How order and timing create suspense or surprise
Grade 9 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence
Circle the best answer.
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The Kiln (story)
[1] On Saturday morning the pottery studio on Fenn Street smelled of wet clay, and Ari stood beside the big brick kiln with both hands pressed flat on the counter. [2] Inside the kiln, cooling since Thursday night, was the tall blue vase that Ari had spent six weeks throwing and glazing for the spring show. [3] Ms. Adeyemi, the studio teacher, checked the gauge on the wall and said that another twenty minutes would be safer. [4] Ari nodded, and the number on the gauge pulled up a memory of the first bowl Ari had ever fired, back in October.
[5] That October afternoon, Ari had been too impatient to wait and had begged to open the kiln an hour early, because the bowl was a birthday present for Grandpa Teo. [6] The cold air had rushed in over the hot clay, and a thin crack had raced around the rim with a sound like a snapped twig. [7] Ms. Adeyemi had not scolded anyone; she had simply set the cracked bowl on the windowsill, where it still held paintbrushes, and said that clay always remembered being rushed.
[8] Now, in April, Ari looked at that same bowl on the windowsill and then back at the gauge, which had crept down by only three degrees. [9] The twenty minutes passed slowly, with Ari sweeping a floor that was already clean. [10] At last Ms. Adeyemi unlatched the heavy door and reached in with thick gloves, and the two of them leaned close to look. [11] The vase stood exactly where Ari had placed it, its blue glaze gone deep and glassy, with a ring of pale green where the colors had met. [12] Ari ran one finger around the rim, slowly, feeling for the smallest crack, and found nothing but smooth glaze. [13] Before leaving, Ari moved the old bowl to the shelf beside the kiln, where anyone tempted to open the door early would see it.
Bo is filling in the margin beside sentences 5 to 7 of The Kiln. Which choice names the device the author uses there?
- Events: Ari waits beside the kiln, remembers a cracked bowl, and finds the vase smooth and whole.
- Flashback: sentences 5 to 7 go back to October, when opening the kiln early cracked Ari's first bowl.
- Time order: the story runs straight from the October bowl to the April vase without stepping back.
- Foreshadowing: sentences 5 to 7 hint that the blue vase will crack when the kiln door opens in April.
Kira is marking where the flashback ends. Which sentence brings The Kiln back from October to the April morning?
- [5] That October afternoon, Ari had been too impatient to wait and had begged to open the kiln an hour early, because the bowl was a birthday present for Grandpa Teo.
- [8] Now, in April, Ari looked at that same bowl on the windowsill and then back at the gauge, which had crept down by only three degrees.
- [7] Ms. Adeyemi had not scolded anyone; she had simply set the cracked bowl on the windowsill, where it still held paintbrushes, and said that clay always remembered being rushed.
- [4] Ari nodded, and the number on the gauge pulled up a memory of the first bowl Ari had ever fired, back in October.
Luz is writing the effect side of the margin. What does placing the October memory in the middle of the wait do to the reader?
- Tension: the reader worries about the vase because Ms. Adeyemi asks for another twenty minutes.
- Worry: Ari feels nervous beside the kiln and sweeps a floor that is already clean.
- Tension: the cracked bowl makes the reader fear the new vase has cracked too, so the last twenty minutes drag.
- Surprise: the memory reveals to the reader that the vase had already cracked before Ari reached the studio.
The Backpack (story)
[1] When Kira came up the porch steps at six o'clock, Uncle Dev put down the newspaper and asked how the day had gone, and Kira answered with a shrug and walked straight past the swing. [2] The birdhouse had gone to the county fair that morning in a towel-lined box, a cedar cottage with a copper roof that Kira had bent by hand over three weekends. [3] All evening, the backpack Kira had carried home stayed zipped on a kitchen chair, and nobody was allowed to touch it.
