Term test Review

3-How does the introduction support the meaning of the passage?

• Acting was not an easy profession on the Elizabethan stage or one to be taken up lightly. An actor went through a strenuous period of training before he could be entrusted with an important part by one of the great city companies. He worked on a raised stage in the glare of the afternoon sun, with none of the softening illusions that can be achieved in modern theater, and in plays that made strenuous demands upon his skill as a fencer, a dancer, and an acrobat.
• Correct: D—it does, in fact, list the central challenges of Shakespearean acting that the passage is going to explore (training, raised stage, glare, no illusions, fencing, dancing, acrobatics)

3- Continued

• Incorrect: A—Says it “builds suspense”. Were you on the edge of your seat? Me either.
• Incorrect: B—Says it “poses a problem”. Actors worked hard to be actors in this time, but was it a problem? Does it say that it is? It also says it poses a problem “the reader will solve”. Did you get the impression you were supposed to be solving something?
• Incorrect: C—Says it “states the initial argument”. Is there an argument? Did anybody think the opposite, that acting in Shakespeare’s time wasn’t difficult?

4- What is the author’s MAIN PURPOSE FOR WRITING THIS SELECTION?

• This whole things is about what actors in this time had to go through to do their job well, right? How they had all these different incredible skills that they acquired through years of practice, right? So the answer has to be about their talents and all the different things they can do, right?
• Correct: C—describe the many talents of a typical Elizabethan actor
• Incorrect: A—compare Elizabethan actors to modern actors. They did this once or twice; is that enough to make it the main purpose?
• Incorrect: B—define the art of Elizabethan costumes and set designs. They mentioned them, but did the author define the artistry that is choosing costumes and sets in this time? Nah, dawg.
• Incorrect: D—This was your second best: explain the dangers. The author definitely talked a lot about this, but why? Was the whole point to tell you how dangerous it was to be an actor in this time period? Or did they tell you how dangerous it was to emphasize how much talent these actors had to have to make it on the stage? Hmm…