Use the story "The Landlord's Mistake" from Fifty Famous People by James Baldwin to answer the question.
When John Adams was president and Thomas Jefferson was vice president of the United States, there was not a railroad in all the world.
People did not travel very much. There were no broad, smooth highways as there are now. The roads were crooked and muddy and rough.
If a man was obliged to go from one city to another, he often rode on horseback. Instead of a trunk for his clothing, he carried a pair of saddlebags. Instead of sitting at his ease in a parlor car, he went jolting along through mud and mire, exposed to wind and weather.
One day some men were sitting by the door of a hotel in Baltimore. As they looked down the street they saw a horseman coming. He was riding very slowly, and both he and his horse were bespattered with mud.
"There comes old Farmer Mossback," said one of the men, laughing. "He's just in from the backwoods."
"He seems to have had a hard time of it," said another; "I wonder where he'll put up for the night."
"Oh, any kind of a place will suit him," answered the landlord. "He's one of those country fellows who can sleep in the haymow and eat with the horses."
The traveler was soon at the door. He was dressed plainly, and, with his reddish-brown hair and mud-bespattered face, looked like a hard- working countryman just in from the backwoods.
"Have you a room here for me?" he asked the landlord.
Now the landlord prided himself upon keeping a first-class hotel, and he feared that his guests would not like the rough-looking traveler. So he answered: "No, sir. Every room is full. The only place I could put you would be in the barn."
"Well, then," answered the stranger, "I will see what they can do for me at the Planters' Tavern, round the corner;" and he rode away.
About an hour later, a well-dressed gentleman came into the hotel and said, "I wish to see Mr. Jefferson."
"Mr. Jefferson!" said the landlord.
"Yes, sir. Thomas Jefferson, the vice president of the United States."
"He isn't here."
"Oh, but he must be. I met him as he rode into town, and he said that he intended to stop at this hotel. He has been here about an hour."
"No, he hasn't. The only man that has been here for lodging to-day was an old clodhopper who was so spattered with mud that you couldn't see the color of his coat. I sent him round to the Planters'."
"Did he have reddish-brown hair, and did he ride a gray horse?"
"Yes, and he was quite tall."
"That was Mr. Jefferson," said the gentleman.
"Mr. Jefferson!" cried the landlord. "Was that the vice president? Here, [Richard]! Build a fire in the best room. Put everything in tiptop order, Sally. What a dunce I was to turn Mr. Jefferson away! He shall have all the rooms in the house, and the ladies' parlor, too. I'll go right round to the Planters' and fetch him back."
So he went to the other hotel, where he found the vice president sitting with some friends in the parlor.
"Mr. Jefferson," he said, "I have come to ask your pardon. You were so bespattered with mud that I thought you were some old farmer. If you'll come back to my house, you shall have the best room in it—yes, all the rooms if you wish. Won't you come?"
"No," answered Mr. Jefferson. "A farmer is as good as any other man; and where there's no room for a farmer, there can be no room for me."
In one to two sentences, describe a theme of the excerpt.
One possible theme of the excerpt is that appearances can be deceiving and it is important not to judge others based solely on their outward appearance.
say it as a paragraph
One of the themes that can be derived from the excerpt "The Landlord's Mistake" is the notion that appearances can be deceiving and that it is important not to judge others based solely on their outward appearance. In the story, the landlord initially dismisses a traveler, assuming he is a rough countryman due to his mud-covered appearance. However, it turns out that the traveler is actually none other than Thomas Jefferson, the vice president of the United States. The landlord learns a valuable lesson about the importance of not making hasty judgments based on looks, as he realizes his mistake and goes out of his way to rectify it. Ultimately, the story serves as a reminder that true worth lies beyond surface-level appearances and that it is crucial to look beyond stereotypes and preconceived notions.
Use the excerpt from short story, The Little Mermaid, to answer the question.
