Ready? Start Reading It’s time to get started. As you learn from this worktext, your teacher
will also give you reading assignments from your anchor book.
Your Anchor Book
while reading your anchor book
2-4 Writing About Your Anchor Book
Reader’s Journal
How to Use Self-Stick Notes Supporting your Reader’s Journal
responses with important details from the text is an essential skill. You
can use self-stick notes to track details and plan your writing as you
read your anchor book.
▶ As you read, track your ideas and important details (such as plot
development and character clues) by placing self-stick notes next
to the passages where the details were found. On each self-stick
note, explain what the details tell you about your anchor book.
▶ After you read, review your self-stick notes for details to use in
your Reader’s Journal response. You can use self-stick notes for
other tasks that require supporting your ideas with details from
the text, such as literary, informational, and persuasive-writing.
In the passage that follows, the student wrote the word character to
indicate the type of detail referred to on her self-stick note. Then she
drew an image that she associated with the character and wrote a brief
note to explain the passage’s importance.
Student Model: Marking the Text
from
Bad Boy: A Memoir by Walter Dean Myers
Being good in class was not easy for me. I had a need to fill up all the
spaces in my life, with activity, with talking, sometimes with purely
About the Author
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imagined scenarios that would dance through my mind, occupying me
while some other student was at the blackboard. I did want to get
good marks in school, but they were never of major importance to me,
r
Characte
except in the sense of “winning” the best grade in a subject. My filling
up the spaces, however, kept me in trouble.
118 Lesson 2-4
restless in
school
1
Justify What details in the passage support the student’s
statement on her self-stick note?
Directions Read this passage and add details to the self-stick note.
Then answer the questions.
from
The Giver by Lois Lowry
It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be
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frightened. No. Wrong word, Jonas thought. Frightened meant
that deep, sickening feeling of something terrible about to
unidentified aircraft had overflown the community twice. He had
r
Characte
seen it both times. Squinting toward the sky, he had seen the
sleek jet, almost a blur at its high speed, go past, and a second
later heard the blast of sound that followed.
2
Justify What details in the passage did you use to help you fill
in the self-stick note?
3
Analyze Why might using self-stick notes to track important
details help you analyze your anchor book more deeply?
4
Analyze What do you think is the author’s purpose in this
passage? How does the author set a mood that accomplishes
this? Support your answer with an example from the passage.
Reader’s Journal
while reading your anchor book
happen. Frightened was the way he had felt a year ago when an
119
2-5 Literary
Flashback
Analysis
Literary Terms
while reading your anchor book
Flashback is an interruption of the chronological order, or time
order, of a story to show an event that happened earlier.
Directions Read the following passage. Underline the details that
indicate that this experience is a flashback. In the margin, explain what
the narrator’s flashback tells you about how his relationship with
Mitchell Thomas has changed.
from the novel
The Land by Mildred D. Taylor
I loved my daddy. I loved my brothers too. But in the end it was
Mitchell Thomas and I who were most like brothers, with a bond that
couldn’t be broken. The two of us came into Mississippi together
by way of East Texas, and that was when we were still boys, long
after we had come to our understanding of each other. Seeing that
we were a long way from our Georgia home and both of us being
strangers here in Mississippi, the two of us depended on each other
and became as family.
But it wasn’t always that way.
In the beginning the two of us didn’t get along at all. Fact to
business, there was a time it seemed like to me Mitchell Thomas lived
just to taunt me. There were other boys too who picked on me, but
Mitchell was the worst. I recall one time in particular when I was
about nine or so and I was reading beside a creek on my daddy’s
land, and Mitchell came up from behind me and just whopped me
on the head. For no reason. Just whopped me on the head! Course I
jumped up mad. “What ya do that for?” I cried.
“Felt like it,” he said. That’s all; he felt like it. “Ya wanna do
somethin’ bout it?” But I said nothing. Sure, I wanted to do
something about it, all right, but I was no fool.
120 Lesson 2-5
About the Author
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Foreshadowing
Literary Terms
while reading your anchor book
Foreshadowing is the use of clues to suggest events that have yet to
occur. Foreshadowing can also help to create suspense.
Directions Create your own clues to foreshadow one of the endings
below.
1
2
Choose an ending. Circle your choice.
A. A bully changes his ways.
B. Someone falls in love.
C. Two friends drift apart.
D. An “underdog” team wins the game.
See how the examples in the following chart foreshadow a
story ending in a shipwreck. Write clues for your ending.
Each clue should foreshadow the same ending.
FORESHADOWING CLUES
Detail
Shipwreck Example
Setting
At sea that night, the dense fog made
it impossible to see.
Dialogue
“The sea certainly is rough tonight,”
the captain said.
Action
Below deck, with no one watching,
the engine quietly began to break
down.
Comment
by Narrator
My Example
The crew slept soundly, dreaming of
returning home. They did not realize
what problem lay ahead.
Foreshadowing
121
Directions Read the following passage. Underline the details that the
author uses to foreshadow events to come. Then answer the questions.
from “The
Birds”
by Daphne du Maurier
The sky was hard and leaden, and the brown hills that had gleamed
in the sun the day before looked dark and bare. The east wind, like a
razor, stripped the trees, and the leaves, crackling and dry, shivered and
scattered with the wind’s blast. Nat stubbed the earth with his boot.
He had never known a change so swift and sudden. Black winter had
descended in a single night.
The children were awake now. Jill was chattering upstairs and
while reading your anchor book
young Johnny crying once again. Nat heard his wife’s voice, soothing,
comforting. Presently he came down. He had breakfast ready for them,
and the routine of the day began.
“Did you drive away the birds?” asked Jill, restored to calm because
of the kitchen fire, because of day, because of breakfast.
“Yes, they’ve all gone now,” said Nat. “It was the east wind brought
them in. They were frightened and lost; they wanted shelter.”
“They tried to peck us,” said Jill. “They went to Johnny’s eyes.”
“Fright made them do that,” said Nat. “They didn’t know where they
were in the dark bedroom.”
“I hope they won’t come again,” said Jill. “Perhaps if we put bread
for them outside the window they will eat that and fly away.”
3
Analyze What kind of detail does the author use to
foreshadow (setting, dialogue, action, comments made by
narrator)?
4
Predict What prediction can you make based on the
foreshadowing?
122 Lesson 2-5
About the Author
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In this story, flashback and foreshadowing are tools to serve the
author’s purpose. Guiding Question: How are flashback and
foreshadowing used to communicate the conflict?
