When a whole piece says one thing and means another

Grade 11 Reading Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Gulliver’s Travels, from Part III, Chapter 5 (Jonathan Swift, 1726, with our notes)

   Background: [1] Jonathan Swift published Gulliver’s Travels in 1726; in Part III the traveler Lemuel Gulliver visits the Grand Academy of Lagado, where scholars called projectors work on schemes. [2] Many readers in Swift’s day recognized the Academy as a mockery of the Royal Society of London and of inventors seeking money for impractical projects.

   The excerpt: [3] This academy is not an entire single building, but a continuation of several houses on both sides of a street, which growing waste, was purchased and applied to that use. [4] I was received very kindly by the warden, and went for many days to the academy. [5] Every room has in it one or more projectors; and I believe I could not be in fewer than five hundred rooms. [6] The first man I saw was of a meagre aspect, with sooty hands and face, his hair and beard long, ragged, and singed in several places. [7] His clothes, shirt, and skin, were all of the same color. [8] He had been eight years upon a project for extracting sunbeams out of cucumbers, which were to be put in phials hermetically sealed, and let out to warm the air in raw inclement summers. [9] He told me, he did not doubt, that, in eight years more, he should be able to supply the governor’s gardens with sunshine, at a reasonable rate; but he complained that his stock was low, and entreated me “to give him something as an encouragement to ingenuity, especially since this had been a very dear season for cucumbers.” … [10] There was a most ingenious architect, who had contrived a new method for building houses, by beginning at the roof, and working downward to the foundation; which he justified to me, by the like practice of those two prudent insects, the bee and the spider.

   Word notes: [11] Projectors are people who propose schemes, and a “meagre aspect” is a thin, poor appearance. [12] Phials are small glass bottles, “hermetically sealed” means closed airtight, and “inclement” means cold and stormy. [13] A “dear season” has high prices, and to “entreat” is to beg. [14] The cut removes two other projects; the British spelling of “color” is made American.

2. 1.

   Ari fills two margins for Gulliver’s report of the cucumber project. Gulliver reports it in a calm, respectful voice. What gap does this open for the reader?

   • The Academy mocks the Royal Society of London, as part 2 of the background says.
   • Gulliver treats the scheme as serious; the reader sees eight years wasted on nonsense.
   • Gulliver is right to respect the project, since it might one day warm the gardens.
   • Gulliver is openly mocking the projector, so there is no gap between his view and ours.
3. 2.

   Bo needs one choice that fills both boxes, target and method. Which choice names both for the cucumber passage?

   • Target: useless research that begs for money; method: a respectful report of it.
   • Target: gardeners who grow too many cucumbers; method: a list of strange details.
   • Method: exaggeration, since eight years spent on a single project is far too long.
   • Target: one dirty, singed old scientist; method: describing his clothes and skin.
4. 3.

   Esme reads part 9: the projector expects to sell sunshine “at a reasonable rate” and begs for money because cucumbers were dear. Why does the calm, business-like tone matter?

   • An impossible plan treated as ordinary business makes its absurdity stand out.
   • It is sarcasm: the projector is mocking Gulliver for coming to visit the academy.
   • It shows the plan is sensible, since the projector has worked out a fair price.
   • It tells us that cucumbers were costly in Lagado that year because of poor weather.
5. 4.

   Jun reads part 10: the architect builds roof first and justifies it “by the like practice of those two prudent insects, the bee and the spider.” What gap does Gulliver’s report leave?

   • The comparison is sound, since bees and spiders do build their homes from the top down.
   • It tells us that the architect studied insects carefully before planning any houses.
   • Gulliver repeats a false comparison without comment; the reader must see it fails.
   • Gulliver mocks the architect openly by calling him “most ingenious”.
6. 5.

   Kira compares the two projects. Which choice best explains how the roof-first house and the cucumbers work together?

