The Leap by Louise Erdrich Selection Test

Read this description of Anna from paragraph 1.

"She has never upset an object or as much as brushed a magazine onto the floor. She has never lost her balance or bumped into a closet door left carelessly open."

The description suggests that Anna has retained her —

• graceful acrobatic skills

• matter-of-fact approach to challenges

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.1

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

Read this sentence from paragraph 5. 

"They loved to drop gracefully from nowhere, like two sparkling birds, and blow kisses as they threw off their plumed helmets and high-collared capes."

What is suggested about the Flying Avalons by the simile used in the description?

• How small and fragile they seemed to be

• How skillful and natural their acrobatics were

Read how the words unnoticed in paragraph 4 and unseen in paragraph 12 are used in context. What is the meaning of the prefix un-?

• B. Not

• C. Never

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

The phrase one form of flight for another in paragraph 15 suggests that the —

• A. ability to read allows the imagination to soar

• B. mother is willing to exchange excitement for safety

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

The narrator implies that the main reason she moved back to her childhood home to care for her mother was due to her feeling of —

• gratitude

• obligation

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.6

CCSS.RL.8.6

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

Part A

Which theme is conveyed in the selection?

• We rely on our sense of sight more than any other sense.

• Sometimes a moment in time can seem longer than it actually is.

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.9

CCSS.RI.11-12.9

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

Which quotation best supports the answer to Part A?

• "She is one with the constant dark now, just as the air was her home, familiar to her, safe, before the storm that afternoon."(paragraph 6)

• "My mother once said that I’d be amazed at how many things a person can do within the act of falling." (paragraph 9)

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.1

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

Most of “The Leap” is narrated as a series of flashbacks. What does the use of flashbacks allow the author to do that could not have been done without this technique?

• B) Control the pacing to increase the tension of the story’s climactic moment

• C) Slow down significant moments of the story and speed up less significant moments

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.5

Which inference can you make about the narrator as a child?

• B) She was easily frightened.

• C) She had complete faith in her mother.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.6

CCSS.RL.8.6

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

Which element makes it difficult to identify the climax in 'The Leap'?

• The use of two main characters, the narrator and her mother

• Two plot lines, one involving the Flying Avalons and the other involving the narrator as a child

Tags

CCSS.RL.2.10

CCSS.RL.2.2

CCSS.RL.2.3

CCSS.RL.4.3

CCSS.RL.4.4