The
Scarlet Ibis
by James Hurst
Vocabulary Builder
Before you read, you will discuss the following words. In the
Vocabulary Builder box in the margin, use a vocabulary building
strategy to make the words your own.
billowed
careen
infallibility
sullenly
imminent
precariously
As you read, draw a box around unfamiliar words you could
add to your vocabulary. Use context clues to unlock their
meaning.
Marking
n the
t Te
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Flashback and
Foreshadowing
As you read, underline details
that indicate flashback and
foreshadowing. Write notes
in the margin explaining how
these techniques help to develop
the characters and the conflict.
while reading your anchor book
Background James Hurst grew up along the coast of North
Carolina, a place of quiet landscapes and violent storms. His story
of the relationship between two brothers uses the beauty of the
setting to communicate the emotional life of its characters.
It was in the clove1 of seasons, summer was dead but
autumn had not yet been born, that the ibis lit in the
bleeding tree. The flower garden was stained with
rotting brown magnolia petals, and ironweeds grew
rank amid the purple phlox. The five o’clocks by the
chimney still marked time, but the oriole nest in the elm
was untenanted and rocked back and forth like an empty
cradle. The last graveyard flowers were blooming, and
1
clove (klōv) n. dividing point
Flashback and Foreshadowing
123
Good to Know!
This photograph of two
young boys was taken
by Lewis Wickes Hines, a
sociologist who lived at the
time of this story’s setting. His
pictures of children at work
helped change the labor laws
while reading your anchor book
in the United States.
their smell drifted across the cotton field and through every
room of our house, speaking softly the names of our dead.
It’s strange that all this is still so clear to me, now that the
summer has long since fled and time has had its way.
A grindstone stands where the bleeding tree stood, just outside
the kitchen door, and now if an oriole sings in the elm, its song
seems to die up in the leaves, a silvery dust. The flower garden is
prim, the house a gleaming white, and the pale fence across the
yard stands straight and spruce. But sometimes (like right now),
as I sit in the cool, green-draped parlor, the grindstone begins
to turn, and time with all its changes is ground away – and I
remember Doodle.
Doodle was just about the craziest brother a boy ever had. Of
course, he wasn’t a crazy crazy like old Miss Leedie, who was in
love with President Wilson and wrote him a letter every day, but
was nice crazy, like someone you meet in your dreams. He was
born when I was six and was, from the outset, a disappointment.
He seemed all head, with a tiny body which was red and
shriveled like an old man’s. Everybody thought he was going
to die – everybody except Aunt Nicey, who had delivered him.
She said he would live because he was born in a caul2 and cauls
were made from Jesus’ nightgown. Daddy had Mr. Heath, the
carpenter, build a little mahogany coffin for him. But he didn’t
die, and when he was three months old Mama and Daddy
decided they might as well name him. They named him William
Armstrong, which was like tying a big tail on a small kite. Such a
name sounds good only on a tombstone.
I thought myself pretty smart at many things, like holding my
breath, running, jumping, or climbing the vines in Old Woman
2
caul (kȯl) n. membrane enclosing a baby at birth.
124 Lesson 2-5
Marking
n the
t Te
T xt
3
Marking
n the
t Te
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Vocabulary Builder
billowed
(bi lōd) v.
Meaning
while reading your anchor book
Swamp, and I wanted more than anything else someone to race to
Horsehead Landing, someone to box with, and someone to perch
with in the top fork of the great pine behind the barn, where
across the fields and swamps you could see the sea.
I wanted a brother. But Mama, crying, told me that even if
William Armstrong lived, he would never do these things with
me. He might not, she sobbed, even be “all there.” He might, as
long as he lived, lie on the rubber sheet in the center of the bed in
the front bedroom where the white marquisette curtains billowed
out in the afternoon sea breeze, rustling like palmetto fronds.3
It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having
one who possibly was not all there was unbearable, so I began
to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow.
However, one afternoon as I watched him, my head poked
between the iron posts of the foot of the bed, he looked straight at
me and grinned. I skipped through the rooms, down the echoing
halls, shouting, “Mama, he smiled. He’s all there! He’s all there!”
and he was.
When he was two, if you laid him on his stomach, he began to
try to move himself, straining terribly. The doctor said that with
his weak heart this strain would probably kill him, but it didn’t.
Trembling, he’d push himself up, turning first red, then a soft
purple, and finally collapse back onto the bed like an old wornout doll. I can still see Mama watching him, her hand pressed
tight across her mouth, her eyes wide and unblinking. But he
learned to crawl (it was his third winter), and we brought him out
of the front bedroom, putting him on the rug before the fireplace.
For the first time he became one of us.
As long as he lay all the time in bed, we called him William
Armstrong, even though it was formal and sounded as if we were
referring to one of our ancestors, but with his creeping around on
the deerskin rug and beginning to talk, something had to be done
about his name. It was I who renamed him. When he crawled, he
crawled backwards, as if he were in reverse and couldn’t change
gears. If you called him, he’d turn around as if he were going in
the other direction, then he’d back right up to you to be picked
up. Crawling backward made him look like a doodlebug so I
began to call him Doodle, and in time even Mama and Daddy
thought it was a better name than William Armstrong. Only Aunt
Nicey disagreed. She said caul babies should be treated with
special respect since they might turn out to be saints. Renaming
my brother was perhaps the kindest thing I ever did for him,
because nobody expects much from someone called Doodle.
Although Doodle learned to crawl, he showed no signs of
walking, but he wasn’t idle. He talked so much that we all quit
palmetto fronds (pal me tō fränds) n. palm leaves.
Flashback and Foreshadowing
125
while reading your anchor book
listening to what he said. It was about this time that Daddy built
him a go-cart, and I had to pull him around. At first I just paraded
him up and down the piazza, but then he started crying to be
taken out into the yard and it ended up by my having to lug him
wherever I went. If I so much as picked up my cap, he’d start
crying to go with me, and Mama would call from wherever she
was, “Take Doodle with you.”
He was a burden in many ways. The doctor had said that he
mustn’t get too excited, too hot, too cold, or too tired and that
he must always be treated gently. A long list of don’ts went
with him, all of which I ignored once we got out of the house.
To discourage his coming with me, I’d run with him across the
ends of the cotton rows and careen him around corners on two
wheels. Sometimes I accidentally turned him over, but he never
told Mama. His skin was very sensitive, and he had to wear a big
straw hat whenever he went out. When the going got rough and
he had to cling to the sides of the go-cart, the hat slipped all the
way down over his ears. He was a sight. Finally, I could see I was
licked. Doodle was my brother, and he was going to cling to me
forever, no matter what I did, so I dragged him across the burning
cotton field to share with him the only beauty I knew, Old Woman
Swamp. I pulled the go-cart through the saw-tooth fern, down
into the green dimness where the palmetto fronds whispered by
the stream. I lifted him out and set him down in the soft rubber
grass beside a tall pine. His eyes were round with wonder as he
gazed about him, and his little hands began to stroke the rubber
grass. Then he began to cry.
