Novel Companion Course 4 SB

Novel
Companion
Great Expectations A Midsummer
Charles Dickens Night’s Dream
William Shakespeare
. . . And the Earth Jane Eyre

Did Not Devour Him Charlotte Brontë
Tomás Rivera
The Yearling Animal Farm

Marjorie Kinnan George Orwell
Rawlings
Photo Credits
7 Bettmann/CORBIS; 11 John Springer Collection/CORBIS; 23 Bettmann/CORBIS;
47 Leonard de Selva/CORBIS; 75 79 119 135 Bettmann/CORBIS; 147 Richard Wear/
Design Pics/CORBIS; 163 CORBIS; 167 Stapleton Collection/CORBIS; 179 CORBIS;
231 CORBIS SYGMA; 247 Underwood & Underwood/CORBIS; 271 DigitalVision;
299 Digital Vision/PunchStock; 303 315 Bettmann/CORBIS.
Acknowledgments
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will be pleased to make suitable acknowledgments in future editions.
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ISBN: 978-0-07-889153-3
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Printed in the United States of America.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 047 14 13 12 11 10 09 08
TABLE OF CONTENTS
To Students, Parents, Guardians. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Interactive Reading Lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Note-Taking Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Note-Taking Lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Introduction to the Novel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Meet the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
CHAPTERS 1–10
Before You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Active Reading Graphic Organizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Interactive Reading: Literary Element. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Interactive Reading: Reading Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
On-Page Note-Taking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Cornell Note-Taking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
After You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
CHAPTERS 11–19
Before You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
After You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
CHAPTERS 20–31
Before You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
After You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTERS 32–45
Before You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
After You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
CHAPTERS 46–59
Before You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
After You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Work with Related Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Connect to Other Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Respond Through Writing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
. . . And the Earth Did Not Devour Him by Tomás Rivera . . . . . 75

Introduction to the Novel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Meet the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
FROM THE “LOST YEAR” TO “A SILVERY NIGHT”

Before You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
After You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
FROM “ONE AFTERNOON . . .” TO “A LITTLE BEFORE SIX . . .”

Before You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS

After You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
FROM “THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS” TO “UNDER THE HOUSE”

Before You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Active Reading Graphic Organizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Interactive Reading: Literary Element. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Interactive Reading: Reading Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
On-Page Note-Taking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Cornell Note-Taking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
After You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Work with Related Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Connect to Other Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Respond Through Writing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Introduction to the Novel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Meet the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
CHAPTERS 1–13
Before You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
After You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
CHAPTERS 14–22
Before You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
After You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTERS 23–33
Before You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
After You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare. . . . . . . . . 163

Introduction to the Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Meet the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
ACT 1
Before You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
After You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
ACT 2
Before You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
After You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACT 3
Before You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
After You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
ACT 4
Before You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
After You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
ACT 5
Before You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
After You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Meet the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
CHAPTERS 1–10
Before You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
After You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
CHAPTERS 11–20
Before You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
After You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
CHAPTERS 21–27
Before You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
After You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
CHAPTERS 28–35
Before You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
After You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
vi i i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTERS 36–38
Before You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
After You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Animal Farm by George Orwell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Meet the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
CHAPTERS 1–4
Before You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
After You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
CHAPTERS 5–7
Before You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
After You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTERS 8–10
Before You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
After You Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

x
TO STUDENT S, PARENTS, AND GUARDIANS
Welcome to the Novel Companion. This book is designed for you to write in.
It is interactive: The book prompts, and you respond. The Novel Companion
encourages, questions, provides space for notes, and invites you to jot down
your thoughts and ideas. You can use it to circle and underline words and
phrases you think are important, and to write questions that will guide
your reading.
The Novel Companion helps you develop skills for reading, analyzing, and
responding to novels, as well as to autobiographies and plays. These literary
works are drawn from Glencoe’s Literature Library. They include some of the
most notable works in literature. Many are award-winning modern works;
others are classics.
The Novel Companion is designed to follow the approach and themes in each
unit of your textbook, Glencoe Literature. The Novel Companion includes two
types of lessons:
• Note-Taking Lessons presents two methods of note-taking to help you

connect major themes in Glencoe Literature to the other novels and works
you will be reading. Using the book will help you learn these valuable note-
taking methods, so you can make effective notes whenever you study.
• Interactive Reading Lessons are lessons based on the sequential chapter

groupings in each novel. In this part of the book you’ll practice identifying
important ideas and themes, analyzing literary elements, applying reading
strategies, completing graphic organizers, and mastering vocabulary—all
skills that expert readers use to help them comprehend novels and other
long works of literature.
Note to Parents and Guardians: Ask your students to show you their work
periodically, and explain how it helps them study. You might want to talk
to them about how the skills they are learning cross over to other subjects.
To St u d e n t s , Pa re n t s , a n d Gu a r d ia n s 1
INTERACTIVE READING LESSONS
The notes and features in the interactive reading lessons will direct you through
the process of reading and making meaning from each set of chapters. As you
use these notes and features, you’ll be practicing and mastering the strategies
that good readers use whenever they read.
: Chapte rs 1–10
Get Set to Read BEFOR E YOU READ
NOVEL NOTEBOOK
to record
ture Keep a special notebook
Conne ct to the Litera that you read
After reading about the novel and the author, you Remember yourself as
a young child. What kinds
made you feel happy and
of people and situations
secure? frightened or insecure?
entries about the novels
this year.
WRITE THE CAPTION

Write a Journal Entry
will begin to read the novel. You will study it in
image below,
strong positive or negative Write a caption for the
or incident that made a from a film
Freewrite about a person you so affected? What which shows a scene
you were a child. Why were ns, using
impression on you when version of Great Expectatio
e? d.
feelings did you experienc information in Build Backgroun
groupings of chapters, or chapter sets, in the Novel Build Backg round

Comedy and Tragedy on of comedy and tragedy, BEFORE Y
Companion. Each chapter set begins with an activity Dickens described Great
and many critics agree with
encounters many characters
Expectations as a combinati
his assessment. Pip, the
who are humorous and
narrator of the novel,
often cartoon-like in their
in their unhappiness or
Set Pur pos
es for Rea ding
OU READ:
Chapters 1–
10
same time, they are tragic

quirks and foibles. At the the characters who live 왘 BIG Idea
to connect your personal experience to the literature. their lack of moral vision.
quietly moral lives, but who
world. Descriptions of Pip’s
There is also tragedy in
cannot earn respect
childhood show the
and
comic
make their way in the
and tragic nature of
affected deeply by the
Think about the
that you think
things had not
Matters of Life
important mome
of as life-changing
and Death
nts in your life.
? How might your
Are there any
specific events capricious [kə
Voca
SF_H
bular
ead y
Dickens, who himself was happened? life be different prish´əs]
the novel particularly well. to help readers understan
d if these
You will also read background material to provide

adj. unpredictab
of events in his own childhood, tries le; inconsistent
difficult turn difficult circumstances. In Great Expec Because he is
world of a child living under tations, Pip is now so predic
the sensitive, thoughtful are humorous and frightening and faced with many
new experiences it is hard to believ table,
certain people and situations many
of the major events that will change his life foreve
e that he was
Pip’s childish reactions to tragic aspects of , some that are such a capric
ious little boy.
however, look for the underlying that may have r. As you read,
endearing. As you read, an impact on make a list
context for the chapter set content.

Pip’s life. conciliatory
[kən sil ē ə toré̄]
Pip’s childhood. adj. intended
´
Literary Eleme to restore harmo
nt Point of or goodwill ny
The point of
View
view of a story After the match
is the relationship , the winner
This affects the the narrator has approached her
perspective from opponent with
which the story to the story. a conciliatory
is told. handshake.
If the narrator
is a character felicitous [fi
view. In third- in the story, the lis´ə təs]
person point story has a first-p
adj. happy
You’re invited to interact with the information in Build

point of view of view, the narrato erson point of
can be limite r is not a charac
one character’s d, meaning that ter. Third-person She always felt
perspective, or the narrat or tells the story that her birthd
ay
knowing. Some omniscient, mean from was the most
felicitous day
times the autho ing that the narrat the year. of
addressing the r uses the secon or is all
reader or a charac d-person point
of view,
Background by summarizing content or writing a

ter as “you.” incomprehensible
As you read, think [in´kom pri hen
about the point ´sə bəl]
beginning of the of view in the adj. incapable
story would be story. Ask yourse of being under
point of view. different if it had lf how the They arrived stood
been told from late because
a different the hand-
caption for an image related to the content.

written map
they had been
was incomprehen given
sible.
Reading Strate
gy Comp remonstranc
are and Contrast e [ri mon strəns]
When you comp Characters n. criticism ´
are and contr
characters are ast characters,
alike and how you tell how two When the perfor
characters can they are differe or more mance was a
be compared. nt. There are many complete failure
or minor charac The reader can ways that , the disappointed
ters, static or dynam decide if the charac audience frowne
ic, round or flat. ters are main d with
remonstrance.
You are then introduced to the targeted skills for the

Establishing how
characters are
different can helpChapters 1–10alike
11and
Great Expectat ions: the reader to
understand
which characters
are most impor
as what the variou tant, as
s characters’ motiva well Character
chapter set: the Big Idea, the literary element, and

might be, the tion Main
meaning of plot or Minor
the story’s theme events, and
2/5/08 6:39:02 PM
Why I Think
s.
This
9153.i11 11
As you read, keep
011-022_U1_Expectations_88 track of the charac
the reading strategy. You will also get vocabulary for

meet. Ask yourse ters you
lf whether each
a main or minor character is
character and
this. You may why you think
find it helpful
organizer like to use a graph
the one at the ic
organizer on the right. The graphic
the chapter set. you keep track

as you read.
next page can
of the characters
also help
you meet
12 N OV E L C O
M PA N I O N: Unit 1
011-022_U1_Expe
ctations_889153.i1
2 12
2/5/08 6:39:04
PM
Read, Respond, Interpret

Every lesson includes an active reading ACTIVE READING: Chapters 1–10
graphic organizer to fill in as you read. The first ten chapters of the novel introduce you to a
variety of characters who affect Pip’s life. As you read,
below. On the lines, explain the relationship between
Pip and each character. In the circles, describe how Pip
think about Pip’s relationships with these people and is affected by each.
This graphic organizer is related to either their effect on him. Make notes in the cluster diagram
the literary element or the reading Joe Mrs. Joe
strategy for the chapter set.
Interactive reading pages include text friend of

Mrs. Joe,
Convict Uncle
excerpts from the novels that emphasize
pompously
lement
ADING: Literar y E bosses and
INTERACTIVE RE Pip belittles Pip
Pumblechook
I N T E R Amakes
C T I VPip
ER 8
a literary element or a reading strategy.
E READIN
NOVEL EXCER PT: CHAPT feel bad G: Readi
ng Strate
little mug
Literary Element bread and meat and a gy
She came back, with some the yard, Reading Strat
Point of View How does
the narrator down on the stones of egy
of beer. She put the mug at me, as
d his and meat without looking Compare and
NO VEL EXC
Questions in the margin help you interact help the reader understan and gave me the bread Contrast
relationship with Estella? a dog in disgrace . I was so humiliated, Characters
What differ I had never
ERP T: CHA
PTE R 7
insolently as if I were sorry—I cannot hit upon
the Pip and Joe
can you infer
ence between heard Joe read
, offended , angry, from this this monosyl aloud to any
hurt, spurned was—that passa ge? lable, and I
God knows what its name when I accid had observed greater exte
right name for the smart— there, the girl enta at church last nt than
The moment they sprang seemed to suit lly held our Prayer-b
with highlighted portions of the text.
Sunday
tears started to my eyes. been the cause of his convenie ook upsi de down, that
delight in having right. Wish
ing to embrace nce quite as well as if
looked at me with a quick to look at her: it
to keep them back and whether in the present it had been
them. This gave me power t with a sense, I thought, teaching Joe,
I
occasion of
finding out
all
tuous toss—bu begi nning, I said shou ld
so, she gave a contemp was so wounded—and left me. , “Ah! But read have to begin quite at
sure that I “The the rest, Jo.” the
of having made too about me for a place to
rest, eh,
she was gone, I looked Estella -
Miss Havisham searching eye, Pip?” said Joe, looking
But, when in the brewery “One, two, at it with a
behind one of the gates Os, and thre three. Why slowly
hide my face in, and got and leaned e J-O, , here’s thre
against the wall there, I leaned over Joes in it, Pip!” e Js, and thre
lane, and leaned my sleeve the wall, and Joe, and, with e
cried. As I cried, I kicked him the who the aid of my
my forehead on it and feelings, and so le letter. forefinger,
hair; so bitter were my “Astonishin read
took a hard twist at my name that needed counteraction. scho
g!” said Joe,
a lar.” whe
sharp was the smart without made me sensitive. In the little n I had finis
hed. “You ARE
up had “Ho w a
My sister’s bringing ver brings do you spel
have their existence whosoe modest patr l Gargery, Joe?
world in which children so finely felt onage. ” I asked him
so finely perceived and “I don’t spel , with a
them up, there is nothing the child can be l it at all,” said
only small injustice that “But Joe.
as injustice. It may be is small, and its G r e a t E x p e c t a t i o n s : C h a p tesupp osin13
r s 1 – 10 g you did?”
is small, and its world “It can’t be
exposed to; but the child high, accordin g to scale, as reading, too.”
supposed,”
said Joe. “Tho
many hands
rocking-horse stands as myself, I had sustained, from ’ I’m oncomm
Within “Are on fond of
a big-boned Irish hunter. I had known, you, Joe?”
conflict with injustice. “Oncommon
babyhood, a perpetual
my 011-022_U1_Expectations_889153.i13 her capricious . Give
speak, that my sister, in
13 1/23/08 1:24:43 PM
newspaper, me,” said Joe,
from the time when I could cherished a and sit me “a good book
was unjust to me. I had better. Lord down afore , or a good
and violent coercion, hand gave her !” he cont a good fire,
her bringing me up by “when you inued, after and I ask no
profound conviction that do come to
a J and a O,
rubbing his
knees a little
by jerks. . . . is a J-O, Joe,’ ,
no right to bring me up kicking them how and says you
feelings for the time by I derived from interesting reading is!” , ‘Here, at last,
I got rid of my injured of my hair, and this last that
and twisting them out yet in its infa Joe’s education
into the brewery wall, behind ncy. Pursuing
d my face with my sleeve, and came from “Did n’t you ever go the subj ect,
, like steam,
was
then I smoothe the beer was to school, Joe, I inquired:
The bread and meat were acceptable, and me.
as me?”
whe
the gate. to look about n you were
and I was soon in spirits “No, Pip.” as little
warming and tingling, place, down to the pigeon-h
ouse
“Why didn
To be sure, it was a deserted on its pole ’t you ever
had been blown crooked little as me? go to school,
in the brewery-yard, which pigeons think ” Joe, when you
would have made the “Well, Pip,” were as
by some high wind, and any pigeons there to be him said Joe, takin
had been self g up
themselves at sea, if there dove-cot, no
to his usua
l occupation the poker, and
were no pigeons in the slowly raki when he was settling
rocked by it. But, there in the store- ng the fire
betw thoughtful,
pigs in the sty, no malt father, Pip,
he were give een the lower bars: “I’ll of
horses in the stable, no or the vat.
and beer in the copper with drink, n to drink,
and when he tell you. My
house, no smells of grains have evaporated he hammer
ed away at were overtook
of the brewery might It were a’mo my mother,
All the uses and scents , there was a wildern ess
myself. And
st the only
ham mos t onmerciful.
In a by-yard mering he
with its last reek of smoke. sour rememb rance of better equa
he hammer
ed at
did, indeed,
’xce
had a certain lled by the me with a wigo ptin g at
of empty casks, which anwil. You’re wigour with which he ur only to be
a-listening didn’t ham
“Yes, Joe.” and understa mer at his
nding, Pip?
“’Consequenc ”
ON: Unit 1
14 N OV E L C O M PA N I father, seve e, my mot
16 N OV E L
C O M PA N ral times; and her and me we ran awa
ION: Uni
t 1 then my mot y from my
her she’d go
2
1/23/08 1:24:44 PM out to work,
9153.i14 14
011-022_U1_Expectations_88 011-022_U1_Ex
pectations_889
153.i16 16
1/23/08 1:24:47
PM
INTERACTIVE READING LESSONS
Show What You Know AFTER YOU READ

: Chapte rs 1–10
APPLY BACKGROUND
Critica lly
Respo nd and Think the Novel on
After you read the chapters in the chapter set, you 1. Describe Mrs. Joe’s
treatment of Pip. In what
Joe different from his relationsh
ways is Pip’s relationsh
ip with his sister? [Compare
]
ip with Reread Introduction to
pages 8–9. How did that
help you understand
what you read in the
information
or appreciate
novel?
will answer questions about the content, including

how the background information helped you as you 2. After the convict is caught,
feel about his actions toward
what does he say to protect
the convict? What do these
Pip? How does Pip
feelings tell you
about Pip? [Conclude]

read.
AFT ER YO
? How does Pip feel after
he U REA D:
home of Miss Havisham Cha pte rs
1–1 0
You will then demonstrate what you learned from 3. Why is Pip sent to the
leaves, and why does he
decide to lie about his experienc
es there? [Interpret]
Literary Elem
Based on Pip’s
ent Poin
feelings for
t of View
toward him, Estella and Vocabulary
your interactive reading of the excerpts. You will also
how do you her response
play out? Expla think their relati Identify whet
Prac tice
in. [Analyze] onship will her the word
same or the s in each pair
opposite mean have the
ing.
1. capricious
practice using the vocabulary words you were is Pip a believable and stable
of Pip. In your opinion,
4. Evaluate Dickens’s portrayal in similar circumstances
in ways that a real child
character? Does he behave from the novel [Evaluate]
your opinion with evidence
might behave? Support 2. conciliato
ry and antagonist
introduced to and learn a new vocabulary word that

ic
3. felicitous
and happy
can be used in your academic writing. 5. Matters of Life and

Death Think about the
beginning of the novel.
How
literally and figuratively?
4. incompreh
ensible and
unexplainable
life upside down, both
does the convict turn Pip’s
[Interpret]
5. remonstra
nce and prais
e
In addition, you will complete a short writing Reading Strat

egy Compare and
Contrast
Academic
Vocabulary
Char
acters The death of
assignment and other activities related to what you How are Pip his parents
and Estella caused Pip was the circu
Explain. [Com alike? How to be living mstance that
pare] are they differ sentence, circu with his sister
ent? mstance mean . In the prece
determines s “a condition ding
Unit 1 another.” Think
20 NOVEL COMPAN ION: life. How does about a situa
that
read in the chapter set content. These activities will

this circumsta tion in your
of your life? nce affect other
parts
1–1 0 2/5/08 6:39:14 PM
Cha pte rs
U REA D:
9153.i20 20 AFT ER YO
draw on what you studied in your interactive work

011-022_U1_Expectations_88
ing
and Lis ten
Spe aki ng
Performance dramatic or
er, select a
on the excerpts from the chapters. Wr itin g

Personal Resp
most identify?
onse With
Why? Do you
which chara
cter do you
in
have something similar
that character?
Have you share
d
Assignment
humorous scen
of you find
With a partn
e from Grea
interesting and
t Expectatio
perform the
ns that both
scene for
common with the class. n.

hts or reactions? to each perso
thoug a character
ther, assign ss how
Prepare Toge scene. Discu
to present the any props
Then plan how the stage and
will move on dialogue you
your characters any additional
After you read the entire novel, you will work with you may need
may need for
few times until
. Cons ider
your characters
you feel ready
. Rehearse your
to perform
it.
scen e
.
a
ce to your class
related readings, connect the novel to an excerpt

perfo rman y
nt your k loudl
Perform Prese and to spea
your audience
Be sure to face nce to hear.
the entire audie
enough for Grea t Expe
ctati
with your ons: Chap
rmance, meet ters
from Glencoe Literature, and finally, write an essay

1–10
After your perfo ssful your performance 21
011-022_U1_Ex
pectations_889
Evaluate
153.i21 21 succe
ss how Use a chart
partner to discu been better.
it might have ’s ideas.
was and how d your group
below to recor
like the one
or story that draws upon what you learned by What worked

Needs
improvemen
t
2/5/08 6:39:15
PM
reading. • We got the

drama of the
• At times the
actors were
facing the
not
scene across. audience.

e
(The audienc
gasped.)
1
PAN ION: Unit
22 NOV EL COM 2/5/08 6:39:16
PM
153.i22 22
pectations_889
011-022_U1_Ex
CON NEC T
LITE RAT URE TO OTH ER
TO OTH ER LITE RAT URE
CON NEC T
RE SP ON
e D TH RO
s of the Gam UG
EXC ERP T: Rule
Compare the
RE AD IN GS novel you have Sh or t Sto H W RI
LA TED LITE RAT URE er slapped which is excerp just read with
ry TIN G
WI TH RE
the literature select
t that his moth ted from “Rules ion at the left,
WO RK disappointmen him out of the answer the quest of the Game”
in Glencoe Litera
the one who head and led ions below. ture. Then
TALK ABOUT ITApply
er Vincent was the side of his crowd for her Iron
y Dickens
My older broth had gone to gizing to the With a small use
groups, talk
situatio uses verb
chess set. We church hall, apolo bad manners he couldn’t about
nal how
ironyinto buil al irony to
ations
this selection situ add hum UNDERSTAN
actually got the at the First Com par e & and inatioGreat d tension
eat Expect
held had such n whe Expec
re som or to dial D THE TASK
coe’ s tmas party son who Con tras t the characters pers tationse
eon and surp
rise the read ogue. He also
• Irony is
ings in Glen the annual Chris the end of the a fine gift. haveon has an exp when som
Gr wing questions
refer to the
Related Read answers with
l. Support
your
t of Chinese Bapt
ist Church at
y ladie s had put toget
her appreciate such
As I peered into the
sack, I quickly
testing
1. Point of View
and Great Expec
How does the
first-person point
of view of this
they learn that
as they seem. Pre
realtation
expec
things are not
izes thes
s, but
always
e expecta
tions wer
ectation.
e not met
Write a sho
er. Think
rt story in
of a
thing but
a characte
means ano
eone says
ther or whe
one
follo this nove shee ionar nts, tations help to write
As you . which this r believes n
The on of a separate alley. The miss ted by members s
of prese selection discus
Brais,nsto
red the remaining what they contained. of each story? give you an under takerm happen one thin
Library editi answers on notes below. thes ideas abo but the opp g will
Literature Write your prov ided . of gifts dona finge standing of the e situ ations on ut times osite hap
the texts. on the lines a Santa bag had name imagining narrator when peo • A short
None of the gifts for boys a piece of pens.
details from n som e notes first n Lon don er chur ch. their weight, act one that was could hap
pen and paper. For ple have
expectation narrative
story is
a brief fictio
jot dow oria anoth separate sacks y, comp choose the then writ each situ nal
paper, but Clock’ in Vict them. Thertoe were
I chose a heav foil and a red satin situation e an alte ation you s. List in prose.
A short stor
‘Round the on silve r that you rnate pos listed, writ usually focu
wrapped in shiny Savers chosen the sibility. Loo e what ses on a y
George Aug
ustus Sala compare
Salagirls
byand of different ages. ers had a twelv e-pack of Life stopping)
situation
you want
think has
the best k at your
list and
and has
only a few
single even
t
on desc ribed ese paris hion ribbon. It was ging for about to ironic twis characte
Working Life How does the Lond Expectations? One of the Chin me and a stiff t the rest of the party arran order down on 10 minutes write about, free
write (wri
t. When you
have
rs.
describe of Great Claus costu and I spen in the paper. to get the te without
Sally Mitchell ctations and the London donned a Santa to it. I g the candy tubes ton chose basic eve
Great Expe cotton balls glued and rearrangin nts of that
acter from the economy
of
paper beard with ren who thought he was My brother Wins Draft For situation Grammar
Pick a char enced by child of my favorites. d out to iron
in your stor y to be effective,
Tip
how he or
she is influ think the only g to know that His present turne the y and then you have Dashes
were too youn wisely as well. ; structure provide an to build up
Victorian Engl
and. the real thing When my turn ate plastic parts your narr unexpected the reader’s Use dash
be a box of intric box proclaimed that
es to sho
Clau s was not Chinese. old one belo
w, which
ative and
organize reality. Kee expectations interruption w an
Santa me how the the events. p this
instructions on
, pause in
Santa man asked bled he help you shows an
example You can use in mind as you or a mom a thought,
came up, the question; I was properly assem make clea of a ent of dial
it was a trick when they were entic miniature
replica r the con
trast betw
situational
irony in Gre
chart like
the ogue.
I was. I thought rican form ula an auth een expe
ctations and at Expectations, to A dash can
to the Ame would have 2. Mood How
seven according dar. I said I II submarine. is the mood that reality in interruption
be used
to show
the Chinese calen of a World War d
set, which woul different from the mood Dickens
Tan creates in
this childhood your story. that is mad an
and eight by 17, 1951 . That seemed Vince nt got the chess get at creates for Pip’s memory Situation addition
al informa e to add
tions on1Marc
er 186
born
h if nt present to childhood memo What the “He had tion:
Great Expecta Mon thly,
was
Sept emb
He then solemnly asked have been a very dece , except it was ries? rea
is led to beli der keen, and
glittering
eyes—sm
w in Atlan
tic y him.
illustrate the
to satisf year party Pip has a eve
book revie r of Mag witch a very, very good girl this a church Christmas as we discovered later, benefactor. mottled
black—a all,
nd thin wide
im
t the characte I had the
ens “follows
beenmax
in Jesus Chris
t and obey
obviously used
and,
a white
Miss Hav lips.”
perf ield How migh that Dick did I s
belie
seek ve
‘the to that. pawn and isha
a benefac m is
Cop opinion ion, and
and answer a black
from David lar? reviewer’s ter of characte
rizat
ts. I knew the only it was missing graci ously thanked the tor. A dash can
also be used
simi t mas my paren nity. er
they
knight. My moth r, saying, “Too good.
ens where a
Charles Dick t ways are of the grea s evil’”? with equal solem ren line to show
Pip. In wha ness in thing I nodded back facto What rea interrupted of dialogue is
Compare
David and soul of good the other child unknown bene t, an old lady lly either by
Having watched knew that the .” At which poin ed toward happened speaker
or by the
another
gifts, I already . Cost too much nodd own thou speaker’
opening their the nicest ones e, wispy hair Abel Mag ghts: s
not necessarily book of with fine whit with a whistling
witc
is really Pip’s h “I live quit
big gifts were a large coloring family and said .” e pleasan
age got our tmas As you writ benefactor. least—” It tly there;
One girl my less greedy girl ry, merry Chris e, appeare at
cters, while a whisper, “Mer er told details (sig use concrete deta was losin d to
g a chance. me that I
biblical chara received a glass home, my moth . “She hts, sounds ils (who,
a smaller box When we got away thoughts , smells, what, whe
who selected sound of the chess set 3. Irony How does the mothe , and feel tastes, and n, and whe
toilet water. The ear old Vincent to throw want it,” she said, compare with r show irony in short stor ings. The
se should textures)
to describ
re) and sen
sory
vial of lavender ten-y not the irony Dicke this selection? y. connect e actions,
important. A not want it. We with a ns uses in Great How does this to the iron events,
the box was also jangled when
he stiffly to the side Expectations? Revise Che y you reve
en a box that tossing her head My brothers had deaf ck that you
al in you
r
boy had chos the world with . your sett
Plow a tin globe of tight, proud smile up the chess ing and cha have use
d
Freedom’s othe rs shook it. It was ey. He must have They were already lining appropriate racters. Mak concrete and sen
e sure that sory deta
Hughes stic, whil e ting mon ears. the dog- eared for the iron ils to des
Langston abou t life are reali d in a slit for inser of dime s and nickels, s and reading from
irony puts
the
ic situatio
n you hav
the mood
of your writ cribe
ctati ons ons expr esse
thought it was
full piece should refle character in a hap e written ing is
Some expe the expectati had just ten instruction book
. about. For
you think stic than Pip’s he saw that it ct this cha
nge.
pier situatio
n than was example,
are not. Do more reali because when undisguised expected, if the
poem are fell with such Edit and the moo
Hughes’s
Why or why
not? pennies, his face Proofread d
effectively Edit your
expectations? and writing so
and spelling is well organized. that it exp
resses you
errors. Carefully r thoughts
proofread
for grammar
, punctua
tion,
74 NO VEL
N: Unit 1 COM PAN
L COMP tion s 71
ANIO ION : Uni
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NOVE t 1
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I n t e ra c t i v e Re a d in g Le s s o n s 3
NOTE-TAKING SYSTEMS
You may dislike taking notes. Perhaps you don’t believe that notes are useful or
maybe you just haven’t been shown how to do an effective job of taking notes.
The Novel Companion will teach you two different systems of taking notes.
These systems will help you develop note-taking skills to use in school and for
the rest of your life. Research shows that students who take good notes
perform better on tests, and note-taking skills are crucial if you plan to attend
college. When you take notes, you become more actively engaged in what you
read by constantly looking for main ideas, supporting details, and key
relationships.
Note-Taking Lessons and BIG Ideas

The note-taking lessons in the Novel Companion are focused on helping you find
a connection between the main ideas of featured novels (or autobiographies or
plays) and the Big Ideas, or major themes, of the units in your textbook, Glencoe
Literature. By learning the note-taking skills presented in the Novel Companion,
you will be able to make such connections more readily and easily.
On-Page Note-Taking
College students routinely write on the pages of the books they are reading,
using the margins to jot down ideas and questions. If you are allowed to mark
up your text, you can write notes directly on the page. The On-Page Note-
Taking lessons prompt you to make connections to a Big Idea by marking up
an excerpt using a system of symbols.
4
NOTE-TAKING SYSTEMS
The Cornell Note-Taking System

The Novel Companion will also train you in the Cornell Note-Taking System,
which was developed at Cornell University to help students take more effective
notes. In this system, the page is divided into two columns, one wide and one
narrow. This format provides a way to organize your thinking. You’ll use the
Cornell Note-Taking System to take notes on excerpts from the novels and how
the excerpts relate to the Big Ideas. The following summarizes the steps of the
system:
Record First, you will record notes in the right (wide) column as you read.
Your notes may include summaries, bulleted lists, and graphic organizers.
Reduce Next, you will reduce, or condense, your notes into key words, phrases,
questions, and comments in the left (narrow) column. This step will help you clarify
meaning, find information within your notes, and trigger your memory when you
study.
Recap Finally, you will use the bottom portion of the page to recap, or
summarize, what you have learned from your notes. This step helps strengthen
your grasp of what you just read before you move on to the next section of text.
A Lifelong Skill
Once you become accustomed to using the note-taking skills taught in the
Novel Companion, you’ll be able to use these skills when you read other
literature, when you listen to a lecture in class, when you attend a meeting, or
even as you watch a film.
N o t e - Ta k in g Sy s t e m s 5
NOTE-TAKING LESSONS
Through the note-taking lessons presented in the Novel Companion, you’ll be

learning to record important information in your own words, to reduce it to
key words that will help you remember your notes, and to apply your notes as
you answer questions and read and write about the novels and other longer
works in the program.
ON-PAGE NOTE-TAKING: BIG Idea
MARK IT UP NOVEL EXCERPT: CHAPTER 1

Are you allowed to write in your novel?
If so, then mark up the pages as you The man, after looking at me for a moment, turned me
read, or reread, to help with your upside down, and emptied my pockets. There was nothing in
note-taking. Develop a shorthand them but a piece of bread. When the church came to itself . . . ,
system, including symbols, that works
I say, I was seated on a high tombstone, trembling, while he ate
for you. Here are some ideas:
the bread ravenously.
Underline = important idea
Read, Question, and Mark-Up

“You young dog,” said the man, licking his lips, “what fat
Bracket = text to quote
cheeks you ha’ got.”
Asterisk = just what you were looking I believe they were fat, though I was at that time undersized
for
for my years, and not strong.
Checkmark = might be useful
Not only will you be interacting with excerpts from

“Darn me if I couldn’t eat em,” said the man, with a
Circle = unfamiliar word or phrase to threatening shake of his head, “and if I han’t half a mind to’t!” . . .
look up
“Now lookee here!” said the man. “Where’s your mother?”
“There, sir!” said I.
the novels as you work with the literary elements and He started, made a short run, and stopped and looked over
his shoulder.
“There, sir!” I timidly explained. “Also Georgiana. That’s my
reading strategies assigned to a chapter set, but you mother.”
“Oh!” said he, coming back. “And is that your father alonger
your mother?”
will also be working with excerpts that relate to the “Yes, sir,” said I; “him too; late of this parish.”
“Ha!” he muttered then, considering. “Who d’ye live with—
supposin’ ye’re kindly let to live, which I han’t made up my
Big Idea assigned to each chapter set. 왘 BIG Idea

