Name Class

Name ________________________ Class ______
Date _________
Score ____________
LA 10 Reading Comprehension
Modern and Contemporary Literature 1990 -
Directions: Read pages 1053 - 1076
Use complete sentences with proper grammar to answer the following items.
WK 32
1. What are the three most interesting things about the life of R. K. Narayan?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
2. …from “An Astrologer’s Day,” why has the astrologer chosen the spot under the tamarind tree to conduct business?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Summarize the types of advice the astrologer gives.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
4. Why is his advice take by his customers?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
5. What advice does the astrologer give to Guru Nayak?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
6. Throughout the story, Narayan plants clues about secrets in the astrologer’s past. What are the clues?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
7. What predictions can you make based on them?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
8. How does the astrologer use his knowledge of basic human psychology to tell people’s fortunes?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
9. When does the astrologer first glimpse the face of the stranger who appears at the end of the day and why does the
astrologer feel uncomfortable at this point? How does he reveal his discomfort?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
10. Why does the astrologer first offer to give the man back his money and then press him for more money?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
11. Why is the astrologer’s later statement that Guru Nayak cheated him ironic?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
12. Summarize the conflict that occurred between the astrologer and Guru Nayak when they were young men What
internal conflict do you think the astrologer is experiencing in this story?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
13. Is the astrologer a clever hero or a devious tricker? Or BOTH? Explain your answer.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
14. What are the three most important events in the life of Zhang Jie?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
15. …from “Love Must Not Be Forgotten,” How does the narrator feel about her suitor, Qiao Lin?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
16. What are her feelings about marriage in general?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
17. In the story… what private information is revealed?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
18. How does the narrator’s mother feel about her own marriage? Why couldn’t she marry the man she loved?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
19. When did the mother’s beloved die and what happened afterward?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
20. Describe the relationship between the narrator and her mother.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
21. How does this understanding affect the narrator’s viewpoint?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
22. What do the flashbacks involving the man the mother loved reveal about the kind of person he was and the reasons
why the mother love him?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
23. Do you think the social pressures regarding marriage experienced by the narrator and her mother in Communist
China exist to some degree for women in American / Korea today? Explain.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
24. … from “Quang Binh,” according to lines 1 – 5, what is the setting in which the speaker finds herself?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
25. Describe the atmosphere and mood suggested by this setting in the first stanza?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
26. What realization suddenly grips the speaker in lines 6 – 9? Why do you think this realization comes as such a
surprise to the speaker?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
27. Whom does the speaker directly address in lines 14 – 18? According to the speaker, what happened to this person?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
28. What elements or details in the fifth stanza, lines 19 – 22, contain parallels to elements or details in the fourth
stanza?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
29. What is the effect of this parallelism?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
30. In the longest stanza, lines 23 – 37, the poet uses a number of sensory details that help convey a vivid description.
Identify some of these details, and then explain how they contrast with other details that evoke a context of warfare.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
31. In lines 38 – 41, how does the speaker contrast the present with the past? What is the effect?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
32. How does the poem’s concluding stanza echo the opening stanza?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
33. What “moment” of illumination does the speaker experience at the end of the poem?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
34. Y’Nhi uses number of specific place names in this poem. Even though a reader might be unfamiliar with these places,
what is the emotional effect of this technique?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
35. WRITING Exercise # 1: Write an essay about the way this poem made you feel about war.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
WRITING Exercise # 2: In the form of a diary entry, write a paragraph about your views of love, marriage, independence, or
one of the other related issues that Zhang Jie addresses in her story.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
WRITING Exercise # 3: Write a paragraph alternate ending to the story about the astrologer.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Name ________________________ Class ______
LA 10 Vocabulary Development & Collaboration
Date _________
Score ____________
Modern and Contemporary Literature 1990 -
Wk 32
Collaborative / PROJECT BASED LEARNING Activity:
Directions:
1. Read “An Astrologer’s Day”, “Love Must Not Be Forgotten,” and “Quang
Binh” (textbook pages 1053 - 1076 )
2. Locate the important terms/vocabulary in all of the passages listed above.
Some are identified… but you need to add more for at least 16!
3. Create a power point presentation (minimum 16 slides) where you …
(a.) Write the sentence from the text using the word.
(b.) Give the “official” definition of the term.
(c.) Provide a synonym & an antonym for the term.
(d.) Write a new sentence using the term.
(e.) Insert an image for each slide / for each term (reference your
sentence.)
4. Title your work LA10 WK 32 PBL (last names) Save to T Drive (your class.)
100% of your score based on accuracy, neatness, & completeness.