Check out the chronicle, advertising campaign, poem and opinion article interpretation activities designed for 8th grade students.
1. Chronicle text interpretation activity
Read the text and answer the interpretation questions.
Conversinha Mineira, by Fernando Sabino
— Is the coffee really good here, my friend?
— I know how to say no sir: I don't drink coffee.
"You own the cafe, can't you tell?"
— No one has complained about him, no sir.
"Then give me coffee with milk, bread and butter."
— Coffee with milk only if it's without milk.
- Do not have milk?
"Not today, sir."
"Why not today?"
"Because the milkman didn't come today."
"Yesterday did he come?"
- Not yesterday.
"When is he coming?"
— There is a certain day, sir. Sometimes it comes, sometimes it doesn't. But on the day that was supposed to come, it usually doesn't come.
"But out there it says 'Dairy'!"
“Oh, that is, sir.
— When is there milk?
"When the milkman comes."
"There's a guy over there eating curds." What is it made of?
— What: curds? So you don't know what curd is made of?
“Okay, you won. Bring me a latte without milk. Listen to one thing: how is politics going here in your city?
— I know how to say no, sir: I'm not from here.
"And how long have you lived here?"
"It's going to be about fifteen years." That is, I cannot guarantee for sure: a little more, a little less.
"You can already tell how things are going, don't you think?"
— Oh, you talk about the situation? They say it's going well.
— For which Party? “For all the Parties, it seems.
— I would like to know who is going to win the election here.
“I would too. Some say it's one, others say the other. In this mess...
"And the Mayor?"
"What about the Mayor?"
"How about the Mayor here?"
- The mayor? It's just like they talk about it.
— What do they say about him?
- From him? Uai, this whole train that talks about everything that is Mayor.
“You certainly already have a candidate.
“Who, me?” I'm waiting for the platforms.
— But there's a portrait of a candidate hanging on the wall, what's the story?
"Where over there?" Wow, people: they hung this there…
(SABINO. Fernando. the neighbor's wife. Rio de Janeiro: Editora do Autor, 1962.)
Question 1. The textual genre of the text above is
a) fable
b) interview
c) chronic
Question 2. According to the text, why can coffee with milk only be served without milk?
a) Because when served together, coffee and milk are bad for you.
b) Because the milkmaid is out of milk.
c) Because today is not the day for the milkman to deliver milk.
Question 3. What does the word “his” refer to in “No one has complained about him, no sir.”?
a) To your friend.
b) To the owner of the cafe.
c) To coffee.
Question 4. In "There's a right day, sir. Sometimes he comes, sometimes do not come. But the day that should come usually doesn't come.", the adverbial phrases in bold indicate the circumstance of
in time
b) doubt
c) mode
Question 5. The text uses humor to criticize something. What?
The text is a critique of disinterest and accommodation. The cafe owner seems indifferent to everything around him, because he is not interested in his own business (the taste of the his coffee, the lack of milk), as well as he is not interested in the political situation in the place where he has lived for about 15 years.
2. Advertising campaign text interpretation activity
Read the centenary campaign of ABI - Associação Brasileira de Imprensa and the answer to questions about text interpretation.
the comma
The comma can be a pause… or not.
Do not wait.
Do not wait.
It may go away with your money.
23,4.
2,34.
It can be authoritative.
I accept, thank you.
I accept thanks.
Can create heroes.
That's all, he solves it.
That only he solves.
And villains.
That judge is corrupt.
That judge is corrupt.
She can be the solution.
Let's lose, nothing has been resolved.
Let's lose nothing, it's been resolved.
The comma changes an opinion.
We don't want to know.
No, we want to know.
A comma changes everything!
(ABI Centenary Campaign inspires cordelist. ABI - Brazilian Press Association, © 2013. Available in: http://www.abi.org.br/poeta-cria-cordel-inspirado-na-campanha-de-cem-anos-da-abi/. Accessed on: 22 Mar. 2023.)
Question 1. Remove from the text two sentences that have different meanings because of the commas. Explain your differences.
That judge is corrupt.
That judge is corrupt.
In the first sentence, “judge” is a vocative. The word is between commas and indicates the person we are talking to. In the second sentence, the absence of commas changes its meaning, because it is being asserted that the judge spoken about is corrupt.
Question 2. According to the text, how can the comma be used to disappear with your money?
23.4 indicates that you have twenty-three reais and forty cents. But, 2.34 indicates that you have two reais and thirty-four cents.
Question 3. What is the main message of the text A Vírgula?
