Instituto Superior de Formación Docente N°21 ‘Dr.

Ricardo Rojas’ Prácticas

Discursivas de la Comunicación Escrita 1

Mock test
READ THE SHORT STORY THE MURDER BY JOHN STEIMBECK AND DO THE ACTIVITIES BELOW.
1. Reading comprehension
Choose either A or B and answer in about 100 words.

A.

‘Don't be big fool, now,’ he said. ‘Jelka is a Slav girl. He's not like American girl. If he is bad, beat him. If

he's good too long, beat him too. I beat his mama. Papa beat my mama. Slav girls not like a man that

don't beat hell out of him.’

‘I wouldn't beat Jelka,’ Jim said.

The father giggled and nudged him again with his elbow, ‘Don't be big fool,’ he warned.

‘Sometime you see.' He rolled back to the beer barrel.

Take into account the context and explain the quotes in bold using your own words.

B. Answer the following question in a paragraph of about 50-60 words.

In ‘The Murder’, chauvinism and patriarchy are very clearly depicted. Why? Expand.

2. Discourse analysis
Answer these questions about The Murder.

 What type of genre is it? Think about the different genres we have worked with and analysed
during the year.
 What´s the expected audience?

 What's the topic? Do not answer in one or two words. Write down (a) complete sentence(s).

 What's the tone of the description at the beginning of the text? Remember that the tone is the
attitude of the writer toward a subject matter or topic.

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 Instituto Superior de Formación Docente N°21 ‘Dr. Ricardo Rojas’ Prácticas
Discursivas de la Comunicación Escrita 1

Mock test
 And the purpose? What´s the purpose of this type of genre? The purpose is not the same as the
topic.

3. Cohesion
Describe and explain the following cohesive devices in the context in which they occur.

In the case of conjunctions, say what they express and paraphrase the sentence providing a synonym.

Example: I´m tired but I think I´ll go to Monterey anyway.

Anyway is a conjunction. It expresses contrast. Jim said that although he was

tired/in spite of the fact that he was tired, he thought he would go to
Monterey.

In the case of pronouns or adverbs, state word class and what the word refers to.

`Where's your wife?' they demanded. `Home in the barn,' he responded. It was a

never-failing joke. Saturday afternoons he saddled a horse and put a rifle in the

a. What does it refer to? State word class/category of the word.

He realized before long that he could not get in touch with her in any way. lf she had a

life apart, it was so remote as to be beyond his reach. The barrier in her eyes was not

one that could be removed, for it was neither hostile nor intentional.

b. What word class is for? What does it express? Please, re-write the sentence providing a

synonym.

One Saturday in a hot dusty June, Jim cut oats in the farm flat. The day was long. It was

after six o'clock when the mower tumbled the last band of oats. He drove the clanking

machine up into the barnyard and backed it into the implement shed, and there he

unhitched the horses and turned them out to graze on the hills over Sunday. When he

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 Instituto Superior de Formación Docente N°21 ‘Dr. Ricardo Rojas’ Prácticas
Discursivas de la Comunicación Escrita 1

Mock test
entered the kitchen Jelka was just putting his dinner on the table. He washed his hands

and face and sat down to eat.

c. What does his refer to? State word class/category of the word.

4. Language in Use

Explain the linguistic devices underlined clearly. Make sentences to answer.

a) Her mouth smiled to itself, but her eyes watched him for the development of a wish. Perhaps because
he was tired from the long day's work, he demanded: ‘What are you thinking about?’
Pay attention to the underlined verb tense and explain what tense it is and what it expresses in

this context.

b) ‘Well, then, I'll fry you up some eggs.’ She struggled painfully to her feet. ‘Let me help you,’ he said.
Pay attention to will (underlined). What is it? What does it express in this context?

c) As Jim went through the kitchen he saw that she had taken the lamp… (Page 4)
Pay attention to the verb tense underlined and explain what tense it is and what it expresses.

5. Syntax
What type of phrases are the ones underlined?
Her dark eyes dwelt warmly on him for a moment, and she turned and limped into the house.
She walked really slowly along the long and empty corridor.

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Instituto Superior de Formación Docente N°21 ‘Dr. Ricardo Rojas’ Prácticas
Discursivas de la Comunicación Escrita 1

Mock test

KEY
Read the short story The murder by John Steinbeck. Then, do the following activities.

1. Reading comprehension (30 marks)

Choose either A or B and answer in about 100 words.
‘Don't be big fool, now,’ he said. ‘Jelka is a Slav girl. He's not like American girl. If he is
bad, beat him. If he's good too long, beat him too. I beat his mama. Papa beat my mama.
Slav girls not like a man that don't beat hell out of him.’
‘I wouldn't beat Jelka,’ Jim said.
The father giggled and nudged him again with his elbow, ‘Don't be big fool,’ he
warned. ‘Sometime you see.' He rolled back to the beer barrel.
Take into account the context and explain the quotes in bold using your own words.