Matters of Life and Death When
mind about?”
“My sister, sir—Mrs. Joe Gargery—wife of Joe Gargery, the
blacksmith, sir.”
Pip meets the convict, his life takes a
“Blacksmith, eh?” said he. And looked down at his leg.
frightening turn. How does he manage
to save himself?
After darkly looking at his leg and me several times, he came
closer to my tombstone, took me by both arms, and tilted me back
You will take notes on the excerpt—right on the page. Mark up the excerpt, looking for
evidence of how it expresses the
Big Idea.
as far as he could hold me, so that his eyes looked most powerfully
down into mine, and mine looked most helplessly up into his.
“Now lookee here,” he said, “the question being whether
With practice, you will devise a short-hand system you’re to be let to live. You know what a file is?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And you know what wittles is?”
“Yes, sir.”
that works for you. In the meantime, you can use the After each question he tilted me over a little more, so as to
give me a greater sense of helplessness and danger.
“You get me a file.” He tilted me again. “And you get me
suggested on-page mark-up system. wittles.” He tilted me again. “You bring ’em both to me.” He
tilted me again. “Or I’ll have your heart and liver out.” He tilted
me again.
I was dreadfully frightened, and so giddy that I clung to him
with both hands, and said, “If you would kindly please to let me
keep upright, sir, perhaps I shouldn’t be sick, and perhaps
I could attend more.”
Record, Reduce, and Recap 18 N OVEL CO MPAN IO N : U nit 1
You will also learn the Cornell Note-Taking System, 011-022_U1_Expectations_889153.i18 18 2/5/08 6:39:12 PM
described on the previous page. Here you will

take notes on the excerpt you marked up on the
On-Page Note-Taking page. CORNELL NOTE-TAKING: BIG Idea
Use the Cornell Note-Taking system to take notes on the excerpt at the left. Reduce
Record your notes, Reduce them, and then Recap (summarize) them.
Try the following approach as you
reduce your notes.
Record
MY VIEW
Write down your thoughts on the
excerpt.
Recap
G reat Expectations: Chapter s 1–10 19
011-022_U1_Expectations_889153.i19 19 1/23/08 1:24:51 PM
6
Great
Expectations
Charles Dickens
7
INTRODUCTI ON TO THE NOVEL
Great Expectations
Charles Dickens
character and narrator, Philip Pirrip (Pip), learns
“ I deliberated with an aching heart
whether I would not get down when we
more about himself by learning more about the
complex social web in which he is enmeshed.
changed horses and walk back, and have
Class Divisions Pip’s society is a
another evening at home, and a better complicated one indeed. The Industrial
parting. We changed, and I had not made Revolution of the late 1700s and early 1800s
up my mind. . . . We changed again, and helped England to become an especially
powerful and prosperous country. During
yet again, and it was now too late and too the Victorian Age (named after Queen
far to go back, and I went on. And the Victoria, who reigned from 1832 to 1901),
mists had all solemnly risen now, and the the British Empire included countries on
every continent. English society as a whole
world lay spread before me. ” benefited from advances and innovations
—Pip, Chapter 19 in technology and science. Not everyone
shared in the nation’s wealth, however, and
These words reveal the thoughts of one British society, which had always been class
of Dickens’s most famous characters as conscious, became even more sharply
he starts a new life with great expectations divided along class lines.
as well as doubts. Great Expectations was
Dickens’s thirteenth novel, and he wrote it In Great Expectations, as in his other novels,
when he was at the height of his success as a Dickens dramatizes the moral struggles and
novelist. It traces the life and experiences of faults of the age. Bert Hornback, the author
Philip Pirrip, or Pip, as he comes of age in of a book about this Dickens classic, has
the early- to mid-nineteenth century. called it “a brilliantly conceived attack on
the vices that most threaten human society:
New Expectations In Great Expectations, selfishness and greed.” Dickens implies that
Pip tells his own story as an adult looking a society fascinated by wealth and power is
back on his younger years. When the novel too far removed from basic moral values.
begins, Pip is a poor orphan who seems The characters that he holds up as examples
destined to become a blacksmith like his of moral behavior are hardworking, simple,
brother-in-law and live out his life in the and compassionate.
marsh area of Kent, England. An unexpected
chain of events, however, thrusts him into a The Serial Novel While reading Dickens, it
completely different world and way of life. is useful to keep in mind that all his novels
Over time, Pip’s new life becomes much were published serially, or in weekly or
more complicated than he imagined it would monthly installments in magazines. To
be, and he is forced to reevaluate his values keep the reader coming back for more,
and the values of the society in which he Dickens ended each installment with a
finds himself. Critic Harold Bloom says: “cliffhanger.” The chapters were then
published in book form after the serial
Great Expectations is carefully organized was completed. Although some novels
so that at each new turn of events the main had been published in installments before
8 NOVEL C OMPANION: Unit 1

INTRODUCTION TO T H E NOVEL
Dickens’s time, he set the standard for reflects Dickens’s world view. According
serials in nineteenth-century Britain with to writer Paul Pickrel, the plot:
his first novel, The Pickwick Papers (1837).
holds the reader’s interest; it is full of surprises
The serial form allowed Dickens to introduce and odd turns; its complexities all come out
a large number of characters and develop neatly in the end. But more than that, it is a
the reader’s familiarity with them. It also symbolic representation of Dickens’s vision of the
allowed the author to respond to the likes moral universe . . . that good and evil, what we
and dislikes of his readers as he was writing most desire and what we most loathe, are . . .
the novel. People would write to Dickens or intertwined. . . .
to the magazine in which the installments
were published and give him their opinions. The story begins in the early 1800s, in the
marsh area of Kent, England. Dickens was
The Author’s Vision Although his novel familiar with this area, because he lived
David Copperfield, published in 1850, was there as a child. Later in the novel, when Pip
more autobiographical, Dickens drew on enters young adulthood, the scene shifts to
some of his own childhood perceptions busy, industrial London. The novel shifts
of the world in his portrayal of Pip. The back and forth between these two locations
character of Pip was shaped by many of as events unfold. As you read the novel,
the personal details of Dickens’s youth and think about the values that the people in
young-adulthood, and Great Expectations each setting hold.
A Changing Economy
The Industrial Revolution began in the Industrial Revolution, it created today’s standards, very poor.
England in the late 1700s, when many social problems. Cities Through his writings, Dickens
the invention of machines for grew too large too quickly, and drew attention to social and
weaving gave rise to a factory overcrowding created filth and political problems in his country.
system. The emergence of factories disease. Workers were often Critic Bert Hornback writes that
changed the economy of England exploited and forced to work long although the wealthy:
from one that was based on hours for little pay. Even young
agriculture to one that was based children worked long hours under seemed to care absolutely nothing
on manufactured goods. Because dangerous conditions in factories for the lives of the “hands” whom
of this shift, thousands of people and mines. Reform acts addressing they employed, the nation still had
left rural areas to take jobs in the concerns of working people a conscience—and it responded to
industrial cities. were not passed until the early voices like Dickens’s.
1800s. Although the acts provided
Despite the prosperity and modern workers with some protections,
conveniences that resulted from working conditions were still, by
G r e a t E x p e c t a t io n s 9
MEET TH E AUTHOR
Charles Dickens (1812–1870)
“created
If Columbus found a new world, Dickens
one—and peopled it with men
second child and eldest son of eight children.
Dickens’s father, who worked as a clerk in
the Navy Pay Office, was a spendthrift who
and women.” often mismanaged the family money. In 1822
—Arthur Quiller-Couch, Dickens’s the family moved to London and soon
found itself in financial crisis. The family
Fellowship Dinner, 1931
was forced to live in poverty, and Dickens
Charles Dickens is one of the most successful was no longer able to go to school.
and inventive English novelists of all time.
Dickens wrote over 5 million words and Dealing with Class Issues One of the
created over 2,000 characters. His writing is most traumatic periods of his life began in
rich with humor, drama, and satire, and his February 1824, when his father was sent to
characters are some of the most well known debtors prison. Young Dickens, only twelve
in the history of literature. Dickens created years old, was forced to go to work for
eccentric, or odd, characters, often from the several months pasting labels on bottles.
lower economic classes of nineteenth-century This experience was socially humiliating to
England. These characters and their worlds him. Images of the factory haunted him for
delighted and moved readers and helped to the rest of his life and provided a backdrop
make Dickens the most popular writer of his to much of his fiction, which often focused
time. According to critic G.K. Chesterton: on class issues; the plight of the poor and
oppressed; and lost, suffering children. As
His books are full of baffled villains stalking out an adult, he championed social and political
or cowardly bullies kicked downstairs. But the causes designed to help the poor, prisoners,
villains and the cowards are such delightful and children.
people that the reader always hopes the villain
will put his head through a side window and Dickens became a reporter in 1832, and
make a last remark; or that the bully will say one in 1833 he began publishing short stories
more thing, even from the bottom of the stairs. and essays. In 1836 he married Catherine
Hogarth. The couple had ten children, but
Humble Beginnings In addition to writing their unhappy marriage ended in 1858.
short stories and novels, Dickens wrote
essays and journalistic pieces, and edited Dickens’s successful career as a novelist
a weekly periodical filled with fiction, began in 1837 with the publication of The
poetry, and essays. First titled Household Pickwick Papers. Other novels include A
Words, the magazine was later retitled Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, and David
All the Year Round. Dickens contributed to Copperfield. He made readers laugh, cry,
this publication several serialized novels, and confront social evils and institutions
including Great Expectations, and writings of his day. On his death in 1870, a London
on political and social issues. Times article praised Dickens for displaying
“an extraordinary combination of intellectual
Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in and moral qualities.”
Landport, Portsea, England. He was the
10 NOVEL COMPANION: Unit 1

BEFORE YOU READ: Chapters 1–10
Connect to the Literature NOVEL NOTEBOOK

Keep a special notebook to record
Remember yourself as a young child. What kinds of people and situations entries about the novels that you read
made you feel happy and secure? frightened or insecure? this year.

WRITE THE CAPTION
Freewrite about a person or incident that made a strong positive or negative
Write a caption for the image below,
impression on you when you were a child. Why were you so affected? What
which shows a scene from a film
feelings did you experience? version of Great Expectations, using
information in Build Background.
Build Background
Comedy and Tragedy
Dickens described Great Expectations as a combination of comedy and tragedy,
and many critics agree with his assessment. Pip, the narrator of the novel,
encounters many characters who are humorous and often cartoon-like in their
quirks and foibles. At the same time, they are tragic in their unhappiness or
their lack of moral vision. There is also tragedy in the characters who live
quietly moral lives, but who cannot earn respect and make their way in the
world. Descriptions of Pip’s childhood show the comic and tragic nature of
the novel particularly well. Dickens, who himself was affected deeply by the
difficult turn of events in his own childhood, tries to help readers understand
the sensitive, thoughtful world of a child living under difficult circumstances.
Pip’s childish reactions to certain people and situations are humorous and
endearing. As you read, however, look for the underlying tragic aspects of
Pip’s childhood.
G re a t E x p e c t a t i on s : C h a p te r s 1 – 10 11
Set Purposes for Reading Vocabulary

SF_Head
왘 BIG Idea Matters of Life and Death
capricious [kə prish´əs]
Think about the important moments in your life. Are there any specific events
adj. unpredictable; inconsistent
that you think of as life-changing? How might your life be different if these
Because he is now so predictable,
things had not happened?
it is hard to believe that he was
such a capricious little boy.
In Great Expectations, Pip is faced with many new experiences, some that are
frightening and many that will change his life forever. As you read, make a list conciliatory [kən silé̄ ə toré̄]
of the major events that may have an impact on Pip’s life. adj. intended to restore harmony
or goodwill
After the match, the winner
Literary Element Point of View approached her opponent with
a conciliatory handshake.
The point of view of a story is the relationship the narrator has to the story.
This affects the perspective from which the story is told. felicitous [fi lis´ə təs]
adj. happy
If the narrator is a character in the story, the story has a first-person point of She always felt that her birthday
view. In third-person point of view, the narrator is not a character. Third-person was the most felicitous day of
point of view can be limited, meaning that the narrator tells the story from the year.
one character’s perspective, or omniscient, meaning that the narrator is all
knowing. Sometimes the author uses the second-person point of view, incomprehensible
[in´kom pri hen´sə bəl]
addressing the reader or a character as “you.”
adj. incapable of being understood
As you read, think about the point of view in the story. Ask yourself how the They arrived late because the hand-
beginning of the story would be different if it had been told from a different written map they had been given
was incomprehensible.
point of view.
remonstrance [ri mon´strəns]
n. criticism
Reading Strategy Compare and Contrast Characters When the performance was a
When you compare and contrast characters, you tell how two or more complete failure, the disappointed
characters are alike and how they are different. There are many ways that audience frowned with
characters can be compared. The reader can decide if the characters are main remonstrance.
or minor characters, static or dynamic, round or flat.
Establishing how characters are alike and

different can help the reader to understand
which characters are most important, as well Character Main or Minor Why I Think
as what the various characters’ motivation This
might be, the meaning of plot events, and
the story’s themes.
As you read, keep track of the characters you

meet. Ask yourself whether each character is
a main or minor character and why you think
this. You may find it helpful to use a graphic
organizer like the one at the right. The graphic
organizer on the next page can also help
you keep track of the characters you meet
as you read.

A CT IVE READING: Chapters 1–10
The first ten chapters of the novel introduce you to a below. On the lines, explain the relationship between
variety of characters who affect Pip’s life. As you read, Pip and each character. In the circles, describe how Pip
think about Pip’s relationships with these people and is affected by each.
their effect on him. Make notes in the cluster diagram
Joe Mrs. Joe
friend of
Mrs. Joe,
Convict pompously Uncle
Pip bosses and Pumblechook
belittles Pip
makes Pip
feel bad
Estella Miss Havisham
G re a t Ex pe c t a t i o n s : C h a p te r s 1 – 10 13
INTERACTIVE READING: Literar y Element
Literary Element NOVEL EXCERPT: CHAPTER 8

Point of View How does the narrator She came back, with some bread and meat and a little mug
help the reader understand his of beer. She put the mug down on the stones of the yard,
relationship with Estella? and gave me the bread and meat without looking at me, as
insolently as if I were a dog in disgrace. I was so humiliated,
hurt, spurned, offended, angry, sorry—I cannot hit upon the
right name for the smart—God knows what its name was—that
tears started to my eyes. The moment they sprang there, the girl
looked at me with a quick delight in having been the cause of
them. This gave me power to keep them back and to look at her:
so, she gave a contemptuous toss—but with a sense, I thought,
of having made too sure that I was so wounded—and left me.
But, when she was gone, I looked about me for a place to
hide my face in, and got behind one of the gates in the brewery-
lane, and leaned my sleeve against the wall there, and leaned
my forehead on it and cried. As I cried, I kicked the wall, and
took a hard twist at my hair; so bitter were my feelings, and so
sharp was the smart without a name that needed counteraction.
My sister’s bringing up had made me sensitive. In the little
world in which children have their existence whosoever brings
them up, there is nothing so finely perceived and so finely felt
as injustice. It may be only small injustice that the child can be
exposed to; but the child is small, and its world is small, and its
rocking-horse stands as many hands high, according to scale, as
a big-boned Irish hunter. Within myself, I had sustained, from
my babyhood, a perpetual conflict with injustice. I had known,
from the time when I could speak, that my sister, in her capricious
and violent coercion, was unjust to me. I had cherished a
profound conviction that her bringing me up by hand gave her
no right to bring me up by jerks. . . .
I got rid of my injured feelings for the time by kicking them
into the brewery wall, and twisting them out of my hair, and
then I smoothed my face with my sleeve, and came from behind
the gate. The bread and meat were acceptable, and the beer was
warming and tingling, and I was soon in spirits to look about me.
To be sure, it was a deserted place, down to the pigeon-house
in the brewery-yard, which had been blown crooked on its pole
by some high wind, and would have made the pigeons think
themselves at sea, if there had been any pigeons there to be
rocked by it. But, there were no pigeons in the dove-cot, no
horses in the stable, no pigs in the sty, no malt in the store-
house, no smells of grains and beer in the copper or the vat.
All the uses and scents of the brewery might have evaporated
with its last reek of smoke. In a by-yard, there was a wilderness
of empty casks, which had a certain sour remembrance of better

INTERA CT IVE READING: Literar y Element
days lingering about them; but it was too sour to be accepted Literary Element
as a sample of the beer that was gone—and in this respect I
remember those recluses as being like most others. Point of View How does the first-
person point of view help the reader
Behind the furthest end of the brewery, was a rank garden
understand Pip’s character?
with an old wall: not so high but that I could struggle up and
hold on long enough to look over it, and see that the rank
garden was the garden of the house, and that it was overgrown
with tangled weeds, but that there was a track upon the green
and yellow paths, as if some one sometimes walked there, and
that Estella was walking away from me even then. But she
seemed to be everywhere. For, when I yielded to the temptation
presented by the casks, and began to walk on them, I saw her
walking on them at the end of the yard of casks. She had her
back towards me, and held her pretty brown hair spread out in
her two hands, and never looked round, and passed out of my
view directly. So, in the brewery itself—by which I mean the
large paved lofty place in which they used to make the beer,
and where the brewing utensils still were. When I first went
into it, and, rather oppressed by its gloom, stood near the door
looking about me, I saw her pass among the extinguished fires,
and ascend some light iron stairs, and go out by a gallery high
overhead, as if she were going out into the sky.
It was in this place, and at this moment, that a strange thing
happened to my fancy. I thought it a strange thing then, and I
thought it a stranger thing long afterwards. I turned my eyes—
a little dimmed by looking up at the frosty light—towards a
great wooden beam in a low nook of the building near me on
my right hand, and I saw a figure hanging there by the neck.
A figure all in yellow white, with but one shoe to the feet; and it
hung so, that I could see that the faded trimmings of the dress
were like earthy paper, and that the face was Miss Havisham’s,
with a movement going over the whole countenance as if she
were trying to call to me. In the terror of seeing the figure,
and in the terror of being certain that it had not been there a
moment before, I at first ran from it, and then ran towards it.
And my terror was greatest of all when I found no figure there.
Nothing less than the frosty light of the cheerful sky, the
sight of people passing beyond the bars of the court-yard gate,
and the reviving influence of the rest of the bread and meat
and beer could have brought me round. Even with those aids,
I might not have come to myself as soon as I did, but that I saw
Estella approaching with the keys, to let me out. She would
have some fair reason for looking down upon me, I thought,
if she saw me frightened; and she should have no fair reason.
INTERACTIVE READING: Reading Strategy
Reading Strategy NOVEL EXCERPT: CHAPTER 7

Compare and Contrast I had never heard Joe read aloud to any greater extent than
Characters What difference between this monosyllable, and I had observed at church last Sunday
Pip and Joe can you infer from this when I accidentally held our Prayer-book upside down, that it
passage? seemed to suit his convenience quite as well as if it had been all
right. Wishing to embrace the present occasion of finding out
whether in teaching Joe, I should have to begin quite at the
beginning, I said, “Ah! But read the rest, Jo.”
“The rest, eh, Pip?” said Joe, looking at it with a slowly
searching eye, “One, two, three. Why, here’s three Js, and three
Os, and three J-O, Joes in it, Pip!”
I leaned over Joe, and, with the aid of my forefinger, read
him the whole letter.
“Astonishing!” said Joe, when I had finished. “You ARE a
scholar.”
“How do you spell Gargery, Joe?” I asked him, with a
modest patronage.
“I don’t spell it at all,” said Joe.
“But supposing you did?”
“It can’t be supposed,” said Joe. “Tho’ I’m oncommon fond of
reading, too.”
“Are you, Joe?”
“Oncommon. Give me,” said Joe, “a good book, or a good
newspaper, and sit me down afore a good fire, and I ask no
better. Lord!” he continued, after rubbing his knees a little,
“when you do come to a J and a O, and says you, ‘Here, at last,
is a J-O, Joe,’ how interesting reading is!”
I derived from this last that Joe’s education, like steam, was
yet in its infancy. Pursuing the subject, I inquired:
“Didn’t you ever go to school, Joe, when you were as little
as me?”
“No, Pip.”
“Why didn’t you ever go to school, Joe, when you were as
little as me?”
“Well, Pip,” said Joe, taking up the poker, and settling
himself to his usual occupation when he was thoughtful, of
slowly raking the fire between the lower bars: “I’ll tell you. My
father, Pip, he were given to drink, and when he were overtook
with drink, he hammered away at my mother, most onmerciful.
It were a’most the only hammering he did, indeed, ’xcepting at
myself. And he hammered at me with a wigour only to be
equalled by the wigour with which he didn’t hammer at his
anwil. You’re a-listening and understanding, Pip?”
“Yes, Joe.”
“’Consequence, my mother and me we ran away from my
father, several times; and then my mother she’d go out to work,
INTERA CT IVE READING: Reading Strategy
and she’d say, ‘Joe,’ she’d say, ‘now, please God, you shall have Reading Strategy
some schooling, child,’ and she’d put me to school. But my
father were that good in his hart that he couldn’t a-bear to be Compare and Contrast
Characters What differences of
without us. So, he’d come with a most tremenjous crowd and
opinion between the narrator and
make such a row at the doors of the houses where we was, that Joe does the narrator point out?
they used to be obligated to have no more to do with us and to
give us up to him. And then he took us home and hammered us.
Which, you see, Pip,” said Joe, pausing in his meditative raking
of the fire, and looking at me, “were a drawback on my learning.”
“Certainly, poor Joe!”
“Though mind you, Pip,” said Joe, with a judicial touch or
two of the poker on the top bar, “rendering unto all their doo,
and maintaining equal justice betwixt man and man, my father
were that good in his hart, don’t you see?”
I didn’t see; but I didn’t say so.
“Well!” Joe pursued, “somebody must keep the pot a-biling,
Pip, or the pot won’t bile, don’t you know?”
I saw that, and said so. . . .
Joe recited this couplet with such manifest pride and careful
perspicuity that I asked him if he had made it himself.
“I made it,” said Joe, “my own self. I made it in a moment.
It was like striking out a horseshoe complete, in a single blow.
I never was so much surprised in all my life—couldn’t credit my
own ’ed—to tell you the truth, hardly believed it were my own
’ed. As I was saying, Pip, it were my intentions to have had it
cut over him; but poetry costs money, cut it how you will, small
or large, and it were not done. Not to mention bearers, all the
money that could be spared were wanted for my mother. She
were in poor ’elth, and quite broke. She waren’t long of
following, poor soul, and her share of peace come round at last.”
Joe’s blue eyes turned a little watery; he rubbed, first
one of them, and then the other, in a most uncongenial and
uncomfortable manner, with the round knob on the top of
the poker.
“It were but lonesome then,” said Joe, “living here alone, and
I got acquainted with your sister. Now, Pip”—Joe looked firmly
at me, as if he knew I was not going to agree with him—“your
sister is a fine figure of a woman.”
I could not help looking at the fire, in an obvious state of
doubt.
“Whatever family opinions, or whatever the world’s
opinions, on that subject may be, Pip, your sister is”—Joe
tapped the top bar with the poker after every word following—
“a—fine—figure—of—a—woman!”
I could think of nothing better to say than “I am glad you
think so, Joe.”
ON-PA GE NOTE-TAKING: BIG Idea

If so, then mark up the pages as you The man, after looking at me for a moment, turned me
read, or reread, to help with your upside down, and emptied my pockets. There was nothing in
note-taking. Develop a shorthand them but a piece of bread. When the church came to itself . . . ,
I say, I was seated on a high tombstone, trembling, while he ate
the bread ravenously.
“You young dog,” said the man, licking his lips, “what fat
cheeks you ha’ got.”
Asterisk = just what you were looking I believe they were fat, though I was at that time undersized
for
for my years, and not strong.
“Darn me if I couldn’t eat em,” said the man, with a
Circle = unfamiliar word or phrase to threatening shake of his head, “and if I han’t half a mind to’t!” . . .
look up
“Now lookee here!” said the man. “Where’s your mother?”
“There, sir!” said I.
He started, made a short run, and stopped and looked over
his shoulder.
“There, sir!” I timidly explained. “Also Georgiana. That’s my
mother.”
“Oh!” said he, coming back. “And is that your father alonger
your mother?”
“Yes, sir,” said I; “him too; late of this parish.”
“Ha!” he muttered then, considering. “Who d’ye live with—
supposin’ ye’re kindly let to live, which I han’t made up my
mind about?”
왘 BIG Idea “My sister, sir—Mrs. Joe Gargery—wife of Joe Gargery, the
Matters of Life and Death When blacksmith, sir.”
Pip meets the convict, his life takes a
“Blacksmith, eh?” said he. And looked down at his leg.
frightening turn. How does he manage
to save himself?
After darkly looking at his leg and me several times, he came
closer to my tombstone, took me by both arms, and tilted me back
Mark up the excerpt, looking for as far as he could hold me, so that his eyes looked most powerfully
evidence of how it expresses the down into mine, and mine looked most helplessly up into his.
Big Idea. “Now lookee here,” he said, “the question being whether
you’re to be let to live. You know what a file is?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And you know what wittles is?”
“Yes, sir.”
After each question he tilted me over a little more, so as to
give me a greater sense of helplessness and danger.
“You get me a file.” He tilted me again. “And you get me
wittles.” He tilted me again. “You bring ’em both to me.” He
tilted me again. “Or I’ll have your heart and liver out.” He tilted
me again.
I was dreadfully frightened, and so giddy that I clung to him
with both hands, and said, “If you would kindly please to let me
keep upright, sir, perhaps I shouldn’t be sick, and perhaps
I could attend more.”
CORNELL NOTE-TAKING: BIG Idea
reduce your notes.
Record
MY VIEW
excerpt.
Recap
AFTER YOU READ: Chapters 1–10
Respond and Think Critically APPLY BACKGROUND

1. Describe Mrs. Joe’s treatment of Pip. In what ways is Pip’s relationship with Reread Introduction to the Novel on
Joe different from his relationship with his sister? [Compare] pages 8–9. How did that information
help you understand or appreciate
what you read in the novel?
2. After the convict is caught, what does he say to protect Pip? How does Pip
feel about his actions toward the convict? What do these feelings tell you
about Pip? [Conclude]
3. Why is Pip sent to the home of Miss Havisham? How does Pip feel after he
leaves, and why does he decide to lie about his experiences there? [Interpret]
4. Evaluate Dickens’s portrayal of Pip. In your opinion, is Pip a believable

character? Does he behave in ways that a real child in similar circumstances
might behave? Support your opinion with evidence from the novel [Evaluate]
5. Matters of Life and Death Think about the beginning of the novel. How
does the convict turn Pip’s life upside down, both literally and figuratively?
[Interpret]

Literary Element Point of View Vocabulary Practice

Based on Pip’s feelings for Estella and her response Identify whether the words in each pair have the
toward him, how do you think their relationship will same or the opposite meaning.
play out? Explain. [Analyze]
1. capricious and stable
2. conciliatory and antagonistic
3. felicitous and happy
4. incomprehensible and unexplainable
5. remonstrance and praise
Academic Vocabulary
Compare and Contrast The death of his parents was the circumstance that
Reading Strategy
Characters caused Pip to be living with his sister. In the preceding
sentence, circumstance means “a condition that
How are Pip and Estella alike? How are they different? determines another.” Think about a situation in your
Explain. [Compare] life. How does this circumstance affect other parts
of your life?
Writing Speaking and Listening

Personal Response With which character do you Performance
most identify? Why? Do you have something in Assignment With a partner, select a dramatic or
common with that character? Have you shared similar humorous scene from Great Expectations that both
thoughts or reactions? of you find interesting and perform the scene for
the class.
Prepare Together, assign a character to each person.

Then plan how to present the scene. Discuss how
your characters will move on the stage and any props
you may need. Consider any additional dialogue you
may need for your characters. Rehearse your scene a
few times until you feel ready to perform it.
Perform Present your performance to your class.

Be sure to face your audience and to speak loudly
enough for the entire audience to hear.
Evaluate After your performance, meet with your

partner to discuss how successful your performance
was and how it might have been better. Use a chart
like the one below to record your group’s ideas.
What worked Needs

improvement
• We got the • At times the

drama of the actors were not
scene across. facing the
(The audience audience.
gasped.)


If you could sample a life completely different from your own, what kind of life entries about the novels that you read
would you choose? Why? this year.
Write a Paragraph
WRITE THE CAPTION
Write about a life you have always wanted to experience. In what way is this
Write a caption for the image below, in
life different from your own? Why does it interest you?
the present tense, using information in
Build Background.
Build Background
Becoming an Apprentice
Pip is to be an apprentice to Joe, which means he will work under his
supervision for a specified amount of time in order to learn Joe’s trade. In
doing this, Pip will sign an indenture, which is a type of binding contract. In
this period in history, it was common for someone as young as Pip, who is
approaching fourteen, to be indentured as an apprentice. In fact, many poor
families were forced to indenture their children as a means of support for the
family. In Pip’s case, the working relationship is an extension of the close
partnership he and Joe have already been enjoying.
G re a t E x p e c t a t i ons: C h a p te r s 11 – 19 23

왘 BIG Idea Dreams and Reality
clemency [klem´ ən sē]
Everyone has dreams. You may have dreams of running your own business or n. mercy; forgiveness
being a movie star. Some dreams are more realistic than others. What are The convicted criminal begged the
some of your dreams? judge for clemency.
In Great Expectations, Pip has many dreams. As you read, list Pip’s dreams disconcerted [dis´kən surt´əd]
and tell whether you think his dreams are realistic or unrealistic and why. adj. confused
For weeks she had felt disconcerted
by the clanging coming from the
brand new pipes.
Literary Element Conflict
Conflict is the struggle between opposing forces in a story or drama. The manifest [man´ə fest´]
v. to display
conflict is what drives the plot, moving the story to its end when the conflict
is resolved. His talent for the arts did not
manifest itself until quite late in
his life.
If a character is struggling against outside forces, he or she is facing external
conflict. A character’s struggle against opposing forces in the mind, such as ostentatiously [os´tən t ā´shəs lē]
his or her emotions or goals is internal conflict. adv. in a showy or gaudy manner
The socialite entered the room
As you read, think about the conflict in the story. Ask yourself how Dickens ostentatiously waving her bejeweled
begins to make clear Pip’s internal and external conflicts. Use the graphic hand.
organizer on the next page to help you think about these conflicts. trepidation [trep´ə dā´shən]
n. uneasiness
Because he was fearful of water,
Reading Strategy Make and Verify Predictions About Plot he entered the lake with great
Plot is the sequence of events in a narrative work. In the first stage of the trepidation.
plot, the conflicts are introduced. Next the rising action builds suspense,
leading to the climax, or turning point. Finally there is a falling action,
or resolution.
My What
When you make and verify predictions about plot, you anticipate what Predictions Actually
will happen next in the story and then think back to your predictions as you Happened
read to determine whether you were correct. Making and verifying predictions
as you read will bring you closer to the plot of the story.
As you read, keep track of any predictions you make about the characters and
actions in the story. Then think about what actually happens in the story. Note
if your predictions were correct. You may find it helpful to use a graphic
organizer like the one at the right.

ACT IVE READING: Chapters 11–19
In Chapters 11 through 19, Pip lives in two different conflicts Pip faces in each of his worlds. Then record
worlds: the world of the working class and the world these conflicts and label each conflict with an I for
of the gentleman. As you read, think about the “internal” or an E for “external.”
Life as a Commoner Life as a Gentleman
does not get along with his sister —E is in love with Estella— I

Conflict What is an example of Pip’s The ringing of a distant bell, combined with the echoing of
internal conflict regarding Estella? some cry or call along the passage by which I had come,
interrupted the conversation and caused Estella to say to me,
“Now, boy!” On my turning round, they all looked at me with
the utmost contempt, and, as I went out, I heard Sarah Pocket
say, “Well I am sure! What next!” and Camilla add, with
indignation, “Was there ever such a fancy! The i-de-a!”
As we were going with our candle along the dark passage,
Estella stopped all of a sudden, and, facing round, said in her
taunting manner with her face quite close to mine:
“Well?”
“Well, miss?” I answered, almost falling over her and
checking myself.
She stood looking at me, and, of course, I stood looking at her.
“Am I pretty?”
“Yes; I think you are very pretty.”
“Am I insulting?”
“Not so much so as you were last time,” said I.
“Not so much so?”
“No.”
She fired when she asked the last question, and she slapped
my face with such force as she had, when I answered it.
“Now?” said she. “You little coarse monster, what do you
think of me now?”
“I shall not tell you.”
“Because you are going to tell, upstairs. Is that it?”
“No,” said I, “that’s not it.”
“Why don’t you cry again, you little wretch?”
“Because I’ll never cry for you again,” said I. Which was,
I suppose, as false a declaration as ever was made; for I was
inwardly crying for her then, and I know what I know of the
pain she cost me afterwards.
We went on our way upstairs after this episode; and, as we
were going up, we met a gentleman groping his way down.
“Whom have we here?” asked the gentleman, stopping and
looking at me.
“A boy,” said Estella.
He was a burly man of an exceedingly dark complexion,
with an exceedingly large head and a corresponding large hand.
He took my chin in his large hand and turned up my face to
have a look at me by the light of the candle. He was
prematurely bald on the top of his head, and had bushy black
eyebrows that wouldn’t lie down but stood up bristling. His
eyes were set very deep in his head, and were disagreeably
sharp and suspicious. He had a large watchchain, and strong
black dots where his beard and whiskers would have been if he Literary Element
had let them. He was nothing to me, and I could have had no
foresight then that he ever would be anything to me, but it Conflict Why is Pip having a difficult
time answering Miss Havisham?
happened that I had this opportunity of observing him well.
“Boy of the neighbourhood? Hey?” said he.
“Yes, sir,” said I.
“How do you come here?”
“Miss Havisham sent for me, sir,” I explained.
“Well! Behave yourself. I have a pretty large experience of
boys, and you’re a bad set of fellows. Now mind!” said he,
biting the side of his great forefinger as he frowned at me,
“you behave yourself!”
With those words, he released me—which I was glad of, for
his hand smelt of scented soap—and went his way downstairs.
I wondered whether he could be a doctor; but no, I thought; he
couldn’t be a doctor, or he would have a quieter and more
persuasive manner. There was not much time to consider the
subject, for we were soon in Miss Havisham’s room, where she
and everything else were just as I had left them. Estella left me
standing near the door, and I stood there until Miss Havisham
cast her eyes upon me from the dressing-table.
“So!” she said, without being startled or surprised; “the days
have worn away, have they?”
“Yes, ma’am. To-day is—”
“There, there, there!” with the impatient movement of her
fingers. “I don’t want to know. Are you ready to play?”
I was obliged to answer in some confusion, “I don’t think I
am, ma’am.”
“Not at cards again?” she demanded, with a searching look.
“Yes, ma’am; I could do that, if I was wanted.”
“Since this house strikes you old and grave, boy,” said Miss
Havisham, impatiently, “and you are unwilling to play, are you
willing to work?”
I could answer this inquiry with a better heart than I had been
able to find for the other question, and I said I was quite willing.
“Then go into that opposite room,” said she, pointing at the
door behind me with her withered hand, “and wait there till
I come.”
I crossed the staircase landing, and entered the room she
indicated. From that room, too, the daylight was completely
excluded, and it had an airless smell that was oppressive. A fire
had been lately kindled in the damp old-fashioned grate, and it
was more disposed to go out than to burn up, and the reluctant
smoke which hung in the room seemed colder than the clearer
air—like our own marsh mist.

