What Effect Does the Author Achieve by Including the Detail about Minijogger and Rex Being Friends

Name Textual Evidence Reality "Have you ever seen something so beautiful that it seems unreal?" Anna asked Ram as she looked outside the window. "What do you mean?" Ram responded, shutting his book and looking at his new friend. "You know—something as if from a dream?" Anna moved from the window and sat close to Ram to look into his eyes as she spoke. "Like you see a beautiful flower in a garden, but it is too far from you." She extended her hands as if she was trying to reach something in her dream. "When you try to pick it up, it seems farther and farther from your grasp. And, when you are just close to reaching it, you wake up?" She explained with a sad face and let her hands fall on her knees. Ram glanced at the view from his window to understand what Anna meant. He saw a happy family at a dinner table. Then, he remembered Anna came from a foster home. He knew his friend was talking about happiness that was in front of Anna—the kind that was out of her reach. 1. How does the author support the idea that the dream reflects Anna's reality? by describing a happy family outside of her reach 2. The author helps the reader picture how Anna feels by having her pretend to reach for a beautiful flower. 3. How do the descriptive details support the story? They bring out the emotional aspect of the story. Minijogger's Musical Workout by Tirzah Tyler The mouse jogged quickly on the keys. This was his nightly exercise. He flexed his calves and bent his knees, down-up, down-up, fall-rise, fall-rise. His muscles grew with each race heat, so weighty on the piano that some music played beneath his feet with each pound-pound, each pitter-pat. "Hey, Minijogger, that sounds nice," said Rex the cat about the tune. "Thank you, my friend. I need advice— should I record an album soon?" Just then, the creatures heard a shriek that pierced the quiet nighttime lulls. The owner of the house, Monique, had heard the talking animals. She fainted with two frightened sighs and crumpled with a frightened splat. "Perhaps she just needs exercise," the jogging mouse said to the cat. 4. What effect does the author achieve by including the detail about Minijogger and Rex being friends? This makes the poem more humorous 5. Which phrase from the poem adds to the idea that a mouse exercising on a piano is a silly thing? record an album