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TVMS 8th Grade Language Arts SLO

Last updated over 4 years ago
18 questions
Note from the author:
8th grade ELA SLO
from "Walls" by H. Margaret Zassenhaus

(NOTE: The day before the events described in this excpert took place, Nazi party founder Adolph Hitler was named chancellor of Germany. One month later, he became absolute dictator. The Nazi regime in Germany became known as the Third Reich (Empire). The author of this passage, H. Margaret Zassenhaus, was 17 years old at the time. She grew up to become a doctorand was later nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in the German resistance.)

1 I was late for school that morning of January 30, 1933, I had tried to get the glued paper off the window, but it stuck. I did not want to give up until I had scraped off at least one of the many black swastikas1. But, digging back and forth with my knife, I had cleared only two lines which looked like a cross and through them I could see a touch of the blue wintry sky.

2 My favorite teacher, Miss Brockdorf, had the first class. She taught German and history, and just the day before we'd had a heated discussion comparing democracy and liberalism with totalitarian systems.

3 Not only that, but the month before Miss Brockdorf had assigned me to attend a rally where Hitler had spoken. It was the first time I had heard him speak, and afterwards I put down my impressions. "The loudness of his voice can silence you, but it cannot convince," I had written. In the early morning hours, with the conviction of my seventeen years, I had ended my essay with the words, "Hitler is a psychotic!" Miss Brockdorf had graded my paper with an "A", and asked me to read it to the whole class.

4 This morning, when I entered the classroom, I noticed that she was pale. She asked why I was late; but, when I started to tell her, she interrupted me curtly with "Never mind." There was something in her face, something I saw laterin the students, too. When I told them what had happened to my home, it was as if a curtain had fallen over their faces. Their faces went blank. They became quiet and turned away. Only my best friend, Inge, stayed with me and whispered, "Be careful."

5 I was startled. Caution was a thought I had associated only with traffic. All I wanted to do was go home. When school finally ended that day, I rushed down the staircase. Miss Brockdorf stood at the bottom and stopped me. She motioned me into her office and carefully closed the door. My essay was on her desk. "Take it and burn it," she said. She stumbled over her words, when she added," The things we believed in until now...we must forget..."

6 I had known Miss Brockdorf better than any other teacher. Not only had she taught me in school, but for more than two years she had invited a small group of students who had special interests in literature to her home for weekly meetings. We called it "Private Book Club."

7 She lived with another teacher, who had been my favorite in juonior high. Together we had read the great works of literature, covering a ground as wide as Stevenson and Goethe all the way to Thomas Mann. She had interpreted Dr. Jekyll, who, when he had released his innermost thoughts, turned into Mr. Hyde. She had helped us understand why Goethe's Faust was driven to the edge of suicide when he made a pact with the devil. With her we had read Thomas Mann's "Magic Mountain"--about the man who, turning away from a conventional way of life, found himself.

8 "What about our club?" I asked her. Again her answer was, "You must forget about those books, too. Everything has changed."

9 At home only the outside had changed. Inside it was the same. My father told us that day, "Maybe now is the time when our beliefs will be tested, to see if they will hold."

10 His warning was to become true. In school we had to read Hitler's "Mein Kampf;" and one day Miss Brockdorf asked me, "Should you think objectively or subjectively when it concerns your country?" She looked at me intently, as if she were urging me to give the answer she expected from me.

11 "Objectively," I answered without hesitation. She became impatient with me and said, "You just don't seem to understand."

12 Soon a new order was announced. At the beginning of each class, when the teacher entered, we had to stand up, raise our right arm, and say, "Heil Hitler." I made up my mind that I would not. I thought it might be the first step to further concessions. In fact, I did not even take it seriously; we recently had read a drama of Schiller, and I reminded my friend Inge of the way its hero Wilhelm Tell had dealt with the oppressor who had overrun his country. When the tyrant placed his hat on a pole and ordered that everyone passing by was to bow, my hero had defied him. "But," Inge answered, " Why don't you do what I do? I raise my arm and just mumble something."