Make and Verify Predictions About It was a trial to my feelings, on the next day but one, to see
Plot What do you think will be the Joe arraying himself in his Sunday clothes to accompany me to
result of Joe’s visit to Miss Havisham? Miss Havisham’s. However, as he thought his court-suit
necessary to the occasion, it was not for me tell him that he
looked far better in his working dress; the rather, because I
knew he made himself so dreadfully uncomfortable entirely on
my account, and that it was for me he pulled up his shirt-collar
so very high behind, that it made the hair on the crown of his
head stand up like a tuft of feathers. . . .
When we came to Pumblechook’s, my sister bounced in and
left us. As it was almost noon, Joe and I held straight on to Miss
Havisham’s house. Estella opened the gate as usual, and, the
moment she appeared, Joe took his hat off and stood weighing
it by the brim in both his hands as if he had some urgent reason
in his mind for being particular to half a quarter of an ounce.
Estella took no notice of either of us, but led us the way that I
knew so well. I followed next to her, and Joe came last. When I
looked back at Joe in the long passage, he was still weighing his
hat with the greatest care, and was coming after us in long
strides on the tips of his toes.
Estella told me we were both to go in, so I took Joe by the
coat-cuff and conducted him into Miss Havisham’s presence.
She was seated at her dressing-table, and looked round at us
immediately.
“Oh!” said she to Joe. “You are the husband of the sister of
this boy?”
I could hardly have imagined dear old Joe looking so unlike
himself or so like some extraordinary bird; standing, as he did,
speechless, with his tuft of feathers ruffled, and his mouth open
as if he wanted a worm.
“You are the husband,” repeated Miss Havisham, “of the
sister of this boy?”
It was very aggravating; but, throughout the interview Joe
persisted in addressing me instead of Miss Havisham.
“Which I meantersay, Pip,” Joe now observed in a manner
that was at once expressive of forcible argumentation, strict
confidence, and great politeness, “as I hup and married your
sister, and I were at the time what you might call (if you was
anyways inclined) a single man.”
“Well!” said Miss Havisham. “And you have reared the boy,
with the intention of taking him for your apprentice; is that so,
Mr. Gargery?”
“You know, Pip,” replied Joe, “as you and me were ever
friends, and it were looked for’ard to betwixt us, as being
calc’lated to lead to larks. Not but what, Pip, if you had ever
made objections to the business—such as its being open to black Reading Strategy
and sut, or such-like—not but what they would have been
attended to, don’t you see?” Make and Verify Predictions About
Plot How do you think the money
“Has the boy,” said Miss Havisham, “ever made any
from Miss Havisham will affect Pip
objection? Does he like the trade?” and Joe’s relationship? Explain.
“Which it is well beknown to yourself, Pip,” returned Joe,
strengthening his former mixture of argumentation, confidence,
and politeness, “that it were the wish of your own hart.” (I saw
the idea suddenly break upon him that he would adapt his
epitaph to the occasion, before he went on to say) “And there
weren’t no objection on your part, and Pip it were the great
wish of your hart!”
It was quite in vain for me to endeavour to make him
sensible that he ought to speak to Miss Havisham. The more I
made faces and gestures to him to do it, the more confidential,
argumentative, and polite he persisted in being to me.
“Have you brought his indentures with you?” asked Miss
Havisham.
“Well, Pip, you know,” replied Joe, as if that were a little
unreasonable, “you yourself see me put ’em in my ’at, and
therefore you know as they are here.” With which he took them
out, and gave them, not to Miss Havisham, but to me. I am
afraid I was ashamed of the dear good fellow—I know I was
ashamed of him—when I saw that Estella stood at the back of
Miss Havisham’s chair, and that her eyes laughed
mischievously. I took the indentures out of his hand and gave
them to Miss Havisham.
“You expected,” said Miss Havisham, as she looked them
over, “no premium with the boy?”
“Joe!” I remonstrated; for he made no reply at all. “Why
don’t you answer—”
“Pip,” returned Joe, cutting me short as if he were hurt,
“which I meantersay that were not a question requiring a
answer betwixt yourself and me, and which you know the
answer to be full well No. You know it to be No, Pip, and
wherefore should I say it?”
Miss Havisham glanced at him as if she understood what he
really was, better than I had thought possible, seeing what he
was there; and took up a little bag from the table beside her.
“Pip has earned a premium here,” she said, “and here it is.
There are five-and-twenty guineas in this bag. Give it to your
master, Pip.”
As if he were absolutely out of his mind with the wonder
awakened in him by her strange figure and the strange room,
Joe, even at this pass, persisted in addressing me.

If so, then mark up the pages as you I went circuitously to Miss Havisham’s by all the back ways,
read, or reread, to help with your note- and rang at the bell constrainedly, on account of the stiff long
taking. Develop a shorthand system, fingers of my gloves. Sarah Pocket came to the gate, and
including symbols, that works for you. positively reeled back when she saw me so changed; her
Here are some ideas:
walnut-shell countenance likewise, turned from brown to
green and yellow.
Bracket = text to quote “You?” said she. “You, good gracious! What do you want?”
Asterisk = just what you were looking “I am going to London, Miss Pocket,” said I, “and want to
for
say good-bye to Miss Havisham.”
Checkmark = might be useful I was not expected, for she left me locked in the yard, while
Circle = unfamiliar word or phrase to she went to ask if I were to be admitted. After a very short delay,
look up
she returned and took me up, staring at me all the way.
Miss Havisham was taking exercise in the room with the long
spread table, leaning on her crutch stick. The room was lighted
as of yore, and at the sound of our entrance, she stopped and
turned. She was then just abreast of the rotted bride-cake.
“Don’t go, Sarah,” she said. “Well, Pip?”
“I start for London, Miss Havisham, to-morrow,” I was
exceedingly careful what I said, “and I thought you would
kindly not mind my taking leave of you.”
“This is a gay figure, Pip,” said she, making her crutch stick
play round me, as if she, the fairy godmother who had changed
me, were bestowing the finishing gift.
왘 BIG Idea “I have come into such good fortune since I saw you last,
Dreams and Reality It seems that Miss Havisham,” I murmured. “And I am so grateful for it, Miss
Pip’s dreams are about to come true. Havisham!”
Do you think reality will match what
“Aye, aye!” said she, looking at the discomfited and envious
he dreamed of?
Sarah, with delight. “I have seen Mr. Jaggers. I have heard about
Mark up the excerpt, looking for it, Pip. So you go to-morrow?”
evidence of how it expresses the “Yes, Miss Havisham.”
Big Idea. “And you are adopted by a rich person?”
“Yes, Miss Havisham.”
“Not named?”
“No, Miss Havisham.”
“And Mr. Jaggers is made your guardian?”
She quite gloated on these questions and answers, so keen
was her enjoyment of Sarah Pocket’s jealous dismay. “Well!” she
went on; “you have a promising career before you. Be good—
deserve it—and abide by Mr. Jaggers’s instructions.” She looked
at me, and looked at Sarah, and Sarah’s countenance wrung out
of her watchful face a cruel smile. “Good-bye, Pip! you will
always keep the name of Pip, you know.”
“Good-bye, Pip!”
reduce your notes.
Record
ASK QUESTIONS
Write a question about the novel. Can
you find the answer in your notes?
Recap

1. Describe the incident involving Pip and the young gentleman in Miss Reread Build Background on
Havisham’s garden. What prompts Pip’s actions, and how does he feel page 23. How did that information
about himself later? [Evaluate] help you understand or appreciate
2. Why does Miss Havishan command Joe and Pip to meet with her? What
does Pip’s attitude toward her offer reveal about his changing sense of
values? [Analyze]
3. What is the name of the mysterious stranger who visits Pip at the pub?
What are Pip’s expectations on learning about the reason for the man’s
visit? [Summarize]
4. What conflicting feelings does Pip have as he moves toward a new life?
Why does he have such mixed feelings? [Interpret]
5. Dreams and Reality How does Pip’s dream of becoming a gentleman

turn into a difficult reality for Joe? [Conclude]

Literary Element Conflict Vocabulary Practice

What internal conflict does Pip face while working Respond to these questions.
as Joe’s apprentice? What does this say about Pip’s
character? [Conclude] 1. To whom would you offer clemency—someone
who was remorseful or someone who was
unapologetic?
2. Which would make you feel more disconcerted—

a simple problem or a difficult one?
3. Which is a better way to manifest an idea—to

share it or to hide it?
4. Who would be more likely to act ostentatiously—

a boastful person or a humble person?
5. Which would you approach with trepidation—

a gentle puppy or an angry bear?
Reading Strategy Make and Verify

Predictions About Plot
What do you think will happen to Pip in London? Why Academic Vocabulary
do you think this? [Analyze]
Pip believes that becoming a gentleman will benefit
him in the future. In the preceding sentence, benefit
is used as a verb to mean “to be useful.” The word
benefit has other meanings. For instance, One
benefit of exercise is improved health. What do
you think benefit means in the preceding sentence?
What is the difference between the two meanings?

Personal Response How do you feel about what Speech
happens to Pip at the end of this section? Do you Assignment Pip was given the opportunity to move
think he will regret making this life change? Why or to London and pursue his dream of becoming a
why not? gentleman. To do so, he had to leave his old life
behind. Write and deliver a speech on why it is
important to take advantage of an opportunity that
you are given, even thought the decision may be
a difficult one.
Prepare Begin by taking notes on your ideas about

the topic. Use a graphic organizer like the one below
to keep your ideas organized.
Opportunity: to attend science camp
Why it is important Why it is a

difficult decision
I’ll receive science I’ll be away from my

credit for school. friends all summer.
Use analogies and other logical structures to

strengthen your argument. Then organize your ideas.
You may wish to put your ideas on note cards and
then arrange them in an order that makes sense.
Deliver Present your speech to your class. Make eye

contact with your listeners and speak loudly and clearly
so that everyone can hear you. Use good posture,
appropriate hand gestures, and be confident.
Evaluate Write a paragraph evaluating your speech.

When your classmates present, offer oral feedback on
their performances.


How do other people affect your behavior and your feelings about yourself? entries about the novels that you read
this year.
In a journal entry, write about a person or situation that brought out the best
SUMMARIZE
in you. Then write about a person or situation that brought out your worst.
Summarize in one sentence the most
Explain the reasons behind your different reactions.
important idea(s) in Build Background.
Build Background
Dickens the Actor
Dickens was an avid theatergoer who once had ambitions of becoming an
actor. In a letter to a friend, Dickens described his boyhood “rehearsals” for
the stage: “I practised immensely (even such things as walking in and out, and
sitting down in a chair) often four, five, six hours a day, shut up in my room
or walking about in the fields.” As an adult, Dickens took every opportunity to
return to his first love. He acted in several amateur productions, including a
production of Ben Jonson’s popular play Everyman in His Humor, in which
he played the role of Bobadil, a character given to shouting oaths. Dickens
drew on his acting experience in his portrayal of Mr. Wopsle and the
production of Hamlet.
G re a t E x p e c t a t i ons: C h a p te r s 2 0 – 3 1 35

왘 BIG Idea Dreams and Reality
dexterously [deks´trəs lē´ ]
It is sometimes possible to get so caught up in our dreams that we lose sight adv. skillfully
of reality. In your view, is it important to leave the past behind in order to
The acrobat balanced dexterously
make our dreams for the future come true? upon the narrow rope high
overhead.
As you read, think about how Pip has changed now that his dreams are
coming true. Then ask yourself, is it important for Pip to think about his past diffidence [dif´ə dəns]
n. shyness
as he dreams of the future?
Many times her diffidence was
mistaken for arrogance when
she simply was not comfortable
Literary Element Mood
speaking to strangers.
Mood is the emotional quality of a literary work. Elements that contribute to
judicious [ j¯
oo dish´əs]
the mood of a literary work are language, subject matter, setting, diction, and
adj. wise; discreet
tone, as well as rhyme and rhythm.
They made the judicious decision
not to eat coleslaw that had been
An author can create a mood for a character’s emotions or a feeling for a
sitting in the sun.
setting. Using words such as dismal to describe a room creates a gloomy
mood. Likewise, describing a character with the word good-humored helps supplicant [sup´lə kənt]
the reader to imagine a jolly character. n. someone who begs
The supplicant bowed before the
As you read, think about the mood in the story. Ask yourself how Dickens king, begging for mercy.
uses language to create a mood for the settings and the characters. The zealous [zel´əs]
graphic organizer on the next page can also help you organize your ideas adj. eager
about the mood of various settings. The manager appreciated the
zealous attitude of the new
employee.
Reading Strategy Analyze Description
A description is a detailed portrayal of a person, a place, an object, or an
event. Writers use descriptive writing to help readers see, hear, smell, taste, or
feel the subject. Description helps the characters, the events, and the settings
character,
come to life. setting, or event
When you analyze something, you think about it critically. To analyze

description, read a text critically, thinking about what the writer intended for descriptive
your senses to experience as you read. You may also think about how the
details
descriptive words make the actions, characters, and the place more vivid in
your mind.
As you read, think about how the author uses descriptive language to portray how this appeals
the characters and events and to create a setting. Think about how the to my senses
descriptive words appeal to your senses and make you feel as though you
are in the story. You may find it helpful to use a graphic organizer like the
one at the right.

In Chapters 20 through 31, Pip finds himself with new surroundings. In the chart below, describe each
new people in a variety of new settings. Dickens setting. Then explain the mood, or atmosphere, that
uses carefully chosen details to characterize Pip’s the details create.
Place Details Mood
large, dirty, crowded,

London forbidding, cold, lonely
run-down
Jaggers’s office
Bernard’s Inn
Pocket household
Wemmick’s home
Jaggers’s home

Mood What is the mood in the room? There was no discrepancy of years between us to remove her
What words in the passage make you far from me—we were of nearly the same age, though of course
feel this way?
the age told for more in her case than in mine—but the air of
inaccessibility which her beauty and her manner gave her
tormented me in the midst of my delight, and at the height of
the assurance I felt that our patroness had chosen us for one
another. Wretched boy!
At last we went back into the house, and there I heard, with
surprise, that my guardian had come down to see Miss Havisham
on business, and would come back to dinner. The old wintry
branches of chandeliers in the room where the mouldering table
was spread had been lighted while we were out, and Miss
Havisham was in her chair and waiting for me. It was like
pushing the chair itself back into the past, when we began the
old slow circuit round about the ashes of the bridal feast. But,
in the funereal room, with that figure of the grave fallen back in
the chair fixing its eyes upon her, Estella looked more bright and
beautiful than before, and I was under stronger enchantment.
The time so melted away that our early dinner-hour drew
close at hand, and Estella left us to prepare herself. We had
stopped near the centre of the long table, and Miss Havisham,
with one of her withered arms stretched out of the chair, rested
that clenched hand upon the yellow cloth. As Estella looked
back over her shoulder before going out at the door, Miss
Havisham kissed that hand to her, with a ravenous intensity
that was of its kind quite dreadful.
Then, Estella being gone and we two left alone, she turned to
me, and said in a whisper:
“Is she beautiful, graceful, well-grown? Do you admire her?”
“Everybody must who sees her, Miss Havisham.”
She drew an arm round my neck, and drew my head close
down to hers as she sat in the chair. “Love her, love her, love
her! How does she use you?”
Before I could answer (if I could have answered so difficult
a question at all), she repeated, “Love her, love her, love her!
If she favours you, love her. If she wounds you, love her. If she
tears your heart to pieces—and as it gets older and stronger, it
will tear deeper—love her, love her, love her!”
Never had I seen such passionate eagerness as was joined to
her utterance of these words. I could feel the muscles of the thin
arm round my neck swell with the vehemence that possessed her.
“Hear me, Pip! I adopted her to be loved. I bred her and
educated her to be loved. I developed her into what she is, that
she might be loved. Love her!”

She said the word often enough, and there could be no doubt Literary Element
that she meant to say it; but if the often-repeated word had been
Mood How do Miss Havisham’s
hate instead of love—despair—revenge—dire death—it could actions change the mood in the room?
not have sounded from her lips more like a curse.
“I’ll tell you,” said she, in the same hurried passionate
whisper, “what real love is. It is blind devotion, unquestioning
self-humiliation, utter submission, trust and belief against
yourself and against the whole world, giving up your whole
heart and soul to the smiter—as I did!”
When she came to that, and to a wild cry that followed that,
I caught her round the waist. For she rose up in the chair, in her
shroud of a dress, and struck at the air as if she would as soon
have struck herself against the wall and fallen dead.
All this passed in a few seconds. As I drew her down into
her chair, I was conscious of a scent that I knew, and turning,
saw my guardian in the room.
He always carried (I have not yet mentioned it, I think) a
pocket-handkerchief of rich silk and of imposing proportions
which was of great value to him in his profession. I have seen
him so terrify a client or a witness by ceremoniously unfolding
this pocket-handkerchief as if he were immediately going to
blow his nose, and then pausing, as if he knew he should not
have time to do it before such client or witness committed
himself, that the self-committal has followed directly, quite
as a matter of course. When I saw him in the room, he had this
expressive pocket-handkerchief in both hands, and was looking
at us. On meeting my eye, he said plainly, by a momentary and
silent pause in that attitude, “Indeed? Singular!” and then put
the handkerchief to its right use with wonderful effect.
Miss Havisham had seen him as soon as I, and was (like
everybody else) afraid of him. She made a strong attempt to
compose herself, and stammered that he was as punctual as ever.
“As punctual as ever,” he repeated, coming up to us. “(How
do you do, Pip? Shall I give you a ride, Miss Havisham? Once
round?) And so you are here, Pip?”
I told him when I had arrived, and how Miss Havisham had
wished me to come and see Estella. To which he replied, “Ah!
Very fine young lady!” Then he pushed Miss Havisham in her
chair before him, with one of his large hands, and put the other
in his trousers-pocket as if the pocket were full of secrets.
“Well, Pip! How often have you seen Miss Estella before?”
said he, when he came to a stop.
“How often?”
“Ah! How many times? Ten thousand times?”
“Oh! Certainly not so many.”

Analyze Description What might It fell out as Wemmick had told me it would, that I had an early
Dickens be intending to tell the reader opportunity of comparing my guardian’s establishment with
through this description of Mr. Jaggers?
that of his cashier and clerk. My guardian was in his room,
washing his hands with his scented soap, when I went into the
office from Walworth; and he called me to him, and gave me the
invitation for myself and friends which Wemmick had prepared
me to receive. “No ceremony,” he stipulated, “and no dinner
dress, and say tomorrow.” I asked him where we should come
to (for I had no idea where he lived), and I believe it was in his
general objection to make anything like an admission, that he
replied, “Come here, and I’ll take you home with me.” I embrace
this opportunity of remarking that he washed his clients off, as
if he were a surgeon or a dentist. He had a closet in his room,
fitted up for the purpose, which smelt of the scented soap like a
perfumer’s shop. It had an unusually large jack-towel on a roller
inside the door, and he would wash his hands, and wipe them
and dry them all over this towel, whenever he came in from a
police court or dismissed a client from his room. When I and my
friends repaired to him at six o’clock next day, he seemed to
have been engaged on a case of a darker complexion than usual,
for we found him with his head butted into this closet, not only
washing his hands, but laving his face and gargling his throat.
And even when he had done all that, and had gone all round
the jack-towel, he took out his penknife and scraped the case
out of his nails before he put his coat on.
There were some people slinking about as usual when we
passed out into the street, who were evidently anxious to speak
with him; but there was something so conclusive in the halo of
scented soap which encircled his presence that they gave it up for
that day. As we walked along westward, he was recognized ever
and again by some face in the crowd of the streets, and whenever
that happened he talked louder to me; but he never otherwise
recognized anybody, or took notice that anybody recognized him.
He conducted us to Gerrard Street, Soho, to a house on the
south side of that street. Rather a stately house of its kind, but
dolefully in want of painting, and with dirty windows. He took
out his key and opened the door, and we all went into a stone
hall, bare, gloomy, and little used. So up a dark brown staircase
into a series of three dark brown rooms on the first floor. There
were carved garlands on the panelled walls, and as he stood
among them giving us welcome, I know what kind of loops I
thought they looked like.
Dinner was laid in the best of these rooms; the second was his
dressing-room; the third, his bedroom. He told us that he held

the whole house, but rarely used more of it than we saw. The Reading Strategy
table was comfortably laid—no silver in the service, of course—
Analyze Description What does this
and at the side of his chair was a capacious dumb-waiter, with a description of Mr. Jaggers’s office tell
variety of bottles and decanters on it, and four dishes of fruit for you about him?
dessert. I noticed throughout that he kept everything under his
own hand, and distributed everything himself.
There was a bookcase in the room; I saw, from the backs of
the books, that they were about evidence, criminal law, criminal
biography, trials, acts of parliament, and such things. The
furniture was all very solid and good, like his watch-chain. It
had an official look, however, and there was nothing merely
ornamental to be seen. In a corner was a little table of papers
with a shaded lamp; so that he seemed to bring the office home
with him in that respect too, and to wheel it out of an evening
and fall to work.
As he had scarcely seen my three companions until now—
for he and I had walked together—he stood on the hearth-rug,
after ringing the bell, and took a searching look at them. To
my surprise, he seemed at once to be principally if not solely
interested in Drummle.
“Pip,” said he, putting his large hand on my shoulder and
moving me to the window, “I don’t know one from the other.
Who’s the spider?”
“The spider?” said I.
“The blotchy, sprawly, sulky fellow.”
“That’s Bentley Drummle,” I replied; “the one with the
delicate face is Startop.”
Not making the least account of “the one with the delicate
face,” he returned, “Bentley Drummle is his name, is it? I like
the look of that fellow.”
He immediately began to talk to Drummle, not at all deterred
by his replying in his heavy reticent way, but apparently led on
by it to screw discourse out of him. I was looking at the two,
when there came between me and them, the housekeeper, with
the first dish for the table.
She was a woman of about forty, I supposed—but I may
have thought her younger than she was. Rather tall, of a lithe
nimble figure, extremely pale, with large faded eyes, and a
quantity of streaming hair. I cannot say whether any diseased
affection of the heart caused her lips to be parted as if she were
panting, and her face to bear a curious expression of suddenness
and flutter, but I know that I had been to see Macbeth at the
theatre a night or two before, and that her face looked to me as
if it were all disturbed by fiery air, like the faces I had seen rise
out of the witches’ caldron.

If so, then mark up the pages as you Of course I had no experience of a London summer day, and
read, or reread, to help with your note- my spirits may have been oppressed by the hot exhausted air,
taking. Develop a shorthand system, and by the dust and grit that lay thick on everything. But I sat
including symbols, that works for you.
wondering and waiting in Mr. Jaggers’s close room, until I really
could not bear the two casts on the shelf above Mr. Jaggers’s
chair, and got up and went out.
When I told the clerk that I would take a turn in the air while
Asterisk = just what you were looking I waited, he advised me to go round the corner and I should
for
come into Smithfield. So, I came into Smithfield; and the
shameful place, being all asmear with filth and fat and blood
Circle = unfamiliar word or phrase to and foam, seemed to stick to me. So I rubbed it off with all
look up
possible speed by turning into a street where I saw the great
black dome of Saint Paul’s bulging at me from behind a grim
stone building which a bystander said was Newgate Prison.
Following the wall of the jail, I found the roadway covered with
straw to deaden the noise of passing vehicles; and from this, and
from the quantity of people standing about, smelling strongly of
spirits and beer, I inferred that the trials were on.
While I looked about me here, an exceedingly dirty and
partially drunk minister of justice asked me if I would like to
step in and hear a trial or so, informing me that he could give
me a front place for half-a-crown, whence I should command
a full view of the Lord Chief Justice in his wig and robes—
왘 BIG Idea mentioning that awful personage like waxwork, and presently
Dreams and Reality Pip dreamed offering him at the reduced price of eighteenpence. As I declined
of a life in London, and now that he
the proposal on the plea of an appointment, he was so good as
is there, he is coming face-to-face
with reality. How does it contrast with
to take me into a yard and show me where the gallows was
his dreams? kept, and also where people were publicly whipped, and then
he showed me the debtors’ door, out of which culprits came to
Mark up the excerpt, looking for be hanged, heightening the interest of that dreadful portal by
evidence of how it expresses the giving me to understand that “four on ’em” would come out at
Big Idea.
that door the day after to-morrow at eight in the morning to be
killed in a row. This was horrible, and gave me a sickening idea
of London, the more so as the Lord Chief Justice’s proprietor
wore (from his hat down to his boots and up again to his pocket-
handkerchief inclusive) mildewed clothes, which had evidently
not belonged to him originally, and which, I took it into my
head, he had bought cheap of the executioner. Under these
circumstances I thought myself well rid of him for a shilling.
I dropped into the office to ask if Mr. Jaggers had come in yet,
and I found he had not, and I strolled out again. This time, I
made the tour of Little Britain, and turned into Bartholomew
Close; and now I became aware that other people were waiting
about for Mr. Jaggers, as well as I.

reduce your notes.
Record
TO THE POINT
Write a few key ideas.
Recap

1. Describe Jaggers’s work and home life. What is Pip implying about Jaggers’s Reread Meet the Author on
personality when he says that “he seemed to bully his very sandwich as he page 10. How did that information
ate it”? [Interpret] help you understand or appreciate
2. Briefly describe the incident that caused Miss Havisham to stop her clocks
and become a recluse. What part might this incident have played in her
desire to bring Estella and Pip together? [Conclude]
3. How does Pip feel when he hears that Joe is coming to visit? Why does Pip
feel this way? [Infer]
4. What plans does Pip believe Miss Havisham has for him? Why does he
believe this? [Analyze]
5. Dreams and Reality When Pip returns to Status House to visit Estella
and Miss Havisham, he does not visit Joe. What does this say about how
Pip deals with his dreams and his reality? [Evaluate]

AFT ER YOU READ: Chapters 20–31
Literary Element Mood Vocabulary Practice

Choose one setting in this section of the story. What Choose the sentence that uses the vocabulary word
words and phrases does Dickens use to create a correctly.
mood for this setting? [Evaluate]
1. A. She dexterously tossed together the ingredients
for a delicious meal.
B. She dexterously tripped up the stairs as she
took them two at a time.
2. A. He showed his diffidence as he confidently

gave his speech.
B. His diffidence made it hard for him to make
friends.
3. A. She was considered a judicious person because

of her wise decisions.
B. She made a judicious decision to not wear
her seatbelt.
4. A. The supplicant distributed his wealth among

the poor.
B. The supplicant quietly asked for more food.
5. A. She looked at the paper with zealous

disinterest.
B. Her zealous nature helped her to move quickly
up the corporate ladder.
Reading Strategy Analyze Description
How does Dickens’s description of Pip’s walk through
London make this setting more vivid for the reader? Academic Vocabulary
[Analyze] When Pip arrived in London, he found himself in a
new environment, one that was completely different
from the surroundings of his childhood. Using context
clues, try to figure out the meaning of the word
environment in the sentence above. Check your guess
in a dictionary.
Write with Style Connect to Content Areas

Apply Description Social Studies
Assignment Description is writing that helps readers Assignment When Pip arrives in London, he is scared
imagine what characters see, hear, feel, taste or touch. by its “immensity” and notices that it seems “rather
Review the descriptions that Dickens provides in these ugly, crooked, narrow, dirty.” London at this time was
chapters to give the reader a feeling for the mood of a center of commercial activity. During the years of
a setting. Write your own description of a place. the Victorian empire, the city was the capital of the
powerful British Empire.
Get Ideas Think of a place that is important to you or
one that makes you feel a certain mood. Make a word Investigate Conduct research to learn more about
web. Write the name of the place you chose, such as the conditions of London in the 1800s. Consult print
my father’s office in the center of the web. Next, jot or online resources to gather information about
down some of the things in that place, such as desk, business and industry, living conditions, and daily
book case and chair. Then, add the next layer to your activities.
web. Think of words that describe each of the things
in the place you chose. Include both concrete and Create Using images photocopied from books or
sensory details. For example, around desk you might printed from Internet sources, create a visual
write concrete details such as wooden, stacks of presentation of what London might have looked like at
books, piles of papers, and family photos. Some the time to accompany your report. Because you are
sensory details you might include are ornately carved, presenting the image for an educational purpose and
pine scent of furniture polish, or shiny surface. not for profit, you can use the images under the Fair
Use doctrine of current copyright law. You should,
Give it Structure Use what you have written on however, credit each image you use with source
your web to write a paragraph. Begin your paragraph information. Show the source information next to the
with a sentence that makes your setting clear. Follow image and in your report. This is a common way to
with sentences that include descriptive words that cite Internet images:
create a mood for your setting.
Description of title of image. [online image] Available
Look at Language Be sure your descriptive http://address/filename, Date.
paragraph includes both concrete and sensory details
and that all your descriptive words help to illustrate Report After you have completed your research,
the mood you are trying to create. present your findings in a report to your class.
Together, discuss whether Pip’s descriptions of the city
EXAMPLE: are likely accurate or exaggerated.
My father’s office is a cozy place. The ornately carved
wooden desk is covered in old leather-bound books
with golden trim. The pine scent of furniture polish will
always remind me of the times we sat in his chair
together and he read to me from one of those books.


What kinds of life experiences cause people to feel loss? entries about the novels that you read
this year.
Write a Paragraph
Describe a time in your life when you lost someone or something close or
WRITE THE CAPTION
important to you. What about that person or thing did you value most? What
Write a caption for the image below
feelings do you remember having?
using information in Build Background.
Build Background
Dealing with Criminals
In the early 1800s in England, many convicts were still placed on boats and
sent out of the country. In 1597 Parliament passed “An Act for the Punishment
of Rogues, Vagabonds, and Sturdy Beggars.” This act called for beggars to be
sent to their birthplaces and jailed until they could be put to work. The act
called for more serious criminals to be “conveyed unto such parts beyond
the sea as shall at any time hereafter for that purpose be assigned. . . .” This
allowed the transportation of criminals to British colonies in what are now the
United States and Australia. A penal colony for British convicts was established
in 1788 in Australia.

왘 BIG Idea Rewards and Sacrifices
fidelity [fi del´ə tē]
Sometimes rewards come easily and other times they require hard work and n. loyalty; faithfulness
sacrifice. Think about a time when you felt rewarded. How did your hard work Because he devoted is life to the
and sacrifice lead to your reward? company, his fidelity to it was never
questioned.
In Great Expectations, Pip’s expectations continue to be met. But in exchange
melancholy [mel´ən kol´ ē]
for these rewards, he knowingly and unknowingly makes sacrifices. As you
adj. depressed; sad
read, think about the sacrifices Pip makes and whether he feels that his
The day of the funeral was a dreary,
rewards were worth his sacrifices.
melancholy day.
meritorious [mer´ə toré̄ əs]

Literary Element Irony adj. noble; worthy
The completion of her first novel
Irony is a contrast or discrepancy between appearance and reality, or
was a meritorious accomplishment.
between what is expected and what actually happens. Situational irony
occurs when the outcome of a situation is the opposite of what is expected. predecessors [pred´ə ses´ərs]
Verbal irony occurs when a person says one thing and means another. n. someone or something that
came before
An author uses irony to express or show meaning without giving readers a The elders searched the clans
lecture or tacking on a moral to the story. Verbal irony is often used to add history to find guidance from
humor to a story. their predecessors.
superfluous [soo pur´fl¯

oo əs]
As you read, look for ways that Dickens uses situational and verbal irony. Ask adj. extra; excessive
yourself what effect the irony created, for example, did it create humor or add The investigator asked only for the
meaning to the story? Use the graphic organizer on the next page to help you important information and not the
organize moments of irony in the novel. superfluous details of the crime.
Reading Strategy Make Inferences About Theme

The theme of a story is the author’s insight about life expressed as a
general statement about human nature. Sometimes the theme is stated,
or expressed directly, and other times it is implied, or revealed gradually
Detail Inference
through the plot, character, setting, point of view, and symbol.
About
When the theme is implied, you must make inferences about the theme. Theme
To do this, you use your reason and experience to deduce what an author
is saying indirectly. You use events, dialogue, and description to help you
find deeper meaning in the text. Some literary works may have more than
one theme.
As you read, think about how the author shows theme though his insights by
using dialogue and plot. You may find it helpful to use a graphic organizer like
the one at the right.

This section of the novel represents a turning point, Pip held when he first learned about his anonymous
when Pip’s expectations are forced to change because benefactor. In the corresponding boxes, describe
of a series of devastating disappointments. In the how each of his expectations had an ironic outcome.
graphic organizer below, list three more expectations
Ironic Outcome
Pip, believing Miss Havisham is
his benefactor, spends money
foolishly; when he learns
Magwitch is benefactor,
refuses to touch the money,
and debt builds
Pip’s Expectations
wealth

Irony What is ironic about how Pip “Concerning a guardian,” he went on. “There ought to have
has become a gentleman? been some guardian, or such-like, whiles you was a minor.
Some lawyer, maybe. As to the first letter of that lawyer’s name
now. Would it be J?”
All the truth of my position came flashing on me; and its
disappointments, dangers, disgraces, consequences of all kinds,
rushed in in such a multitude that I was borne down by them
and had to struggle for every breath I drew. “Put it,” he
resumed, “as the employer of that lawyer whose name begun
with a J, and might be Jaggers—put it as he had come over sea
to Portsmouth, and had landed there, and had wanted to come
on to you. ‘However, you have found me out,’ you says just
now. Well! However, did I find you out? Why, I wrote from
Portsmouth to a person in London, for particulars of your
address. That person’s name? Why, Wemmick.”
I could not have spoken one word, though it had been to
save my life. I stood, with a hand on the chair-back and a hand
on my breast, where I seemed to be suffocating—I stood so,
looking wildly at him, until I grasped at the chair, when the
room began to surge and turn. He caught me, drew me to the
sofa, put me up against the cushions, and bent on one knee
before me, bringing the face that I now well remembered, and
that I shuddered at, very near to mine.
“Yes, Pip, dear boy, I’ve made a gentleman on you! It’s me
wot has done it! I swore that time, sure as ever I earned a
guinea, that guinea should go to you. I swore arterwards, sure
as ever I spec’lated and got rich, you should get rich. I lived
rough, that you should live smooth; I worked hard that you
should be above work. What odds, dear boy? Do I tell it fur you
to feel a obligation? Not a bit. I tell it fur you to know as that
there hunted dunghill dog wot you kep life in got his head so
high that he could make a gentleman—and, Pip, you’re him!”
The abhorrence in which I held the man, the dread I had of
him, the repugnance with which I shrank from him, could not
have been exceeded if he had been some terrible beast.
“Look’ee here, Pip. I’m your second father. You’re my son—
more to me nor any son. I’ve put away money, only for you to
spend. When I was a hired-out shepherd in a solitary hut, not
seeing no faces but faces of sheep till I half forgot wot men’s
and women’s faces wos like, I see yourn. I drops my knife many
a time in that hut when I was a-eating my dinner or my supper,
and I says, ‘Here’s the boy again, a-looking at me whiles I eats
and drinks!’ I see you there a many times, as plain as ever I
see you on them misty marshes. ‘Lord strike me dead!’ I says
each time—and I goes out in the air to say it under the open
heavens—’but wot, if I gets liberty and money, I’ll make that Literary Element
boy a gentleman!’ And I done it. Why, look at you, dear boy!
Irony What is ironic about the fact that
Look at these here lodgings of yourn, fit for a lord! A lord? Ah! Magwitch is Pip’s guardian?
You shall show money with lords for wagers, and beat ’em!”
In his heat and triumph, and in his knowledge that I had
been nearly fainting, he did not remark on my reception of all
this. It was the one grain of relief I had.
“Look’ee here!” he went on, taking my watch out of my
pocket, and turning towards him a ring on my finger, while
I recoiled from his touch as if he had been a snake, “a gold ’un
and a beauty—that’s a gentleman’s, I hope! A diamond all set
round with rubies —that’s a gentleman’s, I hope! Look at your
linen; fine and beautiful! Look at your clothes; better ain’t to be
got! And your books, too,” turning his eyes round the room,
“mounting up, on their shelves, by hundreds! And you read
’em; don’t you? I see you’d been a reading of ’em when I come
in. Ha, ha, ha! You shall read ’em to me, dear boy! And if they’re
in foreign languages wot I don’t understand, I shall be just as
proud as if I did.” . . .
“Don’t you mind talking, Pip,” said he, after again drawing
his sleeve over his eyes and forehead, as the click came in his
throat which I well remembered—and he was all the more
horrible to me that he was so much in earnest; “you can’t do
better nor keep quiet, dear boy. You ain’t looked slowly forward
to this as I have; you wosn’t prepared for this, as I wos. But
didn’t you never think it might be me?”
“Oh, no, no, no,” I returned, “Never, never!”
“Well, you see it wos me, and single-handed. Never a soul in
it but my own self and Mr. Jaggers.”
“Was there no one else?” I asked.
“No,” said he, with a glance of surprise. “Who else should
there be? And, dear boy, how good-looking you have growed!
There’s bright eyes somewheres—eh? Isn’t there bright eyes
somewheres, wot you love the thoughts on?”
O Estella, Estella!
“They shall be yourn, dear boy, if money can buy ’em. Not
that a gentleman like you, so well set up as you, can’t win ’em
off of his own game; but money shall back you! Let me finish
wot I was a-telling you, dear boy. From that there hut and that
there hiring-out, I got money left me by my master (which died,
and had been the same as me), and got my liberty and went for
myself. In every single thing I went for, I went for you. ‘Lord
strike a blight upon it,’ I says, wotever it was I went for, ‘if it
ain’t for him!’ It all prospered wonderful. . . .
O, that he had never come! That he had left me at the forge—
far from contented, yet, by comparison happy!

