Part a: which of the following statements expresses a central idea of the text? a. school boards should not have the power to ban books from classrooms. b. it is immoral to claim that controversial books may poison students’ minds. c. burning books goes against the freedoms that americans hold dear. d. like all good citizens, kurt vonnegut has not lied or produced evil work. 2. part b: which of the following quotes best supports the answer to part a? a. “i am a combat infantry veteran from world war ii, and hold a purple i am so much trusted with young people and by young people that i have served on the faculties of the university of iowa, harvard, and the city college of new york.” (paragraph 5) b. “and we all know, too, that those words really don’t damage children much. they didn’t damage us when we were young. it was evil deeds and lying that hurt us.” (paragraph 6) c. “books are sacred to free men for very good reasons, and that wars have been fought against nations which hate books and burn them. if you are an american, you must allow all ideas to circulate freely” (paragraph 8) d. “if you and your board are now determined to maturity when you exercise your powers over the education of your young, then you should acknowledge that it was a rotten lesson you taught young people” (paragraph 9)

Below are the central ideas with their corresponding texts.

A. School boards should not have the power to ban books from classrooms

If you and your board are now determined to show... maturity when you exercise your powers over the education of your young, then you should acknowledge that it was a rotten lesson you taught young people” (Paragraph 9)

B. It is immoral to claim that controversial books may poison students’ minds.  

And we all know, too, that those words really don’t damage children much. They didn’t damage us when we were young. It was evil deeds and lying that hurt us.” (Paragraph 6)

C. Burning books goes against the freedoms that Americans hold dear.  

“books are sacred to free men for very good reasons, and that wars have been fought against nations which hate books and burn them. If you are an American, you must allow all ideas to circulate freely” (Paragraph 8)  

D. Like all good citizens, Kurt Vonnegut has not lied or produced evil work.

I am a combat infantry veteran from World War II, and hold a Purple Heart... I am so much trusted with young people and by young people that I have served on the faculties of the University of Iowa, Harvard, and the City College of New York.” (Paragraph 5)

The following are the correct options to the above questions:

1.The statement that best expresses a central idea of the text is option A. School boards shouldn’t have power to ban books from classrooms.

2.The quote that best supports the above answer is option D. “If you and your board are now determined to show... maturity when you exercise your powers over the education of your young, then you should acknowledge that it was a rotten lesson you taught young people” (Paragraph 9).

The above questions are from a letter called I Am Very Real written by Kurt Vonnegut in 1973.

When an English teacher at Drake High School used Kurt Vonnegut‘s novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, a few weeks later the head of the school board, Charles McCarthy decided that the language of the book was obscene and ordered them all to be burned in the  school furnace. Vonnegut wrote a letter to McCarthy called I Am Very Real.

The above options are correct as explained below:

1.The best statement seems to be A. because Vonnegut basically wants to emphasize that school boards should not interfere with the books the students must read.

It should be left up to the wisdom of the students which books they would prefer to read and form opinions of their own. Their teacher decided to use the above book and the teacher’s decision must also be taken into account in the choice of books that the students read as part of their curriculum.

The rest of the options don’t seem as the best central idea of the letter.

2.The quote that best supports this answer is D. as Vonnegut mentions that the board taught a bad lesson to the students by burning the books and it does not show their maturity as they might like to teach the children good lessons in life.

The rest of the options do not support the above answer as well as option D. does.

Learn more about I Am Very Real here:

link