Select the correct answer. Which phrase best defines characterization?
A.
the way an author describes the conflict a character experiences
B.
the way in which a character changes over time, especially when conflicts arise
C.
the way new characters are first introduced in a work of literature
D.
the way an author describes or conveys a character’s traits

Constructed response paragraph: after reading “the case for short words,” do you think the author makes a convincing case that short words are effective? explain your answer and support it with evidence from the selection.

Read the excerpt from the land. in the late afternoon i did the same, but all the time i was on the stallion, i was aware that mitchell was watching me. he had appeared on the edge of the woods and had just stood there watching ghost wind and me as we went round and round the meadow. finally, on one of our turns past him, he said: "s'pose you thinkin' you a real somebody 'cause you can ride that stallion." i looked down at mitchell and stopped, knowing that despite our understanding, he was itching for a fight with me. now, i don't know what possessed me in that moment to say the next thing i did. maybe i was feeling guilty that because i was my daddy's son, i could ride ghost wind. maybe it was that, but it wasn't out of fear i said what i said. i no longer was afraid of mitchell. "you want to ride him? " i asked. mitchell took a step backward. it was obvious he hadn't expected me to say that. "you know i can't ride him," he said. "your white daddy'd kill me." "you want to ride him? " i asked again. mitchell looked at the stallion, then at me. "so, what if i do? " what intrinsic motivation does the author most likely intend the reader to infer from the passage? paul is motivated by his need to have mitchell praise his riding skills. mitchell is motivated by his need to have paul praise his riding skills. paul is motivated by jealousy and wishes he had free time like mitchell. mitchell is motivated by jealousy and wishes he could ride the horse.

Read the following excerpt from "dark tower" by claude mckay before you choose your answer. "we shall not always plant while others reap the golden increment of bursting fruit, nor always countenance, abject and mute, that lesser men should hold their brothers cheap; not everlastingly while others sleep shall we beguile their limbs with mellow flute, not always bend to some more subtle brute. we were not made eternally to weep. the night, whose sable breast relieves the stark, white stars, is no less lovely being dark; and there are buds that cannot bloom at all in light, but crumple, piteous, and fall. so in the dark we hid the heart that bleeds, and wait, and tend our agonizing needs." in context, the expression "the night, whose sable breast relieves the stark,/ white stars, is no less lovely being dark; " is best interpreted as a. the light of the stars overpowers the black of night b. the black of night overpowers the light of the stars c. black and white contribute equally to the beauty of the night sky d. black and white continuously compete for prominence in the night sky