Editorial Development: Bonnie Brook Communications

 1. What do the mother’s actions tell you about her?
A 
She does not know how to use the Internet.
B 
She has a good sense of humor.
C 
She likes to embarrass her children.
D 
She is a professional filmmaker.
 2. Based on his actions and words, the narrator can 
best be described as 
.
A 
frustrated
B 
lazy
C 
responsible
D 
clumsy
 3. Because the narrator sells Mr. Chops 
merchandise, you can conclude that he 
.
A 
is careless with money
B 
is eager to make fun of his cat
C 
knows how to take advantage of a good 
situation
D 
staged the video to make money
 4. Which of the following changes would affect the 
story’s setting the most?
A 
changing the location to another city
B 
changing the time of the video to morning
C 
changing the location to another country
D 
changing the time to 100 years ago
STRATEGY PRACTICE
Visualize the scene in the kitchen. On a separate sheet of paper, draw what
you visualized.
Character and Setting
3458.indb 65
10/31/12 7:34 AM

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66
Daily Reading Comprehension • EMC 3458 • © Evan-Moor Corp.
Name: 
WEEK 10
DAY 2
READ THE PASSAGE
Pay attention to how the setting affects the people in the passage.
The Mystery of the Poe Toaster
A mysterious man walks through the midnight mist in a Baltimore cemetery, seeking an old grave 
where he will pay his yearly tribute. He wears only black, including a dark fedora and a scarf wrapped 
around his face to disguise his appearance from any curious onlookers. He reaches the grave, kisses the 
tomb, and then leaves behind his carefully selected tribute: three blood-red roses and a half-filled bottle of 
French cognac. It is January 19, and the Poe Toaster has struck again.
Every year between 1949 and 2009, the Poe Toaster completed this private ceremony at the grave of 
Edgar Allan Poe, the master mystery storyteller. The meaning of the ritual was unknown, as was the man’s 
identity. The three roses were commonly interpreted as offerings for the three people buried under the 
monument: Poe, his wife, and his aunt. Presumably, the mysterious visitor drank a toast to Poe from the 
cognac and left the rest for Poe. Only the selection of the date was clear: January 19 was Poe’s birthday.
At first, the tribute was barely noticed, but in the last few years of the ritual, the dark figure attracted 
his own admirers. The curator of The Baltimore Poe House and Museum and a group of observers began 
to gather to await the return of the Toaster. They made no attempts to interfere with his ceremony or to 
uncover his identity—they merely wanted to observe and pay their own respects to a growing tradition. 
Most viewers believed that more than one man had performed the ritual since it began. Some suspect that 
the duty was passed from generation to generation; others believed it was the initiation rite of a secret 
society. In 1993, the Toaster left a note at the grave saying: “The torch will be passed.” But in 2010, the 
Poe Toaster failed to appear, and by 2012, it seemed that the Toaster was gone for good.