Nov. 2, 2012

Read the question and answers Which text feature would be most effective if added to the passage? A. a photograph of a Joshua tree B. a map highlighting the location of each park C. a chart listing each park and its unique features D. a document explaining the California Desert Protection Act

Read the question and answers Another title for the article could be A. Deserts: Barren but Alive B. Legislation: Good or Bad C. Park Preservation is Popular D. National Treasures are Unique

Read This 1It has been called a barren wasteland–the part of America no one wanted. Early settlers traveled over it on their way to land suited for agriculture. After all the good land was chosen, this is what was left: desert. Why then, did so many people cheer when Congress passed the California Desert Protection Act of 1994? The main reason was that the California Desert created or enlarged three major national parks: Joshua Tree National Park, Death Valley National Park, and the Mojave National Preserve. 2Joshua Tree National Park is named for its vast forest of cactus-like trees. This forest is the largest grove of its kind in the world. Joshua trees have long, lanky “arms” stretching up toward the sky. It is almost as if their arms are stretching out to catch the rare rains that fall in the desert. The desert sun beats down on them, but their spiky green points wait motionlessly for the rain that will eventually come. It won’t be much rain, but Joshua trees don’t require much, only about ten inches a year. As strange as it seems, Joshua trees gain some of their water through the snow that falls occasionally on the desert. It is hard to imagine seeing a cactus tree covered with snow! 3Death Valley National Park is also a place of extremes. It is a valley that is bounded on all sides by peaks. On one side Dante’s View rises 5,475 feet, and on the other side Telescope Peak rises to an incredible 11,049 feet. Such heights are all the more impressive given that Death Valley is 282 feet below sea level, making it the lowest spot in the Western Hemisphere. The park has dust storms that can rise 700 feet high, reducing visibility to near zero. Dry lakebeds dot the landscape, some of them covered with thick layers of salt. 4The Mojave National Preserve* covers 1.5 million acres of desert. Like the other two parks included in the California Desert Protection Act of 1994, this place might seem a barren wasteland. Yet, like them, this land is home to an amazing variety of plants and animals. More than 760 different species of creatures call the desert home. If you listen carefully, you might hear the rhythmic scraping as the desert tortoise persistently makes its way across the gravelly surface of the desert. You might hear the hum of the Yucca Moth feeding on the waxy white blooms of the yucca cactus. You might hear the piercing cry of a Harris’s Hawk or the cooing of a roadrunner as it darts across the path. Although the wildlife may be challenging to see, this “barren” desert is visibly alive. The hedgehog cactus is covered with delicate pink flowers. White desert lilies rise above the terra cotta surface and blue lupines dot the land with bright color. 5It is no wonder, then, that people all around the United States have cheered the passage of the California Desert Protection Act. It has assured the preservation of three of our greatest national treasures. *preserve: an area maintained for the protection of wildlife or natural resources

Techniques What is assonance? Ex: I like Ike. Ex: It beats... as it sweeps... as it cleans!" (advertising slogan for Hoover vacuum cleaners, 1950s) What is allusion? What is rhyming?

Test Clear your desk of everything but a pen/pencil and a sheet of paper. When you finish, put your answer sheet (notebook paper) in the blue box (first-period slot). Put your test on top of the blue box.

After the test Pick up a copy of “The Raven” on top of the blue box. Read it and write down any words you don’t understand. After writing down what words you don’t understand, write down what you think the poem is about. Also tell me what literary techniques Poe uses (rhyme, allusion, assonance, etc.) When everyone is done, we’ll watch a Brainpop about Edgar Allan Poe.