C H A P T E R 35 P Types of Poems Poetry POETRY SHARES many of the same elements as fiction, but

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C H A P T E R 35 P Types of Poems Poetry POETRY SHARES many of the same elements as fiction, but poetry is a unique genre with its own styles and conventions. This chapter explains what makes poems different from stories and how to read and understand poems. o et ry is often easy to recognize but not as easy to deﬁne. Poems are usually short, and often rhyme, but not always. The beauty (and, for many, the difﬁculty) of poetry is its brevity. The writer has to convey an idea or emotion in a very short space. Because there are so few words...

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CHAPTER 35 Poetry POETRY SHARES many of the same elements as fiction, but poetry is a unique genre with its own styles and conventions. This chapter explains what makes poems different from stories and how to read and understand poems. P o et ry is often easy to recognize but not as easy to deﬁne. Poems are usually short, and often rhyme, but not always. The beauty (and, for many, the difﬁculty) of poetry is its brevity. The writer has to convey an idea or emotion in a very short space. Because there are so few words in a poem, every word counts, and poems are often layered with meaning. That’s where a poem gets its power. One fundamental difference between poetry and prose is structure. Poems, of course, are written in verse. They are meant to be heard as well as read. The meaning in a poem comes not just from the words, but also from how the words sound and how they are arranged on the page. T ypes of Poems While poems are often categorized by structure (e.g., sonnets or ballads), a more fundamental way to classify poems is by their general purpose. Poems can be emotive, imagistic, narrative, and argumentative. They can also mourn or celebrate. An emotive poem has as its goal to capture a mood or emotion and to make readers feel that mood or emo- tion. On the next page is an untitled poem by the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. 327
– POETRY – I have loved you; even now I may confess, Elegies and odes are two other common types of Some embers of my love their ﬁre retain poems. An elegy is a poem that laments the loss of some- but do not let it cause you more distress, one or something. An ode, on the other hand, celebrates I do not want to sadden you again. a person, place, thing, or event. Here are a few lines from John Keats’ (1795–1821) famous poem “Ode on a Gre- Hopeless and tonguetied, yet, I loved you dearly cian Urn”: With pangs the jealous and the timid know; So tenderly I loved you—so sincerely; Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed I pray God grant another love you so. Your leaves, nor ever bid the spring adieu; And, happy melodist, unwearied, An imagistic poem aims to capture a moment and For ever piping songs for ever new; help us experience that moment sensually (through our More happy love! more happy, happy love! senses). Here is a powerful two-line imagistic poem by For ever warm and still to be enjoy’d, Ezra Pound: For ever panting, and for ever young; In a Station of the Metro Word Choice in Poetry The apparition of these faces in the crowd; Petals on a wet, black bough. Because of their brevity, poets are especially Narrative poems tell stories, while argumentative careful about word choice. They often rely on poems explore an idea (such as love or valor). Here’s a figurative language to convey larger ideas, poem by Robert Frost that does both: allowing images to convey ideas rather than sentences. Poets will also often use words that can have multiple meanings or associations. The Road Not Taken Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveller, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could E lements of Sound To where it bent in the undergrowth; Though not all poems use rhyme, this is the most recog- Then took the other, as just as fair, nized element of sound in poetry. A rhyme is the repeti- And having perhaps the better claim, tion of identical or similar stressed sounds at the end of Because it was grassy and wanted wear; a word. Rhymes create rhythm and suggest a relationship Though as for that the passing there between the rhymed words. Had worn them really about the same, There are several different types of rhymes: And both that morning equally lay Exact rhymes share the same last syllables (the ■ In leaves no step had trodden black. last consonant and vowel combination). For Oh, I kept the ﬁrst for another day! example: Yet knowing how way leads on to way, cat, hat I doubted if I should ever come back. laugh, staff reﬁne, divine I shall be telling this with a sigh Half-rhymes share only the ﬁnal consonant(s) ■ Somewhere ages and ages hence: cat, hot Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the adamant, government one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. 328
– POETRY – Eye rhymes look like a rhyme because the word Each “drum beat” (da-dum) is called a foot. Here is ■ endings are spelled the same, but the words don’t Robert Frost again to demonstrate iambic tetrameter sound the same (four feet per line). Read these lines from “Stopping by bough, through Woods on a Snowy Evening” out loud to hear how the enough, though rhythm works: Alliteration is another important element of sound, Whose woods these are I think I know. and one that is often used in prose as well. Alliteration is His house is in the village, though; the repetition of sounds. The sound is most often found He will not see me stopping here at the beginning of words but can also be found To watch his woods ﬁll up with snow. throughout words. For example, the words pitter patter use alliteration at the beginning (repetition of the p E lements of Structure sound), in the middle (repetition of the t sound), and at the end (repetition of the r sound). Notice the allitera- tion of the k sound in the ﬁrst line and the l sound in the You won’t ﬁnd a GED question asking you to identify the second line of “The Eagle”: rhyme scheme or meter of a poem, and you won’t be asked to determine whether a poem is free verse or a son- He clasps the crag with crooked hands; net. But knowing these poetic forms and techniques can Close to the sun in lonely lands, help you better understand the poems you read. In poetry more than any other type of literature, form is Some sounds, such as l, s, r, m, n, and vowel sounds (a, part of the poem’s meaning. e, i, o, and u) are soft and create a pleasant, musical effect. Other sounds, such as b, g, k, and p, are much harder Line Breaks and Stanzas sounds, less pleasant