The text A Vírgula aims to show the importance of the comma in the communication we make, because its incorrect use can convey a message different from the one we want to convey.
3. Poem text interpretation activity
Read the poem and answer the text interpretation questions.
Six Hundred and Sixty Six, by Mario Quintana
Life is duties that we bring to do at home.
When you see it, it's already 6 o'clock: there's time...
When you see it, it's already Friday...
When you look at it, 60 years have passed!
Now, it's too late to fail...
And if I was given – one day – another chance,
I didn't even look at the clock
kept moving forward...
And I would throw the golden and useless shell of hours along the way.
(QUINTANA, Mario. New Poetic Anthology. 9. ed. São Paulo: Globo, 2003.)
Question 1. What is the main message of the poem Six hundred and Sixty and Six, by Mario Quintana?
a) We need to enjoy our life, because it passes quickly.
b) We need to be punctual, otherwise we miss great opportunities.
c) We need to live less attached to the clock and the calendar.
Question 2. What is the feeling conveyed by the poet in relation to time?
a) indifference
b) Anguish
c) regret
Question 3. How do you relate this poem to your life?
4. Opinion article text interpretation activity
Read the excerpt from the opinion piece and answer the reading comprehension questions.
Fifth of Hell
The miniseries "O Quinto dos Infernos", a TV show that portrays the origins of independent Brazil through a supposedly funny prism, is coming to an end. There were protests, here and in Portugal, as to the disdainful way in which the characters of the House of Bragança are painted, halfway between imbecility and debauchery.
The miniseries is not "disrespectful"; even in the picaresque genre, she is just incredibly bad. Entertainment creators are free to fantasize about historical facts and even twist them in their own direction. purposes, which are not, even more so in this case, educating young people or illustrating adults, but simply trying to amuse them.
(...)
It's an easy and convenient way of explaining our delay. It ends up inverting the assumption of critical history, which was to locate the structures responsible for inequality and underdevelopment, replacing them with a "personal" version: the d. João 6th, the chicken eater, the perfidious woman, the irresponsible and frivolous son, etc.
See the case of d. John. He prevented his capital from falling into the invader's hands; paved the way for the creation of a "commonwealth" between Portugal and Brazil, whose territory led to the River Plate; he negotiated as much as he could with the English and, when independence became convenient for them, he maintained command of the new country in the House of Bragança.
This is the man our "critical" - indeed sentimental, demagogic and self-indulgent filmography - describes as an imbecile. It's not about recovering an official history of great glories and deeds that didn't happen. But to separate the impersonal structures that generated a nation like this from the fantasies of simple-minded screenwriters.
In a country where the population had access to more information, culture and leisure resources, "O Quinto dos Infernos" would not even be an issue. But here the miniseries replaces museums, schools, books, opera, etc., imposing a vision that is unfair not to the Braganças, may the devil take them, but to our own history.
(FRIAS FILHO, Otavio. Fifth of Hell. Folha de São Paulo, 28 mar. 2002. Opinion. Available in: https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/fsp/opiniao/fz2803200207.htm. Accessed on: 22 Mar. 2023.)
Question 1. What is the author's opinion regarding the miniseries "O Quinto dos Infernos"?
a) It has the purpose of teaching what history books do not teach.
b) It has the sole purpose of amusing the public, without respecting the history.
c) Its purpose is to broaden the cultural offer of the Brazilian population.
Question 2. In "regarding the desirous way in which the characters of the House of Bragança are painted", the word "disairous" can be replaced by
The beauty
b) meticulous
c) inelegant
Question 3. According to the text, which man was described in the miniseries as an imbecile?
a) d. John
b) the creator of the miniseries
c) the son of d. John
Question 4. According to the author, what is the problem with the miniseries replacing museums, school, books, opera?
The problem is, mainly, the lack of quality of the miniseries, because it imposes a distorted view of historical personalities and, also, of our history.
Read too:
Reading Interpretation Activities for 9th Grade
Text interpretation exercises
FERNANDES, Marcia. Text interpretation activities for 8th grade.All Matter, [n.d.]. Available in: https://www.todamateria.com.br/atividades-de-interpretacao-de-texto-8-ano/. Access at:
See too
- Text interpretation exercises
- Reading Interpretation Activities for 9th Grade
- Text interpretation activities for 7th grade (with feedback)
- Exercises on adverbial adjunct
- Adverb
- Adjunct adnominal exercises with commented feedback
- 12 Verbal voice exercises with feedback
- Adjunct Adnominal
