Directions: understanding theme
you have read the story "everything that rises must converge" (pg. 272) by flannery o'connor,
think about the abstract subject of the story. click here for a list of abstract nouns to you. complete
the chart below about the story "everything that rises must converge". (the story "after twenty years" is
used as an example for you.)
remember: a theme/thematic statement is universal. it can be applied accordingly to another text. it
should not include specific details from the story such as a character's name.
abstract
subject/topic
what observation or
generalization does the
author express about
the abstract subject of
the story?
1-2 pieces of textual write a thematic statement to express
evidence to support your an idea about a theme of the story.
idea about the subject.
then explain how your textual evidence
supports your thematic statement.

What ideal of imagist poetry is best reflected in this poem by ezra pound in which he compares a crowded metro station to a flowering tree branch? in a station of the metro the apparition of these faces in the crowd; petals on a wet, black bough. a. poetry should be about urban subjects and ideas. b. old poetry should be rewritten in a modern style. c. poets should be able to describe ordinary subjects in new ways. d. poets should write about new subjects with conventional techniques.

Select the correct answerwhat theme is portrayed in this excerpt from leo tolstoy's the death of ivan ilyich? in reality it was just what is usually seen in the houses of people of moderate means who want to appear rich, and therefore succeed only inresembling others like themselves, there are damasks dark wood, plants, rugs, and dull and polished bronzes-all the things people of a certaiclass have in order to resemble other people of that class. his house was so like the others that it would never have been noticed, but to him it aseemed to be quite exceptional. he was very happy when he met his family at the station and brought them to the newly furnished house all lit uwhere a tootman in a white tie opened the door into the hall decorated with plants, and when they went on into the drawing-room and the studyuttering exclamations of delight he conducted them everywhere, drank in their praises eagerly, and beamed with pleasure. a.the effect of consumerismbw the power of wealthcam keeping up appearances in societyud. wconforming to societal conventionsresetnextil rights reserved.

In just over one hundred years, between 1701 and 1810, 252,500 enslaved africans were brought to barbados—an island that occupies only 166 square miles (making it, today, one of the smallest countries in the world). the english then set out to conquer more sugar islands, starting with jamaica, which they took from spain in 1655. in the same period that the 252,500 africans were brought to barbados, 662,400 africans were taken to jamaica. thus, sugar drove more than 900,000 people into slavery, across the atlantic, to barbados and jamaica—and these were just two of the sugar islands. the english were eagerly filling antigua, nevis, saint kitts, and montserrat with slaves and sugar mills. they took over much of dutch guiana for the same reason. seeing the fortunes being made in sugar, the french started their own scramble to turn the half of the island of hispaniola that they controlled (which is now haiti), as well as martinique, guadeloupe, and french guiana (along the south american coast near dutch guiana), into their own sugar colonies, which were filled with hundreds of thousands more african slaves. by 1753, british ships were taking average of 34,250 slaves from africa every year, and by 1768, that number had reached 53,100. –sugar changed the world, marc aronson and marina budhos how do the authors use historical evidence to support their claim? x(a) they use secondary sources to show how french and english monarchs were indifferent to enslaved people. x(b)they use secondary sources to show that enslaved people often fought for their freedom after arriving in the caribbean. the answer is: (c)they use facts from primary sources to show how countries increased the number of enslaved people to produce more sugar. x(d)they use primary source interviews to show that countries could make more money in trading sugar without using enslaved people.