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All Common Core: 10th Grade English Language Arts Resources
Adapted from "Walter Raleigh" by Wilbur F. Gordy (1917)
[Raleigh] therefore fitted out two vessels, which were to sail to the land north of Florida, then occupied by Spain, and bring back reports of the country. The captains of these vessels arrived in Pamlico Sound, and landed on an island, which they found rich in grapes and woods and abounding in deer and other game. The explorers received kind treatment from the Indians, two of whom accompanied the voyagers to England on their return. Queen Elizabeth was so pleased with the good reports from the new country that she called it Virginia in honor of herself—the Virgin Queen.
The next year, 1585, Raleigh sent out to Virginia seven vessels and one hundred colonists, under his cousin, Sir Richard Grenville, and Ralph Lane. They landed on Roanoke Island, and made a settlement there, but the colony was not prosperous. At the outset, by unwise and cruel treatment they made enemies of the natives. It is related that, an Indian having stolen a silver cup from one of the colonists, the Englishmen burned an entire village and ruined the corn belonging to its people. Such punishment was out of all proportion to the petty offence. It is not surprising, therefore, that from that time the settlers found the Indians unfriendly.
Very soon Grenville sailed back to England, leaving the colony in charge of Ralph Lane. The colonists instead of building houses and tilling the soil to supply food, were bent upon finding gold. Hence they listened with eager interest to a story that the Indians told of the Roanoke River. According to this story, the river flowed out of a fountain in a rock so near the ocean that in time of storm the waves dashed over into the fountain. The river, the Indians said, flowed near rich mines of gold and silver, in a country where there was a town with walls made of pearls. Lane and his followers foolishly started up the river in a vain search for this wonderful land. They encountered many difficulties, including hostile attacks by Indians, and suffered so much from lack of food that they had to eat the flesh of their own dogs.
The discovery of the tobacco plant introduced into England the custom of smoking, and a curious story is told of it in connection with Sir Walter Raleigh, who soon learned to smoke. One day his servant, who knew nothing of the new custom, came into his master’s room and found him smoking from a silver pipe. Believing Raleigh was on fire, the faithful servant hastily dashed a mug of ale at him to quench the flames and rescue him from death.
The wealth that lay hidden in the soil was yet , and no one felt any enthusiasm over the new colony of Virginia. Most men would by this time have lost hope. But Raleigh was not daunted. Two years later he made a second attempt to plant a colony in the New World, this time sending over three ships, with a hundred and fifty settlers, including seventeen women. John White was appointed governor of the colony. These settlers had the forethought to carry with them farming implements to use in tilling the soil. When they landed on Roanoke Island they found no trace of the fifteen men left there two years before by Sir Richard Grenville. The new settlers had not been on the island long before they were in need of help from England, and begged Governor White to return home for provisions and more settlers. White at first refused to leave them, but finally consented. A warm interest in the feeble settlement and love for his little granddaughter, born soon after the settlers arrived, persuaded him to yield. This little girl, the first white girl born in America, was named after the new country, Virginia, her full name being Virginia Dare.
When Governor White left the settlement he expected to return immediately, but upon reaching England he found his countrymen greatly excited over the coming invasion of the much-dreaded “Spanish Armada.“ Everybody was astir, and Raleigh was aroused to his fullest energy in preparation to meet the hated foe.
But, notwithstanding this, he found time to fit out two small vessels for Governor White. Although they sailed, trouble with the Spaniards compelled their return to England, and not until two years later, when he Spanish Armada had been defeated, did Governor White sail again for Virginia, this time as a passenger in a West Indianan. He landed on Roanoke Island as before, but there remained of the settlement only some chests of books, some maps, and some firearms, all of which had been ruined by the Indians.
Upon bidding Governor White farewell, the colonists had agreed to carve on a tree the name of the place to which they would go if they should decide to leave Roanoke Island. They were also to carve above the name a cross if they were in serious trouble. Governor White found the word CROATOAN cut in capital letters on a large tree, but he found no cross. Before White could sail to Croatian, which was an island not far away, he had to return to England because the captain of the vessel, having encountered stormy weather, refused to sail further. What became of the lost colonists is still a mystery. It is possible, that the Indians either killed them or captured and enslaved them.