and more forceful. Writers will use Because poems are written in verse, poets must decide sound to help create the right tone and reﬂect the theme how much information belongs on each line and when of the poem. By using the k and l sounds together in the those lines should be broken into stanzas (poetic “para- ﬁrst two lines, Tennyson suggests the duality of the eagle: graphs”). First, it’s important to remember that when its serene beauty and its awesome power. you read a poem out loud, you should pause only when Onomatopoeia is another element of sound. An ono- punctuation tells you to pause. Do not pause at the end matopoeia is a word that is how it sounds; the sound is of each line or even at the end of a stanza unless there is the deﬁnition of the word. Buzz, hiss, moan, and screech a comma, period, or other punctuation mark that are a few examples. These two lines from Robert Frost’s requires pause. That way, you can hear the ﬂow of the 1916 poem “Out, Out” for example, use onomatopoeia: words as the poet intended. When you look at a poem, however, you need to take And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and into consideration the important visual elements of line rattled, breaks and stanzas. Line breaks and stanzas have two As it ran light, or had to bear a load. purposes: to call attention to the words at the end of each line and to set aside each group of words as a distinct idea. Thus, while poetic sentences sometimes cut across Rhythm One of the most important ways poets establish rhythm line breaks and even sometimes stanzas, the visual sepa- in their poems is through meter. Meter is the number of ration of words within those sentences helps poets set off syllables in a line and how the stress falls on those sylla- particular words and ideas for emphasis. Any word at the bles. In iambic meter, one of the most common metrical end of a line, for example, will stand out. And poets can patterns, the stress falls on every other syllable, creating space words all across the page, as in the example on the a steady da-dum, da-dum, da-dum rhythm to the poem. next page. 329
– POETRY – S leeping There are only two rhymes in the poem, and line one Sleeping, and it was must be repeated in lines six, twelve, and eighteen, while dark line three must be repeated in lines nine, ﬁfteen, and outside. Inside, nineteen. I was Blank or metered verse is guided only by meter, not wondering rhyme. Thus, the lines have a set number of syllables alone, without any rhyme scheme. A haiku is an example of wandering blank verse. Haikus are unrhymed poems of three lines in a dream and 17 syllables. Line one has ﬁve syllables; line two has of you. seven; and line three has ﬁve. Here is an example: Notice how the spacing here ties the words dark, won- The Falling Flower dering, and wandering together, pairs the words inside What I thought to be and outside, and sets off alone. Flowers soaring to their boughs Were bright butterﬂies. Rhymed and Metered Verse —Moritake (1452–1540) Poems can be written in rhymed verse, metered (or blank) verse, or free verse. Rhymed and metered/blank poems Free Verse are very conﬁned by their structure; the lines must follow Free verse is poetry that is free from the restrictions of a rhyme scheme or metrical pattern (or both, if the poem meter and rhyme. But that doesn’t mean that free verse is both rhymed and metered). Word choice (diction) is poems are haphazard or simply thrown together. Rather especially controlled by rhyme scheme and metrical pat- than ﬁtting a traditional metrical pattern or rhyme tern. Poets must ﬁnd words that both convey just the scheme, free verse poems often use a thematic structure right idea, have the right ending to ﬁt the rhyme scheme, or repetitive pattern. “Sleeping” is one example, setting and have the right number of syllables and the right off words to isolate some and associate others. A more stresses to ﬁt the metrical pattern. structured free verse poem is Kenneth Fearing’s 1941 Three common types of rhymed and metered verse poem “Ad.” The poem is structured like a help-wanted ad include the sonnet, the ballad, and the villanelle. These designed to recruit soldiers for World War II. It begins forms all have speciﬁc rhyme schemes and metrical pat- like this: terns that poets must follow. A sonnet, for example, is composed of fourteen lines usually written in iambic Wanted: Men; pentameter (ﬁve feet per line). The rhyme scheme will Millions of men are wanted at once in a big new vary depending on the type of sonnet. An Italian sonnet, ﬁeld for example, will divide the poem into two stanzas, one with eight lines, the other with six, using the following The last line of the poem sums up the compensation rhyme scheme: abbaabba cdcdcd (or cdecde or cdccdc). A for the soldiers: Shakespearian sonnet, on the other hand, separates the lines into three quatrains (a quatrain is a stanza of four Wages: Death. lines) and ends with a couplet (a pair of rhyming lines) with the following rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg. Thus, the structure of the poem helps reﬂect its A ballad is a poem that usually tells a story and is often theme: The absurdity of running an advertisement for meant to be sung. The rhyme scheme is typically abcb men to kill and be killed, of calling war “a big new ﬁeld” defe ghih, etc. Ballads typically emphasize action rather to make it sound exciting, reﬂects the poet’s feelings than emotions or ideas and often have a steady, sing- about the war—that it, too, is absurd, and that it is songy meter. absurd to ask people to kill each other and to die. One of the most complex rhyme schemes is the vil- lanelle. A villanelle has ﬁve three-line stanzas with an aba rhyme scheme and a ﬁnal quatrain with an abaa rhyme. 330
CHAPTER 36 Drama LIKE FICTION and poetry, drama has its own conventions and forms. Understanding these conventions and forms can help you understand the drama excerpts you will find on the GED. This chapter reviews the elements of drama and strategies for understanding this genre. B efore bo oks and movies, even before language, people were acting out their experiences. Drama is the oldest form of storytelling and one of the oldest ways of making sense of the human experience. H ow Drama Is Different Drama has the same elements of ﬁction: plot, character, setting, point of view, tone, language and style, symbolism, and theme. However, drama differs from poetry and prose in a number of signiﬁcant ways. The most obvious and important difference is that drama is meant to be performed; it is literature that is designed for a live audience. (The exception is a small minority of plays called closet dramas, which are plays meant only to be read, not per- formed.) This makes plays the most immediate and energetic genre of literature, because there is an active exchange of energy and emotion during the performance. In drama, action is the driving force of the plot. “The essence of a play is action,” said Aristotle, the ﬁrst liter- ary critic of the Western world. Because of the immediacy of a play and the short time span in which the action must occur, things happen more quickly than they might in a novel. There is less time for digressions; everything must be related to the unfolding of events on the stage. 331
