"The
Confrontation"
Passage from "Jane Eyre"
"What more have you to say?" she asked,
rather in the tone in which a person might address an opponent of adult age
than such as is ordinarily used to a child.
That eye of hers, that voice stirred every antipathy
I had…
"I am glad you are no relation of mine: I will
never call you aunt again as long as I live. I will never come to see you when
I am grown up; and if any one asks me how I liked you, and how you treated me,
I will say the very thought of you makes me sick, and that you treated me with
miserable cruelty."
"How dare you affirm that, Jane Eyre?"
"How dare I, Mrs. Reed? How dare I? Because it is the TRUTH. You think I have no feelings, and that I can do without one bit of love or
kindness; but I cannot live so: and you have no pity… People think you a good
woman, but you are bad, hard-hearted. YOU are deceitful!"
Ere I had finished this reply, my soul began to
expand, to exult, with the strangest sense of freedom, of triumph, I ever felt,
and that I had struggled out into unhoped-for liberty.
Reading
Comprehension Questions
1) The scene in the above passage can best be described as
which of the following?
a.
a long awaited reunion
b.
a heated argument
c.
a heartwarming greeting
d.
a tough negotiation
2) The characters in the above passage are which of the
following?
a.
two adults
b.
two children
c.
one adult and one child
d.
several adults and several children
3) In the second paragraph, the narrator states: “that
voice stirred every antipathy I had…”
In this phrase, what is the best meaning for the word “antipathy”?
a.
admiration
b.
hatred
c.
sympathy
d.
devotion
4) In the above passage, what is the tone of the girl’s
dialogue?
a.
cautious
b.
attacking
c.
concerned
d.
indifferent
5) Which of the following best explains how the girl feels at
the end of the above passage, after she is done speaking?
a.
guilty
b.
worried
c.
liberated
d.
defeated
6) In the above passage, which of the following shows the
author’s use of a simile?
a.
“the very thought of you makes me sick”
b.
“People think you a good woman, but you are bad,
hard-hearted”
c.
“my soul began to expand, to exult, with the strangest
sense of freedom”
d.
“It seemed as
if an invisible bond had burst”
Answer Key
1)
The scene in
the above passage can best be described as which of the following?
a.
a long awaited reunion
b.
a heated argument
c.
a heartwarming greeting
d.
a tough negotiation
2)
The characters
in the above passage are which of the following?
a.
two adults
b.
two children
c.
one adult and one
child
d.
several adults and several children
3)
In the second
paragraph, the narrator states: “that voice stirred every antipathy
I had…”
In this phrase, what is the best meaning for the word “antipathy”?
a.
admiration
b.
hatred
c.
sympathy
d.
devotion
4)
In the above
passage, what is the tone of the girl’s dialogue?
a.
cautious
b.
attacking
c.
concerned
d.
indifferent
5)
Which of the following
best explains how the girl feels at the end of the above passage, after she is
done speaking?
a.
guilty
b.
worried
c.
liberated
d.
defeated
6)
In the above
passage, which of the following shows the author’s use of a simile?
a.
“the very thought of you makes me sick”
b.
“People think you a good woman, but you
are bad, hard-hearted”
c.
“my soul began to expand, to exult,
with the strangest sense of freedom”
d.
“It seemed as if an invisible bond had burst”