Inspiration Behind Merlin's Voice: The Owl Outside the Window
(MC) Read the following excerpt from the article "Vision, Voice and the Power of Creation: An Author Speaks Out," by T. A. Barron and answer the question that follows:
Right now, I am spending a lot of time listening to the voice of a particularly compelling character: the young Merlin. In the end, I finally heard the voice of Merlin thanks to a surprising source: the haunting, mysterious hooting of a great horned owl outside the window of my Colorado home. As I listened to that owl's resonant [echoing] call in the pre-dawn hours one morning, something about it gave me a whole new cadence [rhythm], a whole new sound. And then, a whole new voice.
In this paragraph, what is the author's explicit message about his inspiration for Merlin's voice? (10 points)
A. He had difficulty finding Merlin's voice.
B. His inspiration was the owl outside his window.
C. His old ideas were not working for Merlin's voice.
D. He spent a lot of time thinking about Merlin's voice.
What is the author's explicit message about his inspiration for Merlin's voice? Answer: B Explanation: If you look at the excerpt you've been given, he spends the majority of it discussing how he "heard the voice of Merlin from a surprising source." Continuing to read, you see that he heard this through the hooting of the owl outside his window. Using this when we read the question, we can use process of elimination to determine what the best answer is. Each of these answers rings true, but if we use our textual evidence--his discussion of the owl-- we see that the second answer--His inspiration was the owl outside his window--is the best answer for this question. While the other three answers do apply, they are not the best answer since we cannot know how hard he struggled or how long he struggled.