Make Inferences About Theme How Whatever my fortunes might have been, I could scarcely have
does this passage illustrate the themes recalled my sister with much tenderness. But I suppose there is
of the importance of loyalty and
a shock of regret which may exist without much tenderness.
conscience in the novel?
Under its influence (and perhaps to make up for the want of the
softer feeling), I was seized with a violent indignation against
the assailant from whom she had suffered so much; and I felt
that on sufficient proof I could have revengefully pursued
Orlick, or any one else, to the last extremity.
Having written to Joe to offer consolation, and to assure him
that I should come to the funeral, I passed the intermediate days
in the curious state of mind I have glanced at. I went down
early in the morning, and alighted at the Blue Boar in good
time to walk over to the forge.
It was fine summer weather again, and, as I walked along,
the times when I was a little helpless creature, and my sister did
not spare me, vividly returned. But they returned with a gentle
tone upon them that softened even the edge of Tickler. For now,
the very breath of the beans and clover whispered to my heart
that the day must come when it would be well for my memory
that others walking in the sunshine should be softened as they
thought of me.
At last I came within sight of the house, and saw that Trabb
and Co. had put in a funereal execution and taken possession.
Two dismally absurd persons, each ostentatiously exhibiting a
crutch done up in a black bandage—as if that instrument could
possibly communicate any comfort to anybody—were posted
at the front door; and in one of them I recognized a postboy
discharged from the Boar for turning a young couple into a
saw-pit on their bridal morning, in consequence of intoxication
rendering it necessary for him to ride his horse clasped round
the neck with both arms. All the children of the village, and
most of the women, were admiring these sable warders and
the closed windows of the house and forge; and as I came up,
one of the two warders (the post-boy) knocked at the door—
implying that I was far too much exhausted by grief to have
strength remaining to knock for myself.
Another sable warder (a carpenter, who had once eaten two
geese for a wager) opened the door, and showed me into the
best parlour. Here, Mr. Trabb had taken unto himself the best
table, and had got all the leaves up, and was holding a kind of
black bazaar, with the aid of a quantity of black pins. At the
moment of my arrival, he had just finished putting somebody’s
hat into black longclothes, like an African baby; so he held out
his hand for mine. But I, misled by the action, and confused by

the occasion, shook hands with him with every testimony of Reading Strategy
warm affection.
Make Inferences About Theme How
Poor dear Joe, entangled in a little black cloak tied in a large does this passage change or reinforce
bow under his chin, was seated apart at the upper end of the your ideas about the themes of the
room; where, as chief mourner, he had evidently been stationed novel?
by Trabb. When I bent down and said to him, “Dear Joe, how are
you?” he said, “Pip, old chap, you knowed her when she were a
fine figure of a—” and clasped my hand and said no more.
Biddy, looking very neat and modest in her black dress, went
quietly here and there, and was very helpful. When I had
spoken to Biddy, as I thought it not a time for talking I went and
sat down near Joe, and there began to wonder in what part of
the house it—she—my sister—was. The air of the parlour being
faint with the smell of sweet cake, I looked about for the table of
refreshments; it was scarcely visible until one had got
accustomed to the gloom, but there was a cut-up plum-cake
upon it, and there were cut-up oranges, and sandwiches, and
biscuits, and two decanters that I knew very well as ornaments,
but had never seen used in all my life—one full of port, and one
of sherry. Standing at this table, I became conscious of the
servile Pumblechook in a black cloak and several yards of
hatband, who was alternately stuffing himself, and making
obsequious movements to catch my attention. The moment he
succeeded, he came over to me (breathing sherry and crumbs),
and said in a subdued voice, “May I, dear sir?” and did. I then
descried Mr. and Mrs. Hubble, the last-named in a decent
speechless paroxysm in a corner. We were all going to “follow,”
and were all in course of being tied up separately (by Trabb)
into ridiculous bundles.
“Which I meantersay, Pip,” Joe whispered me, as we were
being what Mr. Trabb called “formed” in the parlour, two and
two—and it was dreadfully like a preparation for some grim
kind of dance; “which I meantersay, sir, as I would in preference
have carried her to the church myself, along with three or four
friendly ones wot come to it with willing harts and arms, but it
were considered wot the neighbours would look down on such
and would be of opinions as it were wanting in respect.” . . .
So, we all put our pocket-handkerchiefs to our faces, as if our
noses were bleeding, and filed out two and two; Joe and I; Biddy
and Pumblechook; Mr. and Mrs. Hubble. The remains of my
poor sister had been brought round by the kitchen door, and, it
being a point of undertaking ceremony that the six bearers must
be stifled and blinded under a horrible black velvet housing
with a white border, the whole looked like a blind monster with
twelve human legs, shuffling and blundering along, under the
guidance of two keepers—the post-boy and his comrade.

If so, then mark up the pages as you “There, again!” said I, stopping before Herbert, with my open
read, or reread, to help with your note- hands held out, as if they contained the desperation of the case.
taking. Develop a shorthand system, “I know nothing of his life. It has almost made me mad to sit here
including symbols, that works for you. of a night and see him before me, so bound up with my fortunes
and misfortunes, and yet so unknown to me, except as the
miserable wretch who terrified me two days in my childhood!”
Bracket = text to quote Herbert got up, and linked his arm in mine, and we slowly
Asterisk = just what you were looking walked to and fro together, studying the carpet.
for
“Handel,” said Herbert, stopping, “you feel convinced that
Checkmark = might be useful you can take no further benefits from him, do you?”
Circle = unfamiliar word or phrase to “Fully. Surely you would, too, if you were in my place?”
look up
“And you feel convinced that you must break with him?”
“Herbert, can you ask me?”
“And you have, and are bound to have, that tenderness for
the life he has risked on your account, that you must save him,
if possible, from throwing it away. Then you must get him out
of England before you stir a finger to extricate yourself. That
done, extricate yourself, in Heaven’s name, and we’ll see it out
together, dear old boy.”
It was a comfort to shake hands upon it, and walk up and
down again, with only that done.
“Now, Herbert,” said I, “with reference to gaining some
knowledge of his history. There is but one way that I know of.
왘 BIG Idea I must ask him point-blank.”
Rewards and Sacrifices Sometimes, “Yes. Ask him,” said Herbert, “when we sit at breakfast in the
even after we have been rewarded, morning.” For, he had said, on taking leave of Herbert, that he
we must still make sacrifices. What
would come to breakfast with us.
sacrifices must Pip make regarding
Magwitch? With this project formed, we went to bed. I had the wildest
dreams concerning him, and woke unrefreshed; I woke, too, to
Mark up the excerpt, looking for recover the fear which I had lost in the night of his being found
evidence of how it expresses the out as a returned transport. Waking, I never lost that fear.
Big Idea. He came round at the appointed time, took out his jack-knife,
and sat down to his meal. He was full of plans “for his
gentleman’s coming out strong, and like a gentleman,” and
urged me to begin speedily upon the pocket-book, which he had
left in my possession. He considered the chambers and his own
lodging as temporary residences, and advised me to look out at
once for a “fashionable crib” near Hyde Park, in which he could
have “a shake-down.” When he had made an end of his
breakfast, and was wiping his knife on his leg, I said to him,
without a word of preface:
“After you were gone last night, I told my friend of the
struggle that the soldiers found you engaged in on the marshes,
when we came up.
You remember?”
reduce your notes.
Record
MY VIEW
Comment on what you learned from
your own notes.
Recap

1. How does Pip react to driving by the prison with Estella? What does Pip’s Reread Build Background on
reaction indicate about his image of Estella as a person? [Conclude] page 47. How did that information
2. What news does Magwitch bring to Pip? How does Magwitch’s information
affect Pip? [Interpret]
3. What one financial request does Pip make of Miss Havisham? What does
this request indicate about his character? [Analyze]
4. How does Pip feel about himself as a “gentleman” when he no longer has
his money? What values of Pip’s society is Dickens criticizing by calling
attention to Pip’s feelings? [Evaluate]
5. Rewards and Sacrifices When Pip learns that Magwitch is his benefactor,
as a reward for the kindness Pip had shown him as a child, Pip turns down
any further benefits. Do you agree with Pip’s decision? Why or why not?
[Evaluate]

Literary Element Irony Vocabulary Practice

What are two examples in this section of the novel Complete the following sentences.
when you expected one thing to happen, but the
opposite happened? [Compare] fidelity predecessors
melancholy surperfluous
meritorius
Michael disliked things, but Roger

collected many unnecessary things.
Yesterday was a day, but today is

bright and cheery.
Marie showed , but Trina was not

loyal at all.
Many are concerned about what our

would have done, but others are more concerned
about the future.
A hero is known for her actions, but

a coward is known for her faintheartedness.
Academic Vocabulary
It was apparent that Pip was upset to discover
Reading Strategy Make Inferences that Magwitch was his benefactor. In the preceding
About Theme sentence, apparent is used to mean “obvious or clear.”
What themes are made clear through Pip’s Think about what Pip did that showed his discomfort,
disappointments? [Conclude] and then fill in the blank for this statement: Because
he
,
it was apparent that Pip was upset.
Write with Style Speaking and Listening

Apply Irony Literature Groups
Assignment Irony can be used to add humor to Assignment With a small group, discuss whether Pip
dialogue. This type of irony, called verbal irony, occurs should continue to receive financial assistance from
when a character says one thing, but he or she clearly his benefactor. try to reach a consensus—a general
means something else. Write a short dialogue between agreement among a group on an issue.
two people in which you use verbal irony.
Prepare Before your group meets, look back at
Get Ideas Think of a situation in which two characters chapter 39 and skim the earlier parts of the novel to
may be interacting. Decide on a relationship between review Pip’s interactions with Magwitch the convict.
the two people, for example, parent and child or two Then think about the pros and cons of Pip’s decision
friends. Think about how these two people might to refuse further financial help from the convict. You
interact on a regular basis. may find a chart like the one below helpful in
organizing your ideas.
Give it Structure Have your characters alternate
speaking to each other. Develop a situation in which
one or both characters will use verbal irony. You
Pros Cons
can include narrative text as a way to give context
to your writing. Pip will be able to Herbert will also
continue living the suffer.
EXAMPLE: life of a gentleman.
“Sally, I’m sorry, but I broke the vase that belonged to
your great grandmother. Are you upset?” Tony asked
as he held the pieces of the heirloom vase out to her.
“That old thing? Why would I ever be upset?” Sally

said, struggling to hold back the tears in her eyes.
Look at Language Be careful not to overuse verbal

irony. A few uses are enough to create clear characters
and a tone for your scene.
Discuss Respect other’s viewpoints by listening
attentively. Deliver your opinions in a normal tone of
voice, providing clear, specific examples from your
chart to support your opinions.
Report Have one group member orally state your

consensus to the class or state that no consensus was
reached, being sure to address the class clearly and
loudly enough for all to hear.
Evaluate Write a paragraph in which you assess the

effectiveness of your discussion.


Have you ever struggled to find the answer to a difficult question? How did entries about the novels that you read
you feel when you finally found the answer you needed? this year.
Share Your Thoughts

SUMMARIZE
Think about a time in which you searched for the answer to a question about
your life or about someone you know. Share your experience with a partner.
Build Background
Abel Magwitch
In this section of the novel, the character of Abel Magwitch plays a central
role. Magwitch has already changed Pip’s life once with his anonymous
donation of money. In the chapters that follow, his character begins to affect
Pip’s life in a different way. Significantly, Dickens gave Magwitch the name
Abel, which refers to the second son of Adam and Eve in the Old Testament
of the Bible. According to the biblical account, Abel was a shepherd who was
killed in a jealous rage by his brother Cain. Abel’s innocent blood put a curse
on Cain, and he became a fugitive. As you read, think about why Dickens
wanted readers to associate Magwitch with the innocent, slain brother, even
though Magwitch is a convict. You might also think about which characters in
the novel represent Cain, the evil, murdering brother.

왘 BIG Idea Rewards and Sacrifices
acquiescence [ak´wē es´əns]
We make sacrifices for many different reasons. Think about a sacrifice you n. agreement; consent
have made. Did you make this sacrifice because it would help someone else? They took her acquiescence to mean
Was this a sacrifice you made because of your beliefs and values? that she finally agreed, but really
she was simply tired of arguing.
In the last section of the novel, Pip is faced with having to sacrifice his dreams.
demeanor [di mēńər]
As you read, think about how Pip’s new sacrifices help bring him even closer
n. behavior
to meeting his old expectations.
His stern demeanor intimidated
many people.
Literary Element Motivation despondent [di spon´dənt]
adj. depressed
Motivation is the reason that a character acts, thinks, or feels a certain way.
After her grandfather died, she
A character’s words, thoughts, and actions help to reveal his or her motivation.
became despondent and withdrawn.
Motivation may be an external circumstance or an internal moral or emotional
impulse. eloquence [el´ə kwəns]
n. expressiveness
Motivation provides a reason for characters to act the way they do. Motivation The political candidate’s eloquence
can also help point the reader to the solution to a mystery. helped him to win many debates.
repugnance [ri puńəns]

As you read, look for examples of the characters’ motivation. Ask yourself what n. distaste
the characters say, think, or do that makes their motivation clear.
He showed his repugnance for
carrots as he disgustedly separated
Reading Strategy Analyze Cause-and-Effect Relationships them from the rest of the food on
his plate.
A cause is that which makes something happen. An effect is what happens
as a result of the cause. There may be many causes for one effect or many
effects for one cause.
When you analyze cause-and-effect relationships, you explore the causes

behind thoughts, actions, or events and examine the results of these thoughts,
actions, or events. Sometimes one effect can become the cause of the next
effect. Noting causes and effects as you read can help you determine the
writer’s intended meaning and understand the purpose of a literary work.
As you read, think about how the events of the

story and the characters’ thoughts and actions Cause Effect
cause other events, thoughts, and actions. Ask
yourself how the effects lead to new effects
and also help you to understand the plot of the
story. You may find it helpful to use a graphic
organizer like the one at the right. The graphic Effect Becomes
Effect
organizer on the next page can also help you New Cause
to analyze cause-and-effect relationships.

The last chapters of the novel solve many of the the ovals to record the events leading to the resolution
novel’s mysteries and lead readers to a resolution. Use of the novel. Use as many ovals as you need.
Resolution:
Event:
Event:
Event:
Event:
Event:
Pip notices that Molly
resembles Estella.

Motivation Why does Miss Havisham “I am far from happy, Miss Havisham, but I have other
want Pip’s forgiveness? causes of disquiet than any you know of. They are the secrets
I have mentioned.”
After a little while, she raised her head and looked at the
fire again.
“It is noble in you to tell me that you have other causes of
unhappiness. Is it true?”
“Too true.”
“Can I only serve you, Pip, by serving your friend?
Regarding that as done, is there nothing I can do for you
yourself?”
“Nothing. I thank you for the question. I thank you even
more for the tone of the question. But there is nothing.”
She presently rose from her seat, and looked about the
blighted room for the means of writing. There were none there,
and she took from her pocket a yellow set of ivory tablets,
mounted in tarnished gold, and wrote upon them with a pencil
in a case of tarnished gold that hung from her neck.
“You are still on friendly terms with Mr. Jaggers?”
“Quite. I dined with him yesterday.”
“This is an authority to him to pay you that money, to lay out
at your irresponsible discretion for your friend. I keep no money
here; but if you would rather Mr. Jaggers knew nothing of the
matter, I will send it to you.”
“Thank you, Miss Havisham; I have not the least objection to
receiving it from him.”
She read me what she had written, and it was direct and
clear, and evidently intended to absolve me from any suspicion
of profiting by the receipt of the money. I took the tablets from
her hand, and it trembled again, and it trembled more as she
took off the chain to which the pencil was attached, and put it in
mine. All this she did, without looking at me.
“My name is on the first leaf. If you can ever write under my
name, ‘I forgive her’ though ever so long after my broken heart
is dust—pray do it!”
“Oh, Miss Havisham,” said I, “I can do it now. There have
been sore mistakes; and my life has been a blind and thankless
one; and I want forgiveness and direction far too much to be
bitter with you.”
She turned her face to me for the first time since she had
averted it, and, to my amazement, I may even add to my terror,
dropped on her knees at my feet, with her folded hands raised
to me in the manner in which, when her poor heart was young
and fresh and whole, they must often have been raised to
heaven from her mother’s side.
To see her, with her white hair and her worn face, kneeling at Literary Element
my feet, gave me a shock through all my frame. I entreated her
Motivation What is Pip’s motivation
to rise, and got my arms about her to help her up; but she only for speaking to Miss Havisham about
pressed that hand of mine which was nearest to her grasp, and Estella?
hung her head over it and wept. I had never seen her shed a
tear before, and in the hope that the relief might do her good,
I bent over her without speaking. She was not kneeling now,
but was down upon the ground.
“Oh!” she cried, despairingly. “What have I done! What have
I done!”
“If you mean, Miss Havisham, what have you done to injure
me, let me answer. Very little. I should have loved her under
any circumstances. Is she married?”
“Yes.”
It was a needless question, for a new desolation in the
desolate house had told me so.
“What have I done! What have I done!” She wrung her
hands, and crushed her white hair, and returned to this cry over
and over again. “What have I done!”
I knew not how to answer, or how to comfort her. That she
had done a grievous thing in taking an impressionable child to
mould into the form that her wild resentment, spurned
affection, and wounded pride found vengeance in, I knew full
well. But that, in shutting out the light of day, she had shut
out infinitely more; that, in seclusion, she had secluded herself
from a thousand natural and healing influences; that her mind,
brooding solitary, had grown diseased, as all minds do and
must and will that reverse the appointed order of their Maker;
I knew equally well. And could I look upon her without
compassion, seeing her punishment in the ruin she was, in
her profound unfitness for this earth on which she was placed,
in the vanity of sorrow which had become a master mania, like
the vanity of penitence, the vanity of unworthiness, and other
monstrous vanities that have been curses in this world?
“Until you spoke to her the other day, and until I saw in you
a looking-glass that showed me what I once felt myself, I did not
know what I had done. What have I done! What have I done!”
And so again, twenty, fifty times over, What had she done!
“Miss Havisham,” I said, when her cry had died away, “you
may dismiss me from your mind and conscience. But Estella is a
different case, and if you can ever undo any scrap of what you
have done amiss in keeping a part of her right nature away
from her, it will be better to do that than to bemoan the past
through a hundred years.”
“Yes, yes, I know it. But, Pip—my dear!” There was an
earnest womanly compassion for me in her new affection.

Analyze Cause and Effect “If you would like to hear, Joe—” I was beginning, when Joe
Relationships Why does Pip feel got up and came to my sofa.
ashamed?
“Lookee here, old chap,” said Joe, bending over me. “Ever
the best of friends; ain’t us, Pip?”
I was ashamed to answer him.
“Wery good, then,” said Joe, as if I had answered; “that’s
all right, that’s agreed upon. Then why go into subjects, old
chap, which as betwixt two sech must be for ever onnecessary?
There’s subjects enough as betwixt two sech, without onnecessary
ones. Lord! To think of your poor sister and her rampages!
And don’t you remember Tickler?”
“I do indeed, Joe.”
“Lookee here, old chap,” said Joe. “I done what I could to
keep you and Tickler in sunders, but my power were not always
fully equal to my inclinations. For when your poor sister had
a mind to drop into you, it were not so much,” said Joe, in his
favourite argumentative way, “that she dropped into me too, if
I put myself in opposition to her but that she dropped into you
always heavier for it. I noticed that. It ain’t a grab at a man’s
whisker, not yet a shake or two of a man (to which your sister
was quite welcome), that ’ud put a man off from getting a little
child out of punishment. But when that little child is dropped
into heavier for that grab of whisker or shaking, then that man
naterally up and says to himself, ‘Where is the good as you are
a-doing? I grant you I see the ’arm,’ says the man, ‘but I don’t
see the good. I call upon you, sir, therefore, to pint out the good.’ ”
“The man says?” I observed, as Joe waited for me to speak.
“The man says,” Joe assented. “Is he right, that man?”
“Dear Joe, he is always right.”
“Well, old chap,” said Joe, “then abide by your words. If he’s
always right (which in general he’s more likely wrong), he’s
right when he says this: supposing ever you kep any little
matter to yourself, when you was a little child, you kep it
mostly because you know’d as J. Gargery’s power to part you
and Tickler in sunders were not fully equal to his inclinations.
Therefore, think no more of it as betwixt two sech, and do not
let us pass remarks upon onnecessary subjects. Biddy giv’
herself a deal o’ trouble with me afore I left (for I am almost
awful dull), as I should view it in this light, and, viewing it in
this light, as I should so put it. Both of which,” said Joe, quite
charmed with his logical arrangement, “being done, now this to
you a true friend, say. Namely. You mustn’t go a-over-doing on
it, but you must have your supper and your wine-and-water,
and you must be put betwixt the sheets.”

The delicacy with which Joe dismissed this theme, and the Reading Strategy
sweet tact and kindness with which Biddy—who with her
Analyze Cause and Effect
woman’s wit had found me out so soon—had prepared him Relationships Why does Joe’s
for it, made a deep impression on my mind. But whether Joe attitude toward Pip begin to change
knew how poor I was, and how my great expectations had all as Pip recovers?
dissolved, like our own marsh mists before the sun, I could
not understand.
Another thing in Joe that I could not understand when it first
began to develop itself, but which I soon arrived at a sorrowful
comprehension of, was this: As I became stronger and better, Joe
became a little less easy with me. In my weakness and entire
dependence on him, the dear fellow had fallen into the old tone,
and called me by the old names, the dear “old Pip, old chap,”
that now were music in my ears. I, too, had fallen into the old
ways, only happy and thankful that he let me. But, imperceptibly,
though I held by them fast, Joe’s hold upon them began to
slacken; and whereas I wondered at this, at first, I soon began
to understand that the cause of it was in me, and that the fault
of it was all mine.
Ah! Had I given Joe no reason to doubt my constancy, and to
think that in prosperity I should grow cold to him and cast him
off? Had I given Joe’s innocent heart no cause to feel instinctively
that as I got stronger, his hold upon me would be weaker, and
that he had better loosen it in time and let me go, before I plucked
myself away?
It was on the third or fourth occasion of my going out walking
in the Temple Gardens, leaning on Joe’s arm, that I saw this
change in him very plainly. We had been sitting in the bright
warm sunlight, looking at the river, and I chanced to say as
we got up:
“See, Joe! I can walk quite strongly. Now, you shall see me
walk back by myself.”
“Which do not overdo it, Pip,” said Joe; “but I shall be happy
fur to see you able, sir.”
The last word grated on me; but how could I remonstrate!
I walked no further than the gate of the gardens, and then
pretended to be weaker than I was, and asked Joe for his arm.
Joe gave it me, but was thoughtful.
I, for my part, was thoughtful, too, for how best to check this
growing change in Joe was a great perplexity to my remorseful
thoughts. That I was ashamed to tell him exactly how I was
placed, and what I had come down to, I do not seek to conceal;
but I hope my reluctance was not quite an unworthy one. He
would want to help me out of his little savings, I knew, and I
knew that he ought not to help me, and that I must not suffer
him to do it.

If so, then mark up the pages as you My narrative finished, and their questions exhausted, I
read, or reread, to help with your note- then produced Miss Havisham’s authority to receive the nine
taking. Develop a shorthand system, hundred pounds for Herbert. Mr. Jaggers’s eyes retired a little
deeper into his head when I handed him the tablets, but he
presently handed them over to Wemmick, with instructions
to draw the cheque for his signature. While that was in course
of being done, I looked on at Wemmick as he wrote, and Mr.
Asterisk = just what you were looking Jaggers, poising and swaying himself on his well-polished boots,
for
looked on at me. “I am sorry, Pip,” said he, as I put the cheque in
my pocket, when he had signed it, “that we do nothing for you.”
Circle = unfamiliar word or phrase to “Miss Havisham was good enough to ask me,” I returned,
look up
“whether she could do nothing for me, and I told her no.”
“Everybody should know his own business,” said Mr. Jaggers.
And I saw Wemmick’s lips form the words “portable property.”
“I should not have told her no, if I had been you,” said Mr
Jaggers; “but every man ought to know his own business best.”
“Every man’s business,” said Wemmick, rather reproachfully
towards me, “is portable property.”
As I thought the time was now come for pursuing the theme
I had at heart, I said, turning on Mr. Jaggers:
“I did ask something of Miss Havisham, however, sir. I asked
her to give me some information relative to her adopted
daughter, and she gave me all she possessed.”
왘 BIG Idea “Did she?” said Mr. Jaggers, bending forward to look at his
Rewards and Sacrifices What have boots and then straightening himself. “Hah! I don’t think I
you found out about Pip’s new
should have done so, if I had been Miss Havisham. But she
approach to his rewards and
expectations?
ought to know her own business best.”
“I know more of the history of Miss Havisham’s adopted
Mark up the excerpt, looking for child than Miss Havisham herself does, sir. I know her mother.”
evidence of how it expresses the Mr. Jaggers looked at me inquiringly, and repeated “Mother?”
Big Idea. “I have seen her mother within these three days.”
“Yes?” said Mr. Jaggers.
“And so have you, sir. And you have seen her still more
recently.”
“Yes?” said Mr. Jaggers.
“Perhaps I know more of Estella’s history than even you do,”
said I. “I know her father, too.”
A certain stop that Mr. Jaggers came to in his manner—he was
too self-possessed to change his manner, but he could not help its
being brought to an indefinably attentive stop—assured me that
he did not know who her father was. This I had strongly
suspected from Provis’s account (as Herbert had repeated it) of
his having kept himself dark; which I pieced on to the fact that he
himself was not Mr. Jaggers’s client until some four years later,
and when he could have no reason for claiming his identity.
reduce your notes.
Record
ASK QUESTIONS
Write any questions you have about
the novel. Do you have to go to an
outside source to find the answers?
Recap

1. Describe Miss Havisham’s behavior when Pip visits her. How has their Reread Introduction to the Novel on
relationship changed? [Compare] pages 8–9. How did that information
2. What happens to Magwitch? How does Pip begin to feel toward Magwitch?
[Conclude]
3. What does Joe do for Pip? How does Pip feel about himself and his actions
after Joe leaves? [Analyze]
4. Why does Dickens return Pip to the countryside of his youth? What theme
does this turn of events emphasize? [Infer]
5. Rewards and Sacrifices Do you think that Pip’s last words of the book, “I
saw no shadow of another parting from her,” make the sacrifices he has
made seem worthwhile? Explain. [Evaluate]

Literary Element Motivation Vocabulary Practice

In this section of the novel, how does Dickens show A synonym is a word that has the same or nearly
Pip’s motivation to mend his relationships? [Analyze] the same meaning as another word. match each
boldfaced vocabulary word below with its synonym.
Use a thesaurus or dictionary to check your answers.
1. acquiescence a. forlorn
2. demeanor b. conduct
3. despondent c. cheerfulness
4. eloquence d. agreement
5. repugnance e. aversion
f. articulateness
g. acidic
Academic Vocabulary
Many would agree that Pip had a valid reason to
be angry with Miss Havisham. To become more
familiar with the word valid, fill out the graphic
organizer below.
definition synonyms
Reading Strategy Analyze Cause and
Effect Relationships
What effect does Pip’s illness have on his relationship
with Joe? What does this cause Pip to learn about
himself? [Conclude]
valid
antonyms sentence/image

Personal Response Were you satisfied with the Speech
ending of the novel? Explain. Assignment By the end of the novel, Pip had learned
an important lesson about values and achieving
goodness. He suddenly regrets being apart from Joe
and Biddy. Write and deliver a speech for Pip to give to
Joe in which he apologizes. In the speech, Pip should
express his regrets for having stayed away from Joe
for so long and for getting caught up in a world that
is unworthy of Joe’s values. The speech should reveal
Pip’s new understanding of life and the importance of
true friendships.
Prepare Begin by thinking about Pip’s purpose for

giving this speech. Decide what tone Pip would use.
Think about the emotions Pip would he be feeling
and what words he would use to express those
emotions. Decide it he would approach Joe formally
or informally. Use a graphic organizer like the one
below to keep your ideas organized.
purpose
emotions tone
Pip’s
speech
words body
to use language
Next, keep the information you collected on you

graphic organizer in mind as you write the speech.
Deliver Present Pip’s speech to the class. Keep in

mind that this speech is for Pip to give to Joe. Use
body language that is appropriate to the emotions,
tone, and purpose of your speech.
Evaluate Write a paragraph evaluating your speech.

When your classmates present, offer oral feedback
on their performances.

WORK WITH RELAT ED READINGS
Great Expectations
The following questions refer to the Related Readings in Glencoe’s
Literature Library edition of this novel. Support your answers with
details from the texts. Write your answers on a separate sheet of
paper, but jot down some notes first on the lines provided.
Working Life ‘Round the Clock’ in Victorian London

Sally Mitchell George Augustus Sala
Pick a character from Great Expectations and describe How does the London described by Sala compare to
how he or she is influenced by the economy of the London of Great Expectations?
Victorian England.
Great Expectations
from David Copperfield book review in Atlantic Monthly, September 1861
Charles Dickens How might the character of Magwitch illustrate the
Compare David and Pip. In what ways are they similar? reviewer’s opinion that Dickens “follows the maxim
of the great master of characterization, and seeks ‘the
soul of goodness in things evil’”?
Freedom’s Plow
Langston Hughes
Some expectations about life are realistic, while others
are not. Do you think the expectations expressed in
Hughes’s poem are more realistic than Pip’s
expectations? Why or why not?
G re a t E x p e c t a t io n s 71
CO NNECT TO OTHER LITE RAT URE
LITERATURE EXCERPT: Rules of the Game

My older brother Vincent was the one who disappointment that his mother slapped
actually got the chess set. We had gone to the side of his head and led him out of the
the annual Christmas party held at the First church hall, apologizing to the crowd for her
Chinese Baptist Church at the end of the son who had such bad manners he couldn’t
alley. The missionary ladies had put together appreciate such a fine gift.
a Santa bag of gifts donated by members of As I peered into the sack, I quickly
another church. None of the gifts had names fingered the remaining presents, testing
on them. There were separate sacks for boys their weight, imagining what they contained.
and girls of different ages. I chose a heavy, compact one that was
One of the Chinese parishioners had wrapped in shiny silver foil and a red satin
donned a Santa Claus costume and a stiff ribbon. It was a twelve-pack of Life Savers
paper beard with cotton balls glued to it. I and I spent the rest of the party arranging
think the only children who thought he was and rearranging the candy tubes in the order
the real thing were too young to know that of my favorites. My brother Winston chose
Santa Claus was not Chinese. When my turn wisely as well. His present turned out to
came up, the Santa man asked me how old be a box of intricate plastic parts; the
I was. I thought it was a trick question; I was instructions on the box proclaimed that
seven according to the American formula when they were properly assembled he
and eight by the Chinese calendar. I said I would have an authentic miniature replica
was born on March 17, 1951. That seemed of a World War II submarine.
to satisfy him. He then solemnly asked if Vincent got the chess set, which would
I had been a very, very good girl this year have been a very decent present to get at
and did I believe in Jesus Christ and obey a church Christmas party, except it was
my parents. I knew the only answer to that. obviously used and, as we discovered later,
I nodded back with equal solemnity. it was missing a black pawn and a white
Having watched the other children knight. My mother graciously thanked the
opening their gifts, I already knew that the unknown benefactor, saying, “Too good.
big gifts were not necessarily the nicest ones. Cost too much.” At which point, an old lady
One girl my age got a large coloring book of with fine white, wispy hair nodded toward
biblical characters, while a less greedy girl our family and said with a whistling
who selected a smaller box received a glass whisper, “Merry, merry Christmas.”
vial of lavender toilet water. The sound of When we got home, my mother told
the box was also important. A ten-year old Vincent to throw the chess set away. “She
boy had chosen a box that jangled when he not want it. We not want it,” she said,
shook it. It was a tin globe of the world with tossing her head stiffly to the side with a
a slit for inserting money. He must have tight, proud smile. My brothers had deaf
thought it was full of dimes and nickels, ears. They were already lining up the chess
because when he saw that it had just ten pieces and reading from the dog-eared
pennies, his face fell with such undisguised instruction book.