[4] At dinner, Kira talked about the goats in the barn and the long line for lemonade, but said nothing about the woodworking tent. [5] Uncle Dev tried twice more, asking whether the judges had been fair and whether the copper had kept its shine, and both times Kira changed the subject to the weather. [6] Later, drying dishes beside Uncle Dev, Kira mentioned that the tent had been crowded with entries, including a lighthouse that someone had built with a working lamp. [7] Uncle Dev decided that the lighthouse must have won, and he spent the rest of the dishes saying kind things about effort and next year. [8] Kira listened without a word, drying each plate twice, as if the plates needed extra care that night.
[9] When the last dish was stacked, Kira finally unzipped the backpack and took out a folded card and a ribbon that had been rolled up tight. [10] The ribbon was blue, and the card, signed by the head judge, called the copper roof the finest metalwork in the young builders' class. [11] Kira explained that the ribbon had been meant for the next morning, wrapped, because Uncle Dev, whose birthday it would be, was the one who had first shown Kira how to bend copper. [12] Uncle Dev laughed, said that the speech about effort could wait for some other year, and pinned the ribbon to the porch swing.
Milo is labeling sentences 1 to 9 of The Backpack. Which choice names the device the author uses in them?
- Withheld fact: the fair result stays hidden from Uncle Dev and from the reader until sentence 10.
- Events: Kira comes home, talks about the goats and a lighthouse, and dries each plate twice.
- Flashback: sentences 1 to 9 go back to the morning when the birdhouse was carried to the county fair.
- Withheld fact: the story hides who built the lighthouse with a working lamp until sentence 6 names the builder.
Noah is marking the reveal in The Backpack. Which sentence first tells the reader how the birdhouse did at the fair?
- [7] Uncle Dev decided that the lighthouse must have won, and he spent the rest of the dishes saying kind things about effort and next year.
- [11] Kira explained that the ribbon had been meant for the next morning, wrapped, because Uncle Dev, whose birthday it would be, was the one who had first shown Kira how to bend copper.
- [10] The ribbon was blue, and the card, signed by the head judge, called the copper roof the finest metalwork in the young builders' class.
- [9] When the last dish was stacked, Kira finally unzipped the backpack and took out a folded card and a ribbon that had been rolled up tight.
Fog on the Harbor (story)
[1] At 6:40, the harbor ferry pulled away from the Northside dock, and Zee stood at the rail holding a garment bag with the lighthouse-keeper's coat for the class play. [2] Across the water, in the school auditorium, Milo stood behind the curtain in a plain gray shirt, listening to the folding chairs fill up. [3] The crossing took twenty-five minutes on a calm night, but a fog had settled over the harbor, and the captain slowed the engines until the boat barely seemed to move. [4] Backstage, Ms. Ferreira, the director, checked her watch, told the cast that the curtain would rise at seven no matter what, and asked whether anyone could stall.
[5] On the ferry, Zee counted the numbered buoys sliding past in the gray and tried to work out how many were left before the dock. [6] In the auditorium, Milo stepped through the curtain without the coat and began explaining to the audience how a real lighthouse lens bends light into a beam. [7] The ferry bumped against the Southside dock at 6:58, and Zee ran the four blocks to the school with the garment bag over one shoulder. [8] Milo, running out of facts, began describing rehearsals in a gym that echoed so badly that each line was heard twice.
[9] Zee reached the stage door at 7:04, out of breath, and found the hallway empty except for a stagehand who pointed at the curtain without a word. [10] From the wings, Zee could see Milo at the front of the stage, still talking, and could hear a wave of laughter from the audience. [11] Zee held the coat open in the gap of the curtain, and Milo backed into it while still talking and turned around with the buttons done. [12] The audience applauded the costume change as if it had been rehearsed, and the play began at 7:06, six minutes late and in the best of moods.
Ari is labeling Fog on the Harbor as a whole. Which choice names the device that shapes the story?
- Time order: the story follows Zee alone, from the Northside dock to the stage door, in one straight line.
- Flashback: the sentences about Milo on stage go back to an earlier evening of rehearsal in the echoing gym.
