MCAS Literature

Answers

Literature Practice Session 1

Check how long it took you to complete Literature Practice Session 1.  On the exam you will have 45 minutes.  You can ask for a reasonable extension, possibly another five to 20 minutes. 

Reading Selection #1

Answer Key

1. B  Scan the article for the character name, Rev. Dimmesdale, and you find your answer in the final four lines.  Hawthorne mainly wanted to write a good story -- specifically a good romance.  By POE, you can knock off A, there's no discussion of the social class system in Hawthorne's day.  Eliminate D, because the passage tells us that the story is not mainly didactic (written to instruct or preach to the reader).  You can get rid of C, because the passage says nothing about psychoanalysis -- and it states that Hawthorne was not interested in looking at common, regular people in detail.
2. C  Find the sentence:  To his mind, fiction was not a mirror of commonplace persons... Use POE and cross off any answer choices that you know are wrong such as A, personification.  B, alliteration, is also wrong (it simply wasn't used).  But C, metaphor, seems possible, so leave it alone.  Look at D, hyperbole.  Is this sentence a dramatic overstatement?  Hardly.  Cross off D.  This leaves you with C, metaphor, which makes perfect sense since Lang implies a comparison between fiction and mirrors.
3. D You may know what the word didactic means, in which case you aggressively guessed after reading the questions and the passage carefully.  But let's say you have no clue what didactic means.  Find the word in the text and use POE to knock out the wrong answer choices.  A is obviously wrong, because the sentence begins "Moral as many of his pieces are, we cannot call them didactic."  B is likewise farfetched.  So what else can you do?  Read the text closely to discern any clues about what didactic means.  Sure enough, the very next sentence says that Hawthorne did not intend to "better people" with his stories.  Didactic has something to do with bettering -- what about guessing D, instructive.  Didactic refers to something written to instruct.
4. B  Start with POE and get rid of choices that are plainly wrong.  Cross off A, as Lang does not discuss Hawthorne's biography, and eliminate D, because Hawthorne's importance is likewise not the subject of the essay.  Why did Lang write this essay?  Look at the text closely.  It was the moral situation that interested him.  Morality is a main theme here.  Look at the two remaining answer choices.  Answer choice C says the author is challenging Hawthorne.  Does the writing seem to attack Hawthorne?  No, it appears to be trying to clarify or explain something about Hawthorne.  Cross off D and go with C.

Reading Selection #2

Answer Key

5. B  This is a typical poetry question.  If you need to review rhyme schemes click here> rhyme schemes
6. D  Would you say that "my heart leaps" is an example of a word that makes a sound?  No, so get rid of A.  Is this phrase an example of antithesis, two phrases that parallel one another?  No, so eliminate B.  There are no repeating sounds, so you can cross off C.  This leaves you D, personification, something you might have aggressively guessed as well.
7. A  Look closely at the context.  Beguiling is something that describes a romantic moon.  That eliminates C, leaping, and D, meeting.  But how do you choose between A and B?  If you have to guess, you have a 50 percent chance.  But maybe you've heard the expression guileless referring to a naive person.  This means that guile is the opposite of innocent; it's cunning and deceitful.  Something beguiling is something enchanting; the correct answer choice is A.
8. A  Examine the text, no dark and bouldered shore.  Both dark and bouldered describe the shoreline, which makes this word an adjective.
9. C  Go back to lines 1-2 of "Trees" and say them in your own words.  Trees are lovelier than poems -- so eliminate B, which states the opposite.  The poem isn't about inspiration or duration, so get rid of A and D, too.  That leaves you with C, exactly what the poem says.
10. B  Read line two closely.  Did the word as jump out at you?  This is a simile.
11. A  Using POE, you should have crossed everything out but alliteration.  If the lifts and leafy jumped out at you right away, you might have aggressively guessed and then double-checked your answer.
12. D  You probably can't guess aggressively on this one.  Just knock down your choices, one by one.  A is no good, because it doesn't describe Morley's poem, and B is no good because it doesn't describe Kilmer's.  D is much stronger than C because both speakers admit that poets are flawed.  In the first poem, the speaker says somewhat ironically that "The poets all o.k. it" (portraying love in a natural setting), but not him.  In the second poem, the speaker says poets can't create anything as beautiful as a tree. 
13. A  You might have guessed aggressively on this one because plants don't sleep, awaken, or accept rewards.  But POE can get you to the same place:  The trees are not alliterative.  They are not a metaphor because they aren't representing something else.  There are no similes in this story.
14. D  Find the answer and put your finger on it.  At the end of the story you learn that, "The animals and plants were told by the Great Spirit to stay awake for seven days and seven nights, but most could not and slept.  Those plants that did stay awake, such as the pine and cedar were rewarded by being allowed to remain green all year.  Eliminate choice C, because it is completely wrong.  Cross off A and B, because they are also false -- although they do borrow words from the story.
15. A  Cross off anything that's wrong, a common ploy to distract you.  B is definitely wrong.  The story says nothing about their vision nor makes a point of theisland, so C and D are also wrong.  That leaves A.
16. B  Look around the word "subsisting" and you find "nuts and berries."  You might think to yourself:  The woman seems to be doing fine, getting along by eating nuts and berries.  The closest match is B.  The other three don't make sense in the sentence, so don't fall for them
17. A  Avoid traps by staying focused on the context.  The dog is changing into a man.  Keep that mental picture in mind as you try to figure out what "limbs" means in this context.  It makes sense that the man-dog's arms and legs are straightening, right?
18. D  Make an aggressive guess.  This child was the first Chippewa boy, so how would the Chippewa people that came later be related to him?  They'd be his kid and grandkids and great-grandkids and... You get the idea.  The best match with you guess would be "descendants."
19. C  Smooth describes the body.  What's that term for a word that describes a noun?  An adjective.  Any time you have a word that tells how something feels, looks, smells, tastes, or sounds, you have an adjective.

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