CONNECT TO OTHER LIT ERATURE
Compare the novel you have just read with the literature selection at the left, TALK ABOUT IT
which is excerpted from “Rules of the Game” in Glencoe Literature. Then With a small group, talk about how in
answer the questions below. this selection and in Great Expectations
the characters have expectations, but
they learn that things are not always
Compare & Contrast as they seem. As you discuss, take
1. Point of View How does the first-person point of view of this selection notes below.
and Great Expectations help to give you an understanding of the narrator
of each story?
2. Mood How is the mood that Tan creates in this childhood memory
different from the mood Dickens creates for Pip’s childhood memories?
3. Irony How does the mother show irony in this selection? How does this
compare with the irony Dickens uses in Great Expectations?
G re a t E x p e c t a t io n s 73
RESPOND THROUGH WRITING
Short Story UNDERSTAND THE TASK

• Irony is when someone says one
Apply Irony Dickens uses verbal irony to add humor to dialogue. He also thing but means another or when
a character believes one thing will
uses situational irony to build tension and surprise the reader. Think of a
happen but the opposite happens.
situation where someone has an expectation. Write a short story in which this
person realizes these expectations were not met. • A short story is a brief fictional
narrative in prose. A short story
usually focuses on a single event
Prewrite Brainstorm ideas about times when people have expectations. List
and has only a few characters.
these situations on a piece of paper. For each situation you listed, write what
could happen and then write an alternate possibility. Look at your list and
choose the situation that you think has the best ironic twist. When you have
chosen the situation you want to write about, free write (write without
Grammar Tip
stopping) for about 10 minutes to get the basic events of that situation Dashes
down on paper. Use dashes to show an
interruption, pause in a thought,
Draft For irony to be effective, you have to build up the reader’s expectations or a moment of dialogue.
in your story and then provide an unexpected reality. Keep this in mind as you
structure your narrative and organize the events. You can use a chart like the A dash can be used to show an
one below, which shows an example of situational irony in Great Expectations, to interruption that is made to add
help you make clear the contrast between expectations and reality in your story. additional information:
“He had glittering eyes—small,
keen, and black—and thin wide
What the reader mottled lips.”
Situation is led to believe
A dash can also be used to show
Pip has a Miss Havisham is
benefactor. a benefactor. where a line of dialogue is
interrupted either by another
speaker or by the speaker’s
What really own thoughts:
happened “I live quite pleasantly there; at
Abel Magwitch least—” It appeared to me that I
is really Pip’s was losing a chance.
benefactor.
As you write, use concrete details (who, what, when, and where) and sensory
details (sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures) to describe actions, events,
thoughts, and feelings. These should connect to the irony you reveal in your
short story.
Revise Check that you have used concrete and sensory details to describe
your setting and characters. Make sure that the mood of your writing is
appropriate for the ironic situation you have written about. For example, if the
irony puts the character in a happier situation than was expected, the mood
should reflect this change.
Edit and Proofread Edit your writing so that it expresses your thoughts
effectively and is well organized. Carefully proofread for grammar, punctuation,
and spelling errors.

. . . And the Earth
Did Not Devour Him
Thomás Rivera
. . . A n d t he Ea rt h D i d No t De vo u r H im 75
. . . And the Earth Did Not Devour Him

Thomás Rivera
In the novel, Rivera tries to give voice to

“ Tierra [ . . . And the Earth Did Not
Devour Him] is a novel about sorrow
migrant workers like the ones he grew up
with. His goal is to reveal their hopes,
and sadness. This is true. But Rivera is dreams, frustrations, and deprivations as
they suffer, pray, celebrate, and remember.
not saying that all Chicanos live in an
unfortunate world. The novel is also about The Episodic Novel . . . And the Earth Did
a special kind of childhood—the childhood Not Devour Him consists of twenty-seven
episodes. Twelve of these are titled stories.
of the artist. Tierra is about a child’s Thirteen of the episodes are brief, untitled
delicate feelings, about a child’s waning anecdotes, or short stories, that make a point.
innocence, about people’s dreams and The remaining two episodes are introductory
and concluding narratives that frame the
hopes, and about gentle transformations
novel and help unify it. Each anecdote is
of the heart and soul. ” related by subject or theme to the story that
comes before or after it. Some characters
—Eliud Martínez from Tomás Rivera:
appear in more than one story; others do
Witness and Storyteller
not. Some characters are identified; many
Although brief and seemingly simple, Tomás remain nameless.
Rivera’s . . . And the Earth Did Not Devour
“Fragmented” Storytelling Rather than
Him is regarded as a ground-breaking work.
having a traditional plot with rising action,
The novel demands that readers make
climax, and resolution, the novel presents the
connections between the stories and come
fragmented memories of a young boy. Some
to their own conclusions about the identity
of the stories and anecdotes are told by the
and relationships of the characters and the
boy, some by a third-person narrator, and
meaning of nameless people’s actions. As
still others through the use of dialogue.
professor of Chicano studies Eliud Martínez
explains: Rivera’s storytelling technique has been
called “fragmented” because he presents
Rivera points no accusing fingers, does not judge
incomplete or isolated bits of information.
or indict; the incidents or his characters’ stories
This method allows him to cover a large
speak for themselves. The reader draws his own
range of experiences without the normal
conclusions. Subjectivity of selection of scenes,
constraints of a chronologically ordered
stories, overheard conversations, however, permit
series of events. The structure of the novel
the author to comment, to lament, to express
seeks to mimic the way in which memory
compassion, in order to touch the reader’s
works and to present the feelings of
emotions and feelings.
disorientation––of feeling lost––experienced
by many of the migrant workers as they
struggle to make sense of a culture that is
sometimes very different from their own.

Migrant Workers During World War II, beside their parents in an effort to increase
many Americans enlisted in the armed the combined earnings of the family. Those
forces, and so there was an increased who were too young to work were left with
demand for workers within the American elderly family members or had to fend for
labor force. The bracero (“manual labor”) themselves while their parents were at work.
program, negotiated by the United States Few children attended school, and their
and Mexico in 1942, made short-term health often suffered because of poor
employment available to Mexicans in job nutrition, inadequate health care, and
areas that were previously closed to them. environmental hazards. Wages of thirty cents
Over the next five years, more than 250,000 an hour were common; however, these
Mexican farm workers temporarily entered wages were significantly higher than those
the United States to help harvest crops. earned in Mexico for the same type of labor.
Once the harvest season was over, the
braceros returned to Mexico. At the same In 1954 the Eisenhower administration
time, however, hundreds of thousands of launched a program to try to restrain the
other Mexican Americans—often whole flow of undocumented immigrants from
families—illegally entered the United States Mexico. Over the course of the next three
by swimming or walking across borders into years, the government sent approximately
Texas, Arizona, and California. 3.7 million allegedly illegal migrants back
to Mexico. Often civil rights were ignored
Many of these farm workers were cruelly and families broken up. Authorities did not
exploited, enduring long hours of back- always distinguish among illegal aliens,
breaking work, poor food, and substandard braceros, and Mexican American citizens,
housing. Children worked in the fields and thousands of citizens were deported.
El Movimiento
Around the time that Rivera wrote was particularly concerned with hand, read at rallies, and performed
. . . And the Earth Did Not Devour civil rights, the farm labor struggle, in the street. The poem speaks of
Him (1967–1968), other Chicano and the Vietnam War. the struggles of Mexican Americans
writers and artists were also finding and calls on them to maintain their
expression for their ideas and Mexican American poets were unique identity and heritage. It also
opinions. As a matter of fact, among the first writers to gain inspired an interest in Chicano
production of art and literature was prominence in the movement. literature at the grassroots level.
so great at this time that these Because of the nature of verse, New works by Chicano writers
years came to be known as a they could easily recite their poetry and artists flourished in the years
Chicano renaissance, or El before groups of students and that followed.
Movimiento (The Movement). workers. They wrote in both English
According to The Hispanic- and Spanish, hoping to reach the Rivera himself played an important
American Almanac, Chicano widest possible audience. role in El Movimiento, promoting
literature written during “the Chicano authors and contributing
decade of the 1960s was One of the most significant pieces to the development of a Chicano
characterized by a questioning of of literature produced at this time literature. His novel . . . And the
all the commonly accepted truths was written by an ex-boxer Earth Did Not Devour Him became
in . . . society, foremost of which from Colorado, Rodolfo “Corky” a landmark in the Mexican
was the question of equality.” González. His poem I Am Joaquín/ American community’s search
Politically charged, El Movimiento Yo Soy Joaquín was passed hand to for identity.
. . . A n d t he Ea rt h D i d No t De vo u r H im 77
MEET TH E AUTHOR
Tomás Rivera (1935–1984)
In addition to his role as a university

“isolation
I saw a lot of suffering and much
of the people. Yet they lived
administrator, Rivera played an important
role in the development of Chicano
through the whole thing, perhaps literature. He offered encouragement to
because they had no choice. I saw a Chicano authors and promoted Chicano
literature and culture as areas of study in
lot of heroic people and I wanted to
the college curriculum.
capture their feelings. ” Telling Stories Rivera is most remembered,
—Tomás Rivera, interview with Juan
however, as an author. Although some
Bruce-Novoa people found it remarkable that the son of
If it is true that authors write best about that migrant farm workers would go on to write
which they know, then it is no surprise that and publish stories, Rivera himself did not.
Tomás Rivera wrote so well about migrant As he explained in an article in Atisbos:
farm workers. When Rivera was a boy, he Journal of Chicano Research, storytelling was
and his parents, who had immigrated to important to the migrant workers with
Texas from Mexico, traveled north every whom he grew up. He wrote:
year to pick crops in the Midwest. Rivera
knew firsthand the difficulties that these There was always someone [in the camps] who
workers faced and the nobility and courage knew the old traditional stories. . . . Then there
with which they faced their difficulties. were always those who acted out movies, told
about different parts of the world and about
Rivera was born in Crystal City, Texas, in Aladdin and his magic lamp. An oral literature
1935. Although his family’s need to travel was, in that way, developed in the migrant
from place to place made it difficult for camps. People find refuge not only in the Church
him to attend school, his parents made his or with their brothers but also by sitting in a
education a priority. By the time Rivera circle, listening, telling stories and, through
graduated from high school, he was fluent in words, escaping to other worlds as well as
both English and Spanish. Rivera went on to inventing them.
attend college, earning a bachelor’s degree
in English, a master’s degree in education Rivera’s body of work was relatively small—
administration, and a doctorate in romance one incomplete novel in addition to . . . And
languages and literature. the Earth Did Not Devour Him, several short
stories, poems, and literary essays. Armed
A Lifelong Educator After teaching English with a powerful memory and an expert eye
and Spanish for several years, Rivera became to detail, Rivera preserved his own past in
a university administrator. Education was his stories. At the same time, he preserved
extremely important to Rivera, particularly the past of other migrant farm workers.
the education of Hispanic Americans. In
1979 Rivera was appointed chancellor of the
University of California, Riverside. He was
the university’s first Chicano (Mexican
American) chancellor and its youngest
administrator.

BEFORE YOU READ: from “The Lost Year” to “A Silver y Night”

Suppose you woke up one morning and could not remember what had entries about the novels that you read
taken place during the last year of your life. How would you feel? What this year.
would you do?
Quickwrite SUMMARIZE
Imagine what the effects of such a loss of memory might be like. Record your
thoughts and feelings about losing a year. Use the questions above to help
you get started.
Build Background
Fighting for the United States
Between 300,000 and 400,000 Mexican Americans served in the U.S. Armed
Forces during World War II, a number far higher than their proportion of the
draft-age population. Mexican Americans won seventeen Congressional
Medals of Honor, the highest United States military decoration. Countless
others received Distinguished Service Medals and Silver Stars for their acts of
bravery. Mexican Americans also earned disinguished military records during
the Korean War of the early 1950s. (During this war, the United States
supported South Korea’s battle against North Korean invaders. North Korea
was aided by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Communist China.)
In spite of their accomplishments on the battlefield, Mexican American soldiers

continued to face discrimination and prejudice when they returned home.
Some chapters of the American Legion refused to allow Chicanos to become
members, and, like other Chicanos, many veterans were barred from Anglo
restaurants, stores, and schools. In an effort to help end discrimination, Dr.
Hector Garcia founded the GI Forum. The group continues to provide services
to Chicanos and other Hispanics who have served in the U.S. armed forces.
. . . And the Ea rth D i d N o t D e vo u r H i m : f rom “ T h e L o s t Ye a r” to “A S ilve r y N ig h t ” 79

BEFORE YOU READ: from “The Lost Year” to “A Silver y Night”

SF_Head
왘 BIG Idea Looking Into Lives
beseech [bi sēch´]
As you read, think about the ways in which the immigrant farm workers’
v. to address a serious request to
hopes and dreams are similar to yours. What particular challenges do they
Brian urged his parents, “I beseech
face that make these hopes and dreams difficult to achieve? Do you face
you, please allow me to help the
similar challenges? stray dog.”
implore [im plor ´]

Literary Element Anecdote v. to beg
An anecdote is a short written or oral account of an event from a person’s After the first snowfall, children often
life. Essayists often use anecdotes to support their opinions, clarify their ideas, implore their parents to let them
grab the reader’s attention, or entertain. Autobiographies and biographies are play outside in the snow.
often largely comprised of anecdotes. homage [hom´ ij]
n. special honor or respect
Anecdotes enable readers to develop a deeper understanding of the character expressed publicly
whose experience is being shared. They accomplish this by providing details
In her memoir, she paid homage to
about the character’s environment, relationships, and motivations. the teacher who had encouraged
her to be a writer.
As you read, ask yourself why the author included a specific anecdote at a
certain point in the novel. Consider what this anecdote reveals both about the palpitating [pal´ pə tāt´ in]
characters involved and about the environment in which these characters live. v. beating very quickly
He was so nervous about playing
in the recital that his heart was
Reading Strategy Activate Prior Knowledge palpitating wildly.
When you activate prior knowledge you consider what you already know
about a person, place, idea or event in a literary work and using that
knowledge to deepen your understanding of what you are reading. Detail Prior Knowledge
Activating prior knowledge enables you to develop a broader context for the
text, and it helps you understand the author’s purpose more fully.
Before you read, consider what you already know about the novel’s topic. As
you read each chapter within the text, make note of references to historical
events, people or situations and take a minute to recall what you already
know about them. You may find it helpful to use a graphic organizer like the
one at the right. Use the graphic organizer on the next page to help you keep
track of what you know, want to know and learn as you read.

ACTIVE READING: from “The Lost Year” to “A Silver y Night”
Because this novel has an unusual structure, you may Fill in this organizer during and after your reading to
at first have more questions than you have answers. keep track of events and characters.
What I KNOW What I WANT to Know What I LEARNED

(facts and inferences about (questions that arise (conclusions drawn after
plot, characters, theme) during reading) reading and discussing)
in a Mexican American
a boy’s confusion between Where are these events
community of migrant
being awake and asleep taking place ?
workers

Literary Element NOVEL EXCERPT: IT’S THAT IT HURTS

Anecdote According to the first But how could I even think of leaving knowing that everyone
anecdote, why is getting an education at home wanted me to go to school. Anyways, the janitor stood
so important to the narrator? with his broom up in the air, ready for anything . . . And then
they just told me to leave.
I’m halfway home. This cemetery is real pretty. It doesn’t
look anything like the one in Texas. That one is scarey, I don’t
like it at all. What scares me the most is when we’re leaving
after a burial and I look up and I read the letters on the arch
over the gate that say, Don’t forget me. It’s like I can hear all
the dead people buried there saying these words and then the
sound of these words stays in my mind and sometimes even if I
don’t look up when I pass through the gate, I still see them. But
not this one, this one is real pretty. Just lots of soft grass and
trees, I guess that’s why here when people bury somebody they
don’t even cry. I like playing here. If only they would let us fish
in the little creek that runs through here, there’s lots of fish. But
no, you even need a license to fish and then they don’t even sell
us one ’cause we’re from out of state.
I won’t be able to go to school anymore. What am I going to
tell them? They’ve told me over and over that our teachers are
like our second parents . . . and now? And when we get back to
Texas everyone will find out too. Mother and Dad will be angry;
I might get more than just a whipping. And then my Uncle will
find out and Grandpa. Maybe they might even send me to a
reform school like the ones I’ve heard them talk about. There
they turn you into a good person if you’re bad. They’re real
hard on you. They leave you soft as a glove. But maybe they
didn’t expel me, sure they did, maybe not, sure they did. I could
make like I’m going to school and stay here in the cemetery.
That would be better. But then what? I could tell them that I lost
my report card. And then what if I stay in the same grade?
What hurt me the most is that now I won’t be able to be a
telephone operator like Dad wants me to. You need to finish
school for that.
“Vieja, call m’ijo out here . . . look, compadre, ask your
godson what he wants to be when he grows up and finishes
school.”
“What will you be, godson?”
“I don’t know.”
“Tell him! Don’t be embarrassed. He’s your godfather.”
“What will you be, son ?”
“A telephone operator.”
“Is that so?”

“Yes, compadre, he’s very determined, you know that? Every Literary Element
time we ask him he says he wants to be an operator. I think they
pay well. I told the boss the other day and he laughed. I don’t Anecdote In the second anecdote,
consider the questioner’s attitude
think he believes that my son can do it, but that’s ’cause he
toward education. Why might the
doesn’t know him. He’s smarter than anything. I just pray God author have placed these two
helps him finish school so he can become an operator.” anecdotes next to each other?
That movie was good. The operator was the most important
one. Ever since then I suppose that’s why Dad has wanted me
to study for that after I finish school. But . . . maybe they didn’t
throw me out. What if it’s not true? Maybe not. Sure, it is. What
do I tell them? What do I do? Now they won’t be able to ask me
what I’m going to be when I grow up. Maybe not. No, yeah.
What do I do? It’s that it hurts and it’s embarrassing at the same
time. I better just stay here. No, but then Mother will get scared
like she does when there’s lightning and thunder. I’ve gotta tell
them. And when my padrino comes to visit us I’ll just hide. No
need for him to find out. Nor for me to read to him like Dad has
me do every time he comes to visit us. What I’ll do when he
comes is hide behind the chest or under the bed. That way Dad
and Mother won’t feel embarrassed. And what if I really wasn’t
expelled? Maybe I wasn’t? No, yeah.
Why do y’all go to school so much?”
“My Dad says it’s to prepare us. He says that if someday
there’s an opportunity, maybe they’ll give it to us.”
“Sure! If I were you I wouldn’t worry about that. The poor
can’t get poorer. We can’t get worst off than we already are.
That’s why I don’t worry. The ones who have to be on their
toes are the ones who are higher up. They’ve got something
to lose. They can end up where we’re at. But for us what does
it matter?”

Reading Strategy NOVEL EXCERPT: THE CHILDREN COULDN’T WAIT

Activate Prior Knowledge What prior She had fallen asleep right away and everyone, very
knowledge is required for you to fully mindful of not crossing their arms nor their legs nor their
understand this excerpt? hands, watched her intensely. The spirit was already present
in her body.
“Let’s see, how may I help you this evening, brothers and
sisters?”
“Well, you see, I haven’t heard from my boy in two months.
Yesterday a letter from the government arrived telling me
that he’s lost in action. I’d like to know whether or not he’s
alive. I feel like I’m losing my mind just thinking and thinking
about it.”
“Have no fear, sister. Julianito is fine. He’s just fine. Don’t
worry about him anymore. Very soon he’ll be in your arms.
He’ll be returning already next month.”
“Thank you, thank you.”

NOVEL EXCERPT: A PRAYER Reading Strategy

Dear God, Jesus Christ, keeper of my soul. This is the third Activate Prior Knowledge Briefly
Sunday that I come to implore you, beg you, to give me word research one name, place or event
of my son. I have not heard from him. Protect him, my God, in this excerpt with which you are
that no bullet may pierce his heart like it happened to Doña unfamiliar. In the space below,
explain how this information helped
Virginia’s son, may he rest in God’s peace. Take care of him for
you understand more about the
me, Dear Jesus, save him from the gunfire, have pity on him speaker’s prayer.
who is so good. Since he was a baby, when I would nurse him
to sleep, he was so gentle, very grateful, never biting me. He’s
very innocent, protect him, he does not wish to harm anyone, he
is very noble, he is very kind, may no bullet pierce his heart.
Please, Virgin Mary, you, too, shelter him. Shield his body,
cover his head, cover the eyes of the Communists and the
Koreans and the Chinese so that they cannot see him, so they
won’t kill him. I still keep his toys from when he was a child,
his little cars, little trucks, even a kite that I found the other day
in the closet. Also his cards and the funnies that he has learned
to read. I have put everything away until his return.
Protect him, Jesus, that they may not kill him. I have made a
promise to the Virgen de San Juan to pay her homage at her
shrine and to the Virgen de Guadalupe, too. He also wears a
little medallion of the Virgen de San Juan del Valle and he, too,
has made a promise to her; he wants to live. Take care of him,
cover his heart with your hand, that no bullet may enter it. He’s
very noble. He was very afraid to go, he told me so. The day
they took him, when he said his farewell he embraced me
and he cried for a while. I could feel his heart beating and I
remembered when he was little and I would nurse him and the
happiness that I felt and he felt.
Take care of him for me, please, I beseech you. I promise you
my life for his. Bring him back from Korea safe and sound.
Cover his heart with your hands. Jesus Christ, Holy God, Virgen
de Guadalupe, bring him back alive, bring me back his heart.
Why have they taken him? He has done no harm. He knows
nothing. He is very humble. He doesn’t want to take away
anybody’s life. Bring him back alive, I don’t want him to die.
Here is my heart for his. Here is my heart. Here in my chest,
palpitating. Tear it out if blood is what you want, but tear it out
of me. I sacrifice my heart for his. Here it is. Here is my heart!
Through it runs his very own blood . . .
Bring him back alive and I will give you my very own heart.

MARK IT UP NOVEL EXCERPT: HAND IN HIS POCKET

If so, then mark up the pages as you Remember Don Laíto and Doña Bone? That’s what everyone
read, or reread, to help with your called them but their names were Don Hilario and Doña
note-taking. Develop a shorthand Bonifacia. Don’t you remember? Well, I had to live with them
for three weeks until school ended. At first I liked it but then
later on I didn’t.
Everything that people used to say about them behind their
backs was true. About how they baked the bread, the pastries,
Asterisk = just what you were how they would sometimes steal and that they were bootleggers.
looking for
I saw it all. Anyways, they were good people but by the time
school was about to end I was afraid of being with them in that
Circle = unfamiliar word or phrase to Model-T that they had and even of sleeping in their house. And
look up
towards the end I didn’t even feel like eating. That’s why I’d go
to the little neighborhood store to buy me some candy. And
that’s how I got along until my Dad, my Mother and my
brothers and sisters came to get me.
I remember they were very nice to me on the first day. Don
Laíto laughed a lot and you could see his gold teeth and the
rotten ones, too. And every little while Doña Bone, fat as could
be, would grab me and squeeze me against her and I could feel
her, real fat. They fed me dinner—I say fed me because they
didn’t eat. Now that I’m remembering, you know, I never saw
them eat. The meat that she fried for me was green and it
smelled really bad when she was cooking it. But after a while
왘 BIG Idea it didn’t smell as much. But I don’t know whether this was
Looking Into Lives How do Don Laíto because I got used to the smell or because Don Laíto opened the
and Doña Bone show how they care
window. Just parts of it tasted bad. I ate it all because I didn’t
about the migrant workers?
want to hurt their feelings. Everybody liked Don Laíto and
Mark up the excerpt, looking for Doña Bone. Even the Anglos were fond of them. They gave
evidence of how it expresses the them canned foods, clothes, toys. And when Don Laíto and
Big Idea. Doña Bone weren’t able to sell these to us, they’d give them
to us. They would also pay us visits out in the fields to sell us
Mexican sweetbread, thread and needles, canned food and
nopalitos, and also shoes, coats and other things that sometimes
were good, sometimes pretty bad.
“Won’t you buy these shoes . . . oh, come on . . . I know
they’re used, but they’re the expensive kind . . . look how
they’re not worn out yet . . . these . . . I guarantee you, they
last until they wear out . . . ”

reduce your notes.
Record
ASK QUESTIONS
Recap

AFTER YOU READ: from “The Lost Year” to “A Silver y Night”

1. Why is the narrator of “It’s That It Hurts” expelled from school? In your Reread Build Background on
opinion, what is the “it” that hurts the narrator? [Infer] page 79. How did that information
2. Describe the couple with whom the boy in “Hand in His Pocket” lives. In
your opinion, what causes the boy to slip his hand in his pocket whenever
he sees a stranger? [Interpret]
3. Briefly describe at least one of the incidents in which a character is

discriminated against. How does the character respond? In your opinion is
the response believable? Explain. [Evaluate]
4. After reading the stories, what do you think might be troubling the boy in
“The Lost Year”? What may have caused him to lose his memory? Explain.
[Conclude]
5. Looking Into Lives Which character in these chapters do you feel most
connected to? What qualities do you and this character have in common?
[Connect]

Literary Element Anecdote Vocabulary Practice

Which anecdote in this section helped you best Respond to these questions.
understand the struggles that the migrant farm workers
endure? [Conclude] 1. In which situation would you beseech someone
to listen to you—you are about to share some bad
news or you want to explain which team played
the best defensive game last night?
2. In which situation should you implore a passerby

to help you—you need directions to the local
grocery store or you need directions to the
emergency room of the local hospital?
3. Who would you pay homage to—the friend who

baked you cookies or the grandfather who fought
valiantly in World War II?
4. Which situation would most likely cause your

heart to start palpitating—speaking in front of two
hundred people or speaking to your brother on
the telephone?
Reading Strategy Activate Prior Knowledge

How does your understanding of discrimination
influence your feelings about the narrator’s situation
in “It’s That It Hurts”? [Connect] Academic Vocabulary
The lettuce farm owner used his authority to control
and intimidate the migrant workers. In the preceding
sentence, authority means “power to influence
thoughts or behavior.” Authority also has other
meanings. For instance: Robert is a world-renowned
authority on climate change; for years, he has
studied the effects of global warming. What do you
think authority means in the preceding sentence?
What is the difference between the two meanings?


Personal Response Which story did you find the Oral Interpretation
most powerful? Why? Assignment With a small group of your classmates,
choose one of the stories in which the characters
experience discrimination, and interpret it orally for
the class.
Prepare Together, reread the story aloud and discuss

the kind of discrimination that is illustrated. Consider
the tone of voice, pacing, and gestures you might
need to bring it to life for your audience. Then divide
up the scene so each group member has a chance to
read. Rehearse your scene until you feel that you are
ready to perform it.
Perform and Discuss Perform your scene for the

class. Be sure to face your audience and speak
loudly and clearly. After you perform, participate in
a discussion about the choices your group made in
your interpretation.
Evaluate After your performance, meet with your

group to discuss how successful your performance
and the subsequent discussion were and how they
might have been better. Use a chart like the one
below to record your group’s ideas.
Good points What What needed

that came worked improvement
up during the well
discussion

BEFORE YOU READ: From “One afternoon . . .” to “A little before . . .”

Recall a time when you felt powerless, as if you were not capable of having entries about the novels that you read
an impact on someone or something. this year.

SUMMARIZE
Think about a time when your age, inexperience, or some other factor made
you unable to command a situation in a way you would have liked. Write
about the situation, what made you powerless, and how it felt.
Build Background
The Evolution of a Name
During the 1940s and 1950s, immigrants from Spain, Portugal, and from
anywhere below the southern border of the United States were referred to
simply as Spanish, regardless of their place of birth. As more people came to
the United States from Mexico, Central America, Cuba, and other countries, a
new term was added to describe the ancestry of these immigrants. Hispanic
was widely used during the 1960s, but it was improperly applied to define
the entire Spanish-speaking population as a race and culture. Furthermore, the
term was coined by mainstream Americans. The use of the term Hispanic by
the dominant American culture resulted in the stereotyping of a widely diverse
group of people. During the civil rights movement of the 1960s and early
1970s, young Mexican Americans began calling themselves Chicanos. In the
1980s, the term Hispanic reappeared to refer to any person living in the
United States who is of Spanish ancestry. More recently, Latino has become
a term of choice for many Mexican Americans, Cuban Americans, and Puerto
Ricans living on the the mainland.
. . . And the Earth D i d N ot D e vo u r H i m : f rom “O n e a fte rnoon . . .” to “A litt le b e fo re . . .” 91

BEFORE YOU READ: From “One afternoon . . .” to “A little before . . .”

왘 BIG Idea Finding Common Ground
clamoring [klam´ ər in]
Recall a time when you needed to ally with others who shared your opinion v. making a sustained outcry
about a topic. For example, a group of community members might join forces When the politician visited their
to stop the construction of a new housing development in their town, or local school, parents were clamoring
students might come together to oppose a new school rule that they deem to voice their frustrations about the
unfair. Were you able to convince others to consider your opinions? recent school budget cuts.
sacrilege [sak´ rə lij]

As you read, consider how much power the farm workers have to change
n. destruction or misuse of
their situations for the better. Are they able to join together to fight for better
something sacred
working and living conditions? Why or why not?
Destroying a statue of a religious
figure is considered sacrilege in
many faiths.
Literary Element Tone
scapularies [skap´ yə lər ēz]
Tone refers to the author’s attitude toward his or her subject matter. Tone is n. squares of cloth joined by
conveyed through elements such as word choice, rhythm, sentence structure shoulder tapes, often worn to show
and figures of speech. religious devotion
Individuals who wish to express their
A writer’s tone may convey a variety of attitudes, such as sympathy, objectivity, religious devotion sometimes wear
seriousness, irony, sadness, bitterness, or humor. Recognizing tone can help scapularies under their clothes.
you determine the author’s purpose in writing a specific text.
venial [vē´ nē əl]
adj. easily excused or forgiven,
As you read, think about how the author reveals his feelings and attitudes.
as in a venial sin
Her parents did not get too upset
Reading Strategy when they found out what she had
Identify Problem and Solution
done; the sin she committed was a
When you identify problem and solution, you look for obstacles, conflicts, venial one.
and problems and identify how they are, or can be, solved.
This process can help you understand the purpose of a literary work and
provide you with greater insight into its characters.
As you read, identify both the problems that arise in the narrator’s world and Problem Solution
the solutions that he develops for these problems. You might find it helpful
to use a graphic organizer like the one at the right. The graphic organizer on
the next page can also help you keep track of problems and solutions as
you read.

ACTI VE READING: From “One afternoon . . .” to “A little before . . .”
Defining a problem and evaluating its solutions are fill out this problem/solution graphic organizer for one
as helpful in understanding fiction as they are in of the problems, or conflicts, a character or characters
solving real-life conflicts. As you read this section, experience. Use as many boxes as you need.
Who? Ramon in “The Night

the Lights Went Out”
What? Ramon is having problems
Problem with his girlfriend.
Why? He has heard rumors that she
has been unfaithful to him.
Attempted Solutions Results
1. 1.
Solution
2. 2.
3. 3.
End Result

Literary Element NOVEL EXCERPT: THE NIGHT

THE LIGHTS WENT OUT
Tone What attitude does the author
have toward his subjects in this “Oh, come on. You know everybody knows. I heard
passage? something else. Somebody told me that she’d been going
around with some dude out there in Minnesota. And that she
still kept on writing to Ramón. Kept on lying to him. Some of
Ramón’s friends told him everything. They were working at the
same farm where she was.
And then when they saw him out here they told him right
off. He was faithful to her but she wasn’t. She was going around
with some guy from San Antonio. He was nothing but a show-
off and he was always all duded up. They say he wore orange
shoes and real long coats and always had his collar turned
up . . . But her, I think she liked to mess around, otherwise she
wouldn’t have been unfaithful. What was bad was her not
breaking up with him. When he found out, Juanita hadn’t
returned yet from up north and he took to drinking a lot. I saw
him once when he was drunk and all he would say was that he
was hurting. That that was all that women left behind, nothing
but pain inside.”
“When I get back to Texas I’ll take her away with me. I can’t
go on like this anymore. She’ll come with me. She will. She’s
done me wrong. How I love her. With each swing of this hoe
I hear her name. How come you feel this way when you’re in
love? I no sooner finish supper and I’m staring at her picture
until dark. And at noon, during the lunch hour, too. But the
thing is, I don’t really remember how she looks. The picture
doesn’t seem to look like her anymore. Or she doesn’t look like
the picture. When the others make fun of me, I just go off to the
woods. I see the picture but I just don’t remember anymore
how she looks, even if I see her picture. Maybe it’s best to not
look at it so much. She promised she’d be faithful. And she is,
because her eyes and her smile keep telling me so when I picture
her in my mind. Soon it’ll be time to return to Texas. Each time
I wake to the early crow of the roosters I feel like I’m already
there and that I’m watching her walk down the street. It won’t
be long now.”
“Well, it’s not that I don’t love Ramón, but this guy, he’s a
real smooth talker and we just talk, that’s all. And all the girls
just stare at him. He dresses really fine, too. It’s not that I don’t
love Ramón, but this guy is real nice and his smile, I see it all
day long . . . No, I’m not breaking up with Ramón. And,
anyway, what’s wrong with just talking? I don’t want to get
serious with this guy, I promised Ramón . . . but he just keeps
on following and following me around. I don’t want to get
serious with him . . . I don’t want to lose Ramón, I’m not getting

involved with this guy. I just want him around to make the Literary Element
other girls jealous. No, I can’t break up with Ramón because
I really do love him a lot. It won’t be long before we’ll see each Tone Create a list of at least five
words or phrases in this excerpt
other again . . . Who said he was talking to Petra? Well, then,
that helped to establish the tone
why is he always following me around? I’ll have you know he you identified.
even sends me letters every day with Don José’s little boy.”
“ . . . I know you’re going with someone else but I like
talking to you. Since I got here and saw you I want to be with
you more and more. Go to the dance Saturday and dance with
me all night . . . Love you, Ramiro.”
“They say she danced the whole night with Ramiro. I think
her friends told her something about it but she just ignored
them. This happened about the time when the work season was
almost over and at the last dance, when they were saying good-
bye, they promised to see each other back here. I don’t think she
even remembered Ramón at that moment. But by then Ramón
already knew everything. That’s why on that day, after not
seeing each other in four months, he threw it all in her face.
I was with him that day, I was with him when he saw her and
I remember well that he was so happy to see her that he wasn’t
mad anymore. But then, after talking to her for a while he
started getting mad all over again. They broke up right then
and there.”
“You do whatever you want.”
“You can be sure of that.”
“You’re breaking up with me?”
“Yeah, and if you go to the dance tonight you better not
dance with anyone else.”
“And why shouldn’t I? We’re not going around anymore. We
broke up. You can’t tell me what to do.”
“I don’t care if we broke up or not. You’re gonna pay for this.
You’re gonna do what I say, when I say and for as long as I say.
Nobody makes a fool out of me. You’re gonna pay for this one,
one way or another.”
“You can’t tell me what to do.”
“You’re gonna do what I say and if you don’t dance with me,
you don’t dance with anyone. And I mean for the entire dance.”

