Author's Purpose

Descriptive Language

Instructions: Find examples of descriptive language in the following text

The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow, Maybe

            After years in Texas, I experienced my first winter in the Midwest. I did not like it right away. In Texas, the heat presses down on you like a hot iron, but you get used to it. You learn that the heat can be tricky like a fox. It sneaks up on you even in January, then it disappears behind a blank gray sky that dribbles rain. After three days, it’s spring again. When summer comes in March, you toss off your jacket, slip on your sandals, and eat smoky barbecue and drink lemonade until December.

            The Midwest winter lasts and lasts. Sometimes the sun does not come out for weeks. Blankets of snow snuggle up to your front door and stay there like a stray cat. Every trip outside is an expedition. You need boots, two pairs of socks, a sweater, a coat, a scarf, a hat, and gloves. Outside, it takes forever to get anywhere on foot. You must walk carefully on slippery sidewalks. The cars with their rugged snow tires buzz by and spray you with dirty slush. The air smells like cold metal. You glance at the sky and wonder how long this can last. The answer is—a long time.

Implied Main Idea

Instructions: Complete the graphic organizer to determine the implied main idea

“The Sounds of Silence” 

City dwellers who are accustomed to loud noises hear only silence at first when they go to the country. Then, slowly, away from the steady roar of background noise, they begin to hear the series of sounds that signal the times of day on a farm.

Greeting the Morning

The rooster proclaims the day’s arrival. As the sky gradually lightens, chickens cluck and pigs grunt for breakfast. Cows moo anxiously, waiting to be milked. Inside the farmhouse, family members talk quietly while they eat. Then they push their chairs back from the table with a scrape and hurry off to start their chores.

The Day’s Work

As the day progresses, tractors grumble across the fields and workers shout orders and questions to one another. Hammers tap nails sharply and saws wheeze as farmhands repair the hayloft. Birds sing arias among the trees and call to each other as they take wing across the fields.

Evening Falls

As dark falls, a barn owl hoots and flaps its wings. On the screened porch, the murmur of conversation is punctuated by low laughter. Nature’s orchestra takes center stage: tree frogs chortle, toads croak, and crickets fill in the gap with a constant background chirp of legs rubbing together. Tree branches creak and moan, and leaves rustle in the wind. Water in the stream bubbles and babbles over rocks and logs. Afarm dog howls at the moon.