Worksheet

Write an analysis of a story, poem or speech

Grade 11 Reading Worksheet

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

  1. Read this first

    Use this

    Four in the Morning (story excerpt and a student's analysis draft; invented people and places): The text

    [1] The ovens at Marchetti's Bakery were already ticking with heat when I arrived at four, and Mrs. Marchetti did not say good morning; she pointed at the flour. [2] For the first week I believed she disliked me, because she corrected the way I folded, the way I floured the table, and even the way I closed the door. [3] Then one morning she placed her hand over mine on the dough and pressed, slowly, until I felt the moment it stopped resisting and began to spring back. [4] "There," she said, the only word she spoke before sunrise, and she took her hand away as if she had handed me something heavy and valuable. [5] I understood then that her corrections had never been complaints; they were the only way she knew to pass along forty years of mornings. [6] By the end of the summer, I was the one who pointed at the flour when the new hire walked in, and I tried hard not to smile.

    The draft

    [7] "Four in the Morning" uses strong imagery and is a very effective and memorable piece of writing about working in a bakery. [8] For most of the excerpt, the reader sees Mrs. Marchetti only through the narrator's early judgment, which is that the baker is cold and impatient. [9] The narrator says, "For the first week I believed she disliked me." [10] The turn comes when Mrs. Marchetti presses the narrator's hand into the dough and says a single word, "There," before taking her hand away.

    [11] The simile in sentence 4 makes the passage more interesting and helps the reader picture the scene. [12] The narrator's reflection in sentence 5 then names what the reader has already sensed: the corrections were a form of teaching all along. [13] The final sentence completes a circle, since the narrator now points at the flour exactly as the baker once did. [14] By shaping the excerpt around a misreading and its correction, the author suggests that some people show care through exactness rather than warmth.

  2. Ari thinks [9] drops a quotation in with no point. Which sentence should replace [9] to work the narrator's words in smoothly and correctly?

    • The narrator's early judgment is that the baker "disliked me," which seems unfair because the corrections were such small ones.
    • The narrator explains, "For the first week I believed she disliked me, because she corrected the way I folded, the way I floured the table, and even the way I closed the door."
    • The narrator's early judgment rests on small complaints, even about "the way I shut the door," which seem to show that the baker is unfriendly.
    • The narrator's early judgment rests on tiny corrections, even of "the way I closed the door," which seem to show that the baker is unfriendly.

  3. Bo wants [11] to say what the simile in sentence 4 does for the reader. Which sentence should replace [11]?

    • The simile shows that Mrs. Marchetti feels relieved to hand the job over, since she has worked so many mornings by herself.
    • The simile makes the reader feel the weight of what is passed on, so a brief touch reads as a gift rather than another correction.
    • The simile makes the moment feel like a burden, so the reader worries that the narrator has been given too much responsibility too soon.
    • The single word "There" makes the reader feel the baker's approval at last, after a long week of silent corrections.

  4. Use this

    First Rehearsal (story excerpt and a student's analysis draft; invented people and places): The text

    [1] Felipe Aranda had not played the cello since he was nineteen, and at sixty-two he arrived at the community orchestra's first rehearsal forty minutes early, which gave him time to doubt everything. [2] The other cellists unpacked their instruments with the easy carelessness of people who did this every week, laughing about a parking ticket and a broken string. [3] When the conductor raised her baton, his bow shook so badly that his first note came out as a thin, apologetic scratch. [4] Nobody turned around; the woman beside him simply leaned a little closer, so that her steady line ran under his like a handrail on a staircase. [5] By the second page his bow had stopped shaking, though he still missed half the notes, and he no longer cared who heard him miss them. [6] Afterward, packing up, the woman told him the section had been short a player for years, and that they would see him Thursday.

    The draft

    [7] The excerpt is about a man who returns to the cello after many years and feels nervous at his first rehearsal with a community orchestra. [8] At the start, the author sets Felipe's anxiety against the relaxed habits of the other cellists, who joke about small troubles while he doubts everything. [9] Felipe plays his first note, and "his first note came out as a thin, apologetic scratch." [10] The most important moment comes when the woman beside him leans closer, so that her line runs under his "like a handrail on a staircase."