Raleigh sent out other expeditions in search of the lost colony, but without success. He had already spent a sum equal to more than a million dollars in trying to plant this colony, and now felt that he must give up all hope of accomplishing his purpose.
The main goal of this passage is __________________.
to advocate for Walter Raleigh as a great historical figure
to provide historical context and detail about the settling of Virginia by Walter Raleigh
to provide and exhaustive biographical sketch of Walter Raleigh
to provide historical context and detail about the Spanish Armada's attempted invasion of Britain
The main goal of this passage is __________________.
to advocate for Walter Raleigh as a great historical figure
to provide and exhaustive biographical sketch of Walter Raleigh
to provide historical context and detail about the Spanish Armada's attempted invasion of Britain
to provide historical context and detail about the settling of Virginia by Walter Raleigh
This is a general question, and one that requires you to read and synthesize the text and provide an objective of the text's overall goal. Understanding and accurately assessing the rhetorical or aesthetic goals of a text is a key skill, especially when applied to informational texts.
When a question asks you for an overall summary, it's important to read the text and form your own opinion, but it can be especially helpful to look at the given answer options to narrow down your choices. So, let's assume you've done your own reading of the text and formed your own opinions of its goals and intentions and turn to the options.
Our first option claims that the main goal of this passage is "to provide and exhaustive biographical sketch of Walter Raleigh." There is certainly evidence to support this claim; Raleigh is a central figure in the text (it is even titled after him!). It is important, however, to comb through the wording of the option. An "exhaustive" biographical treatment of a person covers everything in detail, from birth to death. This passage is much more narrowly focused, covering exclusively a limited period of Raleigh's live when he was exploring and settling modern-day Virginia. Also, it's key to note that other historical events and detailed are covered outside of their direct relevance to Raleigh's life. We can safely eliminate this tempting offer.
Our second option asserts that the overall textual aim is "to provide historical context and detail about the Spanish Armada's attempted invasion of Britain," and this option we can dismiss a bit more easily than we did our first option. The Spanish Armada's invasion of England is, indeed, mentioned in the passage, but it is mentioned tangentially, as a distraction that drew Raleigh away from the primary focus, his exploration and settlement of Virginia.
The idea that the passage's primary aim is "to advocate for Walter Raleigh as a great historical figure" is questionable in that this is a historical passage that does make some claims (a number of them rightfully questioning Raleigh's morality), it is primarily historical in nature, as opposed to argumentative. If this passage were clearly advocating for a position you would be able to locate a clear thesis statement.
Given our statements about the other options, it should be clear by now that the primary goal of this passage is to provide historical context (for example, the geo-political situation of the time) and detail (such as the paragraph about the discovery of tobacco) about Raleigh's role in the settlement of Virginia as a colony of Britain.
Adapted from Edgar Allen Poe’s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (1838)
Upon my return to the United States a few months ago, after the extraordinary series of adventure in the South Seas and elsewhere, of which an account is given in the following pages, accident threw me into the society of several gentlemen in Richmond, Va., who felt deep interest in all matters relating to the regions I had visited, and who were constantly urging it upon me, as a duty, to give my narrative to the public. I had several reasons, however, for declining to do so, some of which were of a nature altogether private, and concern no person but myself; others not so much so.
One consideration which deterred me was that, having kept no journal during a greater portion of the time in which I was absent, I feared I should not be able to write, from mere memory, a statement so minute and connected as to have the appearance of that truth it would really possess, barring only the natural and unavoidable exaggeration to which all of us are prone when detailing events which have had powerful influence in exciting the imaginative faculties.
Another reason was, that the incidents to be narrated were of a nature so positively marvellous that, unsupported as my assertions must necessarily be (except by the evidence of a single individual, and he a half-breed Indian), I could only hope for belief among my family, and those of my friends who have had reason, through life, to put faith in my veracity-the probability being that the public at large would regard what I should put forth as merely an impudent and ingenious fiction. A distrust in my own abilities as a writer was, nevertheless, one of the principal causes which prevented me from complying with the suggestions of my advisers.
