Page 19 - SpringBoard_ELA_Assessment_Grade8_FlipBook

Name: ______________________ ID: A
Perhaps it ought not to have been so, but when I knew for a certainty that we had reached the goal, there was not a thing in the world I wanted but sleep. But after I had a few hours of it, there succeeded a condition of mental exaltation which made further rest impossible. For more than a score1 of years that point on the earth's surface had been the object of my every effort. To its attainment my whole being, physical, mental, and moral, had been dedicated. Many times my own life and the lives of those with me had been risked. My own material and forces and those of my friends had been devoted to this object. This journey was my eighth into the arctic wilderness. In that wilderness I had spent nearly twelve years out of the twenty-three between my thirtieth and my fifty-third year, and the intervening time spent in civilized communities during that period had been mainly occupied with preparations for returning to the wilderness. The determination to reach the Pole had become so much a part of my being that, strange as it may seem, I long ago ceased to think of myself save as an instrument for the attainment of that end. To the layman this may seem strange, but an inventor can understand it, or an artist, or anyone who has devoted himself for years upon years to the service of an idea.
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3. At the end of the passage, Peary compares himself favorably with inventors and artists. Explain his point of view. Include what you think he means by devotion "to the service of an idea" in your response.
4. Based on Robert Peary's own words in the passage, describe what it was like for him to accomplish the goal he had worked so long to achieve. Use at least one quotation from the passage in your response.
5. Read the following sentence from the passage.
If it were possible for a man to arrive at 90° north latitude without being utterly exhausted, body and
brain, he would doubtless enjoy a series of unique sensations and reflections.
Explain why Peary uses the subjunctive mood in this sentence. In your response, identify where in the sentence it is used.
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