    [11] This simile is a good use of figurative language that helps describe the music. [12] The author never has the woman speak during the rehearsal, which keeps her help from embarrassing Felipe in front of the others. [13] Her words afterward, that the section had been short a player for years, turn a private kindness into a public welcome. [14] The excerpt therefore suggests that a newcomer's confidence can grow from being needed rather than from playing well.

  5. Jun sees that [9] repeats itself around the quotation. Which sentence should replace [9] to work the quotation in smoothly?

    • Felipe's first note comes out as "a thin, apologetic scratch," as if the instrument itself were apologizing for interrupting.
    • The author writes, "When the conductor raised her baton, his bow shook so badly that his first note came out as a thin, apologetic scratch."
    • In sentence 3, the author describes Felipe's first note as "a thin, apologetic scratch" that sounds when the conductor begins.
    • Felipe's first note comes out as "a thin, nervous scratch," as if the instrument itself were asking forgiveness for interrupting the others.

  6. Kira wants [11] to name what the handrail simile in sentence 4 does for the reader. Which sentence should replace [11]?

    • The simile lets the reader feel the help as support Felipe can lean on unnoticed, so the kindness seems steady and private.
    • The detail that "Nobody turned around" makes the reader feel relieved that Felipe's mistake goes unnoticed by the orchestra.
    • The simile adds vivid imagery to the excerpt, which helps the reader stay interested in the scene from beginning to end.
    • The simile makes Felipe seem weak and helpless, so the reader feels sorry that he needs someone else to hold him up.

  7. Use this

    Remarks at the Dedication of the Cobb Ridge Trail (speech by an invented speaker and a student's analysis draft; invented people and places): The text

    [1] Two summers ago this hillside was a tangle of blackberry canes and loose rock, and most of you were strangers to one another and to every tool in our shed. [2] Since then, you have moved, by our count, eleven hundred stone steps into place, many of them by hand and all of them by agreement. [3] I could thank you with a plaque, and there is one at the trailhead, but I would rather thank you with a warning about what comes next. [4] Trails do not stay finished; rain loosens them, roots lift them, and boots, which are the reason we build them, slowly wear them away. [5] So the work you started is not over, and I hope you will come back each spring, not because the trail needs you, though it does, but because you will want to see what you made. [6] Today the trail belongs to everyone who walks it, but for a little while longer, it will remember the shape of your hands.

    The draft

    [7] Ranger Osei's speech uses many rhetorical devices, such as personification and lists, to make the dedication of the new trail more memorable. [8] Osei begins by reminding the volunteers of their progress, from strangers with unfamiliar equipment to an experienced crew that moved eleven hundred steps. [9] Osei then says the plaque is not enough: "I could thank you with a plaque, and there is one at the trailhead, but I would rather thank you with a warning about what comes next." [10] The warning itself is a catalog of gradual forces, in which rain, roots and boots eventually erode the trail.

    [11] This list is effective because it immediately captures the audience's attention. [12] Her aside "though it does" admits the trail's need while insisting that the real reason to return is pride in the work. [13] The closing personification, in which the trail will "remember the shape of your hands," gives the volunteers a lasting place in a public space. [14] In these ways, Osei uses the occasion of a dedication not to close the project but to keep the volunteers attached to it.

  8. Milo thinks [9] quotes too much of sentence 3. Which sentence should replace [9] to work the quotation in smoothly?

    • Osei sets aside the plaque and chooses to thank the whole crew "with a warning about the work ahead," a surprising swap that turns praise toward the future.
    • Osei sets aside the plaque, saying that she "would rather thank you with a warning," which surprises the volunteers listening.
    • In sentence 3, Osei mentions that there is a plaque at the trailhead and says she would rather give "a warning about what comes next."
    • Osei sets aside the plaque and chooses to thank the crew "with a warning about what comes next," a surprising swap that turns praise toward the future.

  9. Noah wants [11] to say what the list in sentence 4 does for the volunteers. Which sentence should replace [11]?

    • The list makes the speech more memorable and helps the audience remember the main ideas long after the ceremony ends.
    • The image of the trail remembering "the shape of your hands" makes the volunteers feel that their work will last.
    • The list ends with the volunteers' own boots, so the trail's slow wear becomes a responsibility they share rather than a problem for someone else.
    • The list warns hikers who visit for the first time that they should stay on the trail and avoid loosening the steps.

