Halloween Math & Reading — Answer Key
Part A: Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer for each question.
1. Read: "The jack-o-lanterns grinned from every porch, their flickering eyes watching the parade of tiny ghosts and superheroes." What literary device is used?
A) Simile
B) Personification
C) Alliteration
D) Hyperbole
Giving jack-o-lanterns the ability to grin and watch (human actions) is personification.
2. An author writes a story where a child overcomes fear of a haunted house by learning it was just old plumbing making noises. What is the theme?
A) Haunted houses are always fake
B) Things are not always as scary as they seem
C) Plumbing should be repaired quickly
D) Children should avoid old houses
The theme is the universal message: courage and investigation reveal that fears are often worse than reality.
3. Read: "Cobwebs draped like silver curtains across the ancient doorway." What two things are being compared in this simile?
A) Cobwebs and silver
B) Doorway and curtains
C) Cobwebs and curtains
D) Silver and ancient
The simile uses 'like' to compare cobwebs to silver curtains.
4. A newspaper article explains the history of trick-or-treating in America. What is the author's primary purpose?
A) To entertain with a spooky story
B) To persuade readers to go trick-or-treating
C) To inform readers about a Halloween tradition
D) To describe a personal Halloween memory
A factual history article has the purpose to inform. The author is sharing historical facts, not telling a story or persuading.
Part B: Fill in the Blank
Write the correct answer on each line.
1. When an author writes to teach the reader facts, the purpose is to inform.
The three author's purposes are: inform (teach facts), persuade (change opinion), entertain (tell a story).
2. The lesson or message the author wants you to take away from a story is the theme.
Theme is the central message — not a plot summary, but a universal idea like 'courage conquers fear.'
3. Words like "creepy," "dark," and "howling" help create a spooky mood.
Mood is the emotional atmosphere of a text, created through word choice, setting, and details.
4. Comparing two unlike things WITHOUT using "like" or "as" is a metaphor.
A metaphor says one thing IS another. 'The night was a dark cloak' is a metaphor.
5. The person telling the story is called the narrator.
The narrator is the voice that tells the story. In first person, the narrator uses 'I.' Third person uses 'he/she/they.'