Craft and Structure

Chief Editor

Mar 17, 2024

Take all 3 MCQs in interactive quiz mode with timer and progress tracking

The following text is adapted from Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto's 1925 memoir A Daughter of the Samurai. As a young woman, Sugimoto moved from feudal Japan to the United States. The standards of my own and my adopted country differed so widely in some ways, and my love for both lands was so sincere, that sometimes I had an odd feeling of standing upon a cloud in space, and gazing with measuring eyes upon two separate worlds. At first I was continually trying to explain, by Japanese standards, all the queer things that came every day before my surprised eyes; for no one seemed to know the origin or significance of even the most familiar customs, nor why they existed and were followed. Which choice best describes the main purpose of the text?

Difficulty: Medium

To convey the narrator's experience of observing and making sense of differences between two cultures she embraces

To establish the narrator's hope of forming connections with new companions by sharing customs she learned as a child

To reveal the narrator's recognition that she is hesitant to ask questions about certain aspects of a culture she is newly encountering

To emphasize the narrator's wonder at discovering that the physical distance between two countries is greater than she had expected

In the Here and Now Storybook (1921), educator Lucy Sprague Mitchell advanced the then controversial idea that books for very young children should imitate how they use language, since toddlers, who cannot yet grasp narrative or abstract ideas, seek reassurance in verbal repetition and naming. The most enduring example of this idea is Margaret Wise Brown's 1947 picture book Goodnight Moon, in which a young rabbit names the objects in his room as he drifts off to sleep. Scholars note that the book's emphasis on repetition, rhythm, and nonsense rhyme speaks directly to Mitchell's influence. Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

Difficulty: Medium

The text outlines a debate between two authors of children's literature and then traces how that debate shaped theories on early childhood education.

The text summarizes an argument about how children's literature should be evaluated and then discusses a contrasting view on that subject.

The text lists the literary characteristics that are common to many classics of children's literature and then indicates the narrative subjects that are most appropriate for young children.

The text presents a philosophy about what material is most suitable for children's literature and then describes a book influenced by that philosophy.

As an architect in Los Angeles in the 1950s, Helen Liu Fong became known for avoiding ________ designs in her buildings. Instead of using standard shapes and colors, she typically explored innovative forms and daring hues. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Difficulty: Easy

creative

bold

traditional

understandable