Analyzing Informational Text

Reading Check

1.	Make a time line of Poe’s last days, based on the information in the biography “Poe’s Final Days.”
2.	Summarize the evidence cited to support Dr. Benitez’s theory in the article (“Poe’s Death Is Rewritten as Case of Rabies, Not Telltale Alcohol”).
3.	According to Burton R. Pollin and Robert E. Benedetto, what is the major weakness of Dr. Benitez’s theory?

1.	What is the main idea of the letter by Pollin and Benedetto?

A	Poe has been unjustly accused of being an alcoholic.
B	There is a great deal of evidence that Poe’s death was due to alcoholism.
C	Poe’s cat could not have bitten him and given him rabies.
D	Poe was a great writer, but he had human faults.

2.	What is the strongest evidence Dr. Benitez presents in his letter to defend his theory?

F	Rabies has a long incubation period, and many victims do not remember being attacked by an animal.
G	There was no available vaccine for pets at the time of Poe’s death.
H	During Poe’s lifetime, doctors knew how rabies was passed on.
J	Louis Pasteur first used a rabies vaccine in 1885.

3.	What information in the biography could support Dr. Benitez’s theory that rabies caused Poe’s death?

A	It had been raining, and Poe may have suffered from exposure.
B	Dr. Moran stated that Poe sweated and addressed “imaginary objects on the walls.”
C	Poe was so ill that he was taken to the hospital.
D	No one knows where Poe was the week before he appeared at the tavern.

4.	Which of the following statements that contrast the biography with Pollin and Benedetto’s letter is not true?

F	The biography states that Dr. Moran eventually claimed Poe didn’t die from drinking too much, but the letter states that Dr. Moran provided evidence for this theory.
G	Pollin and Benedetto refer to Poe’s letters as evidence, but the biography does not.
H	The biography does not discuss the rabies death theory, but the letter does.
J	The letter does not refer to Joseph Walker’s description of Poe, but the biography does.

5.	Which statement is the most important similarity between the article and Dr. Benitez’s letter?

A	Both inform the reader that Dr. Benitez is an assistant professor of medicine.
B	Both use statistics as support.
C	Both point out that the lack of a bite or scratch does not weaken the rabies death theory.
D	Both state that only highly skilled doctors can diagnose rabies.

6.	Which of the following statements is the best synthesis of the information in these four sources?

F	Poe was a tortured genius.
G	Poe’s symptoms could point to several different causes of death.
H	All theories should take into account that Poe died drunk.
J	Poe’s illness would have been correctly diagnosed by modern doctors.

Constructed Response

Imagine that you are writing a biography of Poe. Write the last few paragraphs of your book, in which you tell about Poe’s death. In your discussion, synthesize the information from the four sources by paraphrasing the ideas and comparing and contrasting the points. End your account by drawing your own conclusions from the information.

Open the Online Notebook to write your responses.

Use “Analyzing Nonfiction,” pages 194–201, for help with this assignment.

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