Name: _____________________________
Date:____/____/____
Class Period: ______
“The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst
Annotation Activity
Instructions: Read the first two paragraphs from “The Scarlet Ibis” on the back and answer the questions below.
1.
a. Annotate: Underline the personification in the first sentence. Label it with a P.
b. Examine: Look at the footnote for the word clove.
c. Analyze: Based on the personification and the definition, what is the first line establishing about
the setting?
2.
a. Annotate: Highlight all of the words with negative connotations in yellow. Of those negative
words, circle all of the words associated with death or dying.
b. Examine: Look at the imagery in the passage.
c. Analyze: Based on the imagery, where is the narrator? How does the word choice contrast with
setting described?
3.
a. Annotate: Underline the simile in the first paragraph. Label it with a S.
b. Examine: Look at the word choice in the simile.
c. Analyze: Based on the simile and the word choice, make a prediction about what you think
might happen in this text?
4.
Read the following line: “the grindstone begins to turn, and time with all its changes is ground away.” The
grindstone is a symbol for time in the text. How are a grindstone and time similar to one another?
5.
What is the mood of these first two paragraphs? Explain what details made you choose this.
6.
What is the narrator’s tone in these first two paragraphs? What is he feeling? Explain what details
made you choose this.
Name: _____________________________
Date:____/____/____
Class Period: ______
It was in the clove 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 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 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.
GLOSSARY
clove: a separation or split
lit: became illuminated; to cause something to brighten, especially with joy, animation, or the like
bleeding tree: a type of pine from which white sap runs like blood when the bark is cut
rank: growing wildly and vigorously
untenanted: not leased to or occupied by a tenant; unoccupied
graveyard flowers: sweet-smelling gardenias, which, because they bloom year after year, are often planted in
cemeteries
grindstone: a rotating solid stone wheel used for sharpening, shaping, etc.; a millstone