The Hawk Can Soar

The author most likely narrates her essay out of chronological order to help convey her —

• memories and thoughts about her disease

• anger about her disease and its history

• medical condition and its treatment

• career history and hopes for the future

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.6

CCSS.RI.11-12.6

CCSS.RI.8.9

CCSS.RL.8.6

CCSS.RL.9-10.6

In paragraph 3, the author most likely includes information about her family's history to —

3 My hands quake with tremors, as do my father’s hands and as did his father’s hands before him. But I’m the lucky one. I’m the one who gets the disease, a rare form of motor neuron disease, in its full expression. My father and grandfather didn’t even know they had a disease — transmitted in an autosomal dominant pattern, the geneticist said. They stopped being able to walk in their 70s and 80s and decided that this was caused by other things, perhaps by the nature of being old men, or a failure of the will to move, or the inconstant beating of their own blood.

• explain the time it takes to recognize the disease

• give the reader more information about her personality

• offer a scientific medical diagnosis

• help readers understand how lucky she has been

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.2

CCSS.RI.11-12.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

The term chimera in paragraph 7 alludes to a monster in Greek mythology composed of parts from multiple animals, commonly a lion, goat, and snake. By describing her thoughts as a chimera, the author most likely intends to —

• describe the range of different thoughts she has

• emphasize the implausibility of her thoughts

• prove how monstrous her thoughts feel

• show which way her thoughts are pulling her

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

The phrase tilting at windmills alludes to an event in the novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes where the protagonist imagines he is fighting giants when he is actually fighting windmills. What does the phrase tilting at windmills likely mean in paragraph 7?

• Fighting in battle

• Fighting to spite others

• Fighting for a better reality

• Fighting in vain

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

In paragraph 9, the author uses personification to describe her —

• career

• concern

• disability

• future

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.10

CCSS.RI.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.11-12.10

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

The author describes her experience with her illness in detail to —

• ensure that readers will be sympathetic

• demonstrate that she is not as ill as it seems

• show how people can overcome their circumstances

• make it clear that she is not her disease

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.6

CCSS.RI.11-12.6

CCSS.RI.8.9

CCSS.RL.11-12.6

CCSS.RL.9-10.6

Read the sentence from paragraph 5. But each new environment is a landscape of loss. What mood does this sentence create?

• Content

• Hopeless

• Isolated

• Reflective

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Which two sentences suggest ways in which the writer compares herself to the hawk in paragraph 16?

• She knows she can soar.

• She is restrained.

• She has limited vision.

• She likes hunting in the rain.

• She dreams of independence.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.9

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

Why does the author begin the memoir with a description of her current condition?

• She doubts the diagnosis of her condition.

• She is teaching the reader how to move a walker.

• She is showing her respect for the health care workers.

• She wants the reader to understand the nature of her condition.

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.10

CCSS.RI.6.10

CCSS.RI.7.10

CCSS.RI.8.10

CCSS.RI.9-10.10

The author's diction at the conclusion of the selection creates —

• an optimistic tone

• a somber tone

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4