Following excerpt from the play Brighton Beach Memoirs by Neil Simon, first performed in 1982. In the passage, two sisters discuss their family and living situation. The older sister, Nora, wishes to leave home and become an actress but needs her Uncle Jack's permission. Read the passage carefully. Write a thesis statement that you might use for an essay that analyzes how Simon uses literary elements and techniques to inform the reader's understanding of Nora's complex motivations. paragraph in support of your thesis that uses at least one piece of evidence from the text. In your response you should do the following: to the prompt with a thesis that presents an interpretation and may establish a line of reasoning. Select and use evidence to develop and support your line of reasoning. Explain the relationship between the evidence and your thesis. Use appropriate grammar and punctuation in communicating your argument.

Our attention goes to the two girls upstairs in their room. NORA is crying. LAURIE sits on the twin bed opposite her, watching.) LAURIE So? What are you going to do? NORA: I don't know. Leave me alone. Don't just sit there watching me. LAURIE: It's my room as much as yours. I don't have to leave if I don't want to. NORA: Do you have to stare at me? Can't I have any privacy? LAURIE: I'm staring into space. I can't help it if your body interferes. (There is a pause.)I bet you're worried? NORA: How would you feel if your entire life depended on what your Uncle Jack decided? Oh, God, I wish Daddy were alive. LAURIE: He would have said "No." He was really strict. NORA: Not with me. I mean, he was strict but he was fair. If he said "No," he always gave you a good reason. He always talked things out...I wish I could call him somewhere now and ask him what to do. One three-minute call to heaven is all I ask. LAURIE: Ask Mom. She talks to him every night. NORA: Who told you that? LAURIE: She did. Every night before she goes to bed. She puts his picture on her pillow and talks to him. Then she pulls the blanket halfway up the picture and goes to sleep. NORA: She does not. LAURIE: She does too. Last year when I had the big fever, I slept in bed with the both of them. In the middle of the night, my face fell on his picture and cut my nose. NORA: She never told me that... That's weird. LAURIE: I can't remember him much anymore. I used to remember him real good but now he disappears a little bit every day. NORA: Oh, God, he was so handsome. Always dressed so dapper, his shoes always shined. I always thought he should have been a movie star... like Gary Cooper... only very short. Mostly I remember his pockets. LAURIE: His pockets? NORA: When I was six or seven he always brought me home a little surprise. Like a Hershey or a top. He'd tell me to go get it in his coat pocket. So l'd run to the closet and put my hand in and it felt as big as a tent. I wanted to crawl in there and go to sleep. And there were all these terrific things in there, like Juicy Fruit gum or Spearmint Life Savers and bits of cellophane and crumbled pieces of 1obacco and movie stubs and nickels and pennies and rubber bands and paper clips and his gray suede gloves that he wore in the wintertime.

LAURIE: With the stitched lines down the fingers. I remember. NORA: Then I found his coat in Mom's closet and I put my hand in the pocket. And everything was gone. It was emptied and dry-cleaned and it felt cold... And that's when I knew he was really dead. (She thinks for a moment.) Oh, God, I wish we had our own place to live. I hate being a boarder. Listen, let's make a pact... The first one who makes enough money promises not to spend any on herself, but saves it all to get a house for you and me and Mom. That means every penny we get from now on, we save for the house. We can't buy anything. No lipstick or magazines or nail polish or bubble gum. Nothing...Is it a pact? LAURIE: (Thinks.) What about movies? NORA: Movies too. LAURIE: Starting when? NORA: Starting today. Starting right now. LAURIE: Can we start Sunday? I wanted to see The Thin Man. NORA: Who's in it? LAURIE: William Powell and Myrna Loy. NORA: Okay. Starting Sunday,.. I'll go with you Saturday. (They shake hands, sealing their "pact," then both lie down in their respective beds and stare up at the ceiling, "future home.") Excerpt from BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS 1984 by Neil Simon LLC. Used by permission of the owner.

