Writing Workshop: Summary Quiz – Flashcards

Read the excerpt from Common Sense, by Thomas Paine. "To talk of friendship with those in whom our reason forbids us to have faith, and our affections wounded through a thousand pores instruct us to detest, is madness and folly. Every day wears out the little remains of kindred between us [the colonists] and them [the British], and can there be any reason to hope, that as the relationship expires, the affection will increase, or that we shall agree better, when we have ten times more and greater concerns to quarrel over than ever?" Which is the best way to objectively summarize this excerpt?

Read the excerpt from The Crisis, Number I, by Thomas Paine. "Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but 'to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER,' and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth." Which is the best way to paraphrase this excerpt?

Read the summary of the first three paragraphs of "The World On Turtle's Back." [1] In the beginning, there was no land, only the great ocean. [2] The Sky-World, the home of the gods, was above the ocean. [3] A sacred tree stood at the center. [4] One of the gods pulled out some of its roots for his pregnant wife. [5] This created a hole in the floor of the Sky-World. [6] The man's wife fell through the hole toward the ocean below, clutching the roots in her hand. Which is the best way to combine sentences 4 and 5?

Read the excerpt from The Crisis, Number I by Thomas Paine. "I once felt all that kind of anger, which a man ought to feel, against the mean principles that are held by the Tories: a noted one, who kept a tavern at Amboy, was standing at his door, with as pretty a child in his hand, about eight or nine years old, as I ever saw, and after speaking his mind as freely as he thought was prudent, finished with this unfatherly expression, 'Well! give me peace in my day.' Not a man lives on the continent but fully believes that a separation must some time or other finally take place, and a generous parent should have said, 'If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace;' and this single reflection, well applied, is sufficient to awaken every man to duty." Which is a central idea of this excerpt?