– DRAMA – Drama also presents us with a unique point of view. NORA: Couldn’t he have done it out of need? Because there is no narrator, the story isn’t ﬁltered HELMER: Yes, or thoughtlessness, like so many through someone’s point of view. Even if there is a nar- others. I’m not so heartless that I’d condemn a rator on stage telling us the story, we still see the action man categorically for just one mistake. for ourselves. This dramatic point of view allows us to NORA: No, of course not, Torvald! come to our own conclusions about the characters and HELMER: Plenty of men have redeemed them- their actions. selves by openly confessing their crimes and tak- The action of a play takes place in a real physical ing their punishment. space, so setting is particularly important in drama. The NORA: Punishment—? setting might be realistic, minimalist, or symbolic; the HELMER: But now Krogstad didn’t go that way. play can occur in “real time” or take place over several He got himself out by sharp practices, and that’s years in the characters’ lives. For example, in Samuel the real cause of his moral breakdown. Beckett’s famous play Waiting for Godot, the stage is NORA: Do you really think that would—? intentionally bare. The stage directions call only for a tree HELMER: Just imagine how a man with that and a low mound on which one of the characters sits. sort of guilt in him has to lie and cheat and The emptiness on stage reﬂects the emptiness that echoes deceive on all sides, has to wear a mask even throughout the play: The characters wait, and wait, and with the nearest and dearest he has, even with do nothing; they wait for someone who does not come. his own wife and children. And with the chil- dren, Nora—that’s where it’s most horrible. NORA: Why? D ramatic Irony HELMER: Because that kind of atmosphere of lies infects the whole life of a home. Every breath the children take in is ﬁlled with the In a play, we must listen carefully for the tone that char- germs of something degenerate. acters use when they speak. But the controlling tone of a NORA: [coming closer behind him] Are you sure play is often dramatic irony. Dramatic irony occurs when of that? a character’s speech or actions have an unintended HELMER: Oh, I’ve seen it often enough as a meaning known to the audience but not to the character. lawyer. Almost everyone who goes bad early in For example, in Henrik Ibsen’s classic 1879 play A Doll’s life has a mother who’s a chronic liar. House, we ﬁnd Torvald Helmer lecturing his wife about NORA: Why just—the mother? the evils of lying. He uses Krogstad, whom Helmer had HELMER: It’s usually the mother’s inﬂuence just ﬁred for committing forgery, as an example. But he that’s dominant, but the father’s works in the doesn’t know what we know. Several years before, Nora same way, of course. Every lawyer is quite famil- had forged her father’s signature to borrow money she iar with it. And still this Krogstad’s been going needed to help Helmer through a serious illness. Because home year in, year out, poisoning his own chil- Helmer hates the idea of borrowing money, she kept the dren with lies and pretense; that’s why I call him forgery and the loan a secret. But now Krogstad has morally lost. [Reaching his hands out toward her] threatened to reveal the secret if he does not get his job So my sweet little Nora must promise me never back. Notice how powerful the irony is in the passage to plead his cause. Your hand on it. Come, come, below, especially when Helmer takes Nora’s hand: what’s this? Give me your hand. There, now. All settled. I can tell it’d be impossible for me to NORA: But tell me, was it really such a crime work alongside of him. I literally feel physically that this Krogstad committed? revolted when I’m anywhere near such a person. HELMER: Forgery. Do you have any idea what that means? 332
– DRAMA – T he Dramatic Stage Stage Directions Stage directions are the playwright’s instructions to the director and actors. They often include speciﬁc details Drama comes from the Greek word dran, which means about how the characters should look, the tone of voice to do or to act. Because dramas are performed, these ele- they should use when they speak, signiﬁcant gestures or ments of the performance are essential elements of actions they should take, and the setting, including cos- drama: tumes, props, and lighting. Stage directions can help us understand tone and reinforce the theme of the play. For dialogue ■ example, the stage directions for Waiting for Godot, as we stage directions ■ noted earlier, are intentionally few; the emptiness of the live audience ■ stage is meant to echo the play’s exploration of the emptiness in our lives. Similarly, the stage directions in Dialogue Susan Glaspell’s 1916 play Triﬂes show us how uneasy the In ﬁction, the story is heard through the voice of a nar- characters feel when they begin to piece together the rator; in poetry, through the voice of the speaker of the puzzle of Mr. Wright’s murder. When Mrs. Peters ﬁnds poem. In drama, as noted earlier, there is no narrator; the bird that Mr. Wright killed, she remembers how she instead, the characters speak directly to each other or to felt in a similar situation and understands how Mrs. the audience. The story is driven forward by the words Wright could have killed her husband: and actions of the characters, without the ﬁlter of a nar- rator. Through dialogue (two or more characters speak- MRS. PETERS: [In a whisper] When I was a ing to each other), monologue (a character speaking girl—my kitten—there was a boy took a directly to the audience), and soliloquy (a character hatchet, and before my eyes—and before I could “thinking aloud” on stage), we learn what the characters get there—[Covers her face an instant] If they think and feel about themselves, each other, and the hadn’t held me back I would have—[Catches things that are happening around them. Characters can herself, looks upstairs where steps are heard, falters also speak in an aside, which is like a blend between a weakly]—hurt him. monologue and a soliloquy. In an