Reading Strategy NOVEL EXCERPT: AND THE EARTH

DID NOT DEVOUR HIM
Identify Problem and Solution
What problem does the narrator feel That day started out cloudy and he could feel the morning
helpless to solve in this excerpt? coolness brushing his eyelashes as he and his brothers and
sisters began the day’s labor. Their mother had to stay home to
care for her husband. Thus, he felt responsible for hurrying on
his brothers and sisters. During the morning, at least for the first
few hours, they endured the heat but by ten-thirty the sun had
suddenly cleared the skies and pressed down against the world.
They began working more slowly because of the weakness,
dizziness and suffocation they felt when they worked too fast.
Then they had to wipe the sweat from their eyes every little
while because their vision would get blurred.
“If you start blacking out, stop working, you hear me? Or
go a little slower. When we reach the edge we’ll rest a bit to
get our strength back. It’s gonna be hot today. If only it’d
stay just a bit cloudy like this morning, then nobody would
complain. But no, once the sun bears down like this not even
one little cloud dares to appear out of fear. And the worst of
it is we’ll finish up here by two and then we have to go over
to that other field that’s nothing but hills. It’s okay at the top
of the hill but down in the lower part of the slopes it gets to
be real suffocating. There’s no breeze there. Hardly any air
goes through. Remember?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s where the hottest part of the day will catch us. just
drink plenty of water every little while. It don’t matter if the
boss gets mad. Just don’t get sick. And if you can’t go on,
tell me right away, all right? We’ll go home. Y’all saw what
happened to Dad when he pushed himself too hard. The sun
has no mercy, it can eat you alive.”
Just as they had figured, they had moved on to the other
field by early afternoon. By three o’clock they were all soaked
with sweat. Not one part of their clothing was dry. Every little
while they would stop. At times they could barely breath, then
they would black out and they would become fearful of getting
sunstruck, but they kept on working.
“How do y’all feel?”
“Man, it’s so hot! But we’ve got to keep on. ’Til six, at
least. Except this water don’t help our thirst any. Sure wish I
had a bottle of cool water, real cool, fresh from the well, or a
coke ice-cold.”
“Are you crazy? That’d sure make you sunsick right now.
Just don’t work so fast. Let’s see if we can make it until six.
What do you think?”
At four o’clock the youngest became ill. He was only nine
years old, but since he was paid the same as a grown up he
tried to keep up with the rest. He began vomiting. He sat down, Reading Strategy
then he laid down. Terrified, the other children ran to where he
lay and looked at him. It appeared that he had fainted and Identify Problem and Solution
Why is the narrator so surprised that
when they opened his eyelids they saw his eyes were rolled
his solution does not backfire on him?
back. The next youngest child started crying but right away he
told him to stop and help him carry his brother home. It
seemed he was having cramps all over his little body. He lifted
him and carried him by himself and, again, he began asking
himself why?
“Why Dad and then my little brother? He’s only nine
years old. Why? He has to work like a mule buried in the
earth. Dad, Mom, and my little brother here, what are they
guilty of?”
Each step that he took towards the house resounded with
the question, why? About halfway to the house he began to get
furious. Then he started crying out of rage. His little brothers and
sisters did not know what to do, and they, too, started crying, but
out of fear. Then he started cursing. And without even realizing
it, he said what he had been wanting to say for a long time. He
cursed God. Upon doing this he felt that fear instilled in him by
the years and by his parents. For a second he saw the earth
opening up to devour him. Then he felt his footsteps against the
earth, compact, more solid than ever. Then his anger swelled up
again and he vented it by cursing God. He looked at his brother,
he no longer looked sick. He didn’t know whether his brothers
and sisters had understood the graveness of his curse.
That night he did not fall asleep until very late. He felt at
peace as never before. He felt as though he had become
detached from everything. He no longer worried about his
father nor his brother. All that he awaited was the new day, the
freshness of the morning. By daybreak his father was doing
better. He was on his way to recovery. And his little brother, too;
the cramps had almost completely subsided. Frequently he felt
a sense of surprise upon recalling what he had done the
previous afternoon. He thought of telling his mother, but he
decided to keep it secret. All he told her was that the earth did
not devour anyone, nor did the sun.
He left for work and encountered a very cool morning. There
were clouds in the sky and for the first time he felt capable of
doing and undoing anything that he pleased. He looked down
at the earth and kicked it hard and said.
“Not yet, you can’t swallow me up yet. Someday, yes. But
I’ll never know it.”

MARK IT UP NOVEL EXCERPT: FIRST COMMUNION

If so, then mark up the pages as you The priest always held First Communion during mid-spring.
read, or reread, to help with your note- I’ll always remember that day in my life. I remember what I
taking. Develop a shorthand system, was wearing and I remember my godfather and the pastries
including symbols, that works for you. and chocolate that we had after mass, but I also remember what
I saw at the cleaners that was next to the church. I think it all
happened because I left so early for church. It’s that I hadn’t
Bracket = text to quote been able to sleep the night before, trying to remember all of
Asterisk = just what you were looking my sins, and worse yet, trying to arrive at an exact number.
for
Furthermore, since Mother had placed a picture of hell at the
Checkmark = might be useful head of the bed and since the walls of the room were papered
Circle = unfamiliar word or phrase to with images of the devil and since I wanted salvation from all
look up
evil, that was all I could think of.
“Remember, children, very quiet, very very quiet. You
have learned your prayers well, and now you know which
are the mortal sins and which are the venial sins, now you
know what sacrilege is, now you know that you are God’s
children, but you can also be children of the devil. When you
go to confession you must tell all of your sins, you must try to
remember all of the sins you have committed. Because if you
forget one and receive Holy Communion then that would be
a sacrilege and if you commit sacrilege you will go to hell.
God knows all. You cannot lie to God. You can lie to me and
to the priest, but God knows everything; so if your soul is not
왘 BIG Idea pure of sin, then you should not receive Holy Communion.
Finding Common Ground Think That would be a sacrilege. So everyone confess all of your
about what you have learned about sins. Recall all of your sins. Wouldn’t you be ashamed if you
the immigrant farm workers’ efforts
received Holy Communion and then later remembered a
to find common ground in order to
fight against harsh working and living sin that you had forgotten to confess? Now, let’s see, let us
conditions. practice confessing our sins. Who would like to start off? Let
us begin with the sins that we commit with our hands when
Mark up the excerpt, looking for we touch our bodies. Who would like to start?”
evidence of how it expresses the The nun liked for us to talk about the sins of the flesh. The real
Big Idea.
truth was that we practiced a lot telling our sins, but the real truth
was that I didn’t understand a lot of things. What did scare me
was the idea of going to hell because some months earlier I had
fallen against a small basin filled with hot coals which we used as
a heater in the little room where we slept. I had burned my calf.
I could well imagine how it might be to burn in hell forever. That
was all that I understood. So I spent that night, the eve of my First
Communion, going over all the sins I had committed. But what
was real hard was coming up with the exact number like the
nun wanted us to. It must have been dawn by the time I finally
satisfied my conscience. I had committed one hundred and fifty
sins, but I was going to admit to two-hundred.

reduce your notes.
Record
TO THE POINT
Write a few key words.
Recap

AFTER Y OU READ: From “One afternoon . . .” to “A little before . . .”

1. Why is the teacher surprised when the child tears a button off what may Reread Introduction to the Novel
be his only shirt? In your opinion, why does the child make the sacrifice? on pages 76–77. How did that
[Infer] information help you understand
or appreciate what you read in
the novel?
2. What causes the fire that kills the children in “The Little Burnt Victims”?
What is ironic about the fact that the boxing glove survives the fire intact?
[Interpret]
3. Evaluate Rivera’s use of dialogue in “The Night the Lights Went Out.” In
your opinion, would the story be improved if it were told by a single
narrator? Explain. [Evaluate]
4. How might the boy in the story “. . . And the Earth Did Not Devour Him”
answer the question in the Focus Activity? How does this answer compare
with yours? [Connect]
5. Finding Common Ground Choose two events from this section that
caused you to empathize with the narrator. What kind of impact (positive or
negative) did they have on your view of the narrator’s society? [Classify and
Connect]
10 0 NOVE L COMPANION: Unit 2

AFTER YOU READ: From “One afternoon . . .” to “A little before . . .”
Literary Element Tone Vocabulary Practice

Based on what you have read so far, is the author’s Write the vocabulary word that correctly completes
attitude toward the narrator the same as his attitude each sentence. If none of the words fits the sentence,
toward the other characters in his society? [Analyze] write “none.”
clamoring sacrilege scapularies venial
1. Today, he decided to his normal

schedule and go to the zoo instead.
2. The fans were all to get the rock

star’s attention.
3. John’s constant interrupting during class is a

crime. Because he asks good
questions, his teachers don’t usually mind.
4. Marie often wears the that her

mother sewed; they remind her to stay true to
her faith.
5. The judicial branch functions to

the laws of the United States.
6. Using a deity’s name in vain is considered

by most religions.
Reading Strategy Identify Problem
and Solution
Identify a problem that arises within one of the Academic Vocabulary
anecdotes. Do you agree with the way the character(s) Even though the young narrator perceives that he
solved the problem? Why or why not? [Evaluate] has committed a sin of the flesh on the day of his
first communion, he doesn’t really understand what
it means. Using context clues, try to figure out the
meaning of the boldface word in the sentence above.
Write your guess below. Then check it in a dictionary.
. . . And the Earth Did N ot D e vo u r H i m : f ro m “O ne a fte rn o o n . . .” to “A l i tt le b e fo re . . .” 101

AFTER Y OU READ: From “One afternoon . . .” to “A little before . . .”
Write With Style Connect to Content Areas

Apply Tone Art
Assignment Tone is the author’s attitude toward his Assignment Explore photographs of migrant workers
or her subject matter. Use “It was a beautiful wedding by Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, or contemporary
day” as a model to write your own paragraph about an photographers from one period (1930s–1940s,
event that would be described with a different tone. 1950s–1960s, 1970s–1980s, 1990s to present).
Then create a photo exhibit that includes your personal
Get Ideas Review Rivera’s tone in other sections of reactions to the photos and how they relate to or add
the novel to get ideas for your paragraph. For example, to your understanding of migrant workers’ lives.
in “The Little Burnt Victims” Rivera uses word choice to
convey a tone of objective sadness as one man explains Investigate First, select the photographer whose work
to the other what happened to the children. Think you would like to research. Then, using either print
about Rivera’s word choice and sentence structure sources or the Internet, find at least five photographs
to help you decide on a tone for your paragraph. taken by this photographer. Either photocopy or
download these photos, but make sure that you
Give It Structure Follow the structure that the author record where you found them. Study each photo
uses; to do so, pay careful attention to the kinds of carefully, and take notes about how they add to your
details he describes in the beginning, middle, and end understanding of migrant workers’ lives. Consider using
of his paragraph. a graphic organizer like the one below.
Look at Language Tone is conveyed through various Photo Title Date Interesting What it
elements of style, including word choice. Reread the (or #) taken visual reveals
paragraph “It was a beautiful wedding day” and look
details about
for words that illustrate a tone of happy anticipation
migrant
such as beautiful, busy fixing up, and decorations.
workers
Then decide on the tone you will use. For example, if
you would like to create a tone of dread, make a list of
words that have a foreboding tone. You can use a
thesaurus to help you with your list.
EXAMPLE:
Event: final exam day
Words that convey foreboding: stressful, dreary, Create Organize your photo exhibit in a purposeful,
ominous, dreadful coherent way that enables you to display both the
Sentence: On the morning of the final exam, clouds photo and your written comments about the photos.
hung drearily in the sky. Refer to the graphic organizer you completed to help
you identify connections between various photos and
to determine an organizational strategy for your exhibit.
Make your exhibit as interesting as possible.
Report If possible, use a publishing program on

the computer to help make your photo exhibit look
professional.

BEFORE YOU READ: From “The Night Before Christmas” to “Under the House”

What are the advantages of looking forward to the future and making future entries about the novels that you read
plans? What disadvantages might there be in focusing on the future instead this year.
of the present?
SUMMARIZE
Make a Chart Summarize in one sentence the most
With a small group of classmates, discuss why people often concentrate on important idea(s) in Build Background.
the future rather than on the present. Copy the chart and make a list of all the
positive and negative factors you can think of.
Positive Factors Negative Factors
Focusing on
the PRESENT
Focusing on
the FUTURE
Build Background
Three Kings Day
In Mexico, January 6 is Three Kings Day. This religious holiday is typically
celebrated with church services, gift giving, and special treats such as roscas—
sweet breads decorated with red and green candies. In the nativity story of the
New Testament, three kings bearing gifts travel to Bethlehem to pay homage
to the infant Jesus. During their visit, the kings have a dream in which they are
warned not to reveal Jesus’s location to King Herod, who secretly plans to kill
the infant. The three kings keep the infant’s location a secret, thus protecting
Jesus from harm.
. . . And the Earth Did Not Devour H i m : f ro m “ The N i ght B e fore C h ri s tm a s ” to “ U n d e r t h e H o u s e” 103
B EF ORE Y OU READ: From “The Night Before Christmas” to “Under the House”

왘 BIG Idea On the Move
appease [ə pēz´]
Consider the ways in which you have been “on the move” during your life. v. to satisfy, to relieve, to soothe
Do you travel with your family? Have you moved multiple times? What impact
In order to appease her hunger, the
have these moves had on your life? young girl ate a sandwich.
As you read, think about why the farm workers need to be constantly on the barrage [bə razh´]
move. Consider what impact that might have on their children and on their n. overwhelming outpouring, as
of words
own ability to pursue their dreams of better lives.
When she decided to run for class
president, she received a barrage of
support from her friends.
Literary Element Theme
composure [kəm po´zhər]
Theme is the main idea or message of a story, poem novel or play often
n. calm state of mind
expressed as a general statement about life. Some works have a stated
He knew that he needed to
theme, which is expressed directly. More commonly, works have an implied
maintain his composure during his
theme, which is revealed gradually through other elements such as plot,
job interview, even though he was
character, setting, point of view, and symbol.
very nervous.
Thomás Rivera uses an episodic structure, a narrative structure in which discourse [dis´kors]
loosly related incidents and episodes are strung together. These are related n. verbal expression in speech
in large part by the novel’s themes. As you read, consider what message or writing
the author seems to want to convey. An example of one possible theme is When trying to resolve a conflict,
“Respect the people around you.” Use the graphic organizer on the next page calm discourse is always more
effective than screaming and yelling.
to help you explore other themes of the novel.
swindle [swind´əl]
v. to cheat
Reading Strategy Analyze Cultural Context
Don’t let anyone swindle you out of
the money you earned this summer.
When you analyze cultural context, you think about the time and place
of a work, as well as the values of the people in that time and place, and
determine how these factors affect the work.
Understanding the cultural context of a piece will help you better understand Inferences/
the characters, the effect of the environment on these characters, and the Detail Conclusions/
conflicts that the author develops. Questions
As you read, make a list of details that show the time, place, values or
attitudes. Record conclusions you draw, inferences you make, or questions
you ask based on those details. You may find it helpful to use a graphic

ACTI VE READING: From “The Night Before Christmas” to “Under the House”
The graphic organizer below will help you think about When you are finished taking notes, ask yourself the
the main ideas, or themes, that are developed in the following questions: Where else in the novel are these
novel. As you read the final stories and anecdotes, subjects explored? What point or points might the
take notes on the subject headings of the boxes author be making about each of these subjects?
below. (You may add boxes if you wish.)
Community Education
The boy wishes he could talk
to all the people again and
embrace them all.
Chicano migrant
farm workers
Children Work
Literary Element NOVEL EXCERPT: THE PORTRAIT

Theme What message is the author “All right, go ahead and write it down. But you take good
trying to convey in this excerpt? care of that picture for us because it’s the only one we have of
our son grown up. He was going to send us one all dressed up
in uniform with the American and Mexican flags crossed over
his head, but he no sooner got there when a letter arrived telling
us that he was lost in action. So you take good care of it.”
“Don’t you worry. We’re responsible people. And we
understand the sacrifices that you people make. Don’t worry.
And you just wait and see. When we bring it to you’ll see how
pretty it’s gonna look. What do you say, should we make the
uniform navy blue?”
“But he’s not wearing a uniform in that picture.”
“No, but that’s just a matter of fixing it up with some wood
fiber overlays. Look at these. This one, he didn’t have a uniform
on but we put one on him. So what do you say? Should we
make it navy blue?”
“All right.”
“Don’t you worry about the picture.”
And that was how they spent the entire day going house to
house, street by street, their suitcases stuffed with pictures. As it
turned out, a whole lot of people had ordered enlargements of
that kind.
“They should be delivering those portraits soon, don’t
you think?”
“I think so, it’s delicate work and takes more time. That’s
some fine work those people do. Did you see how real those
pictures looked?”
“Yeah, sure. They do some fine work. You can’t deny
that. But it’s already been over a month since they passed
by here.”
“Yes, but from here they went on through all the towns
picking up pictures . . . all the way to San Antonio for sure.
So it’ll probably take a little longer.”
“That’s true, that’s true.”
And two more weeks had passed by the time they made the
discovery. Some very heavy rains had come and some children
who were playing in one of the tunnels leading to the dump
found a sack full of pictures, all wormeaten and soaking wet.
The only reason they could tell that these were pictures was
because there were a lot of them and most of them the same size
and with faces that could just barely be made out. Everybody
caught on right away. Don Mateo was so angry that he took off
to San Antonio to find the so and so who had swindled them.
“Well, you know, I stayed at Esteban’s house. And every
day I went with him to the market to sell produce. I helped
him with everything. I had faith that I would run into that Literary Element
son of a gun some day soon. Then, after I’d been there for a
Theme In what way does the dialogue
few days, I started going out to the different barrios and I in this excerpt help convey the theme
found out a lot that way. It wasn’t so much the money that that you identified?
upset me. It was my poor vieja, crying and all because we’d
lost the only picture we had of Chuy. We found it in the
sack with all the other pictures but it was already ruined,
you know.”
“I see, but tell me, how did you find him?”
“Well, you see, to make a long story short, he came by
the stand at the market one day. He stood right in front of us
and bought some vegetables. It was like he was trying to
remember who I was. Of course, I recognized him right off.
Because when you’re angry enough, you don’t forget a face.
I just grabbed him right then and there. Poor guy couldn’t
even talk. He was all scared. And I told him that I wanted
that portrait of my son and that I wanted it three dimensional
and that he’d best get it for me or I’d let him have it.”
And I went with him to where he lived. And I put him to
work right then and there. The poor guy didn’t know where
to begin. He had to do it all from memory.”
“And how did he do it?”
“I don’t know. I suppose if you’re scared enough, you’re
capable of doing anything. Three days later he brought me
the portrait all finished, just like you see it there on that table
by the Virgin Mary. Now tell me, how do you like the way
my boy looks?”
“Well, to be honest, I don’t remember too well how Chuy
looked. But he was beginning to look more and more like
you, isn’t that so?”
“Yes, I would say so. That’s what everybody tells me now.
That Chuy’s a chip off the old block and that he was already
looking like me. There’s the portrait. Like they say, one and
the same.”
Reading Strategy NOVEL EXCERPT: UNDER THE HOUSE

Analyze Cultural Context What When I’d be coming back from work, at that time we had our own
do this character’s thoughts tell you land with irrigation, in the early morning twilight, I’d always see
about how he perceives the culture
these globes of light, like fireballs, bouncing off the telephone lines.
around him?
They would come from the direction of Morelos, they say that’s where
they originate. One time I nearly made one fall down. Don Remigio
taught me how to say the seven prayers that go with the seven knots.
All you have to do is start praying when you see those balls of fire.
After each prayer you tie a knot. This one time I got to the seventh
prayer but you know, I wasn’t able to tie that last knot, but the witch
fell anyway, practically landing at my feet, and then she got up . . .
The boy was so young and children don’t understand too much at that
age. And he couldn’t hold out. They’re not going to do anything to the
boss, he’s got too much pull. Can you imagine what they’d do if one of
us killed one of their kids? They say that one day the boy’s father took
a rifle and went looking for him because he wanted to pay him back
but he didn’t find him . . . The woman would almost always start
crying when she entered the church, and then she’d start praying. But
before she was even aware of it, she would start talking in a loud voice.
Then she’d start yelling, like she was having some kind of attack . . .
I think Doña Cuquita is still living. I haven’t seen her in a long time.
She used to be very careful whenever we went to the dump. Now her
I really loved. And since I never knew my grandparents. I think even
Dad loved her like a grandmother because he, too, never knew his
grandparents. What I liked best was for her to embrace me and tell me,
“You’re smarter than an eagle and more watchful than the moon” . . .
Get out of there! Get away from that goddamn window! Go away!
Go away . . . You know, you can’t come home with me anymore. Look,
I don’t mind playing with you but some old ladies told mama that
Mexicans steal and now mama says not to bring you home anymore.
You have to turn back. But we can still play at school. I’ll choose you
and you choose me . . . What can I tell you! I know what I’m telling
you, I’m saying that we can’t get any more screwed than we already
are. I know why I’m telling you. If there’s another war, we won’t be
the ones to suffer. Don’t be a damn fool. The ones who will pay for it
are the ones on top, the ones who have something. Us, we’re already
screwed. If there’s another war, hell, things might even get better for
us . . . Why don’t you eat sweetbread anymore? You don’t like it,
anymore? . . . Well, I tell you, I even went downtown and bought
me a new hammer so I could be ready for when they’d come to teach
us. They say that the minister, when he found out, he went straight
home, took a hatchet and broke all the furniture to pieces and than he
took everything outside and set it on fire. He stood there and watched
everything burn to ashes . . . I don’t think my viejo is going to be able
to work out in the sun anymore. The boss didn’t say a thing when we

told him that he had gotten sick from the heat. He just shook his head. Reading Strategy
What worried him the most was that it was raining too much and the
Analyze Cultural Context What
crop was getting ruined. That was the only thing he was sad about. do these details reveal about the
He wasn’t even sad when they had to operate on his wife because she relationship between the migrant
had cancer, much less when we told him about my viejo . . . These farm workers and their bosses?
sonofabitches are gonna cut your hair, I’ll see to that, if I have to bust
their noses . . . There is no devil, there isn’t. The only devil is Don
Rayos when he dresses up with horns and with the cape to go to the
shepherds’ play . . . Goddamn fool! Why don’t you pay attention to
what you’re doing? You almost crashed with that truck! Didn’t you
see it? Are you blind, or what? . . . Why did the teacher cry when they
came for him? Ever since he was put in her class she always just kept
looking at him. And she was so young, she wasn’t like the ones in
Texas, little old ladies holding a paddle in their hands making sure you
didn’t lose your place in the book. And if you did, pow! They’d just
bend you over . . . You think that was how they were burned? It’s just
hard to believe. But so fast? It’s that fire spreads fast and once your
clothes catch on fire, that’s it. You remember that family that died in
that fire around Christmas time? They fell asleep, never to wake up
again. And then the firemen crying as they removed the bodies, the
grease from the children’s little burned up bodies dripping all over
their boots . . . Free citizens, this is a day of magnificent and profound
importance. It was in the year eighteen-hundred and seventy-two that
Napoleon’s troops suffered a defeat against Mexican soldiers who
fought so valiantly—that was how I would begin my discourse. I
always used the words “free citizens” when I was young, son, but now
ever since I had the attack I can’t remember too well anymore what
I would say to the people. Then came the Revolution and in the end
we lost. Villa made out well but I had to come out here. No one here
knows what I went through. Sometimes I want to remember but, truth
is, I’m not able to anymore. All my thoughts become hazy. Now, tell
me, what is it that you most desire at this moment of your life? At this
very moment . . . Yesterday we collected fifty pounds of copper in all.
Enrique found a magnet and that makes it much easier to find the iron
buried under so much junk that people throw away. Sometimes we do
well but usually it’s a waste of time. But at least enough to buy
something to eat.
MARK IT UP NOVEL EXCERPT: WHEN WE ARRIVE

If so, then mark up the pages as you If only it could stay like early dawn, then nobody would
read, or reread, to help with your note- complain. I’m going to keep my eyes on the stars till the last
taking. Develop a shorthand system, one disappears. I wonder how many more people are watching
including symbols, that works for you. the same star? And how many more might there be wondering
how many are looking at the same star? It’s so silent it looks
like it’s the stars the crickets are calling to.”
Bracket = text to quote “Goddamn truck. It’s nothing but trouble. When we get
Asterisk = just what you were looking there everybody will just have to look out for themselves.
for All I’m doing is dropping them off with the growers and I’m
Checkmark = might be useful getting the hell out. Besides, we don’t have a contract. They’ll
Circle = unfamiliar word or phrase to find themselves somebody to take them back to Texas.
look up Somebody’s bound to come by and pick them up. You can’t
make money off beets anymore. My best bet is to head back
to Texas just as soon as I drop these people off and then see
how things go hauling watermelons. The melon season’s
almost here. All I need now is for there not to be anyone in this
goddamn town who can fix the truck. What the hell will I do
then? So long as the cops don’t come by and start hassling me
about moving the truck from here. Boy, that town had to be the
worst. We didn’t even stop and still the cop caught up with us
just to tell us that he didn’t want us staying there. I guess he just
wanted to show off in front of the town people. But we didn’t
even stop in their goddamn town. When we get there, as soon
왘 BIG Idea as I drop them off, I’ll turn back. Each one to fend for himself.”
On the Move Think about what you “When we get there I’m gonna see about getting a good
have learned about how the farm bed for my vieja. Her kidneys are really bothering her a lot
workers view their lives “on the move.” nowadays. just hope we don’t end up in a chicken coop like
last year, with that cement floor. Even though you cover it
Mark up the excerpt, looking for with straw, once the cold season sets in you just can’t stand it.
That was why my rheumatism got so bad, I’m sure of that.”
Big Idea.
“When we arrive, when we arrive, the real truth is that I’m
tired of arriving. Arriving and leaving, it’s the same thing
because we no sooner arrive and . . . the real truth of the
matter . . . I’m tired of arriving. I really should say when we
don’t arrive because that’s the real truth. We never arrive.”
“When we arrive, when we arrive. . . ”
Little by little the crickets ceased their chirping. It seemed as
though they were becoming tired and the dawn gradually
affirmed the presence of objects; ever so carefully and very
slowly, so that no one would take notice of what was happening.
And the people were becoming people. They began getting out
of the trailer and they huddled around and commenced to talk
about what they would do when they arrived.

reduce your notes.
Record
MY VIEW
excerpt.
Recap
. . . And the Earth Did Not De vour H i m : f ro m “ The N i ght B e fore C h ri s tm a s ” to “ U n d e r t h e H o u s e” 111
AFTER Y OU READ: From “The Night Before Christmas” to “Under the House”

1. What is ironic about the priest blessing the cars for five dollars? [Analyze] Reread Meet the Author on
page 78. How did that information
2. How and why are the migrant workers taken advantage of by the portrait
salespeople? [Summarize]
3. In an interview, Tomás Rivera said that he wanted to portray the “suffering

and the strength and the beauty . . . [of] the migrant worker[s], the people
I had known best.” In your opinion, does he succeed? Explain why or why
not. [Evaluate]
4. Do the workers in “When We Arrive” tend to live in the present or the

future? Which of the advantages that you listed during the Focus Activity
might apply to the workers? Which disadvantages might apply? [Classify]
5. On the Move Do the farm workers appear hopeful or hopeless about the
prospect of always being on the move from one farm to another?
[Interpret]

AFT ER YOU READ: From “The Night Before Christmas” to “Under the House”
Literary Element Theme Vocabulary Practice

Within this section, how does the novel’s episodic Identify whether each set of paired words have the
structure contribute to your understanding of the same or the opposite meaning.
theme? Choose two anecdotes and explain how
these combine to help reveal a theme. [Synthesize] 1. appease and enrage
2. barrage and bombard
3. composure and calmness
4. discourse and conversation
5. swindle and donate
Academic Vocabulary
Don Mateo did not realize that the portrait salesman’s
Reading Strategy Analyze Cultural Context offer to frame his son’s photo was a scheme until the
man had already run away with his money. In the
Do you see any similarities between your experiences preceding sentence scheme means “a crafty or secret
or your hopes and dreams and those of the migrant plan.” Think about how this scheme will affect Don
farm workers that Rivera describes? [Apply] Mateo and then fill in the blank for this statement:
The salesman’s scheme might cause Don Mateo to
. . . And the Earth Did Not De vour H i m : f ro m “ The N i ght B e fore C h ri s tm a s ” to “ U n d e r t h e H o u s e” 113
AFTER Y OU READ: From “The Night Before Christmas” to “Under the House”

Write an Agency Report Imagine that you work Literature Group
for a 1950s government agency concerned about Assignment With a small group, choose one subject
improving the health and welfare of Chicano migrant and trace its development throughout the novel.
farm workers. Based on details in the novel, write a Decide what points the novel makes about this
brief report about what life is like for the workers. In subject, and share your conclusions with the rest of
your report, be sure to include recommendations for the class.
how to improve conditions.
Prepare As a group, review the subjects presented in
Jot down some notes here first. the Active Reading graphic organizer on page 105 and
decide which one subject your group will trace through
the novel. Look for stories and anecdotes that explore
the subject through the use of dialogue, conflict, irony,
or description.
Organize the information you collect in a graphic

organizer like the one below.
Subject: Education
Chapter/ Context Literary Author’s
pages (who, elements view of
where it where, used subject
appears when,
why)
Page 7 Short Dialogue More
discussion education
about is needed.
where
Utah is
Discuss Respect others’ viewpoints by listening

attentively. Deliver your opinions in a normal tone
of voice, providing clear, specific examples to support
your conclusions about the author’s view.
Report Have one person share your group’s

conclusions with the class, using the information on
your graphic organizer to justify your conclusions. Use
appropriate eye contact and speak clearly.
Evaluate Write a paragraph in which you assess your

participation in the group discussion.

. . . And the Earth Did Not Devour Him

Voices from the Fields First Confession

Beth Atkin Frank O’Connor
Compare the lives of the children interviewed to the Compare and contrast Jackie’s experience at his first
lives of the children in . . . And the Earth Did Not confession with the experience of the boy in . . . And
Devour Him. In what ways are they similar? different? the Earth Did Not Devour Him. How does each
character feel before the confession? What happens
to change how each character feels?
Christmas
Langston Hughes
How do the adults in “Christmas” and in . . . And the Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood
Earth Did Not Devour Him deal with their poverty Richard Rodriguez
at Christmastime? Discuss similarities you see What is the Rodriguez family’s relationship to English-
between the families. In your opinion, do the children speaking Anglos in their community? In your opinion,
understand how their poverty affects their Christmas? how is that relationship similar to or different from the
relationship between Anglos and Chicanos in . . . And
the Earth Did Not Devour Him?
Children for Hire

Verena Dobnik and Ted Anthony
Compare the working conditions of the children in this
article with the working conditions of the children in
. . . And the Earth Did Not Devour Him.
. . . A n d t he Ea rt h D i d N o t De vo u r H im 115
LITERATURE EXCERPT: Sayonara

It was good-bye for us too, as we rushed broken and raveled ends twirling off idly into
through Japan on our way to the boat. Good-bye the water, floating away with the unfinished
to the rice fields terraced up a narrow gully in ends of sentences. And nothing could bridge
the hills; to thatched roofs and paper walls; to the gap but “Sayonara!”
heavy-headed grain bent to a curve; to a field For Sayonara, literally translated, “Since it
of awkward lotus leaves, like big elephant ears must be so,” of all the good-byes I have heard is
flapping on their tall stalks; to a white road the most beautiful. Unlike the Auf Wiedersehens
leading up a hill to a pine grove and the flicker and Au revoirs, it does not try to cheat itself by
of red of a shrine gate. Good-bye to the little any bravado “Till we meet again,” any sedative
towns we rattled through, with their narrow to postpone the pain of separation. It does
cobbled streets lined with shops, open to the not evade the issue like the sturdy blinking
passerby except for fluttering blue-toweling Farewell. Farewell is a father’s good-bye. It is—
curtains or bright paper and cloth flag-signs. “Go out in the world and do well, my son.” It is
Good-bye to blue paper umbrellas in the rain encouragement and admonition. It is hope and
and little boys chasing dragon flies. faith. But it passes over the significance of the
Our real good-bye was not until the boat moment; of parting it says nothing. It hides its
pulled out of the dock at Yokohama, when the emotion. It says too little. While Good-bye (“God
crowd of Japanese leaning over the rails of the be with you”) and Adios say too much. They
decks shot twirling strands of serpentine5 across try to bridge the distance, almost to deny it.
to those they had left behind on shore—a rain of Good-bye is a prayer, a ringing cry. “You must
bright fireworks. One end of these colored paper not go—I cannot bear to have you go! But you
ribbons was held in the hands of those on deck; shall not go alone, unwatched. God will be
the other, by those on shore, until a brilliant with you. God’s hand will be over you” and
multicolored web was spun between ship and even—underneath, hidden, but it is there,
shore. This and the shouts of conversation incorrigible—“I will be with you; I will watch
unintelligible to me, interlacing back and forth you—always.” It is a mother’s good-bye. But
across the gap, made up a finely woven band— Sayonara says neither too much nor too little. It
a tissue, intricately patterned and rich in texture is a simple acceptance of fact. All understanding
which held together for a few more seconds of life lies in its limits. All emotion, smoldering,
those remaining and those departing. Then the is banked up behind it. But it says nothing. It is
gap of water slowly widening between dock really the unspoken good-bye, the pressure of a
and ship, the ribbons tautened and snapped, the hand, “Sayonara.”

