Question

At five-thirty that morning, my uncle stood next to one of his cornfields, closed his eyes, and listened. I did the same, hoping to discover what he was listening for. All I heard was a light breeze and the rattling made by the dancing skeletons—the dried-up, stunted cornstalks—in front of me.
Question
Which of these does the opening paragraph do the least to accomplish?

Select one:

a.
establish a relationship between the narrator and a character


b.
immediately pull the reader into the action


c.
provide a sense of the setting

Answer 1

Answer:

The option which the opening paragraph does the least to accomplish is:

B. immediately pull the reader into the action

Explanation:

Let's work this one out through elimination:

A. The opening paragraph DOES establish a relationship between the narrator and a character. We are immediately told they are uncle and nephew.

B. This seems to be the right choice for us. There is not a lot of action going on. We do not know what the uncle is listening for, what to expect, what is going on. This dragging creates some suspense as we wait for the action to start.

C. The opening paragraph DOES provide a sense of setting. As soon as we are told about the "cornfield" and the "breeze", we can imagine the characters are on a farm, out in the open.