A. In The Murder, chauvinism and patriarchy are very clearly depicted. Why? Expand.
Remove examples from the story to support your viewpoint.
Model answer: These quotes illustrate the cultural practices present in a patriarchal society,
where it was only natural to hit women and women did not have any voice in the matter. So
much so that they even naturalized this habit.

Some examples of this patriarchy may be:

“Where is your wife?” Home in the barn
If he is bad, beat him. If he's good too long, beat him too. I beat his mama. Papa beat my
mama. Slav girls not like a man that don't beat hell out of him.’
(There are more examples in the story)

2. Discourse analysis (20 marks)

Answer these questions about The Murder.

 What type of genre is it? Think about the different genres we have worked with and
analysed during the year.

It is a short story.
 What´S the expected audience?

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Instituto Superior de Formación Docente N°21 ‘Dr. Ricardo Rojas’ Prácticas
Discursivas de la Comunicación Escrita 1

Mock test
People interested in reading about different cultures/murder/ students at the Teachers
Training College (any of these three options)

 What is the topic? Do not answer in one or two words. Write down (a) complete
sentence(s).

The story is about the physical violence that exists from men to women in a
specific culture.

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Instituto Superior de Formación Docente N°21 ‘Dr. Ricardo Rojas’ Prácticas
Discursivas de la Comunicación Escrita 1

Mock test
 What is the tone? Remember that the tone is the attitude of the writer towards a
subject matter or topic.

The story has a dramatic/somber/gloomy tone.

 And the purpose? What is the purpose of this type of genre? The purpose is not the
same as the topic.

The purpose of a short story is to entertain and in this case, the story may be
useful to raise awareness about the power men exercise over women in certain
cultures.

3. Cohesion (20 marks)

Describe and explain the following cohesive devices in the context in which they occur.
In the case of conjunctions, say what they express and paraphrase the sentence providing
a synonym.

Example: I’m tired but I think I’ll go to Monterey anyway.

‘Anyway’ is a conjunction. It expresses contrast. Jim said that although he was

tired/in spite of the fact that he was tired, he thought he would go to Monterey.

In the case of pronouns or adverbs, state word class and what the word refers to.

a) What does it refer to? State word class/category of the word.

‘Where's your wife?' they demanded. ‘Home in the barn,’ he responded. It was a never-
failing joke.

It is a personal pronoun. It refers to the joke: “Home in the barn”.

b) What word class is for? What does it express? Please, re-write the sentence
providing a synonym.

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Instituto Superior de Formación Docente N°21 ‘Dr. Ricardo Rojas’ Prácticas
Discursivas de la Comunicación Escrita 1

Mock test
He realized before long that he could not get in touch with her in any way. lf she had a
life apart; it was so remote as to be beyond his reach. The barrier in her eyes was not
one that could be removed, for it was neither hostile nor intentional.

For is a conjunction of reason. Because, since or as can be used in the same way.

c) What does his refer to? State word class/category of the word.
One Saturday in a hot dusty June, Jim cut oats in the farm flat. The day was long. It was
after six o'clock when the mower tumbled the

His is a possessive adjective that refers to Jim.

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INSTITUTO SUPERIOR E FORMACIÓN DOCENTE N°21 DR RICARDO ROJAS
PRÁCTICAS DISCURSIVAS DE LA COMUNICACIÓN ESCRITA 1
MOCK TEST
last band of oats. He drove the clanking machine up into the barnyard and backed it
into the implement shed, and there he unhitched the horses and turned them out to
graze on the hills over Sunday. When he entered the kitchen Jelka was just putting his
dinner on the table. He washed his hands and face and sat down to eat.

4. Language in Use (30 marks)

Explain the linguistic devices underlined clearly. Make sentences to answer.
a) Her mouth smiled to itself, but her eyes watched him for the development
of a wish. Perhaps because he was tired from the long day's work, he
demanded: ‘What are you thinking about?’

The present continuous tense is used to refer to activities in progress at

the moment of speaking.
Pay attention to the underlined verb tense and explain what tense it is and
what it expresses in this context.

b) ‘Well, then, I'll fry you up some eggs.’ She struggled painfully to her feet.
‘Let me help you,’ he said.
The modal verb will expresses intention. It is a spontaneous decision of
offering the other person to do something.
Pay attention to will (underlined). What is it? What does it express in this
context?

c) As Jim went through the kitchen he saw that she had taken the lamp…
(Page 4)

The past perfect tense is used to describe actions that happen before another
action in the past. First, he took the lamp and then he went to the kitchen.
Pay attention to the verb tense underlined and explain what tense it is and
what it expresses.

5. Syntax (20 marks)

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INSTITUTO SUPERIOR E FORMACIÓN DOCENTE N°21 DR RICARDO ROJAS
PRÁCTICAS DISCURSIVAS DE LA COMUNICACIÓN ESCRITA 1
MOCK TEST
What type of phrases are the ones underlined?
Her dark eyes (noun phrase) dwelt warmly on him for a moment,(prepositional)
and she turned and limped (verbal) into the house.(prepositional)
She walked really slowly (adverbial)along the long and empty(adjectival) corridor.