What makes a writer’s style

Grade 11 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   The Scarlet Letter, from “The Custom-House” (Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1850, with our notes)

   Background: [1] Nathaniel Hawthorne worked from 1846 to 1849 as surveyor of the Custom House in Salem, Massachusetts, the government office that collected taxes on goods arriving by ship. [2] He opened The Scarlet Letter, published in 1850, with a long sketch called “The Custom-House”, and this excerpt is its opening.

   The excerpt: [3] In my native town of Salem, at the head of what, half a century ago, in the days of old King Derby, was a bustling wharf— [4] but which is now burdened with decayed wooden warehouses, and exhibits few or no symptoms of commercial life; except, perhaps, a bark or brig, half-way down its melancholy length, discharging hides; or, nearer at hand, a Nova Scotia schooner, pitching out her cargo of firewood— [5] at the head, I say, of this dilapidated wharf, which the tide often overflows, and along which, at the base and in the rear of the row of buildings, the track of many languid years is seen in a border of unthrifty grass— [6] here, with a view from its front windows adown this not very enlivening prospect, and thence across the harbour, stands a spacious edifice of brick. [7] From the loftiest point of its roof, during precisely three and a half hours of each forenoon, floats or droops, in breeze or calm, the banner of the republic; [8] but with the thirteen stripes turned vertically, instead of horizontally, and thus indicating that a civil, and not a military, post of Uncle Sam’s government is here established.

   Word notes: [9] “King Derby” is a joking title for Elias Hasket Derby, a wealthy Salem merchant whose ships traded around the world in the late 1700s. [10] A bark and a brig are kinds of sailing ships, and a schooner is a two-masted sailing vessel. [11] “Languid” means slow and lacking energy, “unthrifty” means weak and poorly growing, and a “prospect” is a view. [12] An edifice is a large building, and the forenoon is the morning. [13] “Melancholy” means sad and gloomy. [14] The banner of the republic is the flag of the United States.

2. 1.

   Bo is linking two boxes in the margin. Which choice best explains how diction and syntax work together in parts 3 to 6?

   • Part 9 explains that “King Derby” was a wealthy merchant, so the style is mainly about wealth.
   • The long sentence delays its subject and verb until “stands a spacious edifice of brick” at the end.
   • Words of decay fill a long, drifting sentence, so the port feels as slow as it looks.
   • The formal words and the long sentence make the wharf sound busy, important and full of trade.
3. 2.

   Esme weighs versions of a phrase in part 7, where the flag “floats or droops, in breeze or calm.” Which version works best for Hawthorne’s purpose, and why?

   • His own, “floats or droops”, because it makes the flag seem frightening as it flaps in the wind.
   • “waves proudly”: it is shorter and more patriotic, so it would honor the government office better.
   • His own, “floats or droops”, because the two verbs are joined by “or”, which is a choice of syntax.
   • His own: “floats or droops” admits the flag often hangs limp, which fits his gently mocking view.
4. 3.

   Jun compares a plainer phrase, “the merchant Elias Hasket Derby,” with Hawthorne’s “old King Derby.” What would the plainer phrase lose?

   • The fact, given in part 9, that Derby’s ships traded around the world in the late 1700s.
   • The mock-royal joke that makes Salem’s busy past sound grand beside its shabby present.
   • The information that Derby was actually crowned king of Salem by its grateful townspeople.
   • Nothing important: both names point to the same wealthy merchant of Salem in the 1700s.
5. 4.

   Luz weighs the word “precisely” in part 7: “during precisely three and a half hours of each forenoon.” Which reading best explains why it works?

   • It simply reports how long the flag stays up on the roof each morning, as a record.
   • It shows that the office was efficient and busy, keeping strictly to its timetable.
   • Its fussy exactness about such a small duty gently mocks the dull routine of the office.
   • It would work better without “precisely”, since the exact time is the main fact the reader needs.