“For heaven’s sake, what’s the matter?” I asked, annoyed.
“It’s so pretty,” he said. “So pretty, pretty, pretty.”
After that day Doodle and I often went down into Old Woman
Swamp. I would gather wildflowers, wild violets, honeysuckle,
yellow jasmine, snakeflowers, and water lilies, and with wire
grass we’d weave them into necklaces and crowns. We’d bedeck
ourselves with our handiwork and loll about thus beautified,
beyond the touch of the everyday world. Then when the slanted
rays of the sun burned orange in the tops of the pines, we’d drop
our jewels into the stream and watch them float away toward
the sea.
There is within me (and with sadness I have watched it in
others) a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love, much as our
blood sometimes bears the seed of our destruction, and at times I
was mean to Doodle. One day I took him up to the barn loft and
showed him his casket, telling him how we all had believed he
would die. It was covered with a film of Paris green4 sprinkled to
kill the rats, and screech owls had built a nest inside it.
4
Paris green poisonous green powder used chiefly as an insecticide.
126 Lesson 2-5
Marking
n the
t Te
T xt
Vocabulary Builder
careen
(k rēn´) v.
Meaning
photo treatment TK
Vocabulary Builder
sullenly
(s ´ l n lē) adv.
Meaning
Marking
n the
t Te
T xt
Flashback and Foreshadowing
while reading your anchor book
Doodle studied the mahogany box for a long
time, then said, “It’s not mine.”
“It is,” I said. “And before I’ll help you down from
the loft, you’re going to have to touch it.”
“I won’t touch it,” he said sullenly.
“Then I’ll leave you here by yourself,” I threatened
and made as if I were going down.
Doodle was frightened of being left. “Don’t go lea
Brother,” he cried, and he leaned toward the coffin.
trembling, reached out, and when he touched the c
screamed. A screech owl flapped out of the box int
scaring us and covering us with Paris green. Doodle was
paralyzed, so I put him on my shoulder and carried him down the
ladder, and even when we were outside in the bright sunshine, he
clung to me, crying, “Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me.”
When Doodle was five years old, I was embarrassed at having
a brother of that age who couldn’t walk, so I set out to teach him.
We were down in Old Woman Swamp and it was spring and the
sick-sweet smell of bay flowers hung everywhere like a mournful
song. “I’m going to teach you to walk, Doodle,” I said.
He was sitting comfortably on the soft grass, leaning back
against the pine. “Why?” he asked.
I hadn’t expected such an answer. “So I won’t have to haul you
around all the time.”
“I can’t walk, Brother,” he said.
“Who says so?” I demanded.
“Mama, the doctor – everybody.”
“Oh, you can walk,” I said, and I took him by the arms and
stood him up. He collapsed onto the grass like a half-empty flour
sack. It was as if he had no bones in his little legs.
“Don’t hurt me, Brother,” he warned.
“Shut up. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m going to teach you to
walk.” I heaved him up again, and again he collapsed.
This time he did not lift his face up out of the rubber grass. “I
just can’t do it. Let’s make honeysuckle wreaths.”
“Oh yes you can, Doodle,” I said. “All you got to do is try. Now
come on,” and I hauled him up once more.
It seemed so hopeless from the beginning that it’s a miracle I
didn’t give up. But all of us must have something or someone to
be proud of, and Doodle had become mine. I did not know then
that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two
vines, life and death. Every day that summer we went to the pine
beside the stream of Old Woman Swamp, and I put him on his
feet at least a hundred times each afternoon. Occasionally I too
became discouraged because it didn’t seem as if he was trying,
and I would say, “Doodle, don’t you want to learn to walk?”
127
while reading your anchor book
He’d nod his head, and I’d say, “Well, if you don’t keep trying,
you’ll never learn.” Then I’d paint for him a picture of us as old
men, white-haired, him with a long white beard and me still
pulling him around in the go-cart. This never failed to make him
try again.
Finally one day, after many weeks of practicing, he stood alone
for a few seconds. When he fell, I grabbed him in my arms and
hugged him, our laughter pealing through the swamp like a
ringing bell. Now we knew it could be done. Hope no longer hid
in the dark palmetto thicket but perched like a cardinal in the
lacy toothbrush tree, brilliantly visible. “Yes, yes,” I cried, and he
cried it too, and the grass beneath us was soft and the smell of the
swamp was sweet.
With success so imminent, we decided not to tell anyone until
he could actually walk. Each day, barring rain, we sneaked into
Old Woman Swamp, and by cotton-picking time Doodle was
ready to show what he could do. He still wasn’t able to walk far,
but we could wait no longer. Keeping a nice secret is very hard
to do, like holding your breath. We chose to reveal all on October
eighth, Doodle’s sixth birthday, and for weeks ahead we mooned
Marking
n the
t Te
T xt
Vocabulary Builder
imminent
(i´ m n nt) adj.
Meaning
Good to Know!
North Carolina features many
swamps, including the Great
Dismal Swamp, one of the
largest protected swamp
wildernesses in the eastern
United States.
128
5
the Resurrection when Jesus Christ rose from the dead after his death and burial.
6
vortex (vȯr´ teks) n. rushing whirl, drawing in all that surrounds it.
arking
n the
t Te
T xt
while reading your anchor book
around the house, promising everybody a most spectacular
surprise. Aunt Nicey said that, after so much talk, if we produced
anything less tremendous than the Resurrection, 5 she was going
to be disappointed.
At breakfast on our chosen day, when Mama, Daddy, and
Aunt Nicey were in the dining room, I brought Doodle to the
door in the go-cart just as usual and had them turn their backs,
making them cross their hearts and hope to die if they peeked.
I helped Doodle up, and when he was standing alone I let them
look. There wasn’t a sound as Doodle walked slowly across the
room and sat down at his place at the table. Then Mama began
to cry and ran over to him, hugging him and kissing him. Daddy
hugged him too, so I went to Aunt Nicey, who was thanks
praying in the doorway, and began to waltz her around. We
danced together quite well until she came down on my big toe
with her brogans, hurting me so badly I thought I was crippled
for life.
Doodle told them it was I who had taught him to walk, so
everyone wanted to hug me, and I began to cry.