  10. Pia sees that [7] names devices but not the occasion or the purpose. Which sentence should replace [7]?

    • Speaking to the volunteers who built the trail, Ranger Osei asks them to raise money for a larger plaque at the trailhead.
    • Speaking to the volunteers who built the trail, Ranger Osei turns a thank-you into a call to return, using the trail's slow wear to keep their work unfinished.
    • At the dedication of the Cobb Ridge Trail, Ranger Osei speaks to the volunteers who spent two summers building eleven hundred stone steps, and thanks them for it.
    • Ranger Osei's dedication speech is powerful and well organized, and it is one of the most effective speeches a ranger could give.

  11. Use this

    Remarks at the Hollis High Volleyball Banquet (speech by an invented speaker and a student's analysis draft; invented people and places): The text

    [1] Our record this season was six wins and fourteen losses, and I am not going to stand here and pretend that those numbers are anything other than what they are. [2] What the numbers do not show is that this team practiced at six in the morning all winter because the gym was booked every afternoon. [3] They do not show the night in February when we lost the first two sets at Bellmont and took the next three, with half the gym already heading for the parking lot. [4] They do not show that our two seniors spent every Thursday teaching freshmen a serve that neither of them could make look easy until November. [5] I have coached teams with better records, but I am not sure I have coached a team that understood better what a record leaves out. [6] Families, thank you for driving at five-thirty in the morning, and players, thank you for giving me a season I will measure by something other than wins.

    The draft

    [7] Coach Mbeki delivers a speech at the volleyball banquet in which he discusses the team's disappointing season of six victories and fourteen losses. [8] Mbeki opens with an honest concession, admitting the record instead of hiding it, which earns him the audience's trust for what follows. [9] The team, the coach says, "practiced every morning at six all winter long," which shows how committed it was. [10] The repeated phrase "They do not show" then converts each memory into a miniature rebuttal of the official record.

    [11] The repetition makes the speech sound impressive and keeps the audience interested throughout. [12] The memory of the comeback at Bellmont, told with half the gym "already heading for the parking lot," lets listeners picture a win that few people stayed to see. [13] His final sentence divides its thanks between families and players, so that both groups hear their part in the season named. [14] Mbeki's choices suggest that a speech after a losing season can redefine success honestly without denying the disappointment.

  12. Ren notices that [9] changes the coach's words. Which sentence should replace [9] to quote them correctly and smoothly?

    • The coach says, "What the numbers do not show is that this team practiced at six in the morning all winter because the gym was booked every afternoon."
    • Even the hour becomes evidence, since a team that "practiced at six in the morning all winter" showed a commitment that no scoreboard records.
    • In sentence 2, the coach mentions that the team "practiced at six in the morning all winter" while the gym was busy.
    • Even the hour becomes evidence, since the coach says "this team practiced at six" and it shows a commitment no scoreboard records.

  13. Tala wants [11] to name what the repeated "They do not show" does for the families. Which sentence should replace [11]?

    • The repetition reminds the Bellmont team that Hollis came back to win, so the rivals will remember the comeback.
    • The repetition lets families hear, one memory at a time, the effort they drove to see, so the losing record stops being the last word.
    • The repetition gives the speech rhythm and emphasis, which helps keep the people in the room listening closely.
    • The repetition makes the families feel worse about the season, since each new memory reminds them of what the team failed to win this year.

