Part 1 READING:
LITERATURE
1.2 Craft and Structure
Name __________________________________
Understand Literary Allusions
Practice
Read the story below. Then see if you can explain the literary allusion in it by reading
the myth that follows. Write your answer on the lines and then print this page.
It was moving day, and Carrie was tired but happy. Her new room had
built-in shelves, and she was excited to have so much space for her prized
book collection. She carted box after box up the crooked stairs until her back
ached. Finally, there was just one box left. It was big and brown and taped up
on all sides to keep the precious books inside from spilling out. Carrie had
been avoiding it all day.
At last, she decided to confront it. She stooped down and pulled.
Nothing happened. She tried again, this time bending at the knees. It
still wouldn’t budge. After a few more failed attempts, Carrie sighed in
frustration.
“I need someone Herculean to lift this thing!” she grumbled.
“You called?” asked her brother Jon, smiling as he came in from the
kitchen.
Jon wasn’t just her big brother in name—he was her big brother in size
and strength. And, like Carrie, he loved to read.
“This itty bitty thing?” he asked, winking at her. “No problem. Just
promise to lend me a good book in return!”
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Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Lifting the Library
Part 1 READING:
LITERATURE
1.2 Craft and Structure
Name __________________________________
Carrie, the character in the story “Lifting the Library,” makes a literary allusion when she
says that she needs someone Herculean to lift the box of books. Based on what you read
in the myth “Hercules and the King,” what do you think she means?
Hercules and the King
Hercules was stronger than any man in Greece. One day, the king
challenged him to clean the royal stable in one day. The rich king kept
thousands of cattle, so he knew the task was impossible. Hercules agreed to
try and thought of a plan. First he tore a hole in the wall at each end of the
stable. Then he grabbed a nearby river and pushed it into the hole. The water
rushed through the stable and out the hole on the far wall, washing the stable
clean.
Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Using both his strength and his brain, Hercules had done what the king
asked.
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