Read the following paragraphs and answer the questions after each paragraph.

Question

Theresa Sanchez sat behind me in ninth-grade algebra. When Mr. Hubbley faced the blackboard, I’d turn around to see what she was reading; each week a new book was wedged inside her copy of Today’s Equations. The deception worked; from Mr. Hubbley’s point of view, Theresa was engrossed in the value of X, but I knew otherwise. One week, she perused The Wisdom of the Orient, and I could tell from Theresa’s contemplative expression that the book contained exotic thoughts, guidelines handed down from high. Another week it was a paperback novel whose title, Let Me Live My Life, appeared in bold print atop every page, and whose cover, a gauzy photograph of a woman biting a strand of pearls, head thrown back in an attitude of ecstasy, confirmed my suspicion that Theresa Sanchez was mature beyond her years. She was the tallest girl in school. Her bouffant hairdo, streaked with blond, was higher than the flaccid bouffants of other girls. Her smooth skin, plucked eyebrows, and painted fingernails suggested hours of pampering, a worldly and sensual vanity that placed her within the domain of adults. Smiling dimly, steeped in daydreams, Theresa moved through the crowded halls with a languid, self-satisfied indifference to those around her. “You are merely children,” her posture seemed to say, “I can’t be bothered.”

—Bernard Cooper

1. What main idea do you think Cooper is trying to communicate in this paragraph?

2. How does each of the author’s examples explain the paragraph’s main point? List the main examples from the paragraph, and explain how they are related to the topic sentence.



3. Does Cooper include enough examples to make the point? Explain your answer.

4. How are the examples in the paragraph arranged?

Answer 1

1. Theresa Sanchez was more mature than most of her classmates.
2. “Each week a new book was wedged inside her copy of Today’s Equations” shows how she was getting away with not doing algebra.
“One week, she perused The Wisdom of the Orient” shows her exotic side.
“Let Me Live My Life” also shows her exotic nature.
“She was the tallest girl in school” shows she was “above” other students her age.
“Her bouffant hairdo… domain of adults” shows she is already mature beyond her years.
“Theresa moved through the crowd… ‘I can’t be bothered’” shows that she was indifferent to her classmates.
3. Answers will vary.
4. From one extreme to another—least to most important