“What are you crying for?” asked Daddy, but I couldn’t answer.
They did not know that I did it for myself; that pride, whose slave
I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices, and that Doodle
walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother.
Within a few months Doodle had learned to walk well and his
go-cart was put up in the barn loft (it’s still there) beside his little
mahogany coffin. Now, when we roamed off together, resting
often, we never turned back until our destination had been
reached, and to help pass the time, we took up lying. From the
beginning Doodle was a terrible liar, and he got me in the habit.
Had anyone stopped to listen to us, we would have been sent off
to Dix Hill.
My lies were scary, involved, and usually pointless, but
Doodle’s were twice as crazy. People in his stories all had wings
and flew wherever they wanted to go. His favorite lie was about a
boy named Peter who had a pet peacock with a ten-foot tail. Peter
wore a golden robe that glittered so brightly that when he walked
through the sunflowers they turned away from the sun to face
him. When Peter was ready to go to sleep, the peacock spread
his magnificent tail, enfolding the boy gently like a closing goto-sleep flower, burying him in the gloriously iridescent, rustling
vortex.6 Yes, I must admit it. Doodle could beat me lying.
Doodle and I spent lots of time thinking about our future.
We decided that when we were grown we’d live in Old Woman
Swamp and pick dog-tongue for a living. Beside the stream, he
Flashback and Foreshadowing
129
while reading your anchor book
planned, we’d build us a house of whispering leaves and the
swamp birds would be our chickens. All day long (when we
weren’t gathering dog-tongue) we’d swing through the cypresses
on the rope vines, and if it rained we’d huddle beneath an
umbrella tree and play stickfrog. Mama and Daddy could come
and live with us if they wanted to. He even came up with the idea
that he could marry Mama and I could marry Daddy. Of course, I
was old enough to know this wouldn’t work out, but the picture
he painted was so beautiful and serene that all I could do was
whisper yes, yes.
Once I had succeeded in teaching Doodle to walk, I began
to believe in my own infallibility and I prepared a terrific
development program for him, unknown to Mama and Daddy,
of course. I would teach him to run, to swim, to climb trees, and
to fight. He, too, now believed in my infallibility, so we set the
deadline for these accomplishments less than a year away, when,
it had been decided, Doodle could start to school.
That winter we didn’t make much progress, for I was in school
and Doodle suffered from one bad cold after another. But when
spring came, rich and warm, we raised our sights again. Success
lay at the end of summer like a pot of gold, and our campaign
got off to a good start. On hot days, Doodle and I went down
to Horsehead Landing, and I gave him swimming lessons or
showed him how to row a boat. Sometimes we descended into
the cool greenness of Old Woman Swamp and climbed the rope
vines or boxed scientifically beneath the pine where he had
learned to walk. Promise hung about us like leaves, and wherever
we looked, ferns unfurled and birds broke into song.
That summer, the summer of 1918, was blighted. In May and
June there was no rain and the crops withered, curled up, then
died under the thirsty sun. One morning in July a hurricane came
out of the east, tipping over the oaks in the yard and splitting
the limbs of the elm trees. That afternoon it roared back out
of the west, blew the fallen oaks around, snapping their roots
and tearing them out of the earth like a hawk at the entrails
of a chicken. Cotton bolls were wrenched from the stalks and
lay like green walnuts in the valleys between the rows, while
the cornfield leaned over uniformly so that the tassels touched
the ground. Doodle and I followed Daddy out into the cotton
field, where he stood, shoulders sagging, surveying the ruin.
When his chin sank down onto his chest, we were frightened,
and Doodle slipped his hand into mine. Suddenly Daddy
straightened his shoulders, raised a giant knuckly fist, and with a
voice that seemed to rumble out of the earth itself began cursing
heaven, hell, the weather, and the Republican Party. Doodle and
I, prodding each other and giggling, went back to the house,
knowing that everything would be all right.
130 Lesson 2-5
Marking
n the
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Vocabulary Builder
infallibility
(in fa l bi´ l tē) n.
Meaning
Goo
A sin
plan
to 1
Link
Socia
to
l Stud
i
es
World War I
while reading your anchor book
And during that summer, strange names were heard through
the house: Château-Thierry, Amiens, Soissons, and in her
blessing at the supper table, Mama once said, “And bless the
Pearsons, whose boy Joe was lost at Belleau Wood.”7
So we came to that clove of seasons. School was only a few
weeks away, and Doodle was far behind schedule. He could
barely clear the ground when climbing up the rope vines, and his
swimming was certainly not passable. We decided to double our
efforts, to make that last drive and reach our pot of gold. I made
him swim until he turned blue and row until he couldn’t lift an
oar. Wherever we went, I purposely walked fast, and although he
kept up, his face turned red and his eyes became glazed. Once,
he could go no further, so he collapsed on the ground and began
to cry.
“Aw, come on, Doodle,” I urged. “You can do it. Do you want
to be different from everybody else when you start school?”
“Does it make any difference?”
“It certainly does,” I said. “Now, come on,” and I helped him up.
As we slipped through the dog days, Doodle began to look
feverish, and Mama felt his forehead, asking him if he felt ill. At
night he didn’t sleep well, and sometimes he had nightmares,
crying out until I touched him and said, “Wake up, Doodle.
Wake up.”
It was Saturday noon, just a few days before school was
to start. I should have already admitted defeat, but my pride
wouldn’t let me. The excitement of our program had now been
gone for weeks, but still we kept on with a tired doggedness. It
was too late to turn back, for we had both wandered too far into
a net of expectations and had left no crumbs behind.
Daddy, Mama, Doodle, and I were seated at the dining-room
table having lunch. It was a hot day, with all the windows and
doors open in case a breeze should come. In the kitchen Aunt
7
Château-Thierry, Amiens, Soissons, . . . Belleau Wood places in France where
battles were fought during World War I.
Flashback and Foreshadowing
131
while reading your anchor book
Nicey was humming softly. After a long silence, Daddy spoke.
“It’s so calm, I wouldn’t be surprised if we had a storm this
afternoon.”
“I haven’t heard a rain frog,” said Mama, who believed in
signs, as she served the bread around the table.
“I did,” declared Doodle. “Down in the swamp.”
“He didn’t,” I said contrarily.
“You did, eh?” said Daddy, ignoring my denial.
“I certainly did,” Doodle reiterated, scowling at me over the
top of his iced-tea glass, and we were quiet again.
Suddenly, from out in the yard, came a strange croaking noise.
