Read the excerpt from a short story. they had laughed at the shabbiness of the hotel. "oh well," they’d said, "we aren’t going to spend any time inside." and they had not. they’d spent the day and evening sightseeing and had not retreated to their rooms until they were spent. now ana appraised her modest accommodations, remembering how the window in her room had amused her friends, as it offered a view of a brick wall not six inches away. "you get what you pay for! " they’d exclaimed, closing the heavy curtains. the window captured ana’s attention again. as she readied for bed, she heard a persistent tapping coming from outside. ana reasoned with herself, reminded herself that only small bird or bug in distress could fit in such a space. the tapping suggested otherwise, and she turned to investigate. how does the excerpt exemplify the ideas king describes in "danse macabre"?
a) it allows readers to approach a "forbidden door."
b) it provides a "single powerful spectacle" for the imagination’s eye.
c) it forces readers to "grapple" with their own mortality.
d) it excites readers with the concept of "magic."

Follow the directions (and example) given to create your own sonnet. william shakespeare's sonnet 130 my mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun, coral is far more red, than her lips red, if snow be white, why then her breasts are dun: if hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head: i have seen roses damasked, red and white, but no such roses see i in her cheeks, and in some perfumes is there more delight, than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. i love to hear her speak, yet well i know, that music hath a far more pleasing sound: i grant i never saw a goddess go, my mistress when she walks treads on the ground. and yet by heaven i think my love as rare, as any she belied with false compare. instructions: write fourteen lines of iambic pentameter. use a sonnet rhyme scheme. use the first eight lines to set up your idea (the octave). use the last six lines to conclude your idea (sestet). (variety may be added by including a substitute foot from time to time such as the two anapests in line 3 above.) work in small groups giving each other feedback. reading the sonnet aloud allows you to hear the words and rhythms of the lines. generate questions that will clarify the use of words and forms. for example: was the idea of the sonnet presented in the first eight lines? how was sound used to enhance the meaning of the sonnet?