Name
Date
“New Directions” by Maya Angelou
Selection Test A
Critical Reading Identify the letter of the choice that best answers the question.
1. “New Directions” is a narrative essay. What does that tell you about Annie
Johnson?
A. She is a real person.
B. She is a made-up character.
C. She is related to Maya Angelou.
D. She is a character in a movie.
2. What quality does Maya Angelou most admire about Annie Johnson?
A. her cheerfulness
B. her appearance
C. her firm purpose
D. her curiosity
3. In “New Directions,” which word describes Annie Johnson’s husband?
A. loyal
B. hard-working
C. loving
D. dishonest
4. Why does Annie Johnson carry two pails of stones at night?
A. She is testing her strength.
B. She is selling them to the workers.
C. She is selling them to a factory.
D. She is in a weight-lifting contest.
5. In “New Directions,” which of the following details is significant?
A. Annie is very tall.
B. Annie’s marriage ends.
C. Annie’s husband is named William.
D. Annie lives in Arkansas.
6. What does Annie Johnson do when she “cuts herself a brand-new path”?
A. She cuts her lawn.
B. She takes a job as a domestic.
C. She finds a way to support her family.
D. She gets a job fixing roads.
Unit 1 Resources: Fiction and Nonfiction
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Name
Date
7. In “New Directions,” what can you predict from the following sentence?
When she felt certain that the workers had become dependent on her, she built a
stall between the two hives of industry. . . .
A. The stall will be a failure.
B. The stall will be a success.
C. Annie Johnson will move away.
D. Annie Johnson will remarry.
8. When Maya Angelou calls the lumber mill and cotton gin “two hives of industry,” what is she comparing them to?
A. ant nests
B. bird nests
C. bee hives
D. crowded cities
9. In a narrative essay, such as “New Directions,” what is the author’s main
purpose?
A. to persuade
B. to describe
C. to tell a story
D. to explain
10. Annie says she can “mix groceries well enough to scare hungry away.” What
does she mean?
A. She is a very bad cook.
B. She cooks fairly well.
C. She cooks fancy gourmet food.
D. She has never cooked in her life.
11. What does Maya Angelou mean by the word roads in the following sentence?
Each of us has the right and the responsibility to assess the roads which lie ahead,
and those over which we have traveled. . . .
A. maps
B. superhighways
C. misfortunes
D. life directions
Unit 1 Resources: Fiction and Nonfiction
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Name
Date
Vocabulary and Grammar
12. In which sentence is the word ominous used correctly?
A. Those dark clouds are ominous.
B. She has an ominous head.
C. That pumpkin is ominous.
D. An ominous writer knows everything.
13. Which word describes how Annie Johnson planned her business?
A. amicably
B. carelessly
C. ominously
D. meticulously
14. Which word in the following excerpt is a proper noun?
Annie, over six feet tall, big-boned, decided that she would not go to work as a
domestic and leave her “precious babes” to anyone else’s care.
A. Annie
B. feet
C. domestic
D. babes
15. Identify the common noun in the following sentence.
If the new choice is also unpalatable . . . we must be ready to change that as well.
A. new
B. choice
C. unpalatable
D. ready
Essay
16. In a brief essay, tell why you think Maya Angelou titled her essay “New Directions.”
Explain how the title relates to Annie Johnson’s life story.
17. What message, or theme, does Maya Angelou draw from the story of Annie
Johnson’s life? In a brief essay, state the theme of “New Directions.” Give two examples of how Annie’s life story illustrates that theme.
18. Thinking About the Big Question: Can truth change? In “New Directions,” Annie
Johnson lives by a truth or a belief. She seems to believe that if a person isn’t satisfied with life, they should “cut a new path,” or move in a different direction. In an
essay, tell whether this truth changes or does not change for Annie between the
beginning and the end of Maya Angelou’s essay. Support your ideas with examples
from the text.
Unit 1 Resources: Fiction and Nonfiction
© Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
65