Designing an Multiple Choice Passage Practice

DIRECTIONS: Design a multiple choice task for a passage from To Kill a Mockingbird. Choose a brief section of one of the chapters (no more than 2 pages in length). You will need to read the passage closely for literary devices, structure, vocabulary and other aspects of English to create your questions. You may use the question starters below to help you. Each question you create MUST have 4 possible answers. Make sure you provide an explanation to why an answer is right and why the other four answers are wrong. Your multiple choice test will have 7 questions.

Helpful Hints: Use two word answers in some of the questions (___________________ & __________________);

make sure at least one answer includes a right word and a wrong word. Have a distracter—an answer that might, to a person who read too quickly, appear correct

but is not as good or accurate as the actual correct answer Make sure all answer choices you give for a question are about the same length and follow

the same pattern Place correct answer at different letters in each question You will need to include at least one factual, main idea, and hidden meaning question.

Question Starters & Focus: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO USE THESE EXAMPLES, BUT THIS MAY HELP YOU.

1. Design a question that requires the reader to determine what a word means in the context of the sentence / paragraph.

a. In line ____ , the word _______________ is best interpreted to mean…2. Design a question that requires the reader to analyze the definition of words or

phrases in context and draw conclusions from their meaning.a. In context, the line _________ is best interpreted to mean…b. In context, “______________” suggests…

3. Design a question that requires the reader to analyze the author’s tone.a. The tone of __________________ (paragraph, chapter, stanza…) is best described as….b. The narrator’s attitude toward _______________________ can best be described as…c. Judging from the tone of the whole passage, it is clear that the narrator regards

________ with…4. Design a question that requires the reader to identify literary or rhetorical

devices in a passage:a. The phrase, “_________________,” presents an example of….

5. Design a question that requires the reader to analyze a character’s traits, motivations, or beliefs.

a. ______________________ (character) in / on (line, page, chapter) _____ is best described as which of the following….

b. In the (lines, paragraphs), )_________________ is portrayed as being…6. Design a question that requires the reader to make an inference from a particular

passage:a. It can be inferred that each ______________________ was…b. It can be inferred from the phrase, “________________________,” that …..

7. Design a question that requires the reader to determine the main idea of a passage

a. The excerpt is chiefly concerned with ….b. Taken as a whole, the passage is best described as….

8. Design a question that requires the reader to paraphrase a portion of the text.a. The phrase, “________________,” can best be paraphrased as…b. Which of the following is the best rendering of the phrase,”__________”?

9. Design a question that requires the reader to analyze the author / narrator’s purpose.

a. The narrator provides the clause, “_____________,” most probably as…10. Design a question that requires the reader to analyze a writer’s style.

a. Which of the following devices is dominant in the _______ paragraph of the passage?b. In (paragraph or line), the author’s style relies on heavy use of which of the

following….