Reading for meaning: Ten Minutes’ Musing by Alice Dunbar Nelson

The very best short stories can capture the reader’s imagination, as well as exploring a big idea: literature should make you think! This lesson, we are going to be reading a short story called Ten Minutes’ Musing by Alice Dunbar Nelson, who was among the African American writers whose artistic talents sparked the Harlem Renaissance. Today, we will develop our skills with comprehension and reading for meaning.

This quiz includes images that don't have any alt text - please contact your teacher who should be able to help you with an audio description.

Quiz:

Intro quiz - Recap from previous lesson

Before we start this lesson, let’s see what you can remember from this topic. Here’s a quick quiz!

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Question 5

Q1.True or false?

A short story is a novel that is incomplete.

true false

Short stories are always simple.

true false

Short stories have a fully developed theme but are shorter and less elaborate than a novel.

true false

1/5

Q2.What was the name of the literary movement which Virginia Woolf belonged to?

structuralism modernism post-modernism romanticism

2/5

Q3.Which is the correct definition of the word "subvert"?

hide underneath something undermine an established system return to something

3/5

Q4.True or false?

Virginia Woolf wanted her short story to be a comedy.

true false

The uncanny is an uncomfortable psychological experience where a familiar thing is encountered in an unsettling or eerie context.

true false

4/5

Q5.How does Virginia Woolf subvert some of the expectations of a ghost story?

The setting is eerie and mysterious. There are no ghosts in the story. The ghosts do not seem threatening because they are focused on their love.

5/5

This quiz includes images that don't have any alt text - please contact your teacher who should be able to help you with an audio description.

Quiz:

Intro quiz - Recap from previous lesson

Before we start this lesson, let’s see what you can remember from this topic. Here’s a quick quiz!

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Question 5

Q1.True or false?

A short story is a novel that is incomplete.

true false

Short stories are always simple.

true false

Short stories have a fully developed theme but are shorter and less elaborate than a novel.

true false

1/5

Q2.What was the name of the literary movement which Virginia Woolf belonged to?

structuralism modernism post-modernism romanticism

2/5

Q3.Which is the correct definition of the word "subvert"?

hide underneath something undermine an established system return to something

3/5

Q4.True or false?

Virginia Woolf wanted her short story to be a comedy.

true false

The uncanny is an uncomfortable psychological experience where a familiar thing is encountered in an unsettling or eerie context.

true false

4/5

Q5.How does Virginia Woolf subvert some of the expectations of a ghost story?

The setting is eerie and mysterious. There are no ghosts in the story. The ghosts do not seem threatening because they are focused on their love.

5/5

Video

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This quiz includes images that don't have any alt text - please contact your teacher who should be able to help you with an audio description.

Quiz:

Reading for meaning: Quiz

Complete the questions below to check your understanding.

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Question 5

Question 6

Q1.In the title, Ten Minutes' Musing, what does the word "musing" mean?

laughing watching a fight thinking and reflecting

1/5

Q2.What kind of narrator is used in the story?

a second-person narrator a first-person narrator a third-person narrator

2/5

Q3.What is the occupation of the narrator in the story?

doctor teacher writer

3/5

Q4.Alice Dunbar Nelson was a writer and part of a cultural and artistic movement called...

The African American Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance The Renaissance The Harlem Writers

4/5

Q5.Which of the following themes do you think the short story, Ten Minutes' Musing explores?

power

true false

greed

true false

love

true false

human nature

true false

revenge

true false

family

true false

5/5

This quiz includes images that don't have any alt text - please contact your teacher who should be able to help you with an audio description.

Quiz:

Reading for meaning: Quiz

Complete the questions below to check your understanding.

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Question 5

Question 6

Q1.In the title, Ten Minutes' Musing, what does the word "musing" mean?

laughing watching a fight thinking and reflecting

1/5

Q2.What kind of narrator is used in the story?

a second-person narrator a first-person narrator a third-person narrator

2/5

Q3.What is the occupation of the narrator in the story?

doctor teacher writer

3/5

Q4.Alice Dunbar Nelson was a writer and part of a cultural and artistic movement called...

The African American Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance The Renaissance The Harlem Writers

4/5

Q5.Which of the following themes do you think the short story, Ten Minutes' Musing explores?

power

true false

greed

true false

love

true false

human nature

true false

revenge

true false

family

true false

5/5

Lesson summary: Reading for meaning: Ten Minutes’ Musing by Alice Dunbar Nelson

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The next lesson in The Short Story is "Analysing structure: Ten Minutes’ musing by Alice Dunbar Nelson"

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