  14. Zee sees that [7] only says what the speech is about. Which sentence should replace [7]?

    • At the end-of-season banquet at Hollis High, Coach Mbeki speaks to the volleyball players and their families about the year.
    • Coach Mbeki's banquet speech is honest, moving and effective, and it is clearly the work of a coach who cares.
    • At a banquet after a losing season, Coach Mbeki answers the record with the repeated phrase "They do not show," teaching players and families to value what numbers leave out.
    • Coach Mbeki's speech uses repetition, a concession and direct address to make the banquet feel special for the whole team.
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Write an analysis of a story, poem or speech

Answer Key - Grade 11 Reading Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

  1. Read this first

    Use this

    Four in the Morning (story excerpt and a student's analysis draft; invented people and places): The text

    [1] The ovens at Marchetti's Bakery were already ticking with heat when I arrived at four, and Mrs. Marchetti did not say good morning; she pointed at the flour. [2] For the first week I believed she disliked me, because she corrected the way I folded, the way I floured the table, and even the way I closed the door. [3] Then one morning she placed her hand over mine on the dough and pressed, slowly, until I felt the moment it stopped resisting and began to spring back. [4] "There," she said, the only word she spoke before sunrise, and she took her hand away as if she had handed me something heavy and valuable. [5] I understood then that her corrections had never been complaints; they were the only way she knew to pass along forty years of mornings. [6] By the end of the summer, I was the one who pointed at the flour when the new hire walked in, and I tried hard not to smile.

    The draft

    [7] "Four in the Morning" uses strong imagery and is a very effective and memorable piece of writing about working in a bakery. [8] For most of the excerpt, the reader sees Mrs. Marchetti only through the narrator's early judgment, which is that the baker is cold and impatient. [9] The narrator says, "For the first week I believed she disliked me." [10] The turn comes when Mrs. Marchetti presses the narrator's hand into the dough and says a single word, "There," before taking her hand away.

    [11] The simile in sentence 4 makes the passage more interesting and helps the reader picture the scene. [12] The narrator's reflection in sentence 5 then names what the reader has already sensed: the corrections were a form of teaching all along. [13] The final sentence completes a circle, since the narrator now points at the flour exactly as the baker once did. [14] By shaping the excerpt around a misreading and its correction, the author suggests that some people show care through exactness rather than warmth.

  2. Ari thinks [9] drops a quotation in with no point. Which sentence should replace [9] to work the narrator's words in smoothly and correctly?

    • The narrator's early judgment is that the baker "disliked me," which seems unfair because the corrections were such small ones.
    • The narrator explains, "For the first week I believed she disliked me, because she corrected the way I folded, the way I floured the table, and even the way I closed the door."
    • The narrator's early judgment rests on small complaints, even about "the way I shut the door," which seem to show that the baker is unfriendly.
    • The narrator's early judgment rests on tiny corrections, even of "the way I closed the door," which seem to show that the baker is unfriendly.

  3. Bo wants [11] to say what the simile in sentence 4 does for the reader. Which sentence should replace [11]?

    • The simile shows that Mrs. Marchetti feels relieved to hand the job over, since she has worked so many mornings by herself.
    • The simile makes the reader feel the weight of what is passed on, so a brief touch reads as a gift rather than another correction.
    • The simile makes the moment feel like a burden, so the reader worries that the narrator has been given too much responsibility too soon.
    • The single word "There" makes the reader feel the baker's approval at last, after a long week of silent corrections.

  4. Use this

    First Rehearsal (story excerpt and a student's analysis draft; invented people and places): The text

    [1] Felipe Aranda had not played the cello since he was nineteen, and at sixty-two he arrived at the community orchestra's first rehearsal forty minutes early, which gave him time to doubt everything. [2] The other cellists unpacked their instruments with the easy carelessness of people who did this every week, laughing about a parking ticket and a broken string. [3] When the conductor raised her baton, his bow shook so badly that his first note came out as a thin, apologetic scratch. [4] Nobody turned around; the woman beside him simply leaned a little closer, so that her steady line ran under his like a handrail on a staircase. [5] By the second page his bow had stopped shaking, though he still missed half the notes, and he no longer cared who heard him miss them. [6] Afterward, packing up, the woman told him the section had been short a player for years, and that they would see him Thursday.

    The draft

    [7] The excerpt is about a man who returns to the cello after many years and feels nervous at his first rehearsal with a community orchestra. [8] At the start, the author sets Felipe's anxiety against the relaxed habits of the other cellists, who joke about small troubles while he doubts everything. [9] Felipe plays his first note, and "his first note came out as a thin, apologetic scratch." [10] The most important moment comes when the woman beside him leans closer, so that her line runs under his "like a handrail on a staircase."

