Iwas so determined not to try, not to be anybody different that i learned to play only the most ear-splitting preludes, the most discordant hymns. . for the talent show, i was to play a piece called "pleading child" from schumann's scenes from childhood. it was a simple, moody piece that sounded more difficult than it was. i was supposed to memorize the whole thing, playing the repeat parts twice to make the piece sound longer. but i dawdled over it, playing a few bars and then cheating, looking up to see what notes followed. i never really listened to what i was playing. i daydreamed about being somewhere else, about being someone else. what does the narration in the excerpts reveal about jing-mei's character?   the song is much too difficult for jing-mei, so she cannot concentrate no matter what she does. she thinks the talent show is a big joke and is not willing to work for it.  she is trying her best, but she keeps getting distracted by her own imagination.  she believes she cannot succeed even if she tries, so she doesn't bother to try.

What type of writing is demonstrated in this excerpt by general philip henry sheridan? at once i set about preparing for the examination which precedes admission to the military academy, studying zealously under the direction of mr. william clark; my old teachers, mcnanly and thorn, having disappeared from somerset and sought new fields of usefulness. the intervening months passed rapidly away, and i fear that i did not make much progress, yet i thought i should be able to pass the preliminary examination. that which was to follow worried me more and gave me many sleepless nights; but these would have been less in number, i fully believe, had it not been for one specification of my, outfit which the circular that accompanied my appointment demanded. this requirement was a pair of "monroe shoes." now, out in ohio, what "monroe shoes" were was a mystery—not a shoemaker in my section having so much as an inkling of the construction of the perplexing things, until finally my eldest brother brought an idea of them from baltimore, when it was found that they were a familiar pattern under another name. a. research essay b. persuasive essay c. biography d. memoir