Total Eclipse by Annie Dillard

What is one message the author presents in the text?

• An eclipse has a scientific explanation that few people understand.

• What happens during an eclipse has never been fully explained by science.

• One must experience an eclipse to understand it scientifically.

• Experiencing an eclipse is different than knowing what scientifically causes it.

Which two statements describe what the author's language in paragraph 2 indicates about the changes that take place during an eclipse?

• They are gradual.

• They are surprising.

• They are beautiful

• They are extensive

• They are frightening.

What best describes the author’s purpose for including paragraph 3?

• To present a vividly poetic account of an experience

• To give factual details about a scientific process in nature

• To explain a perspective that differs from accepted facts

• To show how eclipses are usually perceived by average people

Read the sentences from paragraph 5.

I turned back to the sun. It was going. The sun was going, and the world was wrong. The grasses were wrong; they were platinum.

How does the author’s use of the word wrong influence the reader’s perception of the text?

• It implies that the narrator is concerned about the effects of the eclipse on the world around her.

• It demonstrates that a change in lighting can change people's moods in drastic ways.

• It emphasizes the power of an eclipse to transform the familiar into something new.

• It encourages the reader to consider the frightening effects of an eclipse.

Read the sentences from paragraph 6.

I looked at Gary. He was in the film. Everything was lost.

The author’s use of simple, direct sentences contributes to a tone of —

• wonder

• frustration

• intrigue

• disbelief

Read the sentence from paragraph 6.

We had all started down a chute of time.

What is the figurative meaning of this sentence?

• Time moved more quickly during the eclipse.

• Our surroundings made it feel like a different time.

• We were falling through a tunnel of different eras.

• The eclipse made us realize how much changes between eras.

Read the sentences from paragraph 8.

There was no sound. The eyes dried, the arteries drained, the lungs hushed. There was no world.

The author’s use of language contributes to a tone of —

• judgment

• nostalgia

• awe

• finality

Read the sentence from paragraph 8.

The hatch in the brain slammed.

What is the figurative meaning of this sentence?

• Part of the brain is shut off from the rest.

• Part of the mind is concealed like the sun.

• The narrator feels strangely disconnected.

• The narrator realizes and understands something.

In this excerpt, Dillard’s central focus is...

• The moment when a solar eclipse reaches three-fourth

• The moment when a solar eclipse reaches half way

• The moment when a solar eclipse reaches the turning point

• The moment when a solar eclipse reaches totality

Dillard’s writing style is the essay serves to...

• - Reflect her oriented state of mind during the storm

• - Reflect her oriented state of existing years after

• - Reflect humans oriented state of the body during the experience

• - Reflect her disoriented state of mind during the experience