Compare the novel you have just read to the literature selection at the left, TALK ABOUT IT
which is excerpted from “Sayonara” by Anne Morrow Lindbergh in Glencoe As a class, discuss the similarities
Literature. Then answer the questions below. and differences between the two
author’s feelings about the places
that they are writing about. Consider
Compare & Contrast the extent to which the environment
itself contributes to the author’s
1. Anecdote Why do you think Lindbergh chose to share this particular
perspectives. Take notes on the
anecdote about her time in Japan? How does this compare to the reason discussion.
why Rivera selected particular anecdotes to share in … And the Earth Did
Not Devour Him?
2. Tone What is the tone that Lindbergh establishes in this descriptive essay?
How does this tone differ from the tone that Rivera uses to describe the
farms that the migrant workers are forced to leave at the end of a season?
3. Theme Lindbergh reveals that “Sayonara” is an acceptance of fact. Upon

leaving Japan, what is Lindbergh accepting? What do the migrant farm
workers come to accept in Rivera’s novel?
. . . A nd t h e E a rt h D i d No t De vo u r H im 117
Research Report UNDERSTAND THE TASK

• Primary sources are firsthand
Investigate Chicano Literature Rivera’s novel introduces the reader to accounts of an event, such as diaries
or eyewitness news articles written at
some of the themes explored in Chicano literature. In order to explore those
the time the event took place.
themes further, research the life and work of one other Chicano writer,
perhaps one who was part of El Movimiento. Prepare a report about this • Secondary sources are sources
written by people who did not
writer’s life and about how Chicano themes are represented in his/her work;
influence or experience the event.
include an annotated recommended reading list of this author’s writing.
Prewrite Write four or five questions about this author to guide the first part
of your research. Answer those questions by checking secondary sources such Grammar Tip
as Web sites, encyclopedias, magazines, and books. Prepare detailed notes,
Ellipses
identifying your sources for each fact or idea. Next, read one or two texts that
Ellipsis points (…) are three spaced
your author wrote. As you read, consider the ways in which some of the periods that indicate the omission
themes presented in Rivera’s text emerge within this author’s writing as well. of words within a text, such as a
quotation. Ellipses are useful when
As you research this authors work, organize a reading list of his or her writing.
you don’t need to refer to the
Include annotations for the entries on your list, explaining why you included entirety of a quotation, just relevant
each title. portions:
Create an outline like the one below to help structure your report, adding While Hughes says that more
relevant information under each outline point. books were written about
African-Americans in the Harlem
Renaissance than ever before,
Tomás Rivera
he claims it was white writers who
I. Early years benefited most: “White writers
a. Childhood wrote about Negroes more
b. Teen years successfully . . . than Negroes
II. Becoming a writer did about themselves.”
III. Chicano themes
Draft Develop a thesis statement that identifies your topic and explains what
you plan to say about the topic. Here is an example.
Example: is an important figure in Chicano literature

because , , and .
As you write, refer to your notes and outline to make sure you have included
the correct information in a coherent order. You may also wish to use
publishing software to include visual aids, such as a photograph, to help
your readers visualize the setting you are reporting about.
Revise As you incorporate the information in your note cards, evaluate

whether the information is relevant or necessary. Delete information unrelated
to your thesis, and add any missing facts and ideas. If you have used any
technical terms, make sure they are explained thoroughly and correctly,
to avoid any misunderstandings.

The Yearling
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
T h e Ye a r lin g 119
The Yearling
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Samuel I. Bellman, one of Rawlings’s
“ As a ‘Southern’ regionalist Marjorie
Kinnan Rawlings was unique in having the
biographers, agrees: “This novel elevates
the writer to the rank of those special
insider’s commitment of love for place, but authors who at least once in their lives are
capable of giving us dreams to dream by
also the outsider’s objectivity, so that she and words to shape those dreams.”
could write of her chosen home with
passion and sympathy but without the film Rawlings received many letters from her
fans—complete strangers who wanted her
of bias or prejudice peculiar to the place. ” to know what had touched them most about
—Gordon E. Bigelow, critic the book. For example, the curator of the
Museum of Comparative Zoology in
In her own lifetime, Marjorie Kinnan Cambridge, Massachusetts, commented on
Rawlings was best known as a regional her ability to authentically evoke a boy’s
writer—one who set her stories in a specific thoughts and feelings and to accurately
geographical area and presented its distinct portray natural history. A woman with two
culture through the history, speech, habits, boyfriends reported that she had both men
customs, and folklore of its inhabitants. This read The Yearling. She then decided to marry
classification frustrated the author, because the one who responded more warmly to the
she felt that regionalism should be a basic book. Other readers cherished the novel for
part of every piece of literature, much like its descriptions of nature, its poetic qualities,
the colors in a painting or the musical notes or its humor. One young boy even wrote
in a symphony. She believed that the truly that he had always thought his father liked
great writer should be capable of taking his sisters better than him, but that reading
material from any time or place and turning the novel made him realize that they had
it into a universal thing of beauty. always paid more attention to their father
than he had. He thought that with Jody, the
Inspiring Readers With The Yearling, novel’s main character, as his inspiration, the
however, critics conceded that Rawlings novel would “start a better love” between
had achieved something greater than him and his father. The Yearling carries a
regionalism. Although The Yearling vividly message that everyone can understand:
depicts a certain time and place, its message
speaks to people everywhere. Lloyd Morris Ever’ man wants life to be a fine thing, and a
summed up the novel’s appeal when he easy. ’Tis fine, boy, powerful fine, but ’tain’t
stated that Rawlings easy. Life knocks a man down and he gits up and
it knocks him down again. . . . What’s he to do
plunges us deeply into the hearts and the then? . . . Why, take it for his share and go on.
perceptions of a child, a wise man, and a brave
woman. It recreates for us those fundamental A Unique Setting Both Florida coasts are
attitudes of the human spirit which make life well known to tourists. In contrast, few
endurable, and those inalienable experiences Americans are familiar with central Florida,
of love and beauty which enable us to live it a beautiful and unique area.
without shame.
120 NOVE L COMPANION: Unit 3

One of the qualities that make north central In Chapter 14, Penny Baxter plans to search
Florida unusual is its location. It is situated the “prairies” for his missing hogs. The term
where the northern temperate zone passes prairies is misleading in this context, because
into the semitropics. As a result, the area has instead of flat, rolling land, Penny is talking
the plant life of both zones as well as an about wet, flat areas around the larger lakes
approximation of all four seasons. During a of the area. More like marshes, the prairies
short winter, when frosts are common and Penny searches are home to water grasses.
much growth is dormant, animals rest for
long periods, even if they do not actually The uniqueness of the area’s vegetation is
hibernate. Spring is a time of blossoming, perhaps best captured in the opening pages
particularly for the fruit trees. The trees of Rawlings’s first novel, South Moon Under:
bloom anywhere from late January to early
March. May, sometimes the hottest month of The scrub rolled towards its boundaries like a
the year, is the dividing line between spring dark sea. It cast itself against the narrow beach of
and summer. The rains begin in June and swamp and hammock that fringed the rivers. The
last until mid-August. After this, the two types of growth did not mingle, as though an
steadiness of the sun and its withering ascetic race withdrew itself from a tropical one
effect on plant life through October signal and refused to inter-breed. The moisture along
the presence of autumn. the rivers gave a footing for the lush growth of
cypress in the swamp; of live oak, magnolia,
The Yearling takes place in the late 1800s hickory, ash, bay, sweet gum and holly that made
in the Big Scrub, a semiwilderness area up the adjoining hammock.
located between the Oklawaha and St. Johns
rivers. Measuring about fifty miles long and In The Yearling Rawlings emphasizes the
twenty-five miles wide, the area today falls silence of the scrub, its wildness and
within the Ocala National Forest. loneliness. Other than occasional hammock
areas, the soil is so dry and sandy that,
The Baxters farm an area known as a historically, few people were attracted to the
hammock. Hammock soil is dark and rich, area. Those who did come to live there had
made up of centuries of leaves from live to be resourceful and self-supporting.
oak, palm, sweet gum, holly, ironwood,
hickory, and magnolia trees.
Central Florida Today

Today, the woods of central Florida yet to infiltrate the low rolling hills central Florida were formed by
remain much as they were when of the peaceful wilderness. For sinkholes, cave-ins that occur
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings made her every new house built, an older when a limestone layer under
home at Cross Creek. The area one sits empty, abandoned or the surface of the earth erodes.
remains fairly isolated, even though relegated to a part-time residence. The waters are home to various
its major industries—tourism and Roads meander through rural species of plant and animal life,
fruit production—have attracted neighborhoods. including palm, hickory, and
attention. A few stores provide pine trees; lilies, orchids, and
groceries and other supplies, but This area is home to numerous morning glories; and alligators,
large-scale shopping centers have large and small lakes. Most lakes in foxes, and herons.
MEET TH E AUTHOR
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (1896–1953)
society in recognition of her outstanding

“borrowed
It seems to me that the earth may be
but not bought. It may be used,
scholastic achievement. She excelled at
creative writing and acting. She also served
but not owned. It gives itself in response on the staffs of the yearbook and the literary
to love and tending, offers its seasonal magazine, where she met Charles Rawlings,
her future husband.
flowering and fruiting. But we are tenants
and not possessors, lovers and not masters. ” After college, Rawlings moved to New York
City. Eventually, she found work as a writer
—Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
and editor for the War Work Council at the
It is no surprise that writing about the land national headquarters of the YMCA, but the
became a central focus in Marjorie Kinnan job was not particularly creative. In her
Rawlings’s life. Born in Washington, D.C., in spare time, she tried, with little luck, to sell
1896, Rawlings’s happiest memories were of her poems and short stories. She married
weekends spent at her family’s farm in Charles Rawlings a year later and moved to
Maryland and of summers spent at her Louisville, Kentucky, where the couple
maternal grandfather’s farm in Michigan. She found jobs writing for a local newspaper.
was a bright child who learned to read at an Later they moved to Charles’s hometown
early age. Encouraged by her parents to write, of Rochester, New York, where Rawlings
she won a two-dollar prize for a story that wrote for the local newspapers. By 1922 she
she submitted to the children’s page of the was writing feature articles and conducting
Washington Post when she was eleven. celebrity interviews. Rawlings later credited
her newspaper work with teaching her
A Childhood Remembered The Yearling has more about writing than she had learned
its origins in Rawlings’s childhood. In an in her classes. However, she continued to
article she wrote for a Voice of America radio have little luck selling her fiction.
broadcast overseas, she said about the
book’s beginnings: In 1928, Rawlings and her husband bought
an orange grove in Cross Creek in north
I remember a very special sort of April day, the central Florida. The move gave Rawlings
day I describe in the first chapter of The Yearling. a new focus and inspiration. She began
I remember the delirious excitement I felt. And writing about the hard, simple life of her
at the height of my delight, . . . I understood neighbors and the harmony in which they
suddenly that . . . beyond this carefree moment lived with their wild surroundings. For
life was waiting with its responsibilities. . . . the next twenty-five years she created
As I became a writer, I thought back often to that literature out of her experiences in Florida.
April day and . . . I said to myself, “Sometime I Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings died of a cerebral
shall write a story about the job of childhood, hemorrhage in 1953 at the age of fifty-seven
and the strange foreknowledge of maturity.” and is buried in her beloved Florida
backcountry.
The Writing Life As an English major at
the University of Wisconsin, Rawlings was
elected to the Phi Beta Kappa honorary


Do you believe that parents should be strict with their children or entries about the novels that you read
lenient? Why? this year.

SUMMARIZE
In your journal, briefly explain which style of parenting you think is better
and why.
Build Background
The Florida Farmers
Today the word cracker is considered offensive when used to describe a poor
white person of the rural southeastern part of the United States. The term was
once, however, a common label for people like the Baxters and the Forresters,
hardworking farmers and hunters who depend on the land to keep them alive.
The term is thought to refer to the cracked corn that the farmers and hunters
used to eat or from the loud crack of the bullwhip they used to move and
control cattle. According to many historical sources, these men and women
came to Florida from the Appalachian Mountains. They worked in the Florida
forests until the logging industry destroyed most of the large trees, after which
they turned to farming to scratch out a living.
T h e Ye a rl i ng: C h a p te r s 1 – 1 3 123

SF_Head
왘 BIG Idea Nature Inspires
deprecatory [dep´rə kə tor´ ē]
Think about how nature inspires you. Do you enjoy being outside, walking in
adj. mildly critical or
the woods or along the beach? What are some of the emotions you feel uncomplimentary, especially
when you are out in nature? of oneself
The radio announcer was fired after
In The Yearling, a young boy and his family are very connected with their he made a deprecatory comment
natural surroundings. As you read, try to identify places where nature affects, about someone else on air.
or even inspires the characters. Make a list of these events and note if you
have had any similar experiences. indolently [ind´´əl ənt lē]
adv. lazily
Because he didn’t feel well, he
Literary Element Simile decided to spend the day lying
indolently on the couch.
A simile is a figure of speech that uses like or as to compare seemingly
unlike things. Figures of speech are a type of figurative language, which prolific [prə lif´´ ik]
expresses some truth beyond the literal level. adj. producing something in great
abundance
Authors employ similes to help the reader understand an abstraction and to Mozart was a prolific composer; he
make it easier for the reader to grasp what is being described. A simile can composed nine symphonies, thirty-
help the reader see an object, person or event in a new way. It can also startle two piano sonatas and many other
the reader and inject fresh life into a familiar idea. pieces during his lifetime.
rudiments [r¯
oo ´ də mənts]
If you encounter a simile as you read, ask yourself what that simile reveals
n. fundamental elements or
about the object of the comparison.
principles
Travelers should be familiar with the
Reading Strategy rudiments of a country’s language
Analyze Imagery
before they arrive.
Imagery is descriptive language that appeals to one
or more of the five senses: sight, hearing, touch, venerable [ven ´ər ə bəl]
taste and smell. Writers use this type of language to adj. commanding respect as a result
create “word pictures” and evoke an emotional
Details of age, dignity, character, or position
response in readers. The venerable college professor
inspired thousands of students
To analyze imagery, readers consider the details before he retired.
that an author includes in the text and determines
what effect those details have on their senses.
When writers create effective imagery, the reader
can better understand the text’s meaning. Item being
described
As you read, ask yourself how the author’s
vivid descriptions of the book’s setting give you
more insight into both the characters and the
relationship between these characters and
nature. You may find it helpful to use a graphic
organizer like the one at the right. The Insights
graphic organizer on the next page can
Insights into
into Character
also help you to analyze imagery.
Character v. Nature

The Yearling contains many vivid examples of imagery, read, use the cluster diagram below to take notes on
or descriptions that appeal to the five senses. As you imagery that you find especially interesting or effective.
blue smoke
rising out of
red clay
Sounds
Sights Smells
Imagery
Textures Tastes

Simile As he recounts their fight with Pa Forrester said, “Well, neighbor, let’s have the news about
Big Slewfoot, what does Penny that tormented bear.”
compare the bear to? Ma Forrester said, “Yes, and you scapers git the dishes
washed afore you git too deep into it, too.”
Her sons rose hurriedly, each with his own plate and some
larger dish or pan. Jody stared at them. He would as soon have
expected them to tie ribbons in their hair. She tweaked his ear
on her way to her rocker.
“I got no girls,” she said. “If these fellers wants me to cook
for ’em, they kin jest clean up after me.”
Jody looked at his father, pleading mutely that this piece of
heresy be not taken home to Baxter’s Island. The Forresters
made short work of the dishes. Fodder-wing hobbled after
them, gathering the scraps for all the animals. Only by feeding
the pack of dogs himself, could he be sure of saving tid-bits for
his pets as well. He smiled to himself, that there would be so
much today to take to them. There was even enough cold food
left for supper. Jody gaped at the abundance. The Forresters
finished their work in a clatter, and hung the iron pots and
kettles on nails near the hearth. They drew up their cowhide
chairs and hand-hewn benches around Penny. Some lit corn-cob
pipes and others shaved parings of tobacco from dark plugs. Ma
Forrester lipped a little snuff. Buck picked up Penny’s gun and
a small file and began to work on the loose hammer.
“Well,” Penny began, “he takened us plumb by surprise.”
Jody shivered.
“He slipped in like a shadow and killed our brood-sow. Laid
her open, end to end, and only ate a mouthful. Not hongry. Jest
low-down and mean.”
Penny paused to light his own pipe. The Forresters bent to
him with blazing splinters of fat pine.
“He come as quiet as a black cloud, into the wind. Made a
circle to git his wind right. So quiet, the dogs never heered nor
scented him. Even this un—even this un—” he leaned to stroke
the feist at his feet—“was fooled.”
The Forresters exchanged glances.
“We set out after breakfast, Jody and me and all three o’ the
dogs. We tracked that bear acrost the south scrub. We tracked
him along the edge o’ the saw-grass ponds. We tracked him thu
Juniper Bay. We tracked him thu the swamp, the trail gittin’
hotter and hotter. We come up with him—”
The Forresters gripped their knees.
“We come up with him, men, right smack at the edge o’
Juniper Creek, where the water flows swiftest and deepest.”

The story, Jody thought, was even better than the hunt. Literary Element
He saw it all again, the shadows and the fern, the broken
palmettos and the running branch water. He was bursting Simile What effect, ultimately, do
Penny’s similies have on Pa Forrester?
with the excitement of the story. He was bursting, too, with
pride in his father. Penny Baxter, no bigger than a dirt-dauber,
could out-hunt the best of them. And he could sit, as he sat
now, weaving a spell of mystery and magic, that held these
huge hairy men eager and breathless.
He made the fight an epic thing. When his gun back-fired,
and old Slewfoot crushed Julia to his breast, Gabby swallowed
his tobacco and rushed to the fire-place, spitting and choking.
The Forresters clenched their fists, and sat precariously at the
edges of their seats, and listened with their mouths open.
“Gawd,” Buck breathed, “I’d o’ loved to o’ been there.”
“And where’s Slewfoot gone?” Gabby begged.
“No man knows,” Penny told them.
There was silence.
Lem said at last, “You ain’t never oncet mentioned that dog
you got there.”
“Don’t press me,” Penny said. “I done told you he’s
wuthless.”
“I notice he come outen it in mighty good shape. Not a mark
on him, is there?”
“No, there’s nary mark on him.”
“Takes a mighty clever dog to fight a bear and not git ary
scratch on him.”
Penny puffed on his pipe.
Lem rose and walked to him, towering over him. He cracked
his knuckles. He was sweating.
“I want two things,” he said hoarsely. “I want to be in at the
death o’ ol’ Slewfoot. And I want that dog there.”
“Oh my, no,” Penny said mildly. “I’d not cheat you, tradin’
him.”
“No use lyin’ to me. Name your trade.”
“I’ll trade you old Rip, instead.”
“Think you’re foxy. I got better dogs than Rip right now.”
Lem went to the wall and took down from its nails a gun.
It was a London Fine Twist. The double barrels shone. The
stock was walnut, warm and glowing. The twin hammers were
jaunty. The fittings were chased and intricate. Lem swung it to
his shoulder, sighted it. He handed it to Penny.

Analyze imagery What tone does Jody drew a deep breath. He threw himself on the weedy
Rawlins establish through the imagery sand close to the water and abandoned himself to the magic of
in this passage? motion. Up, over, down, up, over, down—the flutter-mill was
enchanting. The bubbling spring would rise forever from the
earth, the thin current was endless. The spring was the
beginning of waters sliding to the sea. Unless leaves fell, or
squirrels cut sweet bay twigs to drop and block the fragile
wheel, the flutter-mill might turn forever. When he was an old
man, as old as his father, there seemed no reason why this
rippling movement might not continue as he had begun it.
He moved a stone that was matching its corners against his
sharp ribs and burrowed a little, hollowing himself a nest for
his hips and shoulders. He stretched out one arm and laid his
head on it. A shaft of sunlight, warm and thin like a light
patchwork quilt, lay across his body. He watched the flutter-mill
indolently, sunk in the sand and the sunlight. The movement
was hypnotic. His eyelids fluttered with the palm-leaf paddles.
Drops of silver slipping from the wheel blurred together like the
tail of a shooting star. The water made a sound like kittens
lapping. A rain frog sang a moment and then was still. There
was an instant when the boy hung at the edge of a high bank
made of the soft fluff of broom-sage, and the rain frog and the
starry dripping of the flutter-mill hung with him. Instead of
falling over the edge, he sank into the softness. The blue, white-
tufted sky closed over him. He slept.
When he awakened, he thought he was in a place other than
the branch bed. He was in another world, so that for an instant
he thought he might still be dreaming. The sun was gone and
all the light and shadow. There were no black holes of live oaks,
no glossy green of magnolia leaves, no pattern of gold lace
where the sun had sifted through the branches of the wild
cherry. The world was all a gentle gray, and he lay in a mist as
fine as spray from a waterfall. The mist tickled his skin. It was
scarcely wet. It was at once warm and cool. He rolled over on
his back and it was as though he looked up into the soft gray
breast of a mourning dove.
He lay, absorbing the fine-dropped rain like a young plant.
When his face was damp at last and his shirt was moist to the
touch, he left his nest. He stopped short. A deer had come to the
spring while he was sleeping. The fresh tracks came down the
east bank and stopped at the water’s edge. They were sharp
and pointed, the tracks of a doe. They sank deeply into the
sand, so that he knew the doe was an old one and a large.

Perhaps she was heavy with fawn. She had come down and Reading Strategy
drunk deeply from the spring, not seeing him where he slept.
Then she had scented him. There was a scuffled confusion in Analyze imagery What does the
imagery reveal about Jody’s state of
the sand where she had wheeled in fright. The tracks up the
mind and of his relationship to nature?
opposite bank had long harried streaks behind them. Perhaps
she had not drunk, after all, before she scented him, and turned
and ran with that swift, sand-throwing flight. He hoped she was
not now thirsty, wide-eyed in the scrub.
He looked about for other tracks. The squirrels had raced
up and down the banks, but they were bold, always. A raccoon
had been that way, with his feet like sharp-nailed hands, but he
could not be sure how recently. Only his father could tell for
certain the hour when any wild things had passed by. Only the
doe had surely come and had been frightened. He turned back
again to the flutter-mill. It was turning as steadily as though it
had always been there. The palm-leaf paddles were frail but
they made a brave show of strength, rippling against the
shallow water. They were glistening from the slow rain.
Jody looked at the sky. He could not tell the time of day in
the grayness, nor how long he may have slept. He bounded
up the west bank, where open gallberry flats spread without
obstructions. As he stood, hesitant whether to go or stay, the
rain ended as gently as it had begun. A light breeze stirred from
the southwest. The sun came out. The clouds rolled together
into great white billowing feather bolsters, and across the east
a rainbow arched, so lovely and so various that Jody thought he
would burst with looking at it. The earth was pale green, the air
itself was all but visible, golden with the rain-washed sunlight,
and all the trees and grass and bushes glittered, varnished with
the rain-drops.
A spring of delight boiled up within him as irresistibly as the
spring of the branch. He lifted his arms and held them straight
from his shoulders like a water-turkey’s wings. He began to
whirl around in his tracks. He whirled faster and faster until
his ecstasy was a whirlpool, and when he thought he would
explode with it, he became dizzy and closed his eyes and
dropped to the ground and lay flat in the broom-sage. The
earth whirled under him and with him. He opened his eyes
and the blue April sky and the cotton clouds whirled over him.
Boy and earth and trees and sky spun together. The whirling
stopped, his head cleared and he got to his feet. He was light-
headed and giddy, but something in him was relieved, and the
April day could be borne again, like any ordinary day.

If so, then mark up the pages as you The cranes were dancing a cotillion as surely as it was danced
read, or reread, to help with your at Volusia. Two stood apart, erect and white, making a strange
note-taking. Develop a shorthand music that was part cry and part singing. The rhythm was
irregular, like the dance. The other birds were in a circle. In the
heart of the circle, several moved counter-clock-wise. The
musicians made their music. The dancers raised their wings and
lifted their feet, first one and then the other. They sunk their
Asterisk = just what you were looking heads deep in their snowy breasts, lifted them and sunk again.
for
They moved soundlessly, part awkwardness, part grace. The
dance was solemn. Wings fluttered, rising and falling like out-
Circle = unfamiliar word or phrase to stretched arms. The outer circle shuffled around and around.
look up
The group in the center attained a slow frenzy.
Suddenly all motion ceased. Jody thought the dance was
over, or that the intruders had been discovered. Then the two
musicians joined the circle. Two others took their places. There
was a pause. The dance was resumed. The birds were reflected
in the clear marsh water. Sixteen white shadows reflected the
motions. The evening breeze moved across the sawgrass. It
bowed and fluttered. The water rippled. The setting sun lay rosy
on the white bodies. Magic birds were dancing in a mystic
marsh. The grass swayed with them, and the shallow waters,
and the earth fluttered under them. The earth was dancing with
the cranes, and the low sun, and the wind and sky.
왘 BIG Idea Jody found his own arms lifting and falling with his breath,
Nature Inspires What have you as the cranes’ wings lifted. The sun was sinking into the
learned about how nature affects
sawgrass. The marsh was golden. The whooping cranes were
Jody and Penny?
washed with gold. The far hammocks were black. Darkness
Mark up the excerpt, looking for came to the lily pads, and the water blackened. The cranes were
evidence of how it expresses the whiter than any clouds, or any white bloom of oleander or of
Big Idea. lily. Without warning, they took flight. Whether the hour-long
dance was, simply, done, or whether the long nose of an
alligator had lifted above the water to alarm them, Jody could
not tell, but they were gone. . . .
At the house, bread was baked and waiting, and hot fat was
in the iron skillet. Penny lighted a fat-wood torch and went to
the lot to do his chores. Jody scaled and dressed the fish at the
back stoop, where a ray of light glimmered from the fire on the
hearth. Ma Baxter dipped the pieces in meal and fried them
crisp and golden. The family ate without speaking.
She said, “What ails you fellers?”
They did not answer. They had no thought for what they ate
nor for the woman. They were no more than conscious that she
spoke to them. They had seen a thing that was unearthly. They
were in a trance from the strong spell of its beauty.

reduce your notes.
Record
TO THE POINT
Recap

1. At the beginning of the novel, what is the one thing that Jody feels he is Reread Meet the Author on
missing? What does this feeling suggest about Jody’s life? [Interpret] page 122. How did that information
2. How does Penny react when Jody plays in the glen instead of doing his
chores? How might Penny’s experiences as a boy have influenced his
attitude toward Jody? [Infer]
3. Penny and Ora have conflicting opinions about the Forresters and about
Jody’s contact with the family. Contrast Penny’s and Ora’s attitudes, and
explain which attitude you think is right. Be sure to include your reasons for
taking one side or the other. [Evaluate]
4. When Buck Forrester and Oliver Hutto fight over a young woman they both
like, Jody is torn between his loyalty and affection for both Oliver and
Fodder-wing. Jody finally decides to take Oliver’s side. Why does he make
this decision? Would you have made the same one? Why or why not?
[Analyze]
5. Nature Inspires In what ways does nature influence Jody’s life? [Conclude]

Literary Element Simile Vocabulary Practice

At the end of Chapter 13, the author tells us that A synonym is a word that has the same or nearly
Jody’s “thoughts were as turbulent as the current.” the same meaning as another word. Match each
Why is this simile appropriate at this point in the text? boldfaced vocabulary word below with its synonym.
[Analyze] Use a thesaurus or dictionary to check your answers.
1. deprecatory a. languidly
2. indolently b. expedient
3. prolific c. dignified
4. rudiments d. scarce
5. venerable e. critical
f. productive
g. basics
Academic Vocabulary
The Baxters rely on the land as their primary
resource for food. In the preceding sentence,
resource means “supply” or “source.” Think about how
you obtain the food that you eat. What resources
do you rely on for food every day?
Reading Strategy Analyze Imagery

Choose one short passage in the text in which the
author uses vivid imagery to help you visualize the
setting. Does this imagery remind you of a place that
you have been? If not, in what ways is this imagery
different from what you are used to? [Connect]
Write with Style Connect to Content Areas

Apply Figurative Language Science
Assignment Figurative language is used by authors Assignment In The Yearling¸ Jody and his family
to help readers grasp abstract thoughts and to see an are dependent on the nearby sinkhole for their
object in a new way. Write a paragraph describing a water. Research sinkholes in order to enhance your
setting that you are very familiar with and include at understanding of these natural “accidents” and the
least three similes or metaphors. setting of the story. Then prepare an informational
pamphlet about sinkholes. Include a bibliography of
Get Ideas Make a word web, placing the setting that reference materials at the end of your pamphlet.
you chose in the center of the web. On the outside of
the web, jot down every sight, smell, texture, taste, and Investigate First make a list of possible sources of
sound that you associate with that place. Connect information; include both print and Internet resources.
words that connect in your mind. Then extend your Investigate what a sinkhole is and why Florida has
web to the next level. This time think about how the so many. You may want to focus your investigation
central word is like something else that is normally on ancient sinkholes, such as the one in northwest
completely different. Write those comparisons around Gainesville called the Devil’s Millhopper, or on record-
it, continuing the web and the comparisons. breaking sinkholes, such as the 1981 collapse in
Winter Park, Florida. Use a chart like the one below
to record what you learn.
instruments
symphony
How Unique Unfamiliar
fridge Definition Locations
Created Features Terms
jungle
everyone
kitchen table talking at
once
fresh-
baked Compare what you learn from each source. If there is
laughter
cookies contradictory information, use what you found in the
most reliable source.
When you have finished your web, turn your three
If you are unfamiliar with the scientific terms used in
strongest comparisons into similes and metaphors
any of your sources, investigate further to clarify the
you can include in your paragraph.
meanings of those terms.
EXAMPLE:
At the dinner table, our conversation often sounds Create Besides the bibliography, your pamphlet
like a symphony of a million instruments playing should have an introduction, a section on each of
simultaneously. the topics in your chart, and a graphic aid.
Give It Structure Because you are describing a Report If possible, use word-processing software
place, consider how you are going to organize your to make your pamphlet look professional. Create a
paragraph. Are you going to start by describing the three-panel pamphlet by setting the page layout to
top of the scene and work down? “landscape” and running the text in three columns.
Look at Language Pay careful attention to your word

choice and ask yourself whether the similes and
metaphors you chose are effective.


How do people work through the loss of a loved one or another great loss? entries about the novels that you read
this year.
Discuss
As a class, discuss ways in which people can work through grief and learn to
WRITE THE CAPTION
deal with their loss.
Build Background.
Build Background
Jody’s Fawn
When Jody takes in the orphaned fawn, the deer is very young and is still
walking on wobbly legs and nursing. It is not yet a yearling—an animal that is
one year old. Flag, as Jody names his new pet, was probably born in late
March or early April. If the fawn is like most, it weighs about six pounds. His
red coat is probably dappled with small white spots, which help him blend in
with his surroundings. His fur makes him indistinguishable from the red clay of
the soil, and the white markings on his coat look like spots of sunlight on the
leaves and branches around him. These characteristics help protect young
deer from their predators.
T h e Ye a rl i ng: C h a p te r s 1 4 – 2 2 135

왘 BIG Idea The Strength of Family
implacable [im plak´´ə bəl]
Think about the people in your family. What makes your family special? What adj. hard-hearted; impossible
are some ways you would define a family? Do people have to be related by to change
blood to be family? When a tornado appears, nature
can seem like an implacable enemy.
In The Yearling, Rawlings presents the inner workings of an individual family
quiescent [kw¯es´ənt]
and also introduces the reader to the idea that the definition of family can
adj. being still or at rest
extend beyond bloodlines. Make a list of the qualities you think make up a
Watching the ocean ebb and flow
family. Then, as you read, think about your notions of family and try to identify
always helps him to have a
these in the story. You can add new ideas to your list as you read.
quiescent mind.
staunch [stonch]
Literary Element Symbol adj. firm and steadfast; faithful
The company president is a staunch
A symbol is any person, animal, place, object or event that has meaning in
supporter of the local school; he
itself but also stands for something else, usually on an abstract level.
helped fund two new science labs
last year.
Recognizing an author’s use of symbols can help you understand the intended
meaning or theme of a literary work. stolidly [stol´íd lē]
adv. with little emotion; impassively
As you read, ask yourself, What are the symbols in this section and what does She responded stolidly to the false
each symbol reveal about the characters and themes of the novel? accusations that had been made
against her; she didn’t want others
to know that she was upset.
Reading Strategy Make Generalizations tacit [tas´ it]
adj. not spoken; implied by or
When you make generalizations, you formulate a broad statement that is
inferred from actions or statements
supported by details in a work. For example, after reading a certain number of
They made a tacit agreement in the
literary works about animals or nature, one might make a generalization that
form of a handshake.
many animal stories address themes regarding how humans and animals
relate or about conflicts between humans and nature or the wild.
Making generalizations helps the reader make connections between the text
and his or her own life. This can help the reader to better understand the text
and be more invested in the story and characters.
As you read, ask yourself what statements or opinions the author seems to be
making about the bigger issues she raises in the novel including conflicts with
nature. What did you think about these issues before you read the book?
After? You may find it helpful to use a graphic organizer like the one below
and the one on the next page.
Before Reading After Reading

In the study of literature, conflict refers to a struggle one conflict in addition to the one provided below.
between opposing forces. The Yearling contains a Then fill out the diagrams to analyze how conflict
number of different conflicts that move the story affects the story.
forward, including conflict with nature. Choose at least
Conflict: What is the problem?
how to get the

hogs back
Action: What is done to

solve the problem?
Results: What happens as a

result of the action taken?

Symbol What might the fawn The fawn lifted its face to his. It turned its head with a wide,
symbolize in this passage? wondering motion and shook him through with the stare of its
liquid eyes. It was quivering. It made no effort to rise or run.
Jody could not trust himself to move.
He whispered, “It’s me.”
The fawn lifted its nose, scenting him. He reached out one
hand and laid it on the soft neck. The touch made him delirious.
He moved forward on all fours until he was close beside it.
He put his arms around its body. A light convulsion passed over
it but it did not stir. He stroked its sides as gently as though the
fawn were a china deer and he might break it. Its skin was
softer than the white ’coonskin knapsack. It was sleek and clean
and had a sweet scent of grass. He rose slowly and lifted the
fawn from the ground. It was no heavier than old Julia. Its legs
hung limply. They were surprisingly long and he had to hoist
the fawn as high as possible under his arm.
He was afraid that it might kick and bleat at sight and smell
of its mother. He skirted the clearing and pushed his way into
the thicket. It was difficult to fight through with his burden. The
fawn’s legs caught in the bushes and he could not lift his own
with freedom. He tried to shield its face from prickling vines. Its
head bobbed with his stride. His heart thumped with the
marvel of its acceptance of him. He reached the trail and walked
as fast as he could until he came to the intersection with the
road home. He stopped to rest and set the fawn down on its
dangling legs. It wavered on them. It looked at him and bleated.
He said, enchanted, “I’ll tote you time I git my breath.”
He remembered his father’s saying that a fawn would follow
that had been first carried. He started away slowly. The fawn
stared after him. He came back to it and stroked it and walked
away again. It took a few wobbling steps toward him and cried
piteously. It was willing to follow him. It beonged to him. It was
his own. He was light-headed with his joy. He wanted to fondle
it, to run and romp with it, to call to it to come to him. He dared
not alarm it. He picked it up and carried it in front of him over
his two arms. It seemed to him that he walked without effort.
He had the strength of a Forrester.
His arms began to ache and he was forced to stop again.
When he walked on, the fawn followed him at once. He allowed
it to walk a little distance, then picked it up again. The distance
home was nothing. He could have walked all day and into the
night, carrying it and watching it follow. He was wet with sweat
but a light breeze blew through the June morning, cooling him.
The sky was as clear as spring water in a blue china cup. He
came to the clearing. It was fresh and green after the night’s
rain. He could see Buck Forrester following old Caesar at the Literary Element
plow in the cornfield. He thought he heard him curse the
horse’s slowness. He fumbled with the gate latch and was Symbol What might the fawn
symbolize in this section?
finally obliged to set down the fawn to manage it. It came to
him that he would walk into the house, into Penny’s bedroom,
with the fawn walking behind him. But at the steps, the fawn
balked and refused to climb them. He picked it up and went to
his father. Penny lay with closed eyes.
Jody called, “Pa! Lookit!”
Penny turned his head. Jody stood beside him, the fawn
clutched hard against him. It seemed to Penny that the boy’s
eyes were as bright as the fawn’s. His face lightened, seeing
them together.
He said, “I’m proud you found him.”
“Pa, he wa’n’t skeert o’ me. He were layin’ up right where
his mammy had made his bed.”
“The does learns ’em that, time they’re borned. You kin step
on a fawn, times, they lay so still.”
“Pa, I toted him, and when I set him down, right off he
follered me. Like a dog, Pa.”
“Ain’t that fine? Let’s see him better.”
Jody lifted the fawn high. Penny reached out a hand
and touched its nose. It bleated and reached hopefully for
his fingers.
He said, “Well, leetle feller. I’m sorry I had to take away
your mammy.”
“You reckon he misses her?”
“No. He misses his rations and he knows that. He misses
somethin’ else but he don’t know jest what.”
Ma Baxter came into the room.
“Look, Ma, I found him.”
“I see.”
“Ain’t he purty, Ma? Lookit them spots all in rows. Lookit
them big eyes. Ain’t he purty?”

