Develop Claims With Evidence: Short Fiction Practice Test

A story depicts a teacher, Mr. Kline, returning graded essays. He tells the class, “I don’t give grades; you earn them,” but the narrator observes “his red pen bled through the paper, leaving bruises on the other side.” Which option best supports the claim that the narration subtly criticizes Mr. Kline’s harshness?

In a scene between a landlord and tenant, the landlord says, “I’m only raising it a little,” while the narrator notes “his pen hovered above the lease like a needle above skin.” The tenant responds by “folding the notice into quarters, then quarters again, until it became too small to read.” Which choice best uses evidence to support the claim that the tenant feels powerless?