13 I decided not to even do that. There were thirty in the classroom; and when Miss Brockdorf entered, it sounded loud and distictly, "Heil Hitler." I stood by the window; she looked at me. After the class she called me, "You know of the new order, and I have to insist." She added in a low voice: "Please don't make it so diffcult for yourself--and for me."

14 I went home and talked with my parents, but I got no advice. All they said was, "You must decide for yourself."

15 The next day all eyes were on me. The girls were standing with raised arms, but their heads were turned in my direction. Miss Brockdorf's face was ashen when she said, "Why do you force me to go further?" I was summoned to the principal, who said that I would have to be expelled if I did not give in. He gave me a day to think about it and said he would be in himself to see that I followed the order. I spent a sleepless night. My father asked me, "Do you feel it is worth the consequences you might face?" I realized that it could mean I would have to leave school. It could be the end of my education.

16 In school the next morning, I was badly shaken, and I would have preferred to run. But I knew there would be a tomorrow, and I had to find an answer today.

1swastikas: symbols of the Nazi party
1

"There was something in her face, something I saw later in the students, too. When I told them what had happened to my home, it was as if a curtain had fallen over their faces."

The autohr uses the phrase "a curtain had fallen over their faces" to show that

1

What does this passage suggest about the author, Margaret Zassenhaus?

1

"It was the first time I had heard him (Hitler) speak, and afterwards I put down my impressions. "The loudness of his voice can silence you, but it cannot convince," I had written.

The information in these sentences suggest that impressions are

1

The author most likely wrote this passage to

1

"But," Inge answered, " Why don't you just do what I do? I raise my arm and just mumble something."

What does Inge mean by this statement?

1

Which statement best states the theme of this passage?

1

What was different about Margaret's schooling after Hitler came to power?

"The Texas Tornado" by Torie Dial

1 On July 16, 1932, Mildred "Babe" Didrickson took the field to compete in the Amatuer Athletic Union's (AAU) Women's National Championships in Illinois. Some people in the audience laughed when she was introduced. Babe was the one-person track team from Texas. How could one woman stand a chance to win the meet, competing with teams that had as many as 22 members?

2 By the end of the meet, Babe had transformed their laughter into cheers. She performed what has been called "the most amazing series of performances by an individual, male or female, in track and field history."

3 Babe competed in eight events that day. Running from event to event, with barely enough time to lineup, she took first place in six contests, winning the long jump, the javelin, the 80-meter hurdles, the baseball throw, the shot put, and the high jump. She set new world records in the 80-meter hurdles and the javelin throw. She beat her own U.S. record in the baseball throw and tied with athlete Jean Shiley for a new world record in the high jump. The only two events she didn't excel in were the discuss, where she took fourth, and the 100-yard dash, where she failed to qualify for the finals. Overall, Babe single-handedly scored 30 points to win the meet. The second-place team, with 22 members, lagged a fair stretch behind with only 22 points.

4 Her performance in the national championships automatically qualified her for the Olympics. The only drawback was that the Olympic game rules would allow Babe to choose to compete in only three events. Babe was disappointed. Which ones would she choose? She decided on the javrlin, the 80-meter hurdles, and the high jump.

5 How did she do? At the 1932 summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Babe became the first woman ever to win three Olympic Medals. She won two gold medals and set new world records for both the javelin and the 80-meter hurdles. She might also have won a gold medal in the high jump if the judges hadn't disqualified her for using a style called "the western roll." Babe had been tied with teammate Jean Shiley for first place until the judges made their decision. Rather than allow her another round of jumps, the judges awarded Babe the silver medal and gave the gold to Shiley.

6 That decision probably pleased many of Babe's teammates. Babe's love of winning and her habit of gloating over her victories had made her unpopular with otehr athletes. In spite of her great talent, she never gained the friendship or respect of the 15 team members. She had often angered her opponents by boasting, "I'm going to win everything I enter."