Doodle stopped eating, with a piece of bread poised ready for his
mouth, his eyes popped round like two blue buttons. “What’s
that?” he whispered.
I jumped up, knocking over my chair, and had reached the
door when Mama called, “Pick up the chair, sit down again, and
say excuse me.”
By the time I had done this, Doodle had excused himself
and had slipped out into the yard. He was looking up into the
bleeding tree. “It’s a great big red bird!” he called.
The bird croaked loudly again, and Mama and Daddy came
out into the yard. We shaded our eyes with our hands against
the hazy glare of the sun and peered up through the still leaves.
On the topmost branch a bird the size of a chicken, with scarlet
feathers and long legs, was perched precariously. Its wing hung
down loosely, and as we watched, a feather dropped away and
floated slowly down through the green leaves.
“It’s not even frightened of us,” Mama said.
“It looks tired,” Daddy added. “Or maybe sick.”
Doodle’s hands were clasped at his throat, and I had never seen
him stand still so long. “What is it?” he asked.
Daddy shook his head. “I don’t know, maybe it’s—”
At that moment the bird began to flutter, but the wings were
uncoordinated, and amid much flapping and a spray of flying
feathers, it tumbled down, bumping through the limbs of the
bleeding tree and landing at our feet with a thud. Its long,
graceful neck jerked twice into an S, then straightened out, and
the bird was still. A white veil came over the eyes, and the long
white beak unhinged. Its legs were crossed and its clawlike feet
were delicately curved at rest. Even death did not mar its grace,
for it lay on the earth like a broken vase of red flowers, and we
stood around it, awed by its exotic beauty.
“It’s dead,” Mama said.
“What is it?” Doodle repeated.
“Go bring me the bird book,” said Daddy.
I ran into the house and brought back the bird book. As we
watched, Daddy thumbed through its pages. “It’s a scarlet ibis,”
132 Lesson 2-5
Marking
n the
t Te
T xt
Vocabulary Builder
precariously
(pri ker´ ē s lē) adv.
Meaning
Marking
n the
t Te
T xt
while reading your anchor book
he said, pointing to a picture. “It lives in the tropics—South
America to Florida. A storm must have brought it here.”
Sadly, we all looked back at the bird. A scarlet ibis! How many
miles it had traveled to die like this, in our yard, beneath the
bleeding tree.
“Let’s finish lunch,” Mama said, nudging us back toward the
dining room.
“I’m not hungry,” said Doodle, and he knelt down beside the ibis.
“We’ve got peach cobbler for dessert,” Mama tempted from
the doorway.
Doodle remained kneeling. “I’m going to bury him.”
“Don’t you dare touch him,” Mama warned. “There’s no telling
what disease he might have had.”
“All right,” said Doodle. “I won’t.”
Daddy, Mama, and I went back to the dining-room table, but
we watched Doodle through the open door. He took out a piece
of string from his pocket and, without touching the ibis, looped
one end around its neck. Slowly, while singing softly “Shall We
Gather at the River,” he carried the bird around to the front yard
and dug a hole in the flower garden, next to the petunia bed. Now
we were watching him through the front window, but he didn’t
know it. His awkwardness at digging the hole with a shovel
whose handle was twice as long as he was made us laugh, and we
covered our mouths with our hands so he wouldn’t hear.
When Doodle came into the dining room, he found us seriously
eating our cobbler. He was pale and lingered just inside the screen
door. “Did you get the scarlet ibis buried?” asked Daddy.
Doodle did
“Go wash y
cobbler,” said
“I’m not hu
“Dead bird
from the kitch
As soon as
off to Horseh
still had a lon
with the othe
sun, gilded w
burned fierce
through whic
shady and co
133
while reading your anchor book
When we reached the landing, Doodle said he was too tired to
swim, so we got into a skiff and floated down the creek with
the tide. Far off in the marsh a rail was scolding, and over on
the beach locusts were singing in the myrtle trees. Doodle did
not speak and kept his head turned away, letting one hand trail
limply in the water.
After we had drifted a long way, I put the oars in place and
made Doodle row back against the tide. Black clouds began
to gather in the southwest, and he kept watching them, trying
to pull the oars a little faster. When we reached Horsehead
Landing, lightning was playing across half the sky and
thunder roared out, hiding even the sound of the sea. The sun
disappeared and darkness descended, almost like night. Flocks
of marsh crows flew by, heading inland to their roosting trees,
and two egrets, squawking, arose from the oyster-rock shallows
and careened away.
Doodle was both tired and frightened, and when he stepped
from the skiff he collapsed onto the mud, sending an armada
of fiddler crabs rustling off into the marsh grass. I helped him
up, and as he wiped the mud off his trousers, he smiled at me
ashamedly. He had failed and we both knew it, so we started back
home, racing the storm. We never spoke (What are the words
that can solder cracked pride?), but I knew he was watching me,
watching for a sign of mercy. The lightning was near now, and
from fear he walked so close behind me he kept stepping on my
heels. The faster I walked, the faster he walked, so I began to run.
The rain was coming, roaring through the pines, and then, like
a bursting Roman candle, a gum tree ahead of us was shattered
by a bolt of lightning. When the deafening peal of thunder had
died, and in the moment before the rain arrived, I heard Doodle,
who had fallen behind, cry out, “Brother, Brother, don’t leave me!
Don’t leave me!”
134 Lesson 2-5
Marking
n the
t Te
T xt
8
evanesced (e v nest´) v. dissipated gradually
9
heresy (her´ sē) n. idea opposed to the beliefs of a religion or philosophy.
Marking
n the
t Te
T xt
while reading your anchor book
The knowledge that Doodle’s and my plans had come to
naught was bitter, and that streak of cruelty within me awakened.
I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind with a wall of rain
dividing us. The drops stung my face like nettles, and the wind
flared the wet glistening leaves of the bordering trees. Soon I
could hear his voice no more.
I hadn’t run too far before I became tired, and the flood of
childish spite evanesced8 as well. I stopped and waited for
Doodle. The sound of rain was everywhere, but the wind had
died and it fell straight down in parallel paths like ropes hanging
from the sky. As I waited, I peered through the downpour, but no
one came. Finally I went back and found him huddled beneath
a red nightshade bush beside the road. He was sitting on the
ground, his face buried in his arms, which were resting on his
drawn-up knees. “Let’s go, Doodle,” I said.
He didn’t answer, so I placed my hand on his forehead and
lifted his head. Limply, he fell backward onto the earth. He had
been bleeding from the mouth, and his neck and the front of his
shirt were stained a brilliant red.
