A DEAD WOMAN’S SECRET CommonLit Answers 2024 [Free Access]

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A DEAD WOMAN’S SECRET CommonLit Answers – FREE Access

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Discussion Questions & Answers

Following are our answers based on the questions provided:

Q.1. In the context of this passage, how do people face death? How do we remember those who have died? Cite evidence from this text, your own experience, and other literature, art, or history in your answer.
Ans: In the context of this passage, people face death with a mix of grief, nostalgia, and reverence. The brother and sister mourn their mother’s death deeply, expressing their sorrow through tears and reminiscing about their past with her. They remember their mother by reading her old letters, which bring back memories of her life and personality. This is similar to how people in real life often remember their loved ones through their belongings, stories, and shared experiences.
In literature, art, and history, death is often faced with a mix of sorrow, acceptance, and celebration of the deceased’s life. For example, in the play “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare, the titular character mourns his father’s death deeply and seeks to avenge it.

Q.2. In the context of this passage, how is identity created? Can a person’s identity be changed? What defines us? Cite evidence from this text, your own experience, and other literature, art, or history in your answer.
Ans: In the context of this passage, identity is created through one’s actions, beliefs, and relationships with others. The mother’s identity is defined by her virtuous life, her role as a mother, and her influence on her children. The brother and sister’s identities are also shaped by their mother’s teachings and their roles in society.
The text suggests that a person’s identity can be changed, as seen in the sister’s decision to become a nun due to her disgust with men. What defines us is a combination of our personal experiences, values, and relationships. In literature, art, and history, identity is often explored as a complex interplay of personal choices, societal expectations, and inherent traits.
For example, in the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, Scout’s identity is shaped by her experiences growing up in a racially prejudiced society and her father’s teachings of empathy and justice.

 

Guiding Questions & Answers

Following are our answers based on the questions provided:

Q.1. How does the author develop the priest’s point of view?
Ans: The priest views death as a job, which is revealed by contrasting his actions with the sibling’s genuine grief.

Q.2. Which of the following quotes best supports the answer to part A?
Ans: “He had put on a look of sadness, that simulated sadness of the priest to whom death is a means of livelihood.”(Paragraph 3)

Q.3. How do the details from paragraph 2 about characters in the story develop the plot?
Ans: The details from paragraph 2 about characters in the story develop the plot because that paragraph describes how the siblings nurturing or upbringing caused them to be who they are which is serious and solid people.
The author describes the brother in paragraph 2 as a civil person with “inflexible principles”(02) who exerts law and principles as a weapon that strikes “down without pity”(02) of the unjust.
Continuing, the paragraph states that the sister is a nun which shows how she was influenced by the were instilled in the “austere family”(02). This all can be inferred that the mother taught them the right thing which is shown through their morals and values as described.
This all concludes or develops the siblings’ and mother’s characters and also foreshadows the surprising discovery that the children will make later.

Q.4. Part A: What does the word desolate mean as it is used in paragraph 15?
Ans: Depressed and lonely

Q.5. Part B: Which of the following supports the answer to Part A?
Ans: “They would henceforth be solitary, isolated” (paragraph 16)

Q.6. PART A: How do the siblings’ reactions to their mother’s letters contribute to the theme of the text?
Ans: The siblings are shocked, contributing to the theme that people are not always as they seem.

Q.7. Part B: Which of the following supports the answer to Part A?
Ans: “Without even a parting glance at the mother whom he had separated from them and condemned, he said slowly: “Now, my sister, let us leave the room.” (paragraphs 32-33)

Q.8. How does the narrator’s description of the mother create surprise in the story?
Ans: This is how the narrator’s description of the mother creates surprise in the story.
A woman who had killed her mother came to see me last week. I was brusque with her, and she cried.
The narrator’s description of the mother is detached. The reader does not know what is happening in the scene which makes it seem like this woman killed her mother. When we find out that she did kill her mother, it creates a sense of shock or surprise in the story. It is also a surprise because we do not know that the narrator is involved in this woman’s punishment. Later on, we find out that the narrator was sort of involved in her punishment, but he was not forced to do so.
Therefore this event creates a surprise because of how the narrator describes it and ends up being involved with the punishment without his wanting to.

 

You can find answer keys for other grade 10 topics below:

=> SAFETY Of NUMBERS CommonLit

=> THE ROARING TWENTIES CommonLit

=> ERASER TATTOO CommonLit

=> THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS CommonLit

 

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Conclusion

In CommonLit, “A DEAD WOMAN’S SECRET” is one of the students’ favorite articles authored by Guy de Maupassant for grade 10 students.

In the following short story, a brother & sister mourn the passing of their beloved mother.

 

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