Grade Seven Language Arts Assessment #1 The Price of Freedom Cassandra H. Vanhooser

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1 Grade Seven Language Arts Assessment #1 The Price of Freedom Cassandra H. Vanhooser The nation pays tribute to American prisoners of war who purchased our freedom by sacrificing their own. As hard as I try, I can t stop the hot, salty tears that spill down my cheeks. I came to the National Prisoner of War Museum in Andersonville, Georgia, expecting to wade through musty memorabilia and obscure statistics. Instead, I hear the voices and see the faces of America s POWs. Now I understand what my freedom indeed, the independence of every American truly cost. From the Revolution to the Gulf War, more than 800,000 men, women, and children have been held captive by enemy forces. Other military museums touch on the subject, but this is the first memorial dedicated solely to the plight of American prisoners of war. Its location on the very site of the Andersonville Prison Camp where 45,000 Union soldiers were incarcerated 1 seems fitting. As I wander through the museum, I get only a tiny taste of indignities prisoners of war endured. I feel gut-wrenching terror when I walk into a darkened room and suddenly face a wall of weapons pointed at me. As I watch interviews with family members, I imagine waiting years for a loved one s return. I look inside the prison door at the simulated Hanoi Hilton 2 and pray I ll never know the mind-numbing experience of being shackled in a tiny cell. In my heart, I bend down to kiss the American soil with each returning soldier. That I can experience this part of history is in large part thanks to the POWs themselves. The American Ex-Prisoners of War, a veterans group of more than 30,000 members, teamed with the National Park Service to raise the money needed to build the museum. Their influence permeates the project, especially in the commemorative courtyard. The prisoner of war story is cruel, says Bill Fornes, an ex-pow who spent 12 years working on the project. It s hard. It s emotional. We wanted a place where, after that, visitors could reflect, ease themselves, and realize the world s not all bad. It s here I meet Lloyd Diehl from New Jersey, an ex-pow. 1. incarcerated. Put in prison 2. simulated Hanoi Hilton. Copy of a Vietnamese wartime prison

2 I m here to try to heal a little bit from what I experienced and what I still experience, says Lloyd, who was captured on December 19, 1944, in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. He spent four month in Stalag 9B, A German prison camp. I don t feel shame anymore. I did at first. It s like saying I gave up, he says, his voice quivering with emotion. You just don t do that. It wasn t in my vocabulary, or I didn t think it was. Then to do it, to surrender I think we all felt shame. We were reduced to the existence of a dog, he continues. But we knew that when we got liberated 3 and we all expected to get liberated that it was only up from that point. Lloyd was burying a fellow POW in a prison graveyard when liberation finally came. An American plane flew over and strafed 4 us, and all we could do was crouch down, he remembers. He missed us the first time, but he went around and did it again. That time he came in over the top of us and not in front of us, and we waved as he flew by. The third time he went by, he wiggled his wings like he recognized us; then we went out and finished burying this guy. As Lloyd shares his story, he lays his head on my shoulder and begins to weep, the wounds deep and painful even now, after more than 50 years have passed I cradle this man a complete stranger in my arms and whisper the only words worthy of his sacrifice. Thank you, I tell him. 3. liberated. Freed 4. strafed. Fired at American POWs

3 The Price of Freedom 1. (LT 1) Why does the speaker thank Lloyd at the end of the story? a. To thank him for spending the day with her b. To thank him for coming to the museum c. To thank him for her freedom d. To thank him for escorting her through the museum 2. (RP 5) After viewing the American POW s chart, during which war were the largest number of U.S. soldiers taken prisoner? a. Civil War ( ) b. American Revolution ( ) c. World War II Pacific ( ) d. World War II Europe ( ) 3. (IT 7) The author s expectation at the beginning of the story is to wade through musty memorabilia and obscure statistics. How did her encounter with Lloyd Diehl and other POW s change her purpose for writing this story? a. recognize and pay tribute to American prisoners of war who purchased our freedom by sacrificing their own. b. meet people from all over the world c. feel shame for not visiting the museum d. none of the above 4. (LT 4) This piece written by Cassandra M. Vanhooser is written in a subjective point of view that affects the overall body of the work. Which of the following supports this statement? a. the piece is written from the third person point of view b. the piece is written from the objective point of view c. the piece is written from the second person point of view d. the piece is written from the first person point of view 5. (LT 5) Identify the recurring theme throughout history illustrated in this piece? a. people visit museums b. men, women, and children have been held captive by enemy forces c. POWs are always emotional d. the death rate of POWs in every war exceeded 50%

