Name: Homework December Week 1 Red/Orange/Yellow/Green Directions: Read and annotate the text. Some words that may be new to you have been highlighted for you to define. Then, choose the best answer to the questions. City Autumn The air breathes frost. A thin wind beats Old dust and papers down gray streets And blows brown leaves with curled up edges At frightened sparrows on window ledges. A snowflake falls like an errant feather: A vagabond draws his cloak together, And an old man totters past with a cane Wondering if he ll see spring again. My Annotations Errant: Vagabond: Totter: Question Set 1. What does the old man in this poem wonder? A whether the streets need to be cleaned B whether the sparrows are frightened C whether he ll see spring again D whether he should help the vagabond 2. In which part of the year is the scene in this poem set? A late autumn B early spring C late summer D early winter 3. Read these lines from the poem: And an old man totters past with a cane Wondering if he ll see spring again. Based on these lines, what can you conclude about how the old man feels about autumn and winter? A He probably likes autumn and winter better than he likes spring. B He probably feels equally as positive about autumn and winter as he does about spring. C He probably feels uncertain that he will live through the autumn and winter. D He probably feels excited about the autumn and winter. 4. Where does this poem take place? A on a farm
B in a small town C inside a house D in a city 5. What is this poem mainly about? A a cold autumn day in a city B an old man who lives in a city C a vagabond who lives on a city street D the way dry, fallen leaves look 6. The poem begins with the sentence The air breathes frost. Why might the poet have begun the poem with this sentence? A to introduce the reader to a human character with the name Air B to establish the importance of the cold temperature in the scene C to help the reader ease into the poem with an unimportant detail D to set up a contrast between the weather at the start of the poem and at the end of the poem 7. Read these lines from the poem: A snowflake falls like an errant feather: A vagabond draws his cloak together, Why might the poet have used a colon (:) at the end of the first line? A to show that there is a connection between the snowflake falling and the vagabond drawing his cloak together B to show that the vagabond drawing his cloak together caused the snowflake to fall like an errant feather C to make clear that the snowflake falling and the vagabond drawing his cloak together are events happening at different times D to contrast the falling snowflake and the vagabond drawing his cloak together 8. Describe the way the city in this poem looks, using details from the text. 9. What is the overall mood of the poem? Use evidence from the text to support your answer. 10. How does the city setting of this poem contribute to the mood of the poem? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.
Bad Memories My Annotations Jeremiah was not an old man. Anyway, he wasn t old compared to the old man he sat across from, on the old man's couch, in the old man's living room that smelled like eggs and mildew. Both men, old and not-quite-so-old, sipped lemonade. The couch was designed with flowers. It was so old the flowers looked like they were wilting, like they had been plucked and left out to die. The old man was named Paul. Paul looked like he was going to fall asleep. He nodded forward, his head tilted over. Jeremiah slapped him on the arm. I'm not asleep! Jeremiah raised an eyebrow. You were going to fall asleep. I'm not going to fall asleep! Jeremiah sighed. On the coffee table in front of them was Jeremiah's laptop. On the laptop was a picture. The picture was the same photograph Jeremiah had placed on the table in the IHOP: a tall, thin man at a piano, with a gleaming ring on his finger and a smirk on his face as if he were keeping a secret. Jeremiah turned the laptop toward Paul. Do you recognize this man? Jeremiah asked. Paul had fallen asleep. Jeremiah repeated the question. I'm not asleep! Paul. Please. I'm not asleep. I just don't want to look. No, no, I don't think I'll look. No, thank you. This had Jeremiah confused. He raised an eyebrow. Why not? he asked Paul. Paul took a deep breath. He really sucked it in, as though the room might run out of air. And then he began slowly to speak. He chose his words with care. When you're my age, he said, you know what you can trust, and you know what you can't trust. I know I can trust my feelings. He looked up at Jeremiah and continued, My gut feelings, you understand? And I know I can't trust some stranger who shows up at my door, unannounced, and asks me questions about things that happened sixty years ago. About things that maybe didn't even happen sixty years ago! Who knows! I don't know! You remember sixty years ago? Of course not, you weren't even born! Weren't even a single cell. And yet you have the nerve Paul began to shake but managed to
