Stranded
tracy wilson

april 25. even the morning air is sultry today. i would have fished for my breakfast last night before sunset, but i knew that it would surely spoil before morning. drinking my water warm has taken some getting used to. it’s funny how we take certain things like ice for granted. if i become desperate i can always resort to eating the freeze dried rations, but that defeats my purpose for being here to begin with. besides, they are about as edible as the tough, dry bark in a long dead tree. i think i have almost learned to track the time by the rays of the sun. time, like water, seems to sit in a pot unable to boil if your eye isn’t constantly on it. time seems to be the only thing that man hasn’t learned to control; but i am sure some genius like fred johnson is currently working on it, while sitting in a cubicle checking the four thousand emails on his smart phone. as for me, i think i will lean back on this dune and nap a while before i head out to catch some lunch.

read the passage on the left to answer the following questions:

1)
the passage is best described as a
a) news story.
b) diary entry.
c) fictional play.
d) business letter.
2)
which best expresses what is contrasted in this selection?
a) a solitary life with a family life
b) a peaceful life with a hectic life
c) a solitary life with a business life
d) a life of abundance with life of poverty

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paired passages: fire from the rock & the little rock nine
a review of sharon draper’s historical fiction fire from the rock, by student ciara reeder

fire from the rock is a great book that i would definitely recommend to others. it is set in 1957 little rock, arkansas, a city boiling over racial segregation. black and white youths are hot blooded and hot tempered, and many adults fan these flames of anger and violence. the protagonist is fifteen-year-old sylvia patterson, a fictional character who loves boys, music, and poetry. she has the opportunity to be one of the first nine african american students to integrate the all-white central high school, but sylvia is not excited about this and fears she is not brave enough. however, her brother really wants to be on the list and will do anything to get on it. just a few days later, sylvia's brother gets beaten up by three white boys. this makes sylvia doubt the idea even more.

the little rock nine article excerpt from civilrightshistory. gov

one of the most famous cases of integration is the story of the little rock nine, a group of african-american students enrolled in little rock central high school in 1957. on september 4th, 1957, the first day of school at central high, a white mob gathered in front of the school, and governor faubus deployed the arkansas national guard to prevent the black students from entering. in response to faubus’ action, a team of naacp lawyers, including thurgood marshall, filed a court injunction to prevent the governor from blocking the students’ entry. with the of police escorts, the students successfully entered the school through a side entrance on 23 september 1957. fearing escalating mob violence, however, the students were rushed home soon afterward.

read the passage on the left to answer the following questions:

3)
based on the texts provided, which statement is accurate?
a) fire from the rock includes the actual life experiences of sylvia patterson.
b) the novel creates the fictional group, the little rock nine, to add drama and conflict.
c) fire from the rock shares the real life experiences of one of the little rock nine.
d) the novel is a realistic but fictional story based on historical events during a time of conflict.
4)
based on the texts provided, which statement is accurate?
a) governor faubus was angered by draper's novel because of its negative portrayal of him.
b) the actions of the governor in draper's story are based on the historical record of the actions of governor faubus.
c) draper set her novel in 1957 in arkansas, but the governor in her story does not share the same opinions or take the same actions as the historical governor faubus.
d) draper gives the governor in her story a different name and physical description, but that character shares the same opinions or take the same actions as the historical governor faubus.
5)
a comparison and contrast of these texts shows that
a) draper uses an actual historical event to create a character's conflict based on those events.
b) to add dramatic conflict, draper makes many changes to the historical account of integration.
c) draper chooses the hot and extreme climate of a southern state to highlight the heated conflict of integration.
d) draper writes a story that avoids the violence that occurred during the struggles to integrate american schools.