6. The Story of My Life, from Chapter IV (Helen Keller, 1903, with our notes)

   Background: [1] Helen Keller lost her sight and hearing after an illness when she was nineteen months old, and she grew up in Tuscumbia, Alabama, unable to communicate in words. [2] In 1887 her teacher, Anne Sullivan, began spelling words into Helen’s hand with the manual alphabet, a system of forming individual letters with the fingers, although Helen did not yet realize that the motions represented words. [3] Keller published this memoir in 1903, while she was a student at Radcliffe College, and in this chapter she remembers the day she understood that words name things.

   The excerpt: [4] We walked down the path to the well-house, attracted by the fragrance of the honeysuckle with which it was covered. [5] Some one was drawing water and my teacher placed my hand under the spout. [6] As the cool stream gushed over one hand she spelled into the other the word water, first slowly, then rapidly. [7] I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her fingers. [8] Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten—a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. [9] I knew then that “w-a-t-e-r” meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. [10] That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free! … [11] I left the well-house eager to learn. [12] Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought.

   Word notes: [13] A well-house is a small shed constructed over a well or a water pump, often covered with climbing plants such as honeysuckle. [14] “Consciousness” means awareness, and here a “misty” consciousness is a dim, half-formed recognition of something just beyond understanding. [15] “Revealed” means made known, uncovered or explained for the first time, as if a curtain were suddenly opened.

7. 5.

   Milo compares a plainer version: “the water that was flowing over my hand.” Keller wrote “the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand.” What would the plainer version lose?

   • Nothing important: both versions name the same water from the same well on the same day.
   • Nothing worth keeping: the plain version is clearer, so it would work better for most readers.
   • The fact that the water was cool, since the word “cool” would be cut from the sentence too.
   • The child’s point of view: before the word, she had no name for the thing, only its feeling.
8. 6.

   Noah is linking two boxes in the margin. How do sentence length and word choice work together in parts 7 to 10?

   • Each sentence in parts 7 to 10 has the same length and pattern, giving the passage a steady rhythm.
   • Part 10 is an exclamation with a list of words: “light, hope, joy”.
   • Short, still sentences give way to longer, abstract ones and an exclamation, so the style swells.
   • The sentences grow shorter and plainer to show that Keller was losing interest in the lesson.
9. 7.

   Pia weighs versions of part 7, “I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her fingers.” Which version works best at this moment, and why?

   • Keller’s own, because it uses a comma to join the two parts of the sentence together.
   • “I stood still, watching her fingers and thinking about many other things.”: it adds detail.
   • Keller’s own: its stillness and single focus set up the sudden understanding that follows.
   • “I was paying close attention to her fingers.”: it is shorter and easier for a reader to follow.
10. 8.

    Ren looks at the dash in part 8: “a misty consciousness as of something forgotten—a thrill of returning thought.” Suppose Keller had used a period instead. What would be lost?

    • The rush of one feeling running into the next, which the dash keeps inside a single breath.
    • The list of three separate items that the dash introduces, one after another.
    • The meaning of “consciousness”, which part 14 explains as awareness.
    • Nothing important: a period and a dash both separate two ideas, so the meaning stays the same.
11. 9.

    Tala is linking figure and grammar in part 10: “That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free!” How do they work together?

    • It says that learning the word water made Keller feel happy and hopeful about the future.
    • The word is personified as “living”, which is an example of figurative language.
    • The figures make the moment feel frightening, as if the word were a stranger in the dark.
    • A word comes alive and acts on her, and verbs piled up without “and” make the change sudden.
12. 10.

    Zee weighs closing sentences for the excerpt. Keller ends, “Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought.” Which version works best, and why?

    • “Everything had a name, which confused me.”: it adds a note of honest doubt at the end.
    • Keller’s own, because it uses the word “and” to join its two clauses together.
    • “I learned many new words that day.”: it is shorter and states the main fact plainly.
    • Keller’s own: “gave birth” shows one discovery multiplying into many new thoughts.