“Doodle! Doodle!” I cried, shaking him, but there was no
answer but the ropy rain. He lay very awkwardly, with his head
thrown far back, making his vermilion neck appear unusually
long and slim. His little legs, bent sharply at the knees, had never
before seemed so fragile, so thin.
I began to weep, and the tear-blurred vision in red before me
looked very familiar. “Doodle!” I screamed above the pounding
storm and threw my body to the earth above his. For a long, long
time, it seemed forever, I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen
scarlet ibis from the heresy9 of the rain.
Vocabulary Builder
After
decided to add to
your vocabulary. Write the meaning of words you have learned
in context. Look up the other words in a dictionary, glossary,
thesaurus, or electronic resource.
Flashback and Foreshadowing
135
while reading your anchor book
Thinking About the Selection
The Scarlet Ibis
1
Respond Do you blame the narrator for Doodle’s death?
Explain.
2
Recall Why does the narrator cry when everyone congratulates
him for teaching Doodle to walk? Incorporate a quotation from
the story in your answer.
3
Analyze An allusion is a reference to a well-known person,
event, place, literary work, or work of art. How might the
allusion to the Resurrection on page 129 represent something
happening within the story?
4
Compare and Contrast How is Doodle’s reaction to the death
of the ibis different from the way the rest of the family reacts?
What motivates Doodle to react in this way?
136 Lesson 2-5
About the Author
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5
Analyze Look back at the foreshadowing clues you marked
in the text. Write the details and what they foreshadow in the
graphic organizer below.
Details From the Story
while reading your anchor book
6
What the Details Foreshadow
Analyze A dynamic character is one who learns something
important that changes him or her by the end of the story. Is
the narrator a dynamic character? If so, how did he change and
what did he learn? Support your answer with evidence from
the story.
Write Answer the following questions in your Reader’s Journal.
7
How are flashback and foreshadowing used to
communicate the conflict?
8
Interpret Describe an example of flashback or
foreshadowing in your Anchor Book. Explain how the
example adds to your understanding of the novel’s central
conflict.
Flashback and Foreshadowing
137
2-6 Language Coach
Grammar and Spelling
Action and Linking Verbs
An action verb indicates an action. The action may be visible (run,
write, return, practice, give) or mental (think, like, dream, believe).
A linking verb connects the subject with a word that describes it or
identifies the subject. Common linking verbs include seem, appear,
feel, sound, taste, smell, look, and forms of be (am, is, are, was, were, have
been). Depending on how they are used, some verbs may be action
or linking.
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Action Verbs
Linking Verbs
He acted mean.
I was mean to Doodle. (mean describes I)
I
The sun hurts his skin.
His skin is very sensitive.
(sensitive describes skin)
Directions Underline the verb in each sentence. Then, write A if it is
an action verb or L if it is a linking verb.
1
Our neighbor remained a close friend for years.
2
Your perfume smells too strong today.
3
Grandmother tasted our fresh bread.
4
This red sweater is the one I made.
5
My grandmother is my favorite relative.
Directions Each sentence contains a linking verb. Underline the
subject with one line and the verb with two lines. Circle the word that
either describes or identifies the subject.
Example Doodle was paralyzed .
6
Her rug is too small for her room.
7
Television is an important tool of education.
8
Dana may be the most likely choice for the office.
9
The girls were hoarse from cheering.
138 Lesson 2-6
Author’s Craft
describes how a good
writer uses action and
dialogue to show who
his or her characters
are. Sometimes too
many linking verbs
indicate that the writer
is telling you too much
(“She was tired”). Look
back at the excerpt
from the novel The
Land
d on page 120.
Identify the places
where the author uses
action verbs to show
information about the
narrator and Mitchell.
Principal Parts of Regular Verbs
Every verb has four principal parts that are used to form tenses, which
show action occurring at different times. These principal parts are the
present (basic form), the present participle, the past, and the past participle.
A regular verb forms its past and past participle by adding -ed or -d to
the basic form. Sometimes you will have to double a final consonant,
add a -d if the verb ends in e, or change y to i before adding -ed or -ing.
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Description
Examples
Present
Basic form
She tries hard.
Present Participle
Add – ing. Use after is or are.
She is trying hard.
Past
Add –ed or –d.
She tried hard.
Past Participle
Add –ed or –d. Use after
has, have, had.
She has tried hard.
Directions Underline the verb or verb phrase in each sentence. Then,
identify the principal part used to form the verb.
Example The scarlet ibis lives in the tropics.
present
1
Barbara filled the fish tank with fresh water.
2
The president is holding a press conference tomorrow.
3
My brother is enrolling in college in the fall.
4
Have the judges announced the winner?
5
The sweater always shrinks in the wash.
Directions Cross out the incorrect principal part of the verb in the
sentence. In the space provided, write the correct principal part of the
verb to complete the sentence.
6
Doodle and I are cry together in the rain.
7
Kevin has live in Kentucky all his life.
8
I still exercising every day.
9
We have agree to meet at 7 P.M.
10
Before he spoke, the entertainer smile at the audience.
Regular Verbs
139
Language Coach continued
Irregular Verbs
Irregular verbs are verbs whose past and past participle forms do
not follow a predictable pattern. For regular verbs, the past tense is
formed by adding –ed or -d to the tense form, as in follow, followed.
Irregular verbs are not formed according to this rule.
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Present Tense: School begins at 8:00.
Past Tense: School began at 8:00.
Past Participle: School has begun at 8:00 for years.
SOME IRREGULAR VERBS
Present
Present Participle
Past
Past Participle
bring
(is) bringing
brought
(have) brought
rise
(is) rising
rose
(have) risen
go
(is) going
went
(have) gone
choose
(is) choosing
chose
(have) chosen
do
(is) doing
did
(have) done
see
(is) seeing
saw
(have) seen
Directions Underline the correct form of the verb.
1
Doodle had (chose, chosen) to bury the bird.
2
You mean I (did, done) the wrong page of math homework?
3
Now I wish that I had (went, gone) with you.
Directions Circle the incorrect form of the verb. Revise each sentence,
using the correct form of the verb.
4
I had grow to love my brother Tyrell.
5
I had swore never to get rid of it.
6
The seat belt buzzer has rang its last warning.
140 Lesson 2-6
Subject/Verb Agreement
A simple sentence is a single independent clause, which means that
it contains at least one subject and verb. In grammar, the number of a
word can be either singular (indicating one) or plural (indicating more
than one). See the diagram below of a simple sentence. More sentence
diagrams are available online.
S
cars
V
race
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To check that your sentences are correct, make sure that the verb
agrees with the subject in number.