In the morning the storm had ceased; but of the ship not a single fragment could be seen. The sun rose up red and glowing from the water, and its beams brought back the hue of health to the prince's cheeks; but his eyes remained closed. The mermaid kissed his high, smooth forehead, and stroked back his wet hair; he seemed to her like the marble statue in her little garden, and she kissed him again, and wished that he might live. Presently they came in sight of land; she saw lofty blue mountains, on which the white snow rested as if a flock of swans were lying upon them. Near the coast were beautiful green forests, and close by stood a large building, whether a church or a convent she could not tell. Orange and citron trees grew in the garden, and before the door stood lofty palms. The sea here formed a little bay, in which the water was quite still, but very deep; so she swam with the handsome prince to the beach, which was covered with fine, white sand, and there she laid him in the warm sunshine, taking care to raise his head higher than his body. Then bells sounded in the large white building, and a number of young girls came into the garden. The little mermaid swam out farther from the shore and placed herself between some high rocks that rose out of the water; then she covered her head and neck with the foam of the sea so that her little face might not be seen, and watched to see what would become of the poor prince. She did not wait long before she saw a young girl approach the spot where he lay. She seemed frightened at first, but only for a moment; then she fetched a number of people, and the mermaid saw that the prince came to life again, and smiled upon those who stood round him. But to her he sent no smile; he knew not that she had saved him. This made her very unhappy, and when he was led away into the great building, she dived down sorrowfully into the water, and returned to her father's castle. She had always been silent and thoughtful, and now she was more so than ever. Her sisters asked her what she had seen during her first visit to the surface of the water; but she would tell them nothing. Many an evening and morning did she rise to the place where she had left the prince. She saw the fruits in the garden ripen till they were gathered, the snow on the tops of the mountains melt away; but she never saw the prince, and therefore she returned home, always more sorrowful than before. It was her only comfort to sit in her own little garden, and fling her arm round the beautiful marble statue which was like the prince; but she gave up tending her flowers, and they grew in wild confusion over the paths, twining their long leaves and stems round the branches of the trees, so that the whole place became dark and gloomy. At length she could bear it no longer, and told one of her sisters all about it. Then the others heard the secret, and very soon it became known to two mermaids whose intimate friend happened to know who the prince was. She had also seen the festival on board ship, and she told them where the prince came from, and where his palace stood.
In 3-5 sentences, write a summary of this excerpt from The Little Mermaid.
In this excerpt from "The Little Mermaid," the mermaid saves a prince from a shipwreck and brings him to the shore. She watches as he is cared for by a group of girls and regains consciousness but is disappointed when he doesn't recognize or acknowledge her. The mermaid regularly visits the spot where she left the prince, but he is nowhere to be found. Heartbroken, she returns home and confides in her sisters, who then learn the identity of the prince. The mermaid's sorrow deepens, and her once beautiful garden becomes neglected and overgrown.
Use the paragraph to answer the question.
Melanie walked out onto the stage, and her stomach dropped like a free-falling elevator. She crept slowly over to the podium and bent the microphone toward her mouth, like the straw in her pink lemonade. She gathered up all of her courage and began to speak, her voice an impostor as it boomed through the microphone. She flinched at its unfamiliarity and scanned the room for her mother's face.
In three to five sentences, identify two examples of figurative language from the passage above and explain what each example of figurative language means.
Two examples of figurative language in the passage are "her stomach dropped like a free-falling elevator" and "her voice an impostor as it boomed through the microphone."
The first example, "her stomach dropped like a free-falling elevator," is a simile. It compares the feeling in Melanie's stomach to the sensation of dropping rapidly in an elevator, emphasizing her nervousness and anxiety.
The second example, "her voice an impostor as it boomed through the microphone," is a metaphor. It describes Melanie's voice as an impostor, implying that it doesn't feel like her own true voice. The metaphorical use of "boomed" suggests a sense of volume and power, emphasizing the unfamiliarity and possibly exaggerated projection of Melanie's voice through the microphone.
Use the paragraph to answer the question.
My grandmother, whom we affectionately call Nani, is the best baker I know. If Lebron James is the king of the basketball court, then she is the queen of the kitchen. Her soft, warm chocolate chip cookies are better than Mrs. Field's or Rachel Ray's. Her key lime pie is the perfect delicate balance between sweet and savory. Her recipe box is her treasure chest, full of secret recipes handwritten on colorful notecards. Nani mixes and stirs and measures with as much care as a scientist in a lab. Everything tastes better if it's made by Nani, for everything she bakes is made with love. Analyze the writer's word choice.
In 3 to 5 sentences, describe the effect of word choice on the tone of the paragraph, including any analogies or allusions that were used.