aside, the actor shares a quick thought with the audience but not with the other Audience characters. This privileges the audience with knowledge Audience, of course, is the third essential element of that the other characters do not have. drama, for without an audience, a play cannot be fully The exchange between Nora and Helmer is an exam- brought to life. Of course, this does not mean one can- ple of dialogue. Here is an excerpt from one of the most not ﬁnd great meaning and enjoyment out of simply famous soliloquies of all time: reading a play. While missing out on the visual effects and the energy of the theater, reading a play can offer a HAMLET: To be, or not to be: that is the different type of enjoyment because the reader has the question: option to reread lines and imagine the scenes in his or Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer her own mind. To bring the play to life, however, one The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, needs to pay extra attention to the stage directions to see Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, how things are supposed to happen and how the actors And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; are supposed to behave. No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That ﬂesh is heir to, ’tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shufﬂed off this mortal coil, Must give us pause: —William Shakespeare, from Hamlet 333
– DRAMA – T ypes of Plays comes from how tragic heroes deal with that suffering and loss. A tragic hero like Creon, for example, accepts responsibility for those mistakes, and Antigone ends with The symbol of the theater is two masks, one with a great the hope that Creon has learned from the tragedy and smile, the other with a frown and a tear. will therefore be a better (more ﬂexible, more just, more compassionate) leader in the future. Comedy On the other end of the spectrum is the comedy. As a rule, comedies have happy endings. Instead of ending in death, destruction, or separation, comedies end in hap- piness, reconciliation, and union (e.g., marriage). The humor in comedies can come from many For many years, drama, which originated in religious sources, such as miscommunications, missed timing, and celebrations of the ancient Greeks, was either tragic or mistaken identities (all things that can also be the source comic. Today, of course, plays can be tragedies, comedies, of tragedy). Humor may also arise from puns (plays on and everything in between. But you will better under- the meaning of words) and double meanings as well as stand all those “in betweens” if you understand the overturned expectations. For example, in Woody Allen’s extremes and the traditions from which they come. 1968 one-act play “Death Knocks,” the Grim Reaper— normally portrayed as a somber, frightening, powerful Tragedy character of few words and fearful actions—climbs In drama, a tragedy is a play that presents a noble char- through Nat Ackerman’s window and asks for a glass of acter’s fall from greatness. In Greek drama, the characters water. This Grim Reaper is no ominous character who are all kings, queens, and other nobles. In the course of unwillingly takes us from life. Rather, he is a hassled, a typical Greek tragedy, the main character does some- clumsy, casual character who has to check whether he’s thing (or doesn’t do something) that leads to a dramatic got the right address. Instead of being afraid of death, we fall from grace. This fall usually happens because of the laugh at it, especially at Death’s attempt to make a dra- character’s tragic ﬂaw (though the character often tries to matic entrance: blame fate). A tragic ﬂaw is a characteristic that drives the charac- DEATH: I climbed up the drainpipe. I was try- ter to make a poor decision or do something he or she ing to make a dramatic entrance. I see the big shouldn’t do. Often, the ﬂaw is also part of what makes windows and you’re awake reading. I ﬁgure it’s the character great. Pride is often a tragic ﬂaw, and so is worth a shot. I’ll climb up and enter with a lit- absolutism. For example, in Sophocles’ ancient play tle—you know . . . [Snaps ﬁngers] Meanwhile, I Antigone, Creon puts the welfare of the state before the get my heel caught on some vines, the drainpipe welfare of any individual, and he is respected and revered breaks, and I’m hanging by a thread. Then my for his powerful leadership and devotion to the state. But cape begins to tear. Look, let’s just go. It’s been a he refuses to make an exception when his niece Antigone rough night. breaks the law, and as a result, Antigone, Creon’s son (Antigone’s ﬁancée), and Creon’s wife all kill themselves A melodrama is a “tragedy” that has been given a by the end of the play. Only Creon is left to survey the happy ending, thus ruining the effect of a true tragedy. destruction he brought upon his family. Tragicomedies are more common. These are true trage- While a tragedy will often move us to tears, it is not dies (with a tragic ending), but interspersed throughout entirely depressing. A true tragedy is cathartic, allowing are comic scenes that help alleviate the intensity of the us to feel and release strong emotions by experiencing emotion the tragedy arouses. the pain and sadness of the characters, by watching human beings make mistakes and suffer—without actu- ally making mistakes or suffering ourselves. The hope 334
– DRAMA – Today’s Theater portray human nature as realistically as possible. As a Unlike the Greek tragedies of long ago, today’s dramas result, the antihero has emerged as a regular onstage do not center around extraordinary people (kings and presence. This character inspires pity more than admi- queens) and extraordinary events (wars, plagues, and ration, for he or she often ruins more than he or she other major historical events). Rather, most dramas repairs. In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, for exam- focus on “normal” people and the everyday situations ple, Willy Loman is a deluded salesman who believes that and challenges they face. For example, John Guare’s play success means being liked by as many people as possible. Six Degrees of Separation is about our need to connect When he loses his job and realizes that he has been liv- with others and the drastic measures we may take to alle- ing a lie—and that he has raised his sons to live the same viate loneliness and ﬁt in. kind of lie—he commits suicide. He is a pitiful character Many of today’s dramatists also believe that plays who does not redeem himself. But his son, Biff, will should acknowledge that they are plays and should not change his life as a result of what he has learned through- attempt to be realistic. At the same time, they attempt to out the play. He is the true tragic hero. 335
