Download Phineas Gage Chapter 1 UNRAVEL

Questions for Phineas Gage, Chapter One
Directions: Use the UNRAVEL process to complete each question.
1. Phineas Gage was described as having an “iron will” and an “iron frame” (Fleischman 1). Which of the following
choices best matches the type of figurative language featured here?
A. metaphor
B. hyperbole
C. personification
D. euphemism
2. Which of the choices best describes the reason for Fleischman’s diction, “iron will/frame”?
A. He wanted to show that, like iron, Phineas was strong.
B. Because Phineas was a blacksmith, he wanted to compare Phineas’s will to metal.
C. The tamping iron flattened the wrinkles of Phineas’s brain—much like an iron does to clothes.
D. Phineas was injured by a tamping iron, so the word choice helps foreshadow the upcoming irony.
3. Which choice best describes the following sentence: “It’s been 150 years, yet we are still learning more about
him” (2).
A. It is a compound sentence, which reveals extra information about Phineas.
B. It is a complex sentence, which demonstrates the complexity of Phineas and the human brain.
C. It is a compound sentence, which shows a contrast between elapsed time and potential contributions to
science.
D. It is a compound-complex sentence, which demonstrates how the numerous years have affected the
contributions to medical science.
4. On page four, which choice best explains why “Phineas” and “blacksmith” both end in an apostrophe and an
“s”?
A. This was a partial mistake by Fleischman. Phineas’s should be Phineas’. However, blacksmith’s is correct.
B. The apostrophe and an “s” are there to make the words plural.
C. The apostrophe and an “s” are added because this is the correct method for attributing ownership to words
that are not plural.
D. Fleischman gets to do whatever he wishes because it’s his book.
5. Which choice best describes a tamping iron?
A. Its appearance and purpose are very similar to a crow bar.
B. It resembles a spear whose fat end packs down loose gun powder and whose narrow end creates holes for
the fuse.
C. It’s basically a long, metal spear that helps ignite gunpowder by the sparks it makes whenever it strikes a
hard surface.
D. It is used to defend against wolves that might attack the railroad workers.
6.
Which choice best explains the figurative language on page four: “Black powder is ticklish stuff.”
A. This idiom emphasizes how the powder can move around erratically, just as a person does when being
tickled.
B. This personification gives the powder the human characteristic of being ticklish.
C. This metaphor compares the powder to the childish game of tickle.
D. This hyperbole exaggerates the ticklish nature of the powder and shows just how touchy and delicate this
work can be.
7. What are the two main reasons that the tamping iron shoots through Phineas’s head?
A. Phineas was distracted and holding the iron too loosely.
B. Phineas was distracted and standing over the blast hole.
C. Phineas was sitting on a rock ledge over the hole, and his assistant did not pour the sand into the hole.
D. Phineas was distracted, and no sand was poured into the hole.
8. Why is Phineas’s brain injury ironic and an example of foreshadowing?
A. He has an open-brain injury, which allows his brain to swell enough not to kill him, but the risk of infection
provides hints about future problems he might have.
B. His concussion is unexpected because he is the foreman, who should know how to stay safe.
C. His closed-brain injury keeps him alive because no bacteria will enter the brain, but this hints that his brain
might swell hard enough against his skull to kill him.
D. Nobody would ever expect that a thirteen-pound rod would shoot all the way through his head.
9. Which choice best describes how the word parts in “foreman” provide clues for the word’s meaning?
A. “Man” means hands, which shows that Phineas works with his hands.
B. “Man” shows that Phineas is the main man; in other words, he is the boss man.
C. “Fore-“ is a prefix that means before, which shows that Phineas comes before the other men in terms of
rank.
D. “Fore-“ is a prefix that means before, which illustrates that Phineas’s needs come before the other men’s
needs, thus foreman.
10. Which choice best illustrates how Dr. Harlow treated Phineas well.
A. He sent the quack, Dr. Williams, away and made Phineas rest.
B. He cleaned, dressed, and covered the wound, and sedated Phineas but allowed the mouth wound to drain.
C. He pulled the skull bones back together, which helped keep out bacteria and infection.
D. He cleaned, dressed, and covered the head and mouth wounds.
11. Which choice best completes the following analogy: An open door : a thief :: a wound : _____________.
A. infection
B. biological battle
C. alarm system
D. bacteria
12. “He never goes anywhere without it [the tamping iron] these days” (21) is which type of irony?
A. It is dramatic irony because readers know the tamping iron is not friendly, but Phineas thinks it is his best
friend.
B. It is situational irony because nobody would expect a man to carry around the object that almost killed him.
C. It is verbal irony because Phineas does not really carry it everywhere he goes.
D. This is just sad and absurd—not ironic.
13. Big question for the book. Take notes in your brainstorming notebook regarding evidence to help answer this
question.
How do frontal-lobe injuries affect a person’s humanity?