   • Both use a list of strange details about each projector and his work.
   • Both appear in the third part of the book, as part 1 of the background explains.
   • Both mock architects who build their houses badly and far too slowly.
   • Both schemes ignore how the world works, so the target is broader than one man.
7. 6.

   Luz reads part 5: Gulliver calmly counts “fewer than five hundred rooms” of projectors. What does the calm tone do here?

   • It makes the vast number of schemes sound ordinary, hinting at how much effort is wasted.
   • It shows Gulliver is impressed by how much good work the Academy does each day.
   • It tells us that the Academy is one enormous building with many rooms.
   • It is understatement that makes the Academy seem small and unimportant.

8. An Economical Project (Benjamin Franklin, 1784, with our notes)

   Background: [1] Benjamin Franklin, then serving as the American minister to France, sent this letter to a Paris newspaper in 1784; it is printed here from an 1806 London edition of his works. [2] Fashionable Parisians of the time often stayed up long after midnight and slept until noon, burning great quantities of expensive candles in the evening. [3] The letter’s narrator pretends to have made a discovery.

   The excerpt: [4] I went home, and to bed, three or four hours after midnight, with my head full of the subject. [5] An accidental sudden noise waked me about six in the morning, when I was surprised to find my room filled with light; and I imagined at first, that a number of those lamps had been brought into it: but, rubbing my eyes, I perceived the light came in at the windows. … [6] Your readers, who with me have never seen any signs of sunshine before noon, and seldom regard the astronomical part of the almanack, will be as much astonished as I was, when they hear of his rising so early; and especially when I assure them, that he gives light as soon as he rises. [7] I am convinced of this. [8] I am certain of my fact. [9] One cannot be more certain of any fact. [10] I saw it with my own eyes. … [11] First. Let a tax be laid of a louis per window, on every window that is provided with shutters to keep out the light of the sun. [12] Second. Let the same salutary operation of police be made use of to prevent our burning candles, that inclined us last winter to be more economical in burning wood; that is, let guards be placed in the shops of the wax and tallow chandlers, and no family be permitted to be supplied with more than one pound of candles per week. …

   Word notes: [13] An almanack is a yearly book of facts that lists the time of sunrise, and “his rising” is the sun’s. [14] A louis was a French gold coin, “salutary” means healthy or helpful, and chandlers are candle sellers. [15] The cuts remove the narrator’s calculations and two later rules.

9. 7.

   Milo reads parts 4 and 5: the narrator is “surprised to find my room filled with light” at six. What gap opens between the narrator and the reader?

   • Parisians stayed up after midnight and slept until noon, as part 2 says.
   • The narrator was woken by a sudden noise and saw light coming in at the windows.
   • Treating sunrise as a discovery shows how late fashionable Paris slept.
   • The narrator has truly made a scientific discovery about the sun’s early light.
10. 8.

    Noah needs one choice that fills both boxes, target and method. Which choice names both for the letter?

    • Target: newspaper readers who seldom look at the astronomical part of the almanack.
    • Method: short sentences repeated, such as “I am certain of my fact.”
    • Target: the high price of candles set by greedy candle sellers in the city.
    • Target: late hours in Paris; method: a mock discovery told with solemn certainty.
11. 9.

    Tala reads part 6: readers “who with me have never seen any signs of sunshine before noon.” How does this line join target and method?

    • It uses a long sentence with many clauses, which is a choice of style.
    • It tells us that Paris was cloudy each morning until noon.
    • It flatters readers with “who with me” while exposing their habit, so mock sympathy carries the jab.
    • It mocks astronomers for writing almanacks that few people bother to read.
12. 10.

    Zee reads part 12: guards in candle shops and one pound of candles per family each week. What does pushing the plan this far show?

    • It explains how many candles an ordinary family needs in a week.
    • Exaggerated control shows the habit is so wasteful only absurd laws could cure it.
    • It shows Franklin believed governments should strictly control how people use candles.
    • It uses understatement, playing down the real cost of candles in Paris.