CHAPTER 37 Nonﬁction FROM ESSAYS to commentary to reports and memos, nonfiction texts are written for many different purposes and have many different functions. This chapter describes the kinds of nonfiction texts you will see on the GED Language Arts Reading Exam. N onfict ion texts can be literary or functional. The literary nonﬁction you might see on the GED includes essays and autobiographies/memoirs. The functional texts you will see include commentary on the arts and business communications. H ow Nonfiction Is Different While nonﬁction texts may be imaginative, they differ from ﬁction because they are not about imagined people and events. Rather, nonﬁction texts deal with real people and real events. There are other important differences between ﬁction and nonﬁction as well. In nonﬁction, there is no nar- rator, so there is no “ﬁlter” between the author and the reader. In a nonﬁction text, the author is speaking to the reader directly, expressing his or her personal point of view. Thus, the voice in a nonﬁction text is the unique voice of the author. Point of view is important in nonﬁction. Remember, point of view establishes a certain relationship with the reader. First-person texts are more personal but also more subjective. Third-person texts are more objective but less personal. The point of view an author chooses will depend upon his or her purpose and audience. For exam- ple, an annual report would likely use the third person, which is appropriate for a formal business document, 337
– NONFICTION – while an essay about a personal experience would prob- someone or something in order to inspire change. Satires ably use the ﬁrst-person point of view and explore the rely heavily on verbal irony, in which the intended mean- impact of that experience on the writer. ing is the opposite of the expressed meaning. Satirists also use hyperbole, which is extreme exaggeration, as well as sarcasm and understatement in order to convey their E ssays ideas. Jonathan Swift’s 1729 essay “A Modest Proposal” is There are many different types of essays. The four most one of the most famous examples of satire. In the essay, common types are: Swift proposes that the Irish, who are starving, eat their own children to prevent “the children of poor people in Ireland from being a burden to their parents or country.” 1. descriptive: describing a person, place, or thing Here’s a brief excerpt: 2. narrative: telling a story or describing an event 3. expository: exploring and explaining an idea or position I have been assured by a very knowing American 4. persuasive: arguing a speciﬁc point of view of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, There are essays about every imaginable topic, from whether stewed, roasted, baked or boiled; and I what it is like to grow up poor (or rich, or bilingual, make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fric- or . . . ) to why we should (or should not) clone human beings. The basic structure of an essay is main idea→ assee or ragout. support. Even if the writer is describing an experience, he or she has a reason for telling that story, and that rea- Of course, Swift is not really suggesting that the Irish son—why the writer thinks the story is important become cannibals. He is using this ridiculous proposal to enough to tell—is the main idea. criticize the British for oppressing the Irish, especially Essays will often make their main idea clear in a the- poor Irish Catholics, who often had many children. The sis statement. This statement is likely to come at the absurdity of Swift’s proposal reﬂects his feelings about beginning of the essay. Notice how the author below the absurdity of British rule in Ireland at the time and the states his thesis at the end of the opening paragraph of British government’s inability to ﬁnd a satisfactory solu- his essay: tion to the Irish famine. When you think of former president Bill Clinton, A utobiography and Memoir what’s the ﬁrst thing that comes to mind? Unfor- tunately, for many people, the ﬁrst thing they think of is Monica Lewinsky. Like millions of In an autobiography or memoir, the author will—very people around the globe, I was horriﬁed by how subjectively, of course—tell the story of his or her life. much the Whitewater investigation delved into The difference between autobiographies and memoirs is Mr. Clinton’s private affairs. No one needed to that memoirs tend to be less comprehensive and more know the sort of details that were revealed by Ken exploratory—they will cover less ground and spend Starr’s investigation. But while I don’t want to more time examining the impact of people and events know the details, I do believe we have a right to on their lives. Authors may write to clarify an experience, know what sort of lives our politicians are living. I teach a lesson, or make a statement about a historical believe their behavior in private is a reﬂection of event or social movement. As you read an autobiography their true values and how they will behave in ofﬁce. or memoir, look for what the author feels has shaped him or her. Why has he or she chosen to relate these par- One type of writing that you may see in essays (as well ticular events; describe these particular people? as other forms of literature) is satire. Satire is a form of On the next page is a brief excerpt from Frank comedy in which the writer exposes and ridicules McCourt’s bestselling 1996 memoir, Angela’s Ashes. 338
– NONFICTION – Next day we rode to the hospital in a carriage with multimedia arts. But you are most likely to see com- a horse. They put Oliver in a white box that came mentary on a visual art or experience. with us in the carriage and we took him to the When reading commentary, one of the most impor- graveyard. They put the white box into a hole in tant skills to have is the ability to distinguish between fact the ground and covered it with earth. My mother and opinion. While commentators do deal with facts, and Aunt Aggie cried, Grandma looked angry, commentary is by nature highly subjective; they are shar- Dad, Uncle Pa Keating, and Uncle Pat Sheehan ing their personal reactions to an experience with a work looked sad but did not cry and I thought that if of art. A good commentator will always explain why he you’re a man you can cry only when you have the or she feels the way he or she does about a work of art. black stuff that is called the pint. For example, a movie critic might praise a ﬁlm because I did not like the jackdaws that perched on the story was original and moving, the actors convincing, trees and gravestones