What a thing, a whole story or a reference stands for

Grade 11 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Two Fables of Aesop (translated by George Fyler Townsend, 1867, with our notes)

   Background: [1] These fables come from Three Hundred Aesop’s Fables, translated into English by George Fyler Townsend and published in 1867. [2] A fable is a very short allegory: its characters stand for human types or ideas, and it often ends with a moral, a lesson stated in a single line.

   Fable A, “The Oak and the Reeds”: [3] A very large oak was uprooted by the wind and thrown across a stream. [4] It fell among some Reeds, which it thus addressed: “I wonder how you, who are so light and weak, are not entirely crushed by these strong winds.” [5] They replied, “You fight and contend with the wind, and consequently you are destroyed; while we on the contrary bend before the least breath of air, and therefore remain unbroken, and escape.” [6] Stoop to conquer.

   Fable B, “The Father and His Sons”: [7] A father had a family of sons who were perpetually quarreling among themselves. [8] When he failed to heal their disputes by his exhortations, he determined to give them a practical illustration of the evils of disunion; and for this purpose he one day told them to bring him a bundle of sticks. [9] When they had done so, he placed the [bundle] into the hands of each of them in succession, and ordered them to break it in pieces. [10] They tried with all their strength, and were not able to do it. [11] He next opened the [bundle], took the sticks separately, one by one, and again put them into his sons’ hands, upon which they broke them easily. [12] He then addressed them in these words: “My sons, if you are of one mind, and unite to assist each other, you will be as this [bundle], uninjured by all the attempts of your enemies; but if you are divided among yourselves, you will be broken as easily as these sticks.”

   Word notes: [13] To “contend” is to struggle against something, and to “stoop” is to bend down or give way. [14] “Perpetually” means constantly, “exhortations” are strong urgings, and “disunion” means being divided. [15] Square brackets mark the one word we changed: Townsend uses an old word, no longer used this way, for a bundle of sticks tied together.

2. 1.

   Bo compares the two fables. How does each one treat strength?

   • Fable A finds strength in joining with others; Fable B finds it in yielding to a force.
   • Fable A finds strength in the size of the oak; Fable B finds it in the number of sticks.
   • Both fables find strength in numbers, since the reeds outnumber the oak.
   • Fable A finds strength in yielding to a force; Fable B finds it in joining with others.
3. 2.

   Luz claims that Fable A praises bending over fighting. Which parts best support the claim?

   • Part 3, the oak’s fall, and part 4, the oak’s question
   • Part 4, where the oak calls the reeds “light and weak,” and part 6
   • Part 13, which defines “contend” and “stoop,” and part 2, which defines a fable
   • Part 5, the reeds’ reply, and part 6, the closing moral
4. 3.

   Kira reads Fable B. What does the bundle of sticks stand for?

   • The father’s authority over his sons
   • The sons’ unity, which makes them hard to defeat
   • The sons’ quarrels, which make them hard to defeat
   • A tool for punishing the sons’ quarrels
5. 4.

   Pia compares how each fable teaches its lesson. Which comparison is right?

   • In Fable A the reeds explain the lesson after the oak falls; in Fable B the father shows it by a demonstration and then explains.
   • In both fables the lesson is spoken aloud, and no action is used to show it to the listeners.
   • In Fable A the oak explains the lesson after the reeds fall; in Fable B the sons explain it to the father after the bundle breaks.
   • In both fables the character who teaches the lesson is the one who wins in the end.
6. 5.

   Jun asks what the father planned before he handed over the bundle. Which part shows it?

   • Part 10: the sons “were not able to do it,” though they tried hard
   • Part 8: he “determined to give them a practical illustration of the evils of disunion”
   • Part 7: the sons are “perpetually quarreling among themselves,” and their father cannot stop it
   • Part 14, which defines “disunion” as being divided, so the father plans to show division

7. The Road Not Taken (Robert Frost, 1916, with our notes)

   Background:
   [1] Robert Frost placed this poem at the start of his book Mountain Interval, published in New York in 1916.
   [2] Frost later said the poem was partly a gentle joke about his friend, the English poet Edward Thomas, who on country walks often regretted the path they had not taken.
   [3] A symbol is a concrete thing in a text, such as an object, a place or an action, that also stands for a larger idea.

   The poem:
   [4] Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, / And sorry I could not travel both / And be one traveler, long I stood / And looked down one as far as I could / To where it bent in the undergrowth;
   [5] Then took the other, as just as fair, / And having perhaps the better claim, / Because it was grassy and wanted wear; / Though as for that the passing there / Had worn them really about the same,
   [6] And both that morning equally lay / In leaves no step had trodden black. / Oh, I kept the first for another day! / Yet knowing how way leads on to way, / I doubted if I should ever come back.
   [7] I shall be telling this with a sigh / Somewhere ages and ages hence: / Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference.

   Word notes:
   [8] “Diverged” means separated and went in different directions, and the undergrowth is the bushes and small plants under the trees.
   [9] “Wanted wear” means needed to be walked on, because the grass on it had not been worn down by many travelers.
   [10] “Trodden black” means darkened by footsteps, so no one had walked on either road that morning.
   [11] “Ages and ages hence” means a very long time from now, far in the future.
   [12] The poem was printed entirely in italic type, which is shown here in ordinary type.
   [13] Each numbered part of the poem is one complete stanza of five lines, rhyming ABAAB.
   [14] A speaker is the voice that tells a poem, and because that voice may differ from the poet’s own, readers keep track of who is speaking and what the speaker knows as the lines unfold.

8. 6.

   Esme reads the poem. What do the two roads most plausibly stand for?

   • Two possible directions for a life, only one of which can be taken
   • A choice between a safe road and a dangerous road, as stanza 2 describes
   • Two walking trails in a forest, compared for their scenery
   • Every decision in a lifetime, each of which the poem says will turn out well
9. 7.

   Milo claims the two roads were almost alike. Which parts best show that?

   • Part 8, which defines “diverged,” and part 11, which defines “ages and ages hence”
   • Part 5, “grassy and wanted wear,” and part 7, “less traveled by”
   • Part 4, “sorry I could not travel both,” and part 7, “took the one less traveled by”
   • Part 5, “Had worn them really about the same,” and part 6, “equally lay”
10. 8.

    Zee compares part 5 with part 7. What is the difference in what the speaker says about the roads?

    • Part 5 says the roads were “really about the same”; part 7 imagines saying the speaker took “the one less traveled by.”
    • Part 5 says one road was less traveled; part 7 imagines saying the two roads were about the same.
    • Part 5 says the roads were the same; part 7 says the speaker regrets the choice and wants to undo it.
    • Part 5 says the second road was better; part 7 imagines saying that it was worse than the first.
11. 9.

    Tala reads that the speaker may later tell the story more grandly than it happened. Which part best supports that?

    • Part 7, where the speaker predicts telling it “ages and ages hence” and “with a sigh”
    • Part 6, where both roads lie “in leaves no step had trodden black” on the same morning
    • Part 4, where the speaker “stood” a long time at the fork and looked down one road
    • Part 11, which defines “ages and ages hence” as far in the future, in simple words
12. 10.

    Ren compares the speaker at the fork (part 4) with the speaker in the future (part 7). Which comparison is best supported?

    • At the fork and in the future the speaker regrets the choice and wishes to reverse it.
    • At the fork the speaker is torn and “sorry”; later the choice is given great importance.
    • At the fork the speaker is confident; in the future the speaker doubts the choice completely.
    • At the fork the speaker is torn; in the future the speaker forgets the choice entirely and moves on.