- Parallel plots: the sentences cut back and forth between Ms. Ferreira backstage and the audience in the chairs.
- Parallel plots: the sentences cut back and forth between Zee on the slow ferry and Milo stalling on stage.
Bo is marking where the two plot lines of Fog on the Harbor meet. Which sentence first puts Zee and Milo in the same scene?
- [10] From the wings, Zee could see Milo at the front of the stage, still talking, and could hear a wave of laughter from the audience.
- [9] Zee reached the stage door at 7:04, out of breath, and found the hallway empty except for a stagehand who pointed at the curtain without a word.
- [11] Zee held the coat open in the gap of the curtain, and Milo backed into it while still talking and turned around with the buttons done.
- [7] The ferry bumped against the Southside dock at 6:58, and Zee ran the four blocks to the school with the garment bag over one shoulder.
Esme is writing the effect of the cutting in Fog on the Harbor. What does switching between the ferry and the stage do to the reader?
- Calm: sentence 1 tells the reader that the coat will arrive in time, so there is nothing to wait for.
- Tension: each switch shows one clock running down beside the other, so the reader races both toward seven.
- Mystery: the switching hides from the reader where the lighthouse-keeper's coat has gone.
- Tension: the reader worries that the audience will grow bored with facts about lighthouse lenses.
Larkin Beach (story)
[1] The kite festival on Larkin Beach was in its twelfth year, and Jun had entered with a red diamond kite that had wobbled through every practice flight in the park. [2] The night before, Grandma Ines, who had flown kites as a child in Manila, tied a second tail of old ribbon to the kite and said only that beach wind was not park wind. [3] Jun thought the extra tail looked silly, like a scarf on a fish, and planned to untie it the moment Grandma Ines looked away. [4] In the rush of unloading the car and finding a spot on the crowded sand, Jun forgot all about the ribbon.
[5] The wind came off the water in hard, uneven gusts that afternoon, and kite after kite spun down into the sand. [6] Jun's turn came at two o'clock, and the red diamond climbed in a lazy zigzag, with the long ribbon tail snapping behind it. [7] Jun braced for the wobble that had spoiled each practice, but the kite only leaned, steadied, and climbed until the string ran out. [8] For four full minutes the red diamond hung over the waves, barely moving, while the kites on either side looped and dove.
[9] When the judges called the names, Jun was busy winding string and missed the first announcement. [10] The prize for the steadiest flight on the beach went to the red diamond kite, and Jun walked up to collect a blue ribbon in a daze. [11] On the walk back to the car, Jun finally noticed the second tail, still knotted to the kite, and understood at once what had held it steady. [12] A long tail adds drag at the bottom of a kite, which keeps its nose pointed into the wind, and Grandma Ines had known what gusty beach air would need. [13] Jun never untied the ribbon, and the silly scarf still flies with the kite each summer.
Ren is labeling sentences 2 to 4 of Larkin Beach. Which choice names the device the author uses there?
- Foreshadowing: sentences 2 to 4 plant the ribbon tail that later holds Jun's kite steady.
- Foreshadowing: sentences 8 to 10 hint that the judges will overlook the red kite in the crowd.
- Time order: the story tells the festival in order and plants nothing early that matters later.
- Events: Grandma Ines ties on a tail, Jun forgets it, and the kite wins a blue ribbon.
Tala is marking the payoff in Larkin Beach. Which sentence first makes clear why the kite flew so steadily?
- [12] A long tail adds drag at the bottom of a kite, which keeps its nose pointed into the wind, and Grandma Ines had known what gusty beach air would need.
- [2] The night before, Grandma Ines, who had flown kites as a child in Manila, tied a second tail of old ribbon to the kite and said only that beach wind was not park wind.
- [7] Jun braced for the wobble that had spoiled each practice, but the kite only leaned, steadied, and climbed until the string ran out.
- [11] On the walk back to the car, Jun finally noticed the second tail, still knotted to the kite, and understood at once what had held it steady.