and I did not want to leave and the special effects stunning. Oliver with them. I threw a rock at a jackdaw that Remember, however, that the reviewer’s feelings waddled over toward Oliver’s grave. Dad said I about the ﬁlm are opinions, no matter how well the shouldn’t throw rocks at jackdaws, they might be author might defend them. There are many nondebat- somebody’s soul. I didn’t know what a soul was able facts about a work of art such as a ﬁlm, including but I didn’t ask him because I didn’t care. Oliver when it was made, how long it took to make, who made was dead and I hated jackdaws. I’d be a man it, how much it cost, the events in the plot, how the spe- someday and I’d come back with a bag of rocks cial effects were created, etc. But the reviewer’s judgment and I’d leave the graveyard littered with dead of these facts is a matter of debate, and therefore a mat- jackdaws. ter of opinion. You might ﬁnd the story in a movie inter- esting while your friend ﬁnds it boring. As you read commentary, pay attention to word C ommentar y on the Arts choice. Even in sentences that seem to express facts, com- mentators can express their opinion. For example, look at the following sentences. They have the same meaning The purpose of commentary is to illuminate or explain but convey different attitudes: other works of literature and art. These texts review and analyze a work of art (performance art, visual art, and lit- Raquel Ramirez plays the role of Ophelia. erature) and generally have two goals: to help us under- Raquel Ramirez shines in the role of Ophelia. stand the work of art and to evaluate its success or value. A book review, for example, will typically offer some background on the author, summarize the basic plot of B usiness-Related Documents the story, and describe the main characters and their chief conﬂicts. It will also point out what makes the novel good (e.g., the characters are especially endearing, the Business documents were new to the GED as of 2002, plot has surprising twists and turns, the descriptions are and you will see one on the Language Arts, Reading particularly lush, the structure is very unique) or bad Exam. These texts can range from employee handbooks (e.g., the plot is trite, the characters are ﬂat and unbe- and training manuals to letters, memos, reports, and lievable, the writing is clumsy, the chapters are disor- proposals. ganized). Thus, commentary can help you determine Business documents are unlike the other nonﬁction whether a work of art is something you should experi- texts because they: ence, and if you do experience it, the commentary can help you make more sense of your experience. are meant for a speciﬁc audience ■ The commentary on the GED can be of any sort, have a speciﬁc, business-related purpose ■ including reviews of books, movies, concerts/musical performances, dance productions, musicals, television While essays, autobiographies, and commentary are shows, plays, paintings, sculptures, photography, or meant for a general reader, business documents (with the exception of annual reports) are designed for a much 339
– NONFICTION – smaller and more speciﬁc audience. Memos and letters, Readability Techniques To maximize time and clarity, business-related docu- for example, are often addressed to only one individual. ments will use several readability techniques. These in- The purpose of each business document, too, is very clude chunking information and using headings and lists. speciﬁc and related to business. A memo may provide an Business writers often organize information into agenda for a meeting or a reminder about forms that small, manageable “chunks” of data. That is, they will need to be completed; a proposal may describe a plan to group sentences or paragraphs according to the speciﬁc improve or expand business; a training manual will show topics or ideas they discuss and set those sentences apart employees how to perform speciﬁc tasks. with line breaks and/or headings. The purpose of the document will usually be made Headings and subheadings provide “titles” within the very clear right from the start. As the saying goes, in busi- text to guide readers topic by topic through the docu- ness, time is money, and in order to save the reader time, ment. Headings show readers how ideas are related and writers of business communications state their purpose help readers ﬁnd speciﬁc information in the document. clearly at the beginning of the document. For example, (Notice, for example, how headings are used throughout notice how the main idea of the following letter is stated this book.) in the second sentence: To make information easier to process, business writ- ers will also use bulleted or numbered lists as often as Dear Ms. Ng: possible, especially when providing instructions. It is eas- ier to see the items in a list when they are separated and Thank you for your recent application for an auto- listed vertically rather than running together horizon- mobile loan from Crown Bank. Unfortunately, we are tally in a regular sentence or paragraph. For example, unable to process your application because informa- notice how much easier it is to absorb the information in tion is missing from your application form. the bulleted list than in the following narrative: We need the following information to complete the To apply for a permit, you must bring proof of loan application process: residency, a photo identiﬁcation, a copy of your birth certiﬁcate, and proof of insurance. 1. the number of years in your current residence 2. your driver’s license number To apply for a permit, you must bring: 3. the name and telephone number of your insur- proof of residency ance provider ■ a photo identiﬁcation ■ a copy of your birth certiﬁcate Please provide this information to us as soon as pos- ■ proof of insurance sible. You may call me at 800-123-4567, extension 22, ■ or fax me at 222-123-4567. Please include application Whether the text is a business document or a personal code XT121 on your correspondence. essay, remember that writers always write for a reason. Think about the writer’s purpose. Why is he or she writ- Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. ing? Look for clues in both content (including speciﬁc I look forward to completing your loan application. facts and details) and style (including word choice and tone). Check for topic sentences and thesis statements Sincerely, that express the author’s main idea. Victor Wilson Junior Loan Analyst Crown Bank 340
