Question

multiple choice
instruction: circle the correct answer

1. the text can best be identified as an autobiography because —

a) it has historical figures in authentic settings
(b) it has a narrator describing real people
c) it is told in third person with accurate facts
(d) it is told in first person about actual events

1. in paragraph 2 of the text, douglass calls his mistress tigerlike to

emphasize how —
(a) conflicted she was about whether to hate or enjoy being a slave owner
b) threatening she became when she decided to deny him an education
c) forceful she was when it came to caring for the hungry or needy
d) angry she became when she witnessed her husband mistreating the slaves

1. which two sentences correctly use pronoun antecedents.

(a) my mistress set her face against my being instructed by anyone else.
(b) when my mistress ceased to instruct me it was her first step in a downward
course.
c) i give the names of those little boys as a testimonial of the gratitude i
bear him.

Explanation:

Question 1

An autobiography is a self - written account of one's life, so it is told in the first person (the author/narrator is the person whose life is being described) and it recounts actual events from the narrator's life. Option a is incorrect as historical figures in authentic settings are more characteristic of historical fiction or biographies about others. Option b is incorrect because just describing real people doesn't make it an autobiography (a biography could do that too). Option c is incorrect because autobiographies are in the first person, not the third person. Option d correctly describes the nature of an autobiography.

When Douglass calls his mistress “tiger - like” in the context of denying him an education, the “tiger - like” quality emphasizes the threatening nature of her actions towards his education. Option a is incorrect as the “tiger - like” description is not about her internal conflict regarding being a slave owner. Option c is incorrect as the context is about education, not caring for the needy. Option d is incorrect as the context is about her actions towards Douglass's education, not her reaction to her husband's mistreatment of slaves. Option b correctly relates the “tiger - like” description to her threatening behavior regarding his education.

• For option a: The pronoun “her” has a clear antecedent “my mistress” as “my mistress” is a female - identified noun and “her” is a possessive pronoun that refers back to it.
• For option b: The pronoun “her” has the antecedent “my mistress” as it refers back to the mistress who ceased to instruct.
• For option c: The antecedent for “him” is unclear. The sentence says “those little boys” (plural) and then uses “him” (singular), so there is a pronoun - antecedent agreement error.

So the two sentences that correctly use pronoun antecedents are a and b.

Answer:

d) it is told in first person about actual events

Question 2