Name: English 8
Ms. Torry
“A Secret Lost in the Water” by Roch Carrier
Comprehension Questions
15 Points for Reading and Viewing
Please complete the following questions on your laptop. You must answer each question according to the instructions for each section.
Surface Questions (1 point each):
These questions ask about facts and details from the story. They provide the “surface” information that we need to understand what is happening in the story. Answer each of these questions with a complete sentence.
Sample Question:
What literary device is used when the narrator indicates that the branch was “wriggling like a small, frightened snake” (1)?
1. What skill has made the narrator’s father famous in their village?
2. The narrator’s father believes that “a man can get along without writing and arithmetic, but he can never get along without water” (1). What does this quote tell us about the father’s views on education?
3. What literary device is used in the line “the water beneath the earth refused to sing” (2)?
4. Why does the farmer tell the narrator not to “feel sorry” when he is unable to find water like his father (2)?
Deep Questions (3 points each):
These questions ask about the meaning behind the words. You will need to infer (or make informed opinions) about happenings in the story to answer these questions. Answer each of these questions with a PEE chain.
Sample Question:
The narrator indicates that “[he] waited for the branch to writhe” (2). Why does the author choose to use personification in this line? What does this suggest about the process of finding a spring?
1. The author uses the words “pious,” “religious,” and “piety” when referring to the actions of his father and the old farmer. Why does he choose these words to describe these characters’ actions?
2. When the narrator’s father tells him to open his eyes, the narrator feels “stunned, as though [his father had] awakened [him] while [he] was dreaming” (1). What does this simile suggest about the narrator’s experience finding a spring?
Beginning
1
Adequate
2
Proficient
3
Point does not answer the question.
Example is irrelevant to the point or is not present.
Explanation is not present or does not connect to either the point and/or the example. The reader does not comprehend the purpose of the information presented in the PEE chain.
Point answers the question briefly but lacks a focusing idea for the PEE chain.
Example uses information from the story to somewhat support the point.
Explanation somewhat explains the connection between the example and the point. The main idea of the PEE chain is not completely clear to the reader.
Point answers the question with detail and provides a main idea for the PEE chain.
Exam...
