One author who has done a really good job of writing genre fiction that a lot of people consider to be “literature” is Stephen King. He writes mostly scary stories and some science fiction, and most authors who write those kinds of things aren’t thought of very highly in the literary world, but he’s won a lot of awards and gotten a lot of good review from critics. He’s also been writing for a really long time! His first novel, Carrie, was published in 1974, and his latest one, Under the Dome, was published just last  year in 2009. That’s 35 years of writing!

So, maybe Stephen King writes “literature.” Maybe not. Either way, our practice question today is about his short story, “Willa.”

The moon was high when he and Willa walked back to the road, holding hands. David didn’t see how that could be–they had stayed for only the first two songs of the next set–but there it was, floating all the way up there in the spangled black. That was troubling, but something else troubled him even more.
“Willa,” he said, “what year is it?”
She thought it over. The wind rippled her dress as it would the dress of any live woman. “I don’t exactly remember,” she said at last. “Isn’t that odd?”
“Considering I can’t remember the last time I ate a meal or drank a glass of water? Not too odd. If you had to guess, what would you say? Quick, without thinking.”
“Nineteen… eight-eight?”
He nodded. He would have said 1987 himself. “There was a girl in the there wearing a T-shirt that said Crowheart Springs High School, Class of ‘03. And if she was old enough to be in a roadhouse–”
“Then ‘03 must have been at least three years ago.”
“That’s what I was thinking.” He stopped. “It can’t be 2006, Willa, can it? I mean, the twenty-first century?”

According to the above passage, when was this story most likely written?

1. 1987
2. 1988
3. 2003
4. 2006
5. There’s no way to know.

Ok, so since Stephen King’s been writing from 1974 to the present day, we can’t really cross anything out. And besides, the question specifically asks, “according to the passage above.” So I can’t use outside information to answer this question. Like maybe I already knew when it was written before I read this question. That doesn’t count. I gotta read the text.

In the text, it mentions all the dates: 1987, 1988, 2003, and 2006. Also, the things they talk about in the text could have been written in any time period. Like, roadhouses and t-shirts existed in 1987 and also in 2006, right? It’s likely that it was written in 2006 because that’s when the story seems to take place. At least, that’s what I’d imagine from when he says, “It can’t be 2006, Willa, can it?” But even so, it might not be 2006 even in the story! Obviously, the two main characters are really confused. The only thing they’re going off of to guess that it’s 2006 is that the girl with a ‘03 t-shirt is at a roadhouse. But she could have graduated early or late. Or she could be in the Roadhouse and underage. Or she could look really young for her age, and she actually graduated 10 years ago! There’s really no way to even know what date it is in the book, and even if we knew that, we couldn’t be sure that the date in the book is the same date that the book was written.

What happens in the text of a story doesn’t really have anything to do with the circumstances or time period of the writer. And a book can even be written over a long time. Willa was actually published in 2006, but Stephen King coulda written it at any time. Maybe he even started it in 1974! There’s just no way to know. I’d go with #5.

Good luck studying for your GED, and keep reading!

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit the GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

From The Pearl, by John Steinbeck.

Kino awakened in the near dark. The stars still shone and the day had drawn only a pale wash of light in the lower sky to the east. The roosters had been crowing for some time, and the early pigs were already beginning their ceaseless turning of twigs and bits of wood to see whether anything to eat had been overlooked.

Where does Kino live?

A)  In a city

B)  On a farm

C)  In a small town

D)  On a boat

E)  In the forest

The text doesn’t really say where he lives, but it gives some clues. So you have to use the clues to infer where he lives. He wakes up, and he hears roosters crowing and pigs looking around for food. So, where would there be roosters and pigs? If you look at it that way, the answer’s easy… B, on a farm. See, sometimes the questions are simple, if you look at them pretty straightforward.

Good GED studying!

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

The GED practice question is another one from the Study Guide Zone, and you can go there to read the whole passage and all the practice test questions. Remember, the real GED test mostly won’t have such long readings. To find answers in a long reading on the GED test, you can skim and scan to find the answer you need.

Here’s the part of the reading for this question:

At the time that the Declaration of Independence was issued, many colonists were opposed to complete separation from England. Many of them still considered themselves Englishmen, and were afraid to be branded as traitors. They also realized that they were in uncharted waters: no revolt had ever been successful in winning independence. Finally, many colonists feared that even if they were successful in winning independence, the result would be chaos in America. The minds of many of these reluctant colonists were changed, however, by the Battle of Bunker Hill, which was won by the British. After this battle, King George II declared that the colonists were in a state of rebellion. Furthermore, the British labeled the members of the Second Continental Congress as traitors, and ignored the Olive Branch petition. Confused colonists were further inflamed by the British use of Hessian mercenary soldiers. The writings of Thomas Paine also converted many colonists to the revolutionary cause.

Now, the GED practice question:

5. Thomas Paine was most likely:
A: a French poet
B: an American publisher
C: an American propagandist
D: the author of the Declaration of Independence

Now, this one doesn’t give you a lot of information. So you’re gonna need an important GED skill: inference. Inference is when you read something, and decide what information it doesn’t say upfront but that you can tell is true based on what it does say. The reading only gives one sentence about Thomas Paine:

The writings of Thomas Paine also converted many colonists to the revolutionary cause.

So, this is the only sentence that you need to worry about for this question. That’s good, right, cuz you can focus on just one thing. So, what’s it saying? “The writings of Thomas Paine…” is the beginning. That tells you he’s a writer. But it’s not that easy, because A, C, and D are all writers. B, a publisher, has to do with writing, but it’s not really a writer. A publisher prints books and things, he doesn’t write them. So I’m going to cross off B for now.

Then, it says what he wrote “converted many colonists to the revolutionary cause.” That means, he convinced people to join the revolution. So, what you need to figure out is which kind of writer would convince people to join the revolution.

Answer A is a French poet. A French poet might convince people to join the American revolution, but there’s no real reason to believe that he would. The GED questions always have a reason why they’d be right…so that’s probably not the answer. The GED doesn’t expect that you know something about Thomas Paine. It wants to know how well you think about what you read. So if there’s no real reason in the question or reading to choose an answer, it’s probably wrong.

Answer C is an American propagandist. What’s a propagandist? You can see the word “propaganda” in it, so if you know what propaganda is, you’ll know that a propagandist is someone who makes propaganda. Well, “propaganda” is the same in Spanish as English, so that helps me out. Propaganda is writing that tries to convince you of something…so if Thomas Paine was a writer who convinced people to join the revolution, he was probably an American propagandist. But, if you didn’t know what propaganda means, you could see if you can eliminate the other answer as wrong…

Answer D is the author of the Declaration of Independence. Well, there’s no real reason to think Thomas Paine wrote the Declaration of Independence. If that’s what convinced people, wouldn’t they say the Declaration of Independence convinced people? I mean, the Declaration of Independence is pretty important, and writers usually put down the most important stuff. Even if I didn’t know what “propaganda” meant, I’d probably choose answer C.

And C is the correct answer! So, now you know how to make an inference…it’s pretty simple. It’s the most obvious conclusion you can make from the information in the writing. And believe me, it’s important for the GED!