7 Many other people, though, thought Babe should have won. Her fans and the newspapers loved her. They called Babe "The Texas Tornado," "Supergirl," "and "The World's Greatest Athlete." She received a hero's welcome when she returned to her hometown of Beaumont, Texas.

Babe's Performance at the 1932 AAU Women's National Championships
Long Jump-----------------1st place-----------------17 feet, 6 inches
80-meter hurdles-------1st place-----------------12.1 seconds
Javelin-----------------------1st place-----------------139 feet, 3 inches
Baseball throw-----------1st place-----------------272 feet, 2 inches
Shot put--------------------1st place-----------------39 feet, 61/4 inches
High Jump-----------------1st place-----------------5 feet, 33/4 inches
Discuss---------------------4th place-----------------
100-yard Dash-----------DNQ-----------------------
"Defying the Impossible" by Karen Nichols

"I don't like the word impossible," says climber Lynne Hill. In her almost 30 years of climbing, Hill has repeatedly shown that, with passion and determination, almost anything is possible.

Hill makes the difficult act of climbing look effortless. Trained as a gymnast, the Californian began to climb at age 14. At only 5 feet, 2 inches tall, her exceptionally well-muscled arms and shoulders give her an amazing strength-to-weight ratio. Lynn Hill is all power.

Hill won almost every sport-climbing competition in the 1980's--more than 30 international titles. In 1990, she became the first woman to climb a route rated 5.141 in France. In 1993, she free-climbed2 "The Nose" of El Capitan, a 3,000 foot vertical climb in California's Yosemite National Park. This was something that no one else--male or female--had done in the history of climbing. Her climb took four days. A year later, Hill came back and climbed it again, this time in less than twenty-four hours.

Though she had been hailed as the world's best woman athlete and one of the greatest rock climbers of all time, Hill's career has not been without setbacks. In 1989, while scaling a wall near her home in Boux, France, she made a mistake with her rope and fell more than 100 feet. Her fall was broken by a tree, so her injuries were minor; a broken foot, a dislocated elbow, and several punctures and cuts. She was back on the rock a few months later, but she found she had to conquer her fear of falling again. "It was just a question of taking myself out of that irrational3 state, of dealing with it," she says. "So that's what I did."

A key theme of Hill's autobiography, Climbing Free, is the power of self-discovery that comes from taking responsibility for your actions. She writes, "The fact that you're alone out there...it's you and the rock, and it's up to you to control what you do. If you fall, it's your fault. The reasons you succeeded or the reasons you fell are your own, and you can learn from them."

Hill now goes on mountain-climbing expeditions all around the world--Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Vietnam--sponspored by outdoor gear companies. When asked why she climbs, Hill says, "It has to do with feeling more alive, doing the best we can by learning from mistakes, and constantly seeking to achieve a higher level of consciousness.4 And by taking care of our bodies and our minds and basically jus doing the best we can."

1Sport climbs are rated on a scale from 5.0 to 5.15, with 5.15 being the most difficult
2To free-climb means to climb only the rock, and only with the hands and feet, not using gear to pull oneself up
3irrational: unreasonable
4consciousness: understanding, awareness
1

What is the main idea of the first selection?

1

How did Babe's javelin performance compare to her baseball throw performance in the 1932 AAU Women's National Championship?


1

At the AAU Women's National Championships, Babe Didrickson did NOT win first place in the

1

In paragraph 6 of the first selection, the words gloating over mean about the same as

1

Babe's teammates were probably pleased when she was disqualified from winning the gold medal in an Olympic event because

1

Which of the following is a statement of fact?

1

Why was Lynn Hill's climb of El Capitan important?

1

With which of the following statements would Lynn Hill most likely agree?

1

Based on the selections, which of the following is something both Didrikson and Hill have in common?

1

These selections both fit into which genre of writing?

1

What are the similarities and differences between Babe Didrikson and Lynn Hill? Support your answer with text evidence (10 points).