Example 1 Doodle and I (is, are) walking to Old Woman Swamp.
Plural Subject
Plural Verb
Example 2 The scarlet ibis (sits, sit) in the tree.
Singular Subject
Singular Verb
Directions Underline the subject. Write an “S” above it if the subject
is singular and a “P” if the subject is plural. Circle the correct singular
or plural form of the verb in parentheses.
P
Example Mama and Daddy (believes, believe ) in Doodle.
1
Two dogs and a cat (lives, live) in that house.
2
They (is, are) always playing together.
3
Both Megan and Moneshia (has, have) agreed to help.
4
Enriquez (has, have) entered a contest.
Author’s Craft
Look back at the excerpts from Bad Boy: A
Memoir and The Giver
on pages 118 and 119.
Rewrite one passage
with errors in subjectverb agreement. Then,
trade your passage
with a partner and
correct each other’s
errors.
Directions Rewrite the sentences. Correct the agreement mistakes.
Example We enjoys making honeysuckle wreaths.
We enjoy making honeysuckle wreaths.
5
The cities closes the beaches in September.
6
My brother and sister has been very cooperative lately.
7
A box of cookies are in the cupboard.
Subject/Verb Agreement
141
2-7 Writer’s Workshop
Narration: Short Story
A short story can entertain readers, taking them to new places or
showing them unfamiliar sides of life. By following the steps outlined
in this workshop, you can write your own short story. You will write a
realistic story with believable characters who face a conflict.
Your short story should include the following elements.
▶ One or more characters, developed throughout the story
▶ A clear setting, a time and place in which the action occurs
▶ A conflict, or problem, faced by a main character
Purpose To tell a
r
story about a characte
t.
lic
nf
co
who faces a
Audience You, your
teacher, and your
classmates
▶ A suspenseful plot that leads to a climax and a resolution
▶ A theme—an idea about life or human nature
▶ Precise language, including dialogue, vivid verbs, and
descriptive adjectives
Rafael
18
Prewriting—Plan It Out
Plays
Guitar
easygoing
To imagine the people and action of your story, use these strategies.
good stu
dent
Begin with a main character. Get to know the character by drawing
a picture, listing details about the character’s goals and personality
traits, or asking questions such as “How do you spend your time?”
Picture the scene. Imagine your character in a particular time and
place. Use action and sensory details, including vivid verbs and
descriptive adjectives, to help readers experience the setting, plot,
and characters. Complete a five senses chart.
SIGHT
SOUND
SMELL
TOUCH
TASTE
Open windows
Curtains blowing
Music
Laughter
Neighbor’s
barbecue
Cool breeze
from window
Sweet apple
Lemonade
Determine point of view. A narrator’s presentation of information
influences how a story is told and received and how characters are
developed. Decide who you want your narrator to be.
First-person narrator:
I felt a surge of energy as I launched the ball.
Third-person narrator: They held their breath as Pam shot the ball.
142 Lesson 2-7
Identify a conflict. Ask yourself questions about the characters that help
you identify the conflict.
What does he or she want?
What problem prevents this?
Drafting—Get It on Paper
Build to a climax. In the exposition, give your readers background
information. Include foreshadowing and flashbacks to build and
develop the story. Develop an engaging plot, building suspense until
you reach the climax. End with a resolution that gives a sense of closure
to the story. Use this Plot diagram to help you. If you prefer, use a story
map to sketch out the key plot events in your narrative.
on
Ac
ti
ing
Ris
Events
ti
Ac
Exposition
(Beginning)
ing
•
ll
Fa
Events
on
Climax
Conflict
Resolution
(Ending)
Use dialogue. Dialogue moves the action forward, and develops the
characters. An interjection like “Hey!” makes it more realistic.
Create a mood and tone. Use imagery and figurative language to
communicate mood and tone.
Revising—Make It Better
Add detail. Help your readers imagine characters and settings.
▶ Review your draft, highlighting situations and events to which a
character would have a strong reaction.
▶ Use characterization to develop major and minor characters. Ask
yourself: What words, facial expressions, thoughts, or actions
reflect this reaction? Jot down your answers to these questions.
▶ Influence your audience’s reactions by describing your characters
with strong details. Use setting details to create a mood.
Peer Review Ask for a partner’s response to your story. Revise to
achieve the reaction you intended. Discuss usage and mechanics
issues and explain the choices you made, such as using sentence
fragments to achieve realistic dialogue.
Narration: Short Story
143
Writer’s Workshop continued
Directions Read this student short story as a model for your own.
Student Model: Writing
Michael Casey, Tiverton, Rhode Island
Sailing to Freedom
Student Model
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The hot sun was beating down on Anuk as he finished the
final words on the tomb in which the Pharoah would be
buried two days later. As he looked back to examine his
work, his mind began to wander. Anuk thought about his
situation. The only reason he was standing there,
half-heartedly working, was because he was one of the very
First, the writer introduces
and develops the main
character, Anuk, in this
third-person narrative.
few teenagers accepted into the “Gifted Society.” This class
of servants who were smarter and stronger than most of the
others were permitted to perform the “better” jobs and were
honored with the closest burial spot next to the Pharoah
inside the pyramid.
The writer conveys the
setting by using historical
terms and describing
cultural traditions.
“Great,” thought Anuk sarcastically, “I’m only thirteen and
I’m already being sent to my death.” Most of the Pharoah’s
servants would jump at the chance to go into the afterlife
with their king. But Anuk was no ordinary boy. There was
something inside him that made him want to live – a drive
The writer punctuates split
dialogue correctly and uses
it to show the character’s
personality.
that all the servants in Egypt didn’t have… Anuk wanted and
needed to escape, and no matter how hard the challenges,
he was going to accomplish this.
Talla was hoeing in his fields again. He hated hoeing
because it made huge calluses and blisters on his hands.
Conflict and theme are
introduced early.
Talla was almost finished with the first row when he saw a
boy his age, dressed in fine clothes, walking toward him.
As the boy walked closer he said, “You boy! Listen I have
a proposal for you. I’d like to offer you a large payment if
you will help me sail to Lower Egypt.”
Talla could clearly see the boy now. It was Anuk, the son
of the royal scribe.
“Aren’t you supposed to be buried with the pharaoh in his
tomb – “ He was cut short by the hand of Anuk.
144 Lesson 2-7
This dialogue reveals
differences between the
two boys. It also moves
the plot forward.
Editing—Be Your Own Language Coach
Review your story for errors. Revise your sentences, paying attention
to subject/verb agreement. Check that the verb tenses and point of
view between paragraphs, passages, and ideas are consistent. Also
check for correct spelling. Use a dictionary or thesaurus if necessary.
