Margot in “All Summer in a Day”
suffers greatly from living on a planet where the sun almost never shines. In
an essay, tell how Margot's physical appearance and her character have been
affected by the absence of sunlight in her life.
Margot's
pale skin, and the washed-out colors of her eyes, lips, and hair. They might
also mention her ghostlike voice. Margot is also weak willed—she allows herself
to be shoved by one of the boys in her class. In addition, she does not like to
play, she shuns the others' games, and she comes alive only when talking about,
writing about, or looking forward to seeing the sun.
13. In “Melting Pot” and “Was Tarzan
a Three-Bandage Man?,” Quindlen and Cosby describe their memories of
experiences in their lives. In sharing their memories, each writer reveals a
theme—a central idea or message or an insight into life. In an essay, discuss
each essay's theme. What message does Quindlen want to share? What message is
Cosby sending? Refer to the essays to support your points.
Quindlen
is saying that in her experience the melting pot exists only when people deal
with one another as individuals, not when they think of people as members of a
racial or ethnic group. They should recognize that Cosby's message is that
young people foolishly imitate their heroes without considering whether the
behavior they are imitating is in fact worthy of imitation.
14.
In “Suzy and Leah,” there is no single narrator telling us about the
characters. In an essay, describe how the reader learns about the main
characters in this story. What technique does the author use? Use examples from
the story to support your points.
Suzy
and Leah” has two first-person narrators. Students should at least realize that
the reader learns about the characters from their own words in their diary
entries. The author has each character tell about herself and reflect on the
other character. In that way, the reader sees Leah from her own point of view
and from Suzy's, and the reader similarly sees Suzy from her point of view and
from Leah's.
15 . Imagine that you were an
eyewitness to the explosion and burning of the Hindenburg. In an essay,
report on the incident. Be sure to include a summary of the main events.
note
any of the factual material contained in the beginning of the article: the size
and weight of the airship, its composition and layout, the number of passengers
and crewmen on board, where it had taken off from, and so on. They should
include the information that would have been available to an eyewitness: where
the ship was landing, how it was being landed, what happened, how quickly it
happened, how passengers and crew members reacted, and so on.