To make Aunt Serena’s cranberry-pumpkin pancakes, you mix one cup of whole-grain pancake mix with a quarter cup of mashed pumpkin, a cup of water, a tablespoon of oil, and a handful of fresh or frozen cranberries. These are best cooked on a preheated griddle. Use a quarter cup of batter per pancake, and brown gently on both sides. B Aunt Serena makes the best pancakes in the world! They taste like Thanksgiving! She mixes just the right amount of cranberries and mashed pumpkin into her batter. My mouth waters in anticipation as I watch her flip those thick, autumn-colored pancakes into the air and catch them again in the pan. She serves them up with a big pitcher of maple syrup—warmed, of course.

What was the author’s reason for writing each passage?

How would you describe the tone of each passage?


Directions: Read the passages below. Then, answer the questions that follow.
A Tessa had never picked so many peaches in her life. Her hands hurt from pulling, her shoulders hurt from reaching, and her legs hurt from climbing up and down the ladder. In all, she lugged fourteen-bushel baskets of peaches up the dirt trail to her back porch. The orchard was all she had left these days, besides her old dog Roy. But Roy wasn’t much company anymore; he spent most days under the porch. Tessa stood at the kitchen sink and splashed cool water on her face. She gazed out at the orchard and remembered a time when it had echoed with the laughter of rough-and-tumble boys, falling over one another to get the first peach of the season.

B “Childhood obesity on the rise!” “A couch potato generation!” These are the headlines we see over and over again. We see proof of these headlines right in our own schools! Yet, what is anyone doing to help solve this critical problem? When our neighborhood committee proposed renovating the playground, the voters said no. When the same committee proposed building a town pool, the voters said no. If we do not create safe places for our children to play, who will? It is time to take action! It is time to say YES, we care! Next Tuesday, vote YES for the proposed bicycle trail. Let’s help our children help themselves!

What are the two authors’ reasons for writing?


What is the overall tone of passage A?


List pieces of evidence from passage A that suggest its tone.


What is the overall tone of passage B?


List pieces of evidence from passage B that suggest its tone.