Search terms are the words and phrases you enter into a search engine.