4 6. (RP 2) How might the speaker describe her experience to someone who has not visited the museum? Use three specific references from the text to explain. (3 pts.) 7. (AV 1) In line 20 of the story, what does the word solely mean? a. insult b. only c. spread through or penetrate something d. deep within 8. (AV 8) According to the footnote what does simulated Hanoi Hilton mean. a. put in prison b. insult c. freed d. copy of a Vietnamese wartime prison FICTION NONFICTION WHAT IT TELLS ABOUT Imaginary people, places, and events Real people, places, and events PURPOSE To entertain To inform, to entertain, to persuade TYPES Short story, novel, drama, myths, science fiction, poetry Article, essay, biography, autobiography, poetry 9. (LT 6/RP 5) Which statement is TRUE regarding fiction and non-fiction? a. Fiction and nonfiction tell about people, places, and events. b. Science fiction and biographies are both pieces of fiction. c. Fiction and non-fiction are meant to persuade the reader. d. Poetry is always considered to be fiction.

5 Read the poem then write your answer in the space provided. A BATTLE IN THE SKY It wasn t quite day and it wasn t quite night, Cause the sun and the moon were both in sight, A situation quite all right With everyone else but them. So they both made remarks about who gave more light And who was the brightest and prettiest sight, And the sun gave a bump and the moon gave a bite, And the terrible sky fight began. With a scorch and a sizzle, a screech and a shout, Across the great heavens they tumbled about, And the moon had a piece of the sun in its mouth, While the sun burned the face of the moon, And when it was over the moon was rubbed red, And the sun had a very bad lump on its head, And all the next night the moon stayed home in bed, And the sun didn t come out til noon. 10. (LT 2) What is the setting (time and place) of this poem? a. The sun and the moon. b. Between day and night. c. Across the heavenly sky. d. Both b and c.

6 11. (LT 1) Conflicts within a piece of writing often help the plot build on itself. In A Battle in the Sky the two main characters are involved in a conflict. What event gives rise to the sun being bitten? a. The characters tumbled around in the sky all day and night. b. The sun and moon slept in all the next day. c. There was an argument about who was the prettiest. d. The sun had burned the moon s face. 12. (LT 3) Minor events in a story support and develop the plot. Which of the following is a minor event in the poem? a. The sun and the moon are both in the sky b. They begin to argue. c. The moon bit the sun. d. They are both injured. 13. (LT 4) How would this poem be different if it were told in the first person point of view? a. Either the moon or the sun would be the narrator. b. The poem would use the pronoun I rather than they. c. The poem is written in first person point of view. d. Both a and b. 14. (LT 6) The way a poem looks on a page is called the poem s form. The Battle in the Sky is written with separations between every couple of lines. This arrangement is called a. Stanzas b. Free verse c. Repetition d. Rhythm 15. (LT 6) Which of the following would best describe the rhyming pattern of the poem? a. abcd b. abab c. aaab d. abcc

7 The Greatest Generation 16. (IT 1) This is a copy of the contents page from the book, P.O.W. in the Pacific by William N. Donovan, M.D. Which chapter includes information about Japanese ships used to imprison POWs during WWII? a. Chapter 8 b. Chapter 5 c. Chapter 3 d. Chapter 6

8 (This is a page copied from the Index of the book, The Greatest Generation, by Tom Brokaw.) 17. (IT 1) On what page would you find information about nurses who were POWs in World War II? a b c. 173 d