Among those gentlemen in Virginia who expressed the greatest interest in my statement, more particularly in regard to that portion of it which related to the Antarctic Ocean, was Mr. Poe, lately editor of the "Southern Literary Messenger," a monthly magazine, published by Mr. Thomas W. White, in the city of Richmond. He strongly advised me, among others, to prepare at once a full account of what I had seen and undergone, and trust to the shrewdness and common-sense of the public-insisting, with great plausibility, that however roughly, as regards mere authorship, my book should be got up, its very uncouthness, if there were any, would give it all the better chance of being received as truth.
Notwithstanding this representation, I did not make up my mind to do as he suggested. He afterward proposed (finding that I would not stir in the matter) that I should allow him to draw up, in his own words, a narrative of the earlier portion of my adventures, from facts afforded by myself, publishing it in the "Southern Messenger" under the garb of fiction. To this, perceiving no objection, I consented, stipulating only that my real name should be retained. Two numbers of the pretended fiction appeared, consequently, in the "Messenger" for January and February (1837), and, in order that it might certainly be regarded as fiction, the name of Mr. Poe was affixed to the articles in the table of contents of the magazine.
The manner in which this ruse was received has induced me at length to undertake a regular compilation and publication of the adventures in question; for I found that, in spite of the air of fable which had been so ingeniously thrown around that portion of my statement which appeared in the "Messenger" (without altering or distorting a single fact), the public were still not at all disposed to receive it as fable, and several letters were sent to Mr. P.'s address, distinctly expressing a conviction to the contrary. I thence concluded that the facts of my narrative would prove of such a nature as to carry with them sufficient evidence of their own authenticity, and that I had consequently little to fear on the score of popular incredulity.
This exposé being made, it will be seen at once how much of what follows I claim to be my own writing; and it will also be understood that no fact is misrepresented in the first few pages which were written by Mr. Poe. Even to those readers who have not seen the "Messenger," it will be unnecessary to point out where his portion ends and my own commences; the difference in point of style will be readily perceived.
-A.G Pym
This passage is told from the point of view of _______________.
the author, Edgar Allen Poe
a fictional narrator
the author, Arthur Pym
an omniscient narrator
This passage is told from the point of view of _______________.
the author, Edgar Allen Poe
the author, Arthur Pym
an omniscient narrator
a fictional narrator
This question is a bit tricky, as it asks you to assess the narrative point of view of an intentionally absurd and confusing passage, in which the author is treated as a character. First up, we know that the passage is written by Edgar Allen Poe, BUT this has no bearing on the narrative point of view of the actual passage. Authors of fiction most often are specifically not writing from their own perspective, even if they are using the first person. Most often a first person fictional narrative will be done from the perspective of a fictional character. The key to solving this question is to understand the difference between an author and a narrator.
A narrator is a figure who, within the logic of the passage, tells the story to the audience. The author is the person who wrote and received credit for writing the overall work in the real world. So, an author uses a narrator to tell a fictional story from a particular point of view. Remember that key distinction, the narrator is a tool that exists within the book written by the author. Narrators don't need to exist in real life, authors do.
So, we know that the author is not "Arthur Pym," purely from the citation at the heading of the passage. Remember, the title is a part of the fictional world of the passage, but the citation of the author is real. The work is called The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, but the author is Edgar Allen Poe. Right away, we can eliminate the option that claims Pym is the author of the work.
Now, we must figure out if Poe is using a narrator's perspective or his own. We can see that the passage uses a first person "I," but then later mentions Edgar Allen Poe by name, in the third person. Aha! We can now see that Poe is both the author and a character talked about by the narrator, but he cannot be the narrator himself. So, let's eliminate that option.
All we have left to do to solve this question is to figure out whether the narrator is omniscient. An omniscient narrator knows everything about a story, and has access to every character's thoughts. Such narrators are almost always third person narrators, and usually do not appear in the actual story. Here, we have a first person narrator who has access only to his own thoughts and opinions. He is, however, a fictional character.
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