Which pair of words most accurately describes how atticus is characterized in to kill a mockingbird? moral and excitable calm and disinterested weary and wry wise and guiding

1. according to mla citation style rules, when citing a book by more than one author, the authors' names should a. be listed alphabetically by first name. b. be listed alphabetically by last name. c. be listed in the order in which they appear on the title page. d. follow the title of the book. 2.which of the following items is not necessary to include in summary notes? a. all the information that is relevant to your topic and purpose b. complete publication information c. the time and date you read the source material d. specific examples 3. which of the following is not an objective of synthesizing sources? a. reviewing key ideas on a topic b. combining opinions and general statements c. exploring different points of view d. understanding the topic in depth 4.when punctuating quotations, commas and are placed inside the quotation marks. a. semicolons b. periods c. colons d. page numbers in parentheses 5. in academic writing, why would you prefer to rely on information from scholarly journals rather than magazines? a. authors in scholarly journals are generally specialists in their field. b. magazines use every-day experiences and discuss popular topics. c. scholarly journals never include visuals. d. scholarly journals are more difficult to find, and therefore more valuable. 6.when punctuating direct quotations, use a after the verb that introduces the quotation. a. comma b. dash c. colon d. seimicolon

Preparing for a group discussion the first step in participating in a group discussion is to understand the purpose and process of a group discussion. your approach to a group discussion will differ from other assignments, such as writing a research paper. read through the discussion guidelines to understand how you should prepare for a group discussion assignment. your discussion process for this task, you’ll need to work as part of a group of three or four students who can meet together for a face-to-face or virtual discussion. your teacher will identify a process for this task that fits your learning situation. for instance, if you’re working primarily on your own in this course with no on-site classmates (self-paced course), the process will be a little different than if you are learning with at least two other students in the same building and on the same schedule (group-paced course). discussions in those two cases are outlined below. group-paced course the teacher organizes groups or enables students to self-organize. in the discussion session, students take turns presenting their thesis and then discussing each thesis with the group. one student (not the presenter) acts as a discussion facilitator. the discussion will be a round-robin, rotating the presenter and facilitator roles for each thesis. plan to spend at least 15 minutes to present and discuss each thesis. refer to the discussion summary below. you will want to take brief notes during the discussion so that you can easily complete the discussion summary afterwards. self-paced course you will find at least two people to participate in this discussion with you. they could be classmates from other courses, friends, or siblings. they should be roughly your age, if possible, so you can have a thoughtful discussion with peers. you will set a time and place for the discussion and share the discussion guidelines for them to read prior to the discussion. you will be the only presenter for this discussion. you will also play the role of facilitator. you will present your thesis and then discuss it with your group. your invited group members are only required to be active, thinking participants. except for reading through the discussion guidelines ahead of time, they do not have to prepare for the discussion beforehand or do any follow-up afterwards. since you will be presenting and facilitating during the discussion, you may want to ask one of the participants to take brief notes for you on key points that come up during the discussion. these notes will you compose your discussion summary below. since there is only one thesis to discuss, plan to spend at least 30 minutes presenting and discussing your thesis. here is an outline of the whole process for this task: 1. you will formulate a thesis and outline a set of points that support your thesis. this may include some initial research. 2. depending upon your learning situation, you may need to organize the discussion group, place, and time. 3. read the discussion guidelines for how to conduct, facilitate, or participate constructively in a discussion with your peers. 4. the group meets to discuss the theses for your learning situation: the discussions should be fair, democratic, and orderly. each member of the group should have an opportunity to express their views; all members should actively contribute to the discussion. group members should show respect for others' views and make their points politely. the goal of the discussion is to gather opposing viewpoints and additional perspectives that would support or oppose your thesis. each participant should come to the discussion prepared to the presenter deepen the understanding of the topic. 5. after you've discussed your thesis, you will complete the discussion summary section below and submit it to your teacher. leading a discussion be sure that all the participants have read the discussion guidelines before beginning your discussion. with three or four peers, start the discussion by presenting your thoughts and findings from your research. present a question to the group to begin the discussion. allow your group to ask you follow-up questions. using an audio recording tool, record the questions your team asks as well as your response to these questions. finally, consider how the discussion changed or influenced your initial research and thoughts about the discussion questions. you will submit your responses to the questions asked in the discussion summary. use your notes from your research and your discussion to you complete the summary. discussion summary part a using an audio recording tool, record the names of the discussion participants below. if you organized the discussion, using an audio recording tool, record how you know each person and summarize how you chose and invited the participants and how you organized the time and place for the discussion.