regain control. The nerve. To enter my house. And ask me me of all people! about the one man whose name I never want to hear again. No I'll say it one more time. Just so you'll be satisfied. Just for your pleasure. One more time: Sweet Lou. That's it. That's the last you'll hear from me! No more! Paul sprung from the couch with such force he might have been sixty years younger. He sprung to his feet with such force he surprised Jeremiah, causing Jeremiah to knock over his glass of lemonade on the coffee table. It fell to the wood floor and smashed. Lemonade pooled on the floor, but Paul didn't notice. Paul was already out of the room, muttering to himself and waving his hands. Jeremiah sat back down on the couch, with his socks in the puddle of lemonade. He leaned forward and grabbed the laptop, and he placed it on his lap. He stared at Sweet Lou, the Sweet Lou who sixty years ago disappeared in a cloud of mystery. Sweet Lou's smile what did it mean? What did Sweet Lou know that the rest of us would never know? Jeremiah reached into his traveling bag and took out a notepad of yellow lined paper with a list of names. He crossed Paul's name off the list. This trip had cost him much time and much money, and Jeremiah had little of either to spare. He was beginning to doubt he would ever uncover the story of Sweet Lou. Sadness crept over him. Jeremiah sat in the room that smelled like eggs and mildew, under a ceiling fan that creaked in circles and hardly moved the air at all. He stared at the photograph, at Sweet Lou. A single tear fell down his cheek. Question Set 1. What does the photograph on Jeremiah's laptop show? a) a man drinking lemonade b) a tall man at a piano c) a man eating at a restaurant d) an old man sitting on a couch 2. What point of view is this story told from? a) third person point of view b) first person point of view c) second person point of view 3. Refer to this excerpt from the story for Questions 3 and 4. Paul took a deep breath. He really sucked it in, as though the room might run out of air. And then he began slowly to speak. He chose his words with care. 'When you're my age,' he said, 'you know what you can trust, and you know what you can't trust. I know I can trust my feelings.' He looked up at Jeremiah and continued, 'My gut feelings, you understand? And I know I can't trust some stranger who shows up at my door, unannounced, and asks me questions about things that happened sixty years ago. About things that maybe didn't even happen sixty years ago! Who knows! I don't know! You
remember sixty years ago? Of course not, you weren't even born! Weren't even a single cell. And yet you have the nerve ' Paul began to shake but managed to regain control. 'The nerve. To enter my house. And ask me me of all people! about the one man whose name I never want to hear again. No I'll say it one more time. Just so you'll be satisfied. Just for your pleasure. One more time: Sweet Lou. That's it. That's the last you'll hear from me! No more!' Based on this information, what can you conclude about Paul's feelings toward Sweet Lou? a) They are feelings of disturbance and distress. b) They are feelings of happiness and satisfaction. c) They are feelings of uncertainty and curiosity. d) They are feelings of enthusiasm and eagerness. 4. Based on the excerpt, what can you conclude about how Paul feels toward Jeremiah? a) Paul is pleased with Jeremiah. b) Paul is angry with Jeremiah. c) Paul admires Jeremiah. d) Paul is bored by Jeremiah. 5. What is a theme of this story? a) the challenges of old age b) the importance of hard work c) the pain of old memories d) the excitement of solving a mystery 6. Read these sentences from the text. Jeremiah reached into his traveling bag and took out a notepad of yellow lined paper with a list of names. He crossed Paul's name off the list. This trip had cost him much time and much money, and Jeremiah had little of either to spare. He was beginning to doubt he would ever uncover the story of Sweet Lou. Sadness crept over him. Based on these sentences, what does the phrase "sadness crept over him" mean? a) He began to feel sad. b) He crawled over the floor. c) He felt something crawling on him. d) He stopped feeling sad. 7. Read this sentence from the text. He sprung to his feet with such force he surprised Jeremiah, causing Jeremiah to knock over his glass of lemonade on the coffee table. How could this sentence be broken up without changing the meaning? a) He sprung to his feet with such force he surprised Jeremiah. For example, Jeremiah knocked over his glass of lemonade on the coffee table. b) He sprung to his feet with such force he surprised Jeremiah. First, Jeremiah knocked over his glass of lemonade on the coffee table. c) He sprung to his feet with such force he surprised Jeremiah. Instead, Jeremiah knocked over his glass of lemonade on the coffee table. d) He sprung to his feet with such force he surprised Jeremiah. As a result, Jeremiah knocked over his glass of lemonade on the coffee table.