Read this excerpt from infinite jest. ‘i could, if you’d let me, talk and talk. let’s talk about anything. i believe the influence of kierkegaard on camus is underestimated. i believe dennis gabor may very well have been the antichrist. i believe hobbes is just rousseau in a dark mirror. i believe, with hegel, that transcendence is absorption. i could interface you guys right under the table,’ i say. ‘i’m not just a creâtus, manufactured, conditioned, bred for a function.’ what assumption does the narrator make in this excerpt? a. that the people he is addressing enjoy long conversations b. that the people he is addressing appreciate intellectualism c. that the people he is addressing have researched philosophy d. that the people he is addressing expect a confrontation

Read the two conclusions to cinderella. conclusion a: “this is not the true bride,” said he to the father; “have you no other daughters? ” then cinderella took her shoe off, and put on the golden slipper, and it fitted as if it had been made for her. and when he drew near the prince knew her, and said, “this is the right bride.” then he took cinderella on his horse and rode away. conclusion b: he obliged cinderella to sit down, and, putting the slipper to her little foot, he found it went on very easily, and fitted her as if it had been made of wax. the astonishment of her two sisters was great, but it was still greater when cinderella pulled out of her pocket the other slipper and put it on her foot. thereupon, in came her godmother, who, having touched cinderella's clothes with her wand, made them more magnificent than those she had worn before. and now her two sisters found her to be that beautiful lady they had seen at the ball. they threw themselves at her feet to beg pardon for all their ill treatment of her. cinderella took them up, and, as she embraced them, said that she forgave them with all her heart, and begged them to love her always. she was conducted to the young prince, dressed as she was. he thought her more charming than ever, and, a few days after, married her. cinderella, who was as good as she was beautiful, gave her two sisters a home in the palace, and that very same day married them to two great lords of the court. which conclusion to cinderella is stronger? why? conclusion a is stronger because it uses dialogue that readers understand the prince's feelings toward cinderella. conclusion b is stronger because it describes a surprising and positive resolution to the conflict between the characters. conclusion a is stronger because it contains an emotional moment in which cinderella learns something. conclusion b is stronger because it shows that all of the characters changed and got what they deserved.

Read the excerpt from part 2 of zeitoun. zeitoun woke with the sun and crawled out of his tent. the day was bright, and as far as he could see in any direction the city was underwater. . he could only think of judgment day, of noah and forty days of rain. and yet it was so quiet, so still. nothing moved. he sat on the roof and scanned the horizon, looking for any person, any animal or machine moving. nothing. as he did his morning prayers, a helicopter broke the silence, shooting across the treetops and heading downtown. why does the author include the details of zeitoun’s morning? to suggest the hopelessness of zeitoun’s situation to illustrate the solitary existence endured by survivors to establish zeitoun’s dedication to the rituals of his faith to reveal the military’s attempts at assistance

Me which theme is developed by the changing relationship between the narrator and his daughter in this excerpt ? as she grew older, she spent more of her time with girls. so much time indeed did she spend with them that she came no more, as she used to do, to her father’s room. i was scarcely on speaking terms with her. when mini and her father stop communicating, it develops the theme that children should not speak unless spoken to. as mini becomes more independent, it develops the theme that parents must learn to let go as their children grow up. as mini spends more time with friends, it develops the theme that young people are more influenced by peers than by parents. when mini and her father see each other far less often, it develops the theme that absence makes the heart grow fonder.