Publishing—Share It!
When you publish a work, you produce it for a specific audience.
Consider the following idea to share your writing.
Tell your story aloud. Focus on the most important events in your
story and show how they affected the plot and characters. Include
dialogue, descriptions, and actions. Use various facial expressions,
hand gestures, and tones of voice to help tell your story.
Reflecting on Your Writing
Write a letter. Write a letter to your teacher reflecting on your writing
by answering the following questions. What new insights did you gain
about writing a short story? What do you do well? What do you need
to work on? Set a goal you can meet in your next workshop.
Rubric for Self-Assessment Assess your short story. For each question, circle a rating.
CRITERIA
IDEAS How compelling are your plot, characters, setting,
and theme?
RATING SCALE
NOT VERY
VERY
1
2
3
4
5
ORGANIZATION How clearly is your story organized,
especially by developing conflict and building to a climax?
1
2
3
4
5
VOICE How well do you set a tone and tell the story in an
engaging way?
1
2
3
4
5
WORD CHOICE Did you use precise language, including
vivid verbs and descriptive adjectives?
1
2
3
4
5
SENTENCE FLUENCY How varied is your
sentence structure?
1
2
3
4
5
CONVENTIONS How correct is your grammar, especially
your use of verb tenses and subject/verb agreement?
1
2
3
4
5
Narration: Short Story
145
2-8 Discussing Your Anchor Book
Literature Circles
Part 1: Open Discussion
before
while reading
reading your
your anchor
anchor book
book
Divide into your Literature Circles. Use your memory as well
as your notes, ideas, and questions from your Reader’s Journal
to start talking about your Anchor Book. Refer to or read aloud
passages from your Anchor Book to support your conclusions.
If you need some ideas to start your conversation, form a question
or statement using at least one word from each row below.
A
conflict
change
theme
setting
mood
B
wealth
gender
religion
disability
race
Example: How is the main character’s disability important to the
theme of the book?
Part 2: Dicuss—Subplots
Now that you have discussed your Anchor Book, you are going to
explore the topics of plot and subplot.
Plott is the sequence of main events in a literary work. It is structured
around characters involved in a conflict.
Subplots are smaller stories contained in a literary work. They either
add interest to or provide relief from the main plot. They also enrich
the main plot by adding complexity to the story.
Imagine a story about a boy who has just enrolled in a new middle
school and is having a hard time making friends. This is the plot.
Then, imagine that his older sister attends the same school and is
very popular. This is a subplot.
146 Lesson 2-8
1
Discuss Identify three subplots and explain what they add
to the plot.
Subplots
What They Add to the Plot
Analyze Choose one subplot. Consider what it adds to the
plot. What is the author’s purpose in using this subplot to
contribute to the overall meaning of the work?
3
Synthesize Identify details and characters in your Anchor
Book that could be made into interesting stories of their own.
Details and Characters from
Your Anchor Book
while reading your anchor book
2
Possible Plots
Your Literature Circle may choose to extend this activity by
creating a videotaped dramatization of one of these subplots.
Literature Circles
147
Monitoring Your Progress
Standardized Test Practice
Reading Skills: Making Inferences
Directions Read the following passage. Then answer the questions.
Marlena wheeled her cart down the aisle and paused in front of a bin of
oranges. She filled a plastic bag without counting to see that she had
enough for each member of her family. Her mind was elsewhere—on
the science test her teacher had announced a few hours before. Marlena
always got high grades in school, but she still worried about tests.
She was worrying now as she went into the cereal aisle and absently
dropped a package of Sugar Os cereal into her cart even though no one
in her family ate cereal with sugar. As she approached the checkout
area, Marlena hoped the lines were not too long because she wanted to
get home and study before supper.
1
What inference can you make about
Marlena’s location?
4
A. She is in a supermarket.
F. “absently dropped a package of Sugar
Os cereal into her cart”
B. She is in a drug store.
G. “she went into the cereal aisle”
C. She is in a department store.
H. “she always got high grades”
D. She is on her way to school.
2
Which detail helps you infer that the
events take place on a weekday?
J. “She was worrying now”
5
F. “as she approached the checkout”
B. They eat a lot of red meat.
H. “her teacher had announced a few
hours before”
C. They don’t like oranges.
J. “get home and study before supper”
148
From the details in the passage, what
inference can you make about the
character of Marlena?
What do the details about Marlena’s
purchases suggest about her family?
A. They eat healthy food.
G. “wheeled her cart down the aisle”
3
Which detail helps you infer what type of
student Marlena is?
D. They pay little attention to costs.
6
From the details in the passage, what
inference can you make about the time of
day the events take place?
A. She is smart but lazy.
F. It is early morning.
B. She is foolish and impulsive.
G. It is late afternoon.
C. She is selfish and unkind.
H. It is noontime.
D. She is studious but absent-minded.
J. It is midnight.
Literary Analysis: Elements of the Novel
Read the following passage. Then answer the questions.
From the novel
Tuck Everlasting
by Natalie Babbitt
The sky was a ragged blaze of red and pink and orange, and its double
trembled on the surface of the pond like color spilled from a paintbox.
The sun was dropping fast now, a soft red sliding egg yolk, and already
to the east there was a darkening to purple. Winnie, newly brave with
her thoughts of being rescued, climbed into the rowboat. The hard
heels of her buttoned boots made a hollow banging sound against its
wet boards, loud in the warm and breathless quiet. Across the pond, a
bullfrog spoke a deep note of warning.
7
8
Which phrase from the passage indicates
foreshadowing?
9
What prediction can you make based on
the foreshadowing in the passage?
A. “newly brave”
A. Winnie will find danger.
B. “climbed into the rowboat”
B. Winnie will sleep in the boat.
C. “Across the pond”
C. Winnie will find a bullfrog.
D. “a deep note of warning”
D. Winnie will be rescued soon.
What is a flashback?
F. the sequence of events in a story
G. an interruption in a story that shows
what happened earlier
H. an unexpected outcome in a story that
is often humorous
J. a word or phrase that hints at what
will happen later in a story
10
Why might a writer use a flashback?
F. to help the reader picture the events
in the story
G. to provide background for the
character’s motives
H. to give a vivid description of the
setting
J. to confuse the reader
Timed Writing: Response to Literature
Directions Identify and analyze how the historical period in which
a specific story or novel is set influences how the characters behave.
Use details and information from the text to support your answer.
(20 minutes)
Monitoring Your Progress
149