    [11] This simile is a good use of figurative language that helps describe the music. [12] The author never has the woman speak during the rehearsal, which keeps her help from embarrassing Felipe in front of the others. [13] Her words afterward, that the section had been short a player for years, turn a private kindness into a public welcome. [14] The excerpt therefore suggests that a newcomer's confidence can grow from being needed rather than from playing well.

  5. Jun sees that [9] repeats itself around the quotation. Which sentence should replace [9] to work the quotation in smoothly?

    • Felipe's first note comes out as "a thin, apologetic scratch," as if the instrument itself were apologizing for interrupting.
    • The author writes, "When the conductor raised her baton, his bow shook so badly that his first note came out as a thin, apologetic scratch."
    • In sentence 3, the author describes Felipe's first note as "a thin, apologetic scratch" that sounds when the conductor begins.
    • Felipe's first note comes out as "a thin, nervous scratch," as if the instrument itself were asking forgiveness for interrupting the others.

  6. Kira wants [11] to name what the handrail simile in sentence 4 does for the reader. Which sentence should replace [11]?

    • The simile lets the reader feel the help as support Felipe can lean on unnoticed, so the kindness seems steady and private.
    • The detail that "Nobody turned around" makes the reader feel relieved that Felipe's mistake goes unnoticed by the orchestra.
    • The simile adds vivid imagery to the excerpt, which helps the reader stay interested in the scene from beginning to end.
    • The simile makes Felipe seem weak and helpless, so the reader feels sorry that he needs someone else to hold him up.

  7. Use this

    Remarks at the Dedication of the Cobb Ridge Trail (speech by an invented speaker and a student's analysis draft; invented people and places): The text

    [1] Two summers ago this hillside was a tangle of blackberry canes and loose rock, and most of you were strangers to one another and to every tool in our shed. [2] Since then, you have moved, by our count, eleven hundred stone steps into place, many of them by hand and all of them by agreement. [3] I could thank you with a plaque, and there is one at the trailhead, but I would rather thank you with a warning about what comes next. [4] Trails do not stay finished; rain loosens them, roots lift them, and boots, which are the reason we build them, slowly wear them away. [5] So the work you started is not over, and I hope you will come back each spring, not because the trail needs you, though it does, but because you will want to see what you made. [6] Today the trail belongs to everyone who walks it, but for a little while longer, it will remember the shape of your hands.

    The draft

    [7] Ranger Osei's speech uses many rhetorical devices, such as personification and lists, to make the dedication of the new trail more memorable. [8] Osei begins by reminding the volunteers of their progress, from strangers with unfamiliar equipment to an experienced crew that moved eleven hundred steps. [9] Osei then says the plaque is not enough: "I could thank you with a plaque, and there is one at the trailhead, but I would rather thank you with a warning about what comes next." [10] The warning itself is a catalog of gradual forces, in which rain, roots and boots eventually erode the trail.

    [11] This list is effective because it immediately captures the audience's attention. [12] Her aside "though it does" admits the trail's need while insisting that the real reason to return is pride in the work. [13] The closing personification, in which the trail will "remember the shape of your hands," gives the volunteers a lasting place in a public space. [14] In these ways, Osei uses the occasion of a dedication not to close the project but to keep the volunteers attached to it.

  8. Milo thinks [9] quotes too much of sentence 3. Which sentence should replace [9] to work the quotation in smoothly?

    • Osei sets aside the plaque and chooses to thank the whole crew "with a warning about the work ahead," a surprising swap that turns praise toward the future.
    • Osei sets aside the plaque, saying that she "would rather thank you with a warning," which surprises the volunteers listening.
    • In sentence 3, Osei mentions that there is a plaque at the trailhead and says she would rather give "a warning about what comes next."
    • Osei sets aside the plaque and chooses to thank the crew "with a warning about what comes next," a surprising swap that turns praise toward the future.

  9. Noah wants [11] to say what the list in sentence 4 does for the volunteers. Which sentence should replace [11]?

    • The list makes the speech more memorable and helps the audience remember the main ideas long after the ceremony ends.
    • The image of the trail remembering "the shape of your hands" makes the volunteers feel that their work will last.
    • The list ends with the volunteers' own boots, so the trail's slow wear becomes a responsibility they share rather than a problem for someone else.
    • The list warns hikers who visit for the first time that they should stay on the trail and avoid loosening the steps.