Tips and CHAPTER 38 Strategies for the Language Arts, Reading Exam YOU HAVE reviewed a lot of material to prepare for the GED Lan- guage Arts, Reading Test. Now here are some specific tips and strate- gies for handling the questions you will see on the exam. I n t h i s ch a p ter, you will review the structure of the reading exam and speciﬁc tips you can use to improve your score on the test. Read this chapter carefully, and then review your notes from the whole Lan- guage Arts, Reading section. When you are ready, move on to the practice questions that follow. T he GED Language Arts, Reading Test in a Nutshell This GED exam consists of 40 multiple-choice questions about texts from three different time periods: pre-1920, 1920–1960, and 1960–present. Each exam will include a poem, an excerpt from a play, a commentary on the arts, a business-related document such as a memo or report, and at least one excerpt from a work of ﬁction. Each pas- sage (except the poem) will be approximately 200–400 words long. Questions will test your basic comprehension of the texts (20%), your ability to analyze the texts (30–35%), your ability to “synthesize” (draw inferences from) ideas from the texts (30–35%), and your ability to apply infor- mation or ideas from the texts to different contexts (15%). You may be asked about the main idea or theme of a text, a character’s feelings or motivations, or the signiﬁcance of a symbol. You may be asked to identify a speciﬁc fact or detail or to predict the effect of an action described or implied in the text. You might be asked about the effect of a rhetorical technique or to identify the tone of a passage. 341
–– TIPS AND STRATEGIES FOR THE GED LANGUAGE ARTS, READING EXAM –– G etting Ready for the Exam This story (poem, play, essay, etc.) is about ■ ______ (insert topic). ■ The writer seems to be saying ______ (general The Language Arts, Reading GED covers a lot of ground. thematic statement) about this topic. It tests your comprehension not just of functional texts If you can support your statement with speciﬁc but also of the many genres and time periods of litera- evidence from the text, and if that statement is ture. Between now and test time, one of the best things general enough to encompass the whole passage, you can do is to read as much as possible, especially in you have probably successfully identiﬁed the the genres with which you are least familiar. The more main idea or one of the themes of the text. (Lit- comfortable you are with literature, the easier it will be erary texts, especially long ones such as novels, to understand what you read, and the more comfortable can have more than one theme.) you will be at test time. 4. Try giving the text a new title that conveys the As you read various texts, remember that you don’t main idea or theme. What would you call the necessarily have to like what you read. Hopefully, you will passage? ﬁnd the experience enjoyable and rewarding. But if you don’t like every poem you read, that’s okay. Different writers have different styles, and sometimes, the writer’s F inding Specific Facts and style and subject matter may simply not appeal to you. Details What matters is that you are able to appreciate the text and understand what the author is trying to say. Speciﬁc facts and details are often used to support the Whether you like the writer’s style, whether the subject main idea of a text. Here are some tips for questions matter thrills you or bores you, keep reading and devel- about speciﬁc facts and details: oping your reading comprehension skills. You may ﬁnd some authors and texts that have a profound impact on 1. Remember the difference between main ideas you. You might also develop a love for a genre that will and their support. Note the speciﬁc examples, last throughout the rest of your life. facts, and details the writer uses to develop his or her ideas. F inding the Main Idea 2. Look for key words in the question to tell you exactly what information to look for in the passage. Remember that the main idea is the thought that con- 3. Think about the structure of the passage and trols the text. What is the author trying to say? What where that information is likely to be located. point does he or she want to get across? The main idea (For a review of common writing structures and may be explicitly stated in a topic sentence (for a para- organizational patterns, see Chapter 32.) graph) or a thesis statement (for a complete text). It can also be implied. In literature, the main idea is called the theme. The theme is the “sum” of all of the elements of D istinguishing between Fact literature, including plot, character, symbolism, tone, and Opinion language, and style. Here are some speciﬁc tips for ﬁnding the main idea: An important reading comprehension skill is also a crit- ical thinking skill: the ability to distinguish between fact 1. Remember that themes and main ideas are gen- and opinion. It is often important to know whether a eral and should cast a “net” over the whole pas- writer is stating a fact or expressing an opinion. Here are sage or text. three quick tips for distinguishing between the two: 2. Consider the author’s purpose. What do you think the writer is trying to accomplish with this 1. When you are unsure whether something is a text? Why do you think he or she wrote it? fact or opinion, ask yourself, Is this statement 3. Try to ﬁll in the blanks: debatable? Can others take a different position? 342
–– TIPS AND STRATEGIES FOR THE GED LANGUAGE ARTS, READING EXAM –– 2. Look for signal words and other clues that the 1. Pay attention to details, especially details about author is expressing a fact or an opinion. Signal characters and setting. words include phrases like I believe and words 2. Use your mind’s eye to visualize people, places, like should and ought. and actions. 3. Remember that good writers will usually provide 3. Think about motivations. Why do the characters facts to support their opinions. say what they say, feel what they feel, do what they do? Many of the questions on the GED will be about the reasons for characters’ thoughts and M aking Inferences actions. 4. Remember that stories aim to help us better The ability to draw logical conclusions from a text is understand our world and ourselves. Think essential to reading comprehension and to doing well on about what message the story might be sending the GED. Remember that your conclusions must be based that would meet this goal. on evidence from the text. If a writer wants you to infer something, he or she will give you clues so you can make R eading Drama that inference. If you have a hunch about what the writer is trying to say, search for evidence in the text to support your ideas. Drama is literature that is meant to be performed. But Here are some more speciﬁc tips for making effective you can still be greatly entertained and moved by simply inferences: reading a play. Here are some tips for understanding dramatic excerpts on the GED exam: 1. Pay careful attention to word choice, details, actions, and structure. If the writer wants you to 1. Remember to read any stage directions carefully. infer something, he or she will leave you clues to These notes from the playwright provide impor- guide you to the right conclusion. tant clues to the characters’ emotions as they 2. Test your inference. Double back to ﬁnd speciﬁc speak and to the relationships between charac- evidence that will support your conclusion. ters. Stage directions about setting are also important clues to the play’s theme. 