answer key literature

1. Notes will vary but should include points similar to the following:
1.
a. This excerpt reveals that the story begins inside a house, and the

time is probably in the future (because of the voice-clock).
b. The mood suggests quietness, normality, emptiness, and perhaps a

hint that something is amiss.
2.
a. It is morning, and it is definitely in the future (because the whole

kitchen is run by robots).
b. The mood suggests that something is wrong because "the eggs were

shriveled" and the toast "like stone"; throwing away such a large

breakfast suggests wastefulness and deterioration.
3.
a. It has been raining, but now the sun is out. An atomic blast has

destroyed nearly everything for miles around.
b. The mood suggests a feeling of desolation, ruin, emptiness: the

house "stood alone in a city of rubble and ashes"; the "one house left

standing."
4.
a. The automated house continues to exist and function, but people have

not been inventive enough to stop from killing themselves.
b. The excerpt suggests an eerie, silent, and depressing mood: the

cigar fell away "into a mound of quiet ash"; the "empty chairs" faced

each other between the "silent walls."

18. 1. Notes will vary somewhat but should reflect the idea that Okeke

claims that love plays no part in the decision.
2. Notes will vary somewhat but should reflect the idea that Okeke says

that it is unchristian for a woman to teach school.
3. Notes will vary somewhat but should reflect the idea that Okeke

claims this will never happen because he will never meet Nene.
4. Notes will vary. Students could make notes suggesting that Okeke is

unable to persuade Nnaemeka not to marry Nene because Nnaemeka
a. does not share his father's traditional beliefs.
b. loves Nene and is determined to marry her.
c. wants his father's approval or acceptance but has no intention of

sacrificing his happiness just to get it.
d. believes that Nene is right for him regardless of what his father

says or believes.
55. 1. Luke tries to assert himself and maintain propriety in the

house, but he is easily cowed. The aside suggests that he is perceptive

and insightful; he knows that Smirnov will cause some problems.
2. Smirnov is arrogant, presumptuous, pompous, and demanding. The stage

direction ("angrily") suggests that he has a high opinion of himself

and a low opinion of Luke, or of servants in general.
3. Mrs. Popov tries to assert herself by throwing Smirnov out, but she

is indecisive. She waffles in her intentions and her feelings, and she

misconstrues her own confusion for anger. Despite her vows of mourning,

she is easily taken in by what is probably the first man who has

visited her since her husband died.
79. Notes will vary but could include the following:
1.
a. personification
b. There is something special about this night that "sings" to the

speaker and reminds him of his beloved.
2.
a. simile (and possibly personification)
b. The sense of loss he feels from writing the "saddest lines," or

admitting that he misses his beloved, covers him completely, like dew.
3.
a. repetition
b. The speaker seems to be trying to convince himself that he no longer

loves her, but each time he says it he realizes more and more that he

does still love her.
4.
a. personification
b. The speaker's love for his beloved lives, and he longs for her, but

she is gone.
30. Answers will vary. Students could say that, if the story were told

from Okeke's point of view, it is likely that
a. Nnaemeka would appear to be more stubborn and less sympathetic.
b. the reader would not meet Nene, and Okeke's feelings about her would

affect what the reader got to know about her.
c. the city of Lagos would be presented as a corrupting influence.
d. Okeke's anger and sadness would be more central to the story, and

the effects of his reactions on Nnaemeka and Nene would be less

central.
6. Answers will vary but should include points similar to the

following:
a. The house might be described as organized and efficient (it

continues to work every hour of the day in a highly efficient way); it

is protective of itself (it has a "preoccupation with self-protection";

it "tried to save itself"); and it is mortal-it can and does die (the

house "shuttered, oak bone on bone, its bared skeleton cringing").
b. The fire might be described as angry and vengeful ("The house gave

ground as the fire in ten billion angry sparks moved with flaming ease

from room to room. . . ."), and smart ("But the fire was clever. It had

sent flame outside the house. . . .").
c. Just as the house had a "sublime disregard for the situation," the

owners of these wonderfully inventive houses had a "sublime disregard"
for the dangers of self-annihilation.
83. Answers will vary. A description of the effect of the repetition of

"My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her" could point out that

the repetition
a. emphasizes the speaker's sense of loss.
b. makes it clear that the speaker has not accepted the loss.
13. D. radiation poisoning.
14. B. protective.
15. C. McClellans lived with a similar disregard for reality.
17. B. fire.
19. A. to make Okeke happy.
21. B. indifference.