Select the correct answer. what is the purpose of stage directions? to provide comic relief after various pivotal and tense moments in a play and lighten the mood of the audience to set up the backdrop of a play by providing background information on the characters to break a play down into multiple scenes according to changes in locations to describe details about where a scene takes place and how an actor must deliver his or her lines

Read this excerpt from “what i hope to leave behind.” for a number of years it took so much vitality to keep the home going, and that home represented so many different kinds of activities, that none of us had any urge to go outside of this sphere. if “what i hope to leave behind” was the subject of a class discussion, why might paraphrasing this sentence be ? you could analyze the key themes while also staying true to the original language. you could summarize the key ideas, which would shorten the length of the excerpt. you could use your own ideas and concepts, which would add important information. you could rephrase it in your own words, which might clarify the meaning of the excerpt.

An expository essay instructs, provides information, or explains. in this essay, you are presenting information and explaining why you think the ideas and work of the individual you chose had an effect on european thought. but before you begin writing the essay, you need to organize the information you’ve gathered by creating an outline. directions: your taking notes sheet should have you identify and organize the information you found while doing your research. now it is time to create an outline to organize the information in the way you will present it in your essay. you may decide not to use all the information you gathered, but be sure you do not leave out anything that you believe is important to support your thesis. your essay should include an introductory paragraph, supporting paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph. each paragraph should cover one main topic and should correspond to a roman numeral (i., ii., iii.) on the outline. the main topics should cover: the person’s accomplishment and contributions, and the effect of his or her accomplishments or contributions on european thought. write a topic sentence for each paragraph of your essay. be sure it tells the reader what the section will be about and how the information relates to your thesis statement. your topic sentence for the introductory paragraph might say something like “johannes gutenberg’s invention changed the way people communicated.” a topic sentence for the second paragraph—the first main topic—might be something like "gutenberg’s printing press changed the way books were produced and the way knowledge was communicated.” decide which pieces of information you will use to support your topic sentences. (these ideas or groups of facts are called subtopics.) subtopics follow capital letters and periods (a., b., and c.) on your outline. add this information beneath your topic sentence. you can further divide subtopics into specific facts. in an outline, specific facts follow arabic numerals and periods (1. 2. 3. 4.) end your outline and essay with a concluding paragraph. write a concluding paragraph that summarizes the main ideas of your essay and restates your thesis statement in some way. write no more than four or five sentences. worth 241 points

(20 points) passage: this year will be a record-breaking year for storms 1it looks like 2012 will be a year for the record books. thunderstorms, hurricanes, and tornadoes have increased across the country. the storms' high winds and heavy rains are making history. early tornado and hurricane seasons 2in march, not usually a busy month for tornadoes, the south and midwest had a large number of twisters. warm weather made conditions ripe for the creation of tornadoes. on some days, twisters dropped from the sky by the dozen. 3hurricane season also came early. two tropical storms hit the southeast in may. two more strong storms followed in june. severe thunderstorms 4many states that have escaped tornadoes and hurricanes have had severe thunderstorms. these giant storms dumped several inches of rain and caused flooding across the northeast and midwest. 5the end of hurricane season is months away, and this year's storm count and rainfall amounts could leave 2011 in the dust. forecasters say the wet, windy weather might stick around until fall. labor day parade rained out 6there is no joy in green town, where the annual labor day parade was called off because of heavy rain. the town's mayor says the parade hasn't been rained out in fifty years. 7a strong band of thunderstorms hit green town on sunday. more than two inches of rain fell each hour. by monday morning, main street looked more like a creek than a parade route. mayor nora bell said she had to call off the parade. "the heavy rains have created a serious safety issue in green town," she said. 8the loss of the labor day parade is green town's second disappointment this summer. in may, the memorial day parade was also called off because of rain. "this must be one of the wettest summers in history," mayor bell said. 9according to the national weather service, mayor bell is right. this summer will break rainfall records in green town and across the country. question: who would obtain the most useful information from the passage? a) someone planning a holiday picnic. b) someone interested in documenting annual meteorological patterns. c) an advocate for the green town labor day parade. d) someone who wishes to do research on the alleged truth of the "global warming" phenomenon.