Which of the following is not a useful step when analyzing a poem?
a) reading aloud
b) paraphrasing the poem
c) defining unknown words
d) highlighting large chunks of text

Now close reading is an essential and foundational skill needed to succeed in any language arts course. acquiring this skill will you form a strategy when writing about literature. you will be required to perform and develop this skill as you progress through this course and other courses in your school career. identify and discuss your areas of strength in language arts. what do you do well? what do you like doing in a course like this? why do those tasks work well for you? you can also identify a challenge you have that you’d like to work on throughout this course. use this discussion as an opportunity to give advice to your classmates based on your stronger skills and to ask for with skills you are still developing.

The greatest gift the sumerians gave the world was the invention of writing. the sumerians were wealthy people. they needed some way to keep track of what they owned. they began drawing pictures. they used a reed as a pen. they drew on soft pieces of clay. the soft clay was then dried in the sun. the tablet became a permanent record. later, the sumerian drawings changed into wedge-shaped symbols. this kind of writing is called cuneiform. by putting symbols together, the sumerians could write entire sentences.

Read the passage below and answer the question that follows. ‘you make me feel uncivilized, daisy,’ i confessed on my second glass of corky but rather impressive claret. ‘can’t you talk about crops or something? ’ i meant nothing in particular by this remark but it was taken up in an unexpected way. ‘civilization’s going to pieces,’ broke out tom violently. ‘i’ve gotten to be a terrible pessimist about things. have you read ‘the rise of the coloured empires’ by this man goddard? ’ ‘why, no,’ i answered, rather surprised by his tone. ‘well, it’s a fine book, and everybody ought to read it. the idea is if we don’t look out the white race will be—will be utterly submerged. it’s all scientific stuff; it’s been proved.’ in this passage, tom’s ideas about race relations come off as uncivilized. what literary device is fitzgerald using here?