1. CFA English 10 Pre-Test Quarter One
Literary Analysis
CFA English 10
Pre-Test Quarter One

2. “Home” Gwendolyn Brooks
When reading, look for & highlight the following:
Characters (Main Characters)
Symbols (colors, objects, seasons, etc.)
Tone (indicated by imagery, descriptions, and interpersonal relationships in the text)
Themes (critical lenses: SES, race, gender, capitalism, values, religion, etc.)

3. Pre-Test Question No. 1
Which of the following words would be the BEST substitution for the word ‘merely’ in the sixth paragraph?
A. Heavily
B. Simply
C. Only
D. Barely

4. Pre-Test Question No. 2
Which of the following pieces of textual evidence BEST supports the central idea that Mama’s outlook on life is that the glass is half-full?
A. “We’ll be moving into a nice flat somewhere,” said Mama. “Somewhere on South Park, or Michigan, or Washington Park Court.”
B. “She knew from the way that they looked at her, that this had been a mistake.”
C. “He lives for us,” said Helen. “It’s us he loves. He wouldn’t want the house except for us.”
D. “But lately we’ve been helping. Harry and I.”

5. Pre-Test Question No. 3
Which of the following pieces of textual evidence BEST describes the narrator’s feelings toward the house?
A. “Today she said nothing. She merely organized gazed at a little hopping robin in the tree, her tree, and tried to keep the fronts of her eyes dry.”
B. “Those shafts and pools of light, the tree, the graceful iron, might soon be viewed possessively by different eyes.”
C. “Those flats, as the girls and Mama knew well, were burdens on wages twice the size of Papa’s. This was not mentioned now.”
D. “But she felt that the little line of white, sometimes rigged with smoked purple, and all that cream-shot saffron would never drift across any western sky except in the back of this house. The rain would drum with as sweet a dullness nowhere but here.”

6. Pre-Test Question No. 4
Which of the following pieces of textual evidence BEST supports the claim that the house symbolizes happiness?
A. “I have other friends that wouldn’t come down this far for anything, unless they were in a taxi.” (Paragraph 5)
B. “But she felt that the little line of white, sometimes rigged with smoked purple, and all that cream-shot saffron would never drift across any western sky except in the back of this house.” (Paragraph 10)
C. Mama got up and followed him through the front door. The girls knew better than to go in too.” (Paragraph 21)
D. “I think I’ll give a party. I haven’t given a party since I was eleven. I’d like some of my friends to just casually see that we’re homeowners.” (Paragraph 25)

7. Pre-Test Question No. 5
What is the purpose for including the metaphor, “The birds on South Park were mechanical birds, no better than poor caught canaries in those ‘rich’ women’s sun parlors” in paragraph 10?
A. to show the birds on South Park were just as pretty as the birds at their house.
B. to demonstrate the birds on South Park were a different breed; Helen wants to be like those birds.
C. to emphasize the birds on South Park were a dull grey compared to the birds at their house.
D. to show the birds on South Park were tame and boring: the exact opposite of Helen’s view of their house.

8. Pre-Test Question No. 6
Which of the following is the BEST way the sentence, “The rain would drum with as sweet a dullness nowhere but here,” (Paragraph 10) affects the story’s tone?
A. It shows the gloomy, sullen tone present in the story.
B. It shows the anxiety the family feels when the storm clouds gather.
C. It expresses the feeling that this house is truly a home for the family.
D. It illustrates the comfort the family feels from the rain falling on the tin roof.

9. Pre-Test Question No. 7
Describe the tone of “Home.” Cite textual evidence to show how the tone is developed. Record your response on your answer sheet.

10. Pre-Test Question No. 8
What is ironic about the change in Helen’s character from paragraph 5 to the end of the selection in paragraph 25? Cite textual evidence to support your response. Record your answer on the answer sheet provided.