2. As in ﬁction, think about motivations. Why do Inferring Cause and Effect 1. Look for basic clues like transitions that signal the characters say what they say and do what cause and effect: since, because, therefore, as a they do? What has happened between the char- result, etc. (See Chapter 32 for more ideas.) acters or to the characters to make them feel, say, 2. Make sure you can establish a direct link between and do these things? cause and effect. Remember that many effects 3. Use the stage directions and other clues to have more than one cause and that there is often “stage” the play in your head. Create a “theater of a chain of causes that lead to a speciﬁc event. the mind” and imagine the action taking place 3. Again, make sure you have evidence to support on stage. Try to hear the characters saying their your inferences about cause and effect. lines and see them moving about on the stage. R eading Fiction R eading Poetr y When you read a work of ﬁction, remember the eight Every GED exam will include at least one poem. elements of ﬁction that work together to create meaning: Remember that while there are many different types of plot, character, setting, point of view, tone, language and poems, most poems aim to tell a story, capture a style, symbolism, and theme. Here are some speciﬁc tips moment, embody an emotion, or make an argument. In for handling questions about ﬁction on the GED: a poem, word choice is limited by the poem’s length and often by structure and rhyme scheme, so poets are 343
–– TIPS AND STRATEGIES FOR THE GED LANGUAGE ARTS, READING EXAM –– especially deliberate in their choice of words. Because R eading Essays poems are usually short, every word counts. Pay atten- tion to every detail. You can expect nonﬁction texts, like essays, to be more Here are some more speciﬁc tips for dealing with straightforward than stories and poems. But the main poems on the GED: idea may not always be stated in a topic sentence or the- sis statement. Here are some tips for handling essays: 1. Read the poems aloud in your head so you can “hear” how they sound. Read each poem at least 1. Determine the author’s purpose. Is the author twice: ﬁrst to get a general sense of the poem and describing a person? Making an argument? its sound, and second to get a better understand- Telling a story? Exploring an idea? ing of its meaning. 2. Use questions to determine the main idea of the 2. Poems don’t have a narrator, but there is still a essay. How does the author seem to feel about speciﬁc voice speaking to the reader, telling the the person he or she is describing? Why? What story, painting the picture, or capturing the emo- sort of relationship did they have? What position tion. Use tone and word choice to determine as has the author taken on the issue he or she is dis- much as you can about the speaker of the poem. cussing? Why? Look for a thesis statement that Who is this person? How does he or she feel expresses the main idea. about the subject of the poem? Does he or she 3. Look for topic sentences in the paragraphs you seem to be talking to someone in particular or to have been given. What are the controlling ideas a general audience? of each paragraph? What larger idea might these 3. Examine the overall structure of the poem. Is ideas be supporting? there a rhyme scheme or meter? Does the struc- 4. Use clues in word choice and tone to determine ture ﬁt a particular pattern or design? Think how the author feels about the subject. about how the structure might reﬂect the subject or meaning of the poem. 4. Look at the line breaks and stanzas, if any. Where R eading Commentar y are the line breaks? Do any of the end words seem signiﬁcant? Are the lines separated into Commentary on the arts aims to help readers better stanzas? If so, what holds the lines in the stanzas understand and appreciate a work of art. Here are some together? Are any words separated to stand out speciﬁc tips for reading commentary: for readers? 5. Try to determine the purpose of the poem. Is the 1. When reading commentary, always be on the speaker telling a story? Explaining an idea or lookout for support. Whenever the author makes emotion? Making an argument? Capturing a a claim, ask why? Look for the speciﬁc reasons moment? Celebrating or mourning a person, the author has come to that conclusion. place, or thing? Determining the type of poem is 2. A thoughtful commentary will look for both the central to determining the poem’s theme. good and the bad in its subject. It is rare that a 6. Pay attention to repetition. If a word or line is review is entirely positive or that someone ﬁnds repeated, especially if it is repeated at the end of a a work of art utterly worthless, without one line or stanza, it is signiﬁcant and may be symbolic. redeeming quality. Look for both the positive 7. Look carefully at word choice. Because poems and the negative in the review. are so compact, each word must be chosen with special care, and some words may be chosen because they have multiple meanings. 8. Remember that poems are about real people and real emotions. Think about how the poem makes you feel. Think about the emotions conjured up by the words and rhythm of the poem. 344
–– TIPS AND STRATEGIES FOR THE GED LANGUAGE ARTS, READING EXAM –– B usiness Documents 2. Business documents are often written so speciﬁc actions will be taken. Are there any speciﬁc instructions or steps to follow? Look for lists and All GED exams include at least one business document. other clues regarding things to do or understand. This may be a memorandum, report, e-mail, or other 3. If a business document is making an argument, business text. Here are some tips for dealing with ques- look for support. What facts or ideas are used to tions about business documents: support the main idea? 1. Remember that business documents are written for speciﬁc audiences and for speciﬁc purposes. Determine the speciﬁc audience and the reason for the communication. 345

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