  10. Pia sees that [7] names devices but not the occasion or the purpose. Which sentence should replace [7]?

    • Speaking to the volunteers who built the trail, Ranger Osei asks them to raise money for a larger plaque at the trailhead.
    • Speaking to the volunteers who built the trail, Ranger Osei turns a thank-you into a call to return, using the trail's slow wear to keep their work unfinished.
    • At the dedication of the Cobb Ridge Trail, Ranger Osei speaks to the volunteers who spent two summers building eleven hundred stone steps, and thanks them for it.
    • Ranger Osei's dedication speech is powerful and well organized, and it is one of the most effective speeches a ranger could give.

  11. Use this

    Remarks at the Hollis High Volleyball Banquet (speech by an invented speaker and a student's analysis draft; invented people and places): The text

    [1] Our record this season was six wins and fourteen losses, and I am not going to stand here and pretend that those numbers are anything other than what they are. [2] What the numbers do not show is that this team practiced at six in the morning all winter because the gym was booked every afternoon. [3] They do not show the night in February when we lost the first two sets at Bellmont and took the next three, with half the gym already heading for the parking lot. [4] They do not show that our two seniors spent every Thursday teaching freshmen a serve that neither of them could make look easy until November. [5] I have coached teams with better records, but I am not sure I have coached a team that understood better what a record leaves out. [6] Families, thank you for driving at five-thirty in the morning, and players, thank you for giving me a season I will measure by something other than wins.

    The draft

    [7] Coach Mbeki delivers a speech at the volleyball banquet in which he discusses the team's disappointing season of six victories and fourteen losses. [8] Mbeki opens with an honest concession, admitting the record instead of hiding it, which earns him the audience's trust for what follows. [9] The team, the coach says, "practiced every morning at six all winter long," which shows how committed it was. [10] The repeated phrase "They do not show" then converts each memory into a miniature rebuttal of the official record.

    [11] The repetition makes the speech sound impressive and keeps the audience interested throughout. [12] The memory of the comeback at Bellmont, told with half the gym "already heading for the parking lot," lets listeners picture a win that few people stayed to see. [13] His final sentence divides its thanks between families and players, so that both groups hear their part in the season named. [14] Mbeki's choices suggest that a speech after a losing season can redefine success honestly without denying the disappointment.

  12. Ren notices that [9] changes the coach's words. Which sentence should replace [9] to quote them correctly and smoothly?

    • The coach says, "What the numbers do not show is that this team practiced at six in the morning all winter because the gym was booked every afternoon."
    • Even the hour becomes evidence, since a team that "practiced at six in the morning all winter" showed a commitment that no scoreboard records.
    • In sentence 2, the coach mentions that the team "practiced at six in the morning all winter" while the gym was busy.
    • Even the hour becomes evidence, since the coach says "this team practiced at six" and it shows a commitment no scoreboard records.

  13. Tala wants [11] to name what the repeated "They do not show" does for the families. Which sentence should replace [11]?

    • The repetition reminds the Bellmont team that Hollis came back to win, so the rivals will remember the comeback.
    • The repetition lets families hear, one memory at a time, the effort they drove to see, so the losing record stops being the last word.
    • The repetition gives the speech rhythm and emphasis, which helps keep the people in the room listening closely.
    • The repetition makes the families feel worse about the season, since each new memory reminds them of what the team failed to win this year.

  14. Zee sees that [7] only says what the speech is about. Which sentence should replace [7]?

    • At the end-of-season banquet at Hollis High, Coach Mbeki speaks to the volleyball players and their families about the year.
    • Coach Mbeki's banquet speech is honest, moving and effective, and it is clearly the work of a coach who cares.
    • At a banquet after a losing season, Coach Mbeki answers the record with the repeated phrase "They do not show," teaching players and families to value what numbers leave out.
    • Coach Mbeki's speech uses repetition, a concession and direct address to make the banquet feel special for the whole team.