Reading Quiz!

Test your reading skills with this unofficial AP English Literature quiz written by me.

The questions that follow are from the following fan-fiction passage written by me:

It was a clear moonless night in Kadesh, Egypt. I was on an errand for Ramses II, who was about to get his [butt] wiped across the Nile by the Hittite forces. So of course I, The Eternal Nightmare, decided to tip the scales a little.

I immediately located the one of the enemy Hittite encampments on the valley-side. The lights of their scattered campfires were tiny suns in the dead of the night. I pondered why ever since ancient times, humans have always been afraid of the dark. I could see just fine in the darkness, and the obnoxious light from the fires seemed downright unnatural to me. Then again, my eyes have seen things past and future, while humans can only dream of things to come.

The guards that were currently on duty were staring around lugubriously, jealous of their comrades respite in slumber. Ironically, the enemy’s fires probably made it much harder for them to see me, a swirling darkness, circling around their camp. As for the real reason why I had decided to give Ramses II a hand before the formidable Hittite army fell upon his precious city like a flood, well… It was compensation for all the souls that I had feasted on in his city. I had even eaten dreams from his favorite eunuch, a tall and well built specimen. After all, I didn't want him to send his high priests after me; I had a great disgust for all things holy, and the Egyptian high priests were quite adept in their art, being empowered by whatever gods they worshiped. Not that I couldn't take care of them if the time came.

The wind blowing around the camp began to diminish, until all the campfires were perfectly still. In the rest of the valley, it still howling and blowing. The air was unnaturally still as the Hittites continued to sleep away. I counted how many guards they put on post - one… two… All right, 6 plus one necromancer. Not a problem for me, I’d have to go for the necromancer first, and hopefully the other 6 won’t struggle too much before I finish them off.

http://lol.gamepedia.com/Nocturne_-_The_Eternal_Nightmare

The cloud of darkness at the edge of the camp took shape, and I materialized as a shadowy figure with two nasty looking blades attached to my arms. The necromancer twisted his head like a cat's and stared in my direction with some uncertainty. [Darn], those magicians always have surprisingly sharp senses.

“Hey Sinop, do you feel that?”

“Huh?”

“Wasn't there a headwind blowing through here just a second ago? Kept taking off my hat. But the air seems unnaturally still now.”

“Who knows man, it’s [freakin'] Egypt. I hate this place, don’t even know why the King wants us to capture it. All I've seen of it’s ‘glorious wealth’ is sand, buildings made of sand, and more sand.”

I didn't want to hear their housewife-like chatter anymore. Suddenly the light of the fires and the stars were all snuffed out like candles; the air was as black as The Void. The necromancer cursed and began chanting some strange words. I shot from the edge of the camp with the speed of an arrow, and impaled the poor bloke through his left eye and out the back of his head. The unnamed abominations that were being summoned crumbled into nothingness like walls of old Mesopotamia.

The other 6 soldiers, all effectively blinded, were slow to act. I casually waved my hand and implanted dark dreams in each one of their minds. It was so much easier to deal with this common rabble. They all tried to raise the alarm - to no avail. Fear spread through their minds like a poisonous fog, incapacitating their brains’ ability to send signals to the rest of their bodies. As their eyes glazed over and they groggily moved about like some weird species of snails, I feasted on their fear and replenished my energy.

http://lol.gamepedia.com/Nocturne_-_The_Eternal_Nightmare

The six hollow shells soundlessly dropped to the ground. I flexed my arms and laughed as my nightmares spread through the camp like wildfire.

Suddenly though, I felt like invisible constraints seized my entire body. Not good. I tried to move, but was immobilized. Was it a group of elite Hittite magicians? Suddenly, a voice came from everywhere and nowhere: “Congratulations, you have been selected as one of the future champions for the League of Legends. We'll just have to put you in stasis for a while as we prepare the fields of justice that you will be fighting on.”

I had no idea what the words meant, so I struggled more and felt the spell that was binding me loosen. Whoever attacked me was going to regret it badly; my shroud of darkness has always made me temporarily immune to all magicians' magic, even the most powerful. I activated it and felt the bonds holding me nearly break.

A heard the voice again, it was laughing. The bonds became infinitely tighter. I struggled vainly and vaguely wondered who could achieve such a feat of binding me. Darkness descended again, this time upon myself.

Reading Questions (answers in comments):

1) Which of the following is NOT used before the first picture?

a. Simile

b. Asyndeton

c. Metaphor

d. Anastrophe

e. Personification

2) In the first sentence of the third paragraph, "lugubriously" can be most accurately substituted with:

a. Vainly

b. Brightly

c. Gloomily

d. Condescendingly

e. Licentiously

3) The narrator's tone in the third paragraph can most closely be describes as:

a. Apathetic.

b. Sanguineous.

c. Cynical.

d. Contemplative.

e. Irritated.

4) The narrator would probably agree with which of the following statements?
a. Humans are adaptable to many situations
b. It is a phenomena how any humans have survived for so long.
c. The defenses of the Hittite camp were unobjectionable.
d. Most humans rely so much on what they can see, they don't notice what they can't.
e. The necromancer was incompetent for being unable to stop the narrator.

5) The narrator most likely believes after the end of this passage that the one who imprisoned him was:
a. A Hittite magician.
b. An Egyptian magician.
c. A being like himself.
d. Some new sort of powerful human.
e. Some sort of otherworldly being.





How did you do?
5 / 5 : Perfect! You're either a dirty cheater or a good reader!
4 / 5 : Decent. Still could use improvement.
3 / 5 : Not bad, but could use improvement.
2 / 5 : Needs Improvement. Study more!
1 / 5 : Terrible. Spend all your time this month reading AP English level text.
0 / 5 : You can't read English.