Question

1. For the narrator of “My Father Sits in the Dark,” the darkness rouses fears of the unknown; but to his father, the darkness feels
hungry
comforting
dangerous
confusing

2. How do the authors of the two memoir essays on language provide support for their ideas about language?
They quote famous linguistic specialists.
They give examples from their own lives.
They list numerous statistics from research.
They ask the readers a lot of questions

3. Which statement would author Richard Rodriguez most likely support?
Most teachers lose sight of what is best for their students.
Students should take only classes taught in their language.
Each child should have a public identity with a public language.
Parents should not immigrate to the United States with their children.

4. What does the egg symbolize in “The Egg”?
death
confusion
life
ideals

5. The two memoir essays (Hunger of Memory and Mother Tongue) on language are directed mainly to
recent immigrants.
proficient speakers of English.
university professors.
elementary school students.

6. Why has Rodriguez lost the ability to hear the distinct sounds of the English language?
The sounds of English have become too familiar to him.
The sounds of English and Spanish are confused in his memory.
He is no longer as interested in English as he once was.
His sense of hearing has been damaged.

7. The speakers in “The Egg” and “Hunger of Memory” both deal with
their longing for times when they communicated warmly with their parents.
their resentment toward their fathers for bad decisions that they made.
an awareness that their careers make their parents proud of them.
how their childhoods were affected by their parents’ actions.

8. Although both are busy mothers, the mother in “Daystar” is thinking about some time to herself while the mother in “I Stand Here Ironing” is
doubting that she has ever shown her daughter enough love.
feeling nostalgic for the simplicity of her own childhood.
wondering about the choices she has made and how they have affected her child.
hoping that her children will learn to speak English and rise above her own circumstances

9. In “My Father in the Navy,” the poet uses religious imagery to
give the reader a sense of a sailor’s relationship to water.
show that the father’s real work was as a religious leader in the church.
appeal to the reader’s sense of sound and rhythm.
convey the separateness of the father from the rest of the family.

10. Why does the poet repeat the word nothing in the final lines of “Daystar”?
to let readers “hear” the nagging sounds of the speaker’s children and husband.
to help readers understand the speaker’s wistful desire for liberty.
to suggest that the speaker finds no purpose in her life.
to reflect the cheerful and peaceful nature of the speaker’s home.

Answer 1

These are the correct answers:
1. comforting 

2. They give examples from their own lives. 

3. Most teachers lose sight of what is best for their students.

4. life

5. proficient speakers of English.

6. The sounds of English have become too familiar to him. 

7. their resentment toward their fathers for bad decisions that they made. 

8. wondering about the choices she has made and how they have affected her child. 

9. give the reader a sense of a sailor’s relationship to water.

10. to help readers understand the speaker’s wistful desire for liberty. 

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