the main idea, central message, central idea, or insight expressed in a literary work

the perspective through which a story is told

the narrator is a character in a literary work; marked with first-person pronouns, such as I, me, my, we, or us

the perspective is told by a narrator who is not a character in the story; marked with third-person pronouns such as he, she, it, they, them, etc.; shows only one person's feelings, actions, or thoughts (through his or her eyes)

descriptive language that paints a picture in the reader's mind and appeals to the five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell)

the atmosphere of a literary piece that elicits a specific feeling from the reader

Which text follows this plot?

The narrator responds to a mysterious summons and travels to the ancestral home of Roderick Usher, a sick friend he’s hardly seen since childhood. Known as the House of Usher, the vast, ancient structure overlooks a dark lake that intensifies its gloom. “House of Usher” also refers to the old and distinguished family that will no longer exist if Roderick dies: his twin sister Madeline is close to death, and he is the end of the line. The narrator establishes a routine of reading and music to distract Roderick from mortal dread. When Madeline dies, they deposit her body in a secure vault under the house, but when the narrator tries to resume their routine, he inadvertently unlocks from deep within the House of Usher a force of evil that transcends our understanding of life and death.

Which text follows this plot?

The narrator and his sister Irene own a large house in Buenos Aires that has been in their family for four generations. They like to think it preserves their history, and although they only occupy the front part, they clean the entire house every morning, front and back. After lunch Irene knits until bedtime while the narrator reads. They keep the back access to the kitchen and bathroom closed, but the heavy oak connecting door between front and back is never locked—until the narrator hears sounds coming from the library and tells Irene that “they” have taken over the back of the house. She says simply that they must stay in the front, and carries on knitting—but when they hear voices in the kitchen, the siblings agree that “they” have taken over the whole house, and the siblings must take desperate measures.

Which of the texts follows this plot?

The story is set on a quiet residential street, just before dinnertime on a chilly November evening. The father in the story answers the door to a stranger, who says he lived in the house when he was a child many years before. The stranger asks if he might look around outside for a while. The father watches him from a window, but the mother invites the stranger into the house. As he goes from room to room, the stranger is amazed by the changes, but seems equally astonished by parts of the house that haven’t changed at all. The visit becomes awkward when the stranger stays too long and slowly inspects everything in each room. He walks upstairs and goes directly to the son’s room—the stranger’s old room—where he introduces himself to the son and looks around. While still in the son’s room, the stranger draws a complex and mysterious mathematical riddle, telling the boy that he can surprise his teacher with it. After several more minutes, the father finally tells the stranger that it is time to go. When the stranger is gone, the family and the home seem to have changed.

The following is a summary of which text?

The speaker begins with a summary of a television show about a mirror that haunts houses by stealing people in them. The poem follows in the same path, warning readers about the greedy, hungry poem.

The following is a summary of which text?

The bird of bad omens visits the speaker as he sits in front of a dying fire. He is trying to distract himself from the torment of remembering his lost love. He welcomes the raven and asks its name. It replies, “Nevermore.” The speaker, obsessed by his loss, phrases his questions to make each reply more grimly appropriate.

the speaker takes the identity of a hideous creature from a Native American myth. This creature enters a cottage to steal a child from its mother. It endears itself to the child, and the child is soon lost among the snow and ice, deep inside the creature itself.