Read the paragraph from Viktoria’s narrative essay. As I read the rules, I became even more nervous. Fifty artists had been accepted to the competition. Each artist would have just three hours to create a painting. The topic of the painting would be revealed right before the artists would be allowed to start, so there was no chance I could brainstorm ideas ahead of time.

Why would Viktoria most likely include this paragraph in the middle of her essay?

to introduce the main challenge she faces
to explain some of the obstacles she faces
to explain how she overcomes her obstacles
to discuss how the challenge changes her

Read the following excerpt from string by alice childress: maydelle. oh, look at you. if you had a nice suit perhapsnone of this would have happened. joe. l. v. got a nice suit, he got maybe forty nice suits andhe live in a pretty white house with a lawn in the front of it... but he cheatswhich statement best explains how the author uses symbolism in thisexcerpt? a. joe stands for the general turmoil that followed the years after thecivil rights act of 1964, which included riots and assassinations. b. with his combination of nice clothes and immoral behavior, l. v. represents the price some african americans paid in order toescape poverty. c. by describing l v.'s clothes in the same breath as his evilbehavior, joe points out that l. v. is only good on the outside, noton the insideod. the tension between joe and l. v. culminates in a physicalaltercation that is only broken up when the women in the playintervene.

Which type of conflict does della face in o. henry’s “the gift of the magi”? a. character versus society b. character versus machine c. character versus character d. character versus nature

Constructed response paragraph: after reading “the case for short words,” do you think the author makes a convincing case that short words are effective? explain your answer and support it with evidence from the selection.