Make Generalizations What He said, “When there’s trouble waitin’ for you, you jest as
generalizations did you make about good go to meet it.”
the power of nature before you read The rattler struck him from under the grape-vine without
this passage? warning. Jody saw the flash, blurred as a shadow, swifter than a
martin, surer than the slashing claws of a bear. He saw his
father stagger backward under the force of the blow. He heard
him give a cry. He wanted to step back, too. He wanted to cry
out with all his voice. He stood rooted to the sand and could not
make a sound. It was lightning that had struck, and not a rattler.
It was a branch that broke, it was a bird that flew, it was a rabbit
running—
Penny shouted, “Git back! Hold the dogs!”
The voice released him. He dropped back and clutched the
dogs by the scruff of their necks. He saw the mottled shadow
lift its flat head, knee-high. The head swung from side to side,
following his father’s slow motions. He heard the rattles hum.
The dogs heard. They winded. The fur stood stiff on their
bodies. Old Julia whined and twisted out of his hand. She
turned and slunk down the trail. Her long tail clung to her
hindquarters. Rip reared on his hind feet, barking.
As slowly as a man in a dream, Penny backed away. The
rattles sung. They were not rattles—Surely it was a locust
humming. Surely it was a tree-frog singing—Penny lifted his
gun to his shoulder and fired. Jody quivered. The rattler coiled
and writhed in its spasms. The head was buried in the sand.
The contortions moved down the length of the thick body, the
rattles whirred feebly and were still. The coiling flattened into
slow convolutions, like a low tide ebbing. Penny turned and
stared at his son.
He said, “He got me.”
He lifted his right arm and gaped at it. His lips lifted dry
over his teeth. His throat worked. He looked dully at two
punctures in the flesh. A drop of blood oozed from each.
He said, “He was a big un.”
Jody let go his hold on Rip. The dog ran to the dead snake
and barked fiercely. He made sorties and at last poked the coils
with one paw. He quieted and snuffed about in the sand. Penny
lifted his head from his staring. His face was like hickory ashes.
He said, “Ol’ Death goin’ to git me yit.”
He licked his lips. He turned abruptly and began to push
through the scrub in the direction of the clearing. The road
would be shorter going, for it was open, but he headed blindly
for home in a direct line. He plowed through the low scrub
oaks, the gallberries, the scrub palmettos. Jody panted behind
him. His heart pounded so hard that he could not see where he
was going. He followed the sound of his father’s crashing Reading Strategy
across the undergrowth. Suddenly the denseness ended. A patch
of higher oaks made a shaded clearing. It was strange to walk Make Generalizations What
generalization can you make about
in silence.
nature after reading this passage?
Penny stopped short. There was a stirring ahead. A doe-deer Does this conform to ideas about
leaped to her feet. Penny drew a deep breath, as though nature in other animal stories you
breathing were for some reason easier. He lifted his shotgun and have read?
leveled it at the head. It flashed over Jody’s mind that his father
had gone mad. This was no moment to stop for game. Penny
fired. The doe turned a somersault and dropped to the sand and
kicked a little and lay still. Penny ran to the body and drew his
knife from its scabbard. Now Jody knew his father was insane.
Penny did not cut the throat, but slashed into the belly. He laid
the carcass wide open. The pulse still throbbed in the heart.
Penny slashed out the liver. Kneeling, he changed his knife to
his left hand. He turned his right arm and stared again at the
twin punctures. They were now close. The forearm was thick-
swollen and blackening. The sweat stood out on his forehead.
He cut quickly across the wound. A dark blood gushed and he
pressed the warm liver against the incision.
He said in a hushed voice, “I kin feel it draw—”
He pressed harder. He took the meat away and looked
at it. It was a venomous green. He turned it and applied the
fresh side.
He said, “Cut me out a piece o’ the heart.”
Jody jumped from his paralysis. He fumbled with the knife.
He hacked away a portion.
Penny said, “Another.”
He changed the application again and again.
He said, “Hand me the knife.”
He cut a higher gash in his arm where the dark swelling rose
the thickest. Jody cried out.
“Pa! You’ll bleed to death!”
“I’d ruther bleed to death than swell. I seed a man die—”
The sweat poured down his cheeks.
“Do it hurt bad, Pa?”
“Like a hot knife was buried to the shoulder.”
The meat no longer showed green when he withdrew it. The
warm vitality of the doe’s flesh was solidifying in death. He
stood up.
He said quietly, “Cain’t do it no more good. I’m goin’ on
home. You go to the Forresters and git ’em to ride to the Branch
for Doc Wilson.”

If so, then mark up the pages as you Jody stared at Buck and Buck stared back at him. The
read, or reread, to help with your note- numbness grew into a paralysis. He felt no sorrow, only a
taking. Develop a shorthand system, coldness and a faintness. Fodder-wing was neither dead nor
including symbols, that works for you. alive. He was, simply, nowhere at all.
Buck said hoarsely, “You kin come look at him.”
First Buck said that Fodder-wing was gone, like candlelight,
Bracket = text to quote and then he said that he was here. None of it made sense. Buck
Asterisk = just what you were turned into the house. He looked back, compelling Jody with his
looking for
dull eyes. Jody lifted one leg after the other and mounted the
Checkmark = might be useful steps. He followed Buck into the house. The Forrester men sat
Circle = unfamiliar word or phrase to all together. There was a oneness about them, sitting so,
look up
motionless and heavy. They were pieces of one great dark rock,
broken into separate men. Pa Forrester turned his head and
looked at Jody as though he were a stranger. Then he turned it
away again. Lem and Mill-wheel looked at him. The others did
not stir. It seemed to Jody that they saw him from over a wall
they had built against him. They were unwilling to hold the
sight of him. Buck groped for his hand. He led him toward the
large bedroom. He started to speak. His voice broke. He stopped
and gripped Jody’s shoulder.
He said, “Bear up.”
Fodder-wing lay with closed eyes, small and lost in the center
of the great bed. He was smaller than when he had lain sleeping
왘 BIG Idea on his pallet. He was covered with a sheet, turned back beneath
The Strength of Family Have your his chin. His arms were outside the sheet, folded across his
ideas about what makes a family chest, the palms of the hands falling outward, twisted and
changed through your reading?
clumsy, as in life. Jody was frightened. Ma Forrester sat by the
Mark up the excerpt, looking for side of the bed. She held her apron over her head and rocked
evidence of how it expresses the herself back and forth. She flung down the apron.
Big Idea. She said, “I’ve lost my boy. My pore crookedy boy.”
She covered herself again and swayed from side to side.
She moaned, “The Lord’s hard. Oh, the Lord’s hard.”
Jody wanted to run away. The bony face on the pillow
terrified him. It was Fodder-wing and it was not Fodder-wing.
Buck drew him to the edge of the bed.
“He’ll not hear, but speak to him.”
Jody’s throat worked. No words came. Fodder-wing seemed
made of tallow, like a candle. Suddenly he was familiar.
Jody whispered, “Hey.”
The paralysis broke, having spoken. His throat tightened as
though a rope choked it. Fodder-wing’s silence was intolerable.
Now he understood. This was death. Death was a silence that
gave back no answer. Fodder-wing would never speak to him
again. He turned and buried his face against Buck’s chest. The
big arms gripped him. He stood a long time.
reduce your notes.
Record
MY VIEW
Write down your thoughts on
the excerpt.
Recap

1. Why did the Forresters trap and take the Baxters’ hogs? Why is the loss of Reread Build Background on
the hogs so serious a problem for the Baxters? [Interpret] page 135. How did that information
2. How does Jody come to terms with Fodder-wing’s death? What does this
response reveal about Jody? [Evaluate]
3. Evaluate the effects of the flood on the Baxter household. Why are the
consequences of the flood so devastating? [Conclude]
4. Did you expect anyone from the Forrester family to help the Baxters?
Why or why not? Would you have been able to overlook your hard
feelings to take over Penny Baxter’s chores until he recuperated?
Explain your reasons. [Connect]
5. The Strength of Family In what ways do the Baxters and Forresters

support each other like family in this section? [Interpret]

Literary Element Symbol Vocabulary Practice

What does the sinkhole symbolize in the novel? Studying the etymology, or origin and history, of a
[Interpret] word can help you better understand and explore its
meaning. Create a word map, like the one below, for
each of these vocabulary words from the selection.
Use a dictionary for help.
implacable stolidly
quiescent tacit
staunch
EXAMPLE: scripture
Definition: any sacred writing
Etymology: Latin scriptura means book or “writing”
Sample Sentence:
Ameena follows the scripture of the Muslim faith.
Academic Vocabulary
The Forresters have such a rough affect that
Ma Baxter is surprised by the kindness they extend
during Penny’s recovery. In the preceding sentence,
Reading Strategy affect means “a feeling or emotion that is conveyed by
Make Generalizations
body language and facial expression.” Affect also has
As the Baxters’ and Forresters’ conflict with Old Slewfoot other meanings. For instance: He didn’t want his
continues, what generalization does Rawlings seem to decision to affect the other students, but it did. What
be making about the relationship between humans do you think affect means in the preceding sentence?
and animals? [Conclude] What is the difference between the two meanings?

Personal Response Do you think Jody was right to Speech
bring the orphaned fawn home with him? Why or Assignment A eulogy is a special speech of praise
why not? that is delivered at a funeral. Imagine that you are Jody
and that the Forresters have asked you to eulogize
Fodder-wing. In your speech, describe Fodder-wing’s
best qualities and explain why he will be missed.
Prepare Rawlings used figurative language to help

deepen our understanding of her characters and
settings. Following Rawling’s example, incorporate
similes and metaphors into your eulogy. Think about
the characteristics of Fodder-wing that can be
compared with something else. Make a list of these
things and then extend a few of them into sentences
you can use in your eulogy of Fodder-wing.
EXAMPLE:
My Aunt Emily
kind
beautiful smile
funny
courageous
When my Aunt Emily smiled, it was like her face was

a beautiful flower opening to the sun.
Deliver Make sure that your speech conveys a

serious, respectful tone. Make eye contact with your
audience. Speak loudly and clearly so that they can
understand you. Maintain good posture to reflect
confidence. Use gestures as appropriate, such as in
a moment of great emotion.
Evaluate Write a paragraph evaluating your eulogy.

When your classmates present their eulogies, offer oral
feedback on their speeches.


Almost everyone feels like running away from his or her problems from time entries about the novels that you read
to time. What do you suppose makes people feel this way? this year.
Discuss
WRITE THE CAPTION
With a group of your classmates, discuss your response to the question above.
What are the disadvantages of running away? Are there any advantages? What
might someone learn from the experience? Build Background.
Build Background
The Florida Black Bear
The Florida black bear is an intimidating animal. Though it may look awkward,
it can run very fast and climb trees with amazing ease because of its sharp,
curved claws. It uses its powerful front paws to subdue its prey, and it can
easily kill a small creature. Usually, male black bears are larger than females.
Bears are omnivorous, that is they eat both plant and animal matter. The black
bear diet includes nuts, berries, and insects, and rarely they will eat meat they
may find when scavenging. The black bear has a good sense of hearing, and
its sense of smell is especially keen. The common belief that they do not have
good eyesight is untrue. They simply tend to depend on their other senses
more. Bears are typically solitary and quiet animals that hibernate during the
cold months. It is during this time that their cubs are born.

왘 BIG Idea Life Lessons
condescension [kon´´di sen´shən]
Life lessons can change our whole perspective. What are some important life n. the act of dealing with people in a
lessons you have learned? How did those lessons change the way you view patronizingly superior manner
the world around you? Dictators look with condescension
upon those who don’t share their
In The Yearling, Jody learns an important life lesson. As you read, observe the ideas.
changes in his personality and values and make a chart that lists how Jody
was before and after he learned this life lesson. emaciated [i mā´´shē āt əd]
adj. extremely thin; starved
Literary Element Voice After being lost in the woods for
five days, the hunter was exhausted
Voice refers to the distinctive use of language within a text. Each author has and emaciated.
a unique writing voice. It is this voice that conveys the author’s or narrator’s harbinger [har´´bin jər]
personality to the reader. n. an indication of something
to come
Voice is determined by elements of style such as word choice and tone, The groundhog is often considered
however, voice is not the same as style. Voice is the language the author uses, to be a harbinger of spring.
whereas style is how language as well as many other elements are organized.
mollified [mol´ə f¯ d]
As you read, ask yourself what makes Rawlings’ writing voice unique. Consider adj. soothed
how the stylistic choices she makes contribute to your understanding of the Despite her fear of speaking in
characters and setting. These include her use of dialect. Dialect is a variation public, the knowledge that her
of a language spoken by a group of people, often within a particular region. friends would be in the audience
mollified her.
Dialect often includes regional idioms, expressions with meaning different
from literal meaning, such as over the hill, meaning “old.” Use the graphic voracity [vo ras´´ə tē]
organizer on the next page to help you explore the use of dialect to show a n. ravenous hunger
writer’s voice. After competing in a long-distance
race, most runners eat with voracity.
Reading Strategy Analyze Style
Style includes word choice, or diction, and the length and arrangement of
sentences, as well as the use of figurative language and imagery.
When you analyze style, you analyze the expressive qualities that distinguish
an author’s work to determine their effect on the overall text.
As you read, notice the unique qualities of Rawlings’ writing style. You may
find it helpful to use a graphic organizer like the one below.
Sentence Literary Device Used Effect on Reader

Rawlings’ use of a regional dialect makes her writing deciphering. Working with your classmates, try
voice unique. However, that dialect can pose a to translate the phrases and sentences into
challenge to a modern reader. As you read, record modern English.
phrases and sentences that you have trouble
Regional Dialect
Phrase Translation
Jest as ornery dead as alive very grouchy or hard to deal with

Voice What is Rawlings’ attitude Penny said, “When I were about your size, my uncle Miles
toward Penny in this passage? How come visitin’ from Georgia. And a cold day about like this he
can you tell?
takened me in the very swamp we come through today. We was
moseyin’ along, not lookin’ for nothin’ in pertickler, and on
beyond us we seed what looked like a buzzard settin’ on a
stump, peckin’ at somethin’. Well, we got there and what do
you suppose ’twas?”
“’Twasn’t no buzzard?”
“’Twasn’t no buzzard a-tall. ’Twas a bear cub cuffin’ playful-
like at his twin on the ground below him.
“My uncle Miles said, ‘Now we’ll jest ketch us a bear cub.’
They was right gentle and he goes up to the one on the stump
and ketched it. Well, when he’d ketched it, he didn’t have nary
thing to tote it in. And them scaper’s’ll gnaw on you if they
ain’t in a sack. Well, them up-country folks wears underwear in
the winter. He takened off his breeches and he takened off his
long drawers and he tied knots in the legs of ’em and he made
him a sack. He puttened the cub in it and about the time he
reached for his breeches to put ’em back on agin, here come a
crashin’ and a woofin’ and a stompin’ in the bresh, and the old
she-bear come outen the thick right at him. Well, he takened out
through the swamp and dropped the cub and the mammy
gathered it up, drawers and all. But she were so clost behind
him she stepped on a vine and it tripped him and throwed him
flat amongst the thorns and brambles. And aunt Moll was a
muddle-minded kind o’ woman and she couldn’t never make it
out how he come home without his drawers on a cold day, and
his bottom scratched. But uncle Miles allus said that wasn’t
nothin’ to the puzzlin’ the mammy bear must o’ done over them
drawers on her young un.”
Jody laughed until he could laugh no more.
He complained, “Pa, you got all them tales in your mind and
you don’t tell ’em.”
“Well, it takes a thing like bein’ in the swamp where it
happened, to call it back to me. Now in that same swamp, one
very cold March, I remember comin’ on another pair o’ bear
cubs. They was whimperin’ with the cold. New-borned cubs is
no bigger’n rats and plumb naked, and these uns hadn’t yit
growed much fur. They was huddled up in a red bay thicket
and cryin’ like human babies. Listen!”
The sound of hoof beats was unmistakable along the road
behind them.
“Now wouldn’t it be fine not to have to go clare to Fort Gates
for he’p?”

The sound came closer. They stepped to the side of the road. Literary Element
The riders were the Forresters.
Voice Rawlings chooses to include the
Penny said, “Looks like I mis-called myself.” dialect that was unique to farmers in
Buck led the cavalcade. They streamed down the road. central Florida during that time. In this
They were drunk as lords. They reined in. excerpt, does this regional dialect
“Now look at this! Ol’ Penny Baxter and his he-cub! Hey, make her characters more or less
Penny! What the devil you doin’ up here?” believable? Explain.
Penny said, “I been on a hunt. And this un was deliberate.
Me and Jody takened out after ol’ Slewfoot.”
“Whoops! On foot? Listen to that, boys! That’s better’n a pair
o’ biddies rompin’ on a hawk.”
“And we got him,” Penny said.
Buck shook himself. The whole array seemed to sober.
“Don’t tell me none o’ them tales. Where’s he at?”
“’Bout two mile to the east, between Bear Spring and
the river.”
“Reckon he is. He fools around there a good bit.”
“He’s dead. How I know he’s dead, I gutted him. Me and
Jody’s walkin’ to Fort Gates for he’p in totin’ him outen
the swamp.”
Buck stiffened in a drunken dignity.
“You goin’ to Fort Gates for he’p gittin’ out ol’ Slewfoot?
And the best slew-footers in the county right here beside you?”
Lem called, “What’ll you give us, do we go tote him out?”
“Half the meat. I figgered on givin’ it to you anyways,
account of him tormentin’ you so, and Buck comin’ to
warn me.”
Buck said, “You and me’s friends, Penny Baxter. I warn you
and you warn me. Git up here behind me and point the way.”
Mill-wheel said, “I don’t know as I crave goin’ into no
swamp today, and clare back to Baxter’s Island. I got my mind
set on a frolic.”
Buck said, “You ain’t got no mind. Penny Baxter!”
“What you want?”
“You still figgerin’ on goin’ to them doin’s at Volusia?”
“Could we git the bear out in time to make it, we figgered
on it. We’re runnin’ mighty late.”
“Git up here behind me and point the way. Boys, we’ll git
out the bear and we’ll go to the doin’s at Volusia. If they don’t
want us, they kin throw us out—if they kin.”

Analyze Style In the first paragraph The sun was setting. He was in a panic that he would not
of this excerpt, what strategies does reach the clearing before dark. He exhausted himself, and was
Rawlings use to create a mood of fear
obliged to slow down to a walk. His flesh quivered. His heart
and suspense?
pounded. He had to stop entirely and rest. Darkness overtook
him half a mile from home. Even in the dusk, landmarks were
familiar. The tall pines of the clearing were recognizable, blacker
than the creeping night. He came to the slat fence. He felt his
way along it. He opened the gate and went into the yard. He
passed around the side of the house to the kitchen stoop and
stepped up on it. He crept to the window on bare silent feet
and peered in.
A fire burned low on the hearth. Penny sat hunched beside it,
wrapped in quilts. One had covered his eyes. Jody went to the
door and unlatched it and stepped inside. Penny lifted his head.
“Ory?”
“Hit’s me.”
He thought his father had not heard him.
“Hit’s Jody.”
Penny turned his head and looked at him wonderingly, as
though the gaunt ragged boy with sweat and tear-streaks down
the grime, with hollow eyes under matted hair, were some
stranger of whom he expected that he state his business.
He said, “Jody.”
Jody dropped his eyes.
“Come close.”
He went to his father and stood beside him. Penny reached
out for his hand and took it and turned it over and rubbed it
slowly between his own. Jody felt drops on his hand like a
warm rain.
“Boy—I near about give you out.”
Penny felt along his arm. He looked up at him.
“You all right?”
He nodded.
“You all right—You ain’t dead nor gone. You all right.” A
light filled his face. “Glory be.”
It was unbelievable, Jody thought. He was wanted.
He said, “I had to come home.”
“Why, shore you did.”
“I ain’t meant what I said. Hatin’ you—”
The light broke into the familiar smile.
“Why, shore you ain’t. ‘When I was a child, I spake as a
child.’”
Penny stirred in his chair.
“They’s rations in the safe. In the kittle there. You hongry?”

“I ain’t et but oncet. Last night.” Reading Strategy

“Not but oncet? Then now you know. Ol’ Starvation–” His
Analyze Style What is personified
eyes shone in the firelight as Jody had pictured them. “Ol’ in the highlighted passage? Why
Starvation– he’s got a face meaner’n ol’ Slewfoot, ain’t he?” might Rawlings have chosen to use
“Hit’s fearful.” personification here?
“There’s biscuits there. Open the honey. There’s due to be
milk in the gourd.”
Jody fumbled among the dishes. He ate standing, wolfing
down the food. He dipped into a dish of cooked cow-peas with
his fingers, scooping them into his mouth. Penny stared at him.
He said, “I’m sorry you had to learn it that-a-way.”
“Where’s Ma?”
“She’s drove the wagon to the Forresters to trade for seed-
corn. She figgered she’d try to plant a part of a crop agin. She
carried the chickens, to trade. It hurted her pride turrible, but
she was obliged to go.”
Jody closed the door of the cabinet.
He said, “I should of washed. I’m awful dirty.”
“There’s warm water on the hearth.”
Jody poured water in the basin and scrubbed his face and
arms and hands. The water was too dark even for his feet. He
threw it out of the door and poured more, and sat on the floor
and washed his feet.
Penny said, “I’d be proud to know where you been.”
“I been on the river. I aimed to go to Boston.”
“I see.”
He looked small and shrunken inside the quilts.
Jody said, “How you makin’ it, Pa? You better?”
Penny looked a long time into the embers on the hearth.
He said, “You jest as good to know the truth. I ain’t scarcely
wuth shootin’.”
Jody said, “When I git the work done, you got to leave me go
fetch ol’ Doc to you.”
Penny studied him.
He said, “You’ve done come back different. You’ve takened a
punishment. You ain’t a yearlin’ no longer. Jody—”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’m goin’ to talk to you, man to man. You figgered I went
back on you. Now there’s a thing ever’ man has got to know.
Mebbe you know it a’ready. ’Twa’n’t only me. ’Twa’n’t only
your yearlin’ deer havin’ to be destroyed. Boy, life goes back
on you.”
Jody looked at his father. He nodded.

If so, then mark up the pages as you I’ve wanted life to be easy for you. Easier’n ’twas for me. A
read, or reread, to help with your note- man’s heart aches, seein’ his young uns face the world. Knowin’
taking. Develop a shorthand system, they got to git their guts tore out, the way his was tore. I wanted
to spare you, long as I could. I wanted you to frolic with your
yearlin’. I knowed the lonesomeness he eased for you. But ever’
man’s lonesome. What’s he to do then? What’s he to do when he
gits knocked down? Why, take it for his share and go on.”
Asterisk = just what you were looking Jody said, “I’m ’shamed I runned off.”
for
Penny sat upright.
He said, “You’re near enough growed to do your choosin’.
Circle = unfamiliar word or phrase to Could be you’d crave to go to sea, like Oliver. There’s men
look up
seems made for the land, and men seems made for the sea. But
I’d be proud did you choose to live here and farm the clearin’.
I’d be proud to see the day when you got a well dug, so’s no
woman here’d be obliged to do her washin’ on a seepage hill-
side. You willin’?”
“I’m willin’.”
“Shake hands.”
He closed his eyes. The fire on the hearth had burned to
embers. Jody banked them with the ashes, to assure live coals in
the morning. . . .
He went to his room and closed the door. He took off his
tattered shirt and breeches and climbed under the warm quilts.
왘 BIG Idea His bed was soft and yielding. He lay luxuriously, stretching his
Life Lessons What are some life legs. He must be up early in the morning, to milk the cow and
lessons Jody has learned?
bring in wood and work the crops. When he worked them, Flag
Mark up the excerpt, looking for
would not be there to play about with him. His father would no
evidence of how it expresses the longer take the heavy part of the burden. It did not matter. He
Big Idea. could manage alone.
He found himself listening for something. It was the sound of
the yearling for which he listened, running around the house or
stirring on his moss pallet in the corner of the bedroom. He
would never hear him again. He wondered if his mother had
thrown dirt over Flag’s carcass, or if the buzzards had cleaned it.
Flag—He did not believe he should ever again love anything,
man or woman or his own child, as he had loved the yearling.
He would be lonely all his life. But a man took it for his share
and went on.
In the beginning of his sleep, he cried out, “Flag!”
It was not his own voice that called. It was a boy’s voice.
Somewhere beyond the sink-hole, past the magnolia, under the
live oaks, a boy and a yearling ran side by side, and were gone
forever.

reduce your notes.
Record
MY VIEW
your own notes.
Recap

1. How do the Forresters plan on paying the Baxters for their share of the Reread Build Background on
bear meat? [Recall] page 147. How did that information
2. Why does Grandma Hutto tell Oliver a lie about how the fire started in her
house? [Infer]
3. When Jody meets Nellie Ginright, he decides that women come in breeds,
just like dogs. Why does he make this comparison? Do you agree with him?
Why or why not? [Analyze]
4. Review the questions you discussed in Connect to Literature on page 147.

How would Jody have responded to the same questions had he been a
member of your group? [Conclude]
5. Life Lessons In your opinion, what is the most important life lesson that
Jody learned? [Conclude]

Literary Element Voice Vocabulary Practice

What literary techniques does Rawlings use in this Respond to these questions.
novel to create her own distinct voice? [Identify]
1. Who would most likely treat you with
condescension – a friendly neighbor or a
know-it-all?
2. Who is most likely to become emaciated –

an explorer who has run out of food or a
restaurant owner?
3. Which of these is usually considered a harbinger

of bad luck – a black cat or a shooting star?
4. When would you most need to be mollified –

after acing a test or after failing a test?
5. Who would eat with more voracity – a young boy

who just finished lunch or a young boy who just
Reading Strategy Analyze Style finished playing outside?
Find three idioms in this section. What is the meaning

of each idiom in context? How is this different than its
literal meaning? [Analyze]
Academic Vocabulary
When Jody realized that it was impossible not to
implicate Flag when their corn crop was eaten,
he realized that he had to tell his father the truth.
Using context clues, try to figure out the meaning of
the word implicate in the sentence above. Write your
guess below. Then check it in a dictionary.
Writing Research and Report

Write an Argument Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Internet Connection
considered a number of different titles for the novel, Assignment Use the Internet to research the wildlife
including The Sinkhole and Juniper Creek, before she that lives in your state. Plan an Internet Web site that
chose The Yearling. What would you have called the shows the interactions between wildlife and the
book if you had written it? If you think the title she human population in your state.
chose is fitting, what do you think makes The Yearling
an especially good title for this novel? Explain your Get Ideas Begin by making a list of specific research
opinions in a paragraph or two. questions to answer. Start with the following questions:
What are some of the problems faced by the wildlife?
Jot down some notes here first. What problems do wild animals pose to the human
population? Arrange all of your questions in a web
diagram around your central topic: Wildlife.
Research As you research, use the questions below

to evaluate the reliability of information on each
Web site.
• Authority Is the site associated with a reputable

organization? Does the author have credentials?
Can he or she be contacted to verify information on
the site?
• Accuracy Can the information be substantiated in

another source? Are these grammatical or factual
errors that make the site seem questionable?
• Objectivity Is the writer citing a fact or offering an

opinion? Is the site associated with an organization
that is biased?
• Datedness How often is the site updated? Can you

be sure that the information isn’t out of date?
As you research, record the answers to your research

questions in a two-column chart. Put the questions on
the left and the answers on the right. Then reorganize
the questions and answers in a logical pattern in
preparation for your report.
Report Plan an Internet Web site that shows the

interactions between wildlife and the human
population in your state. Use pictures from magazines
or your own drawings to show how you would
illustrate your Web site. Also include accurate and
correctly formatted citations for the Web sites you
consulted.

The Yearling
Baby Deer Do Need Your Help; Feeding Deer The Day Before Spring
in Winter Ann Haymond Zwinger
Nate Trip; Jerome B. Robinson Imagine that Jody Baxter and Ann Haymond Zwinger
Compare and contrast Jody’s attitude toward Flag had the chance to compare notes about spring. What
with Tripp’s and Robinson’s attitudes toward wild deer. similarities and differences might they find in their
In what ways are their attitudes similar? In what ways observations and notes?
are they different?
from Living with Wildlife

The Cub the California Center for Wildlife
Lois Dykeman Kleihauer Based on your reading of this selection, how would you
Compare Jody’s progress toward manhood with that evaluate the Baxters’ final decision concerning Flag?
of the boy in “The Cub.” What kinds of conflict do
they experience that mark their initiation as adults?
How do their fathers contribute to the boys’
maturation processes?
from Animal Partners:

Training Animals to Help People
Patricia Curtis
What kinds of emotional support characterize Jody’s
and Fodder-wing’s relationships with their animals?
In what ways are those relationships therapeutic?
LITERATURE: I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
5 Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
10 Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly1 dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they

Outdid the sparkling waves in glee:
15 A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund2 company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft,3 when on my couch I lie

20 In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
1 Sprightly (sprı̄t' lē) means “lighthearted” or “merry.”

2 Jocund (jok' nd) means “cheerful” or “carefree.”
e
3 Oft is an old, poetic form of “often.”

Compare the novel you have just read to the literature selection at the WRITE ABOUT IT
left, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth in Glencoe At what points in The Yearling does
Literature. Then answer the questions below. Support your answers with Jody respond to nature the same
details from the selections. way that the speaker of “I Wandered
Lonely as a Cloud” does? In a short
paragraph, describe two of these
Compare & Contrast situations and explain the ways in
which Jody’s responses are similar
1. Simile In what way could you say that Jody too “wandered lonely as to those presented in the poem.
a cloud”?
2. Symbol What does nature represent, as a symbol, to Jody? To the speaker

of the poem?
3. Voice What techniques does Wordsworth use to help his readers visualize
the scene he is describing in his poem? How do these compare with the
techniques that Rawlings used to describe the settings in The Yearling?
Review UNDERSTAND THE TASK

• In a book review, a writer presents
Convince an Audience Many student reviews of The Yearling on the his or her well-supported opinions
Internet are negative. Some students today seem to find it out-of-date and about a work of literature or
nonfiction. The review may also
therefore irrelevant. Would you continue to make it part of the school
recommend that people read the
curriculum, recommend it to certain kinds of readers, or suggest that this
book or suggest that they avoid it.
classic be forgotten? Write a book review that answers the preceding questions.
Prewrite First, review your notes on the selection and determine what your
controlling idea will be. Do you plan to recommend the book? Decide how Grammar Tip
you will present and organize your information. For example, you might begin Sentence Variety
with summary of the work, and follow up with your own opinions. You may Authors can add interest to their
wish to organize your information with an outline. Finally, choose an writing by varying both the structure
appropriate audience, such as students who might read the book for class and the length of their sentences.
or the school board who is determining whether or not to keep the book on They can use a combination of
the curriculum. simple and complex sentences and
of short and long sentences in
Draft Create your thesis, and follow it up with the logical sequence of order to develop a particular mood
or to create suspense.
information you outlined during the prewriting phase. As you write, remember
that any claims you make must be supported with evidence, such as quotations Notice how Rawlings uses sentence
from the selection. You may wish to create a chart like the one shown here to variety to create suspense in the
following excerpt from The Yearling:
ensure that all of your points are well-supported. Use appeals to logic, emotion,
or ethical beliefs whenever possible as you add to your support. He clambered to his feet and up
the bank and began to run down
the road to the clearing, crying as
Claim Evidence he ran. His father might not be
Rawlings presents a timeless The flood that devastates the there. He might be dead.
struggle between nature and surrounding area is similar to
humans. the recent Hurricane Katrina.
Revise As you review, make sure that you have also considered the other
side of the argument. Answering the possible objections to your view will show
readers that your opinion is balanced and well-considered.

A Midsummer
Night’s Dream
William Shakespeare
A M i d s u m m e r Nig h t ’s D r e a m 163
INTRODUCTI ON TO THE PLAY
A Midsummer Night’s Dream

William Shakespeare
blocks the love affair between a young man
“ The opening scene of A Midsummer
Night’s Dream leads the audience to
and a young woman. Complications and
confusions follow, until finally, after some
dramatic reversal, the lovers are united.
expect an ordinary comedy plot. ” Setting his first act in Athens, the birthplace
—René Girard, “Myth and Ritual in of Western classical literature, Shakespeare
Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s follows just such a plot. It is not long,
Dream” however, before the play moves to the
woods outside Athens, and into the English
concept of Midsummer Night.
“doesButnotA always
Midsummer Night’s Dream
do exactly what we might This tale of frustrated love and mistaken
expect, and in this way it keeps its audience identity makes audiences laugh at the
ridiculous ease with which lovers change
”
guessing . . .
the object of their affection, while still
—Catherine Belsey, “A Midsummer Night’s believing that their feelings are completely
Dream : A Modern Perspective” sincere. However, although it is a comedy,
A Midsummer Night’s Dream also poses some
Shakespeare wrote A Midsummer Night’s profound and difficult questions: What is
Dream toward the beginning of his career. love? How and why do people fall in and
The play describes the comic misadventures out of love? How is love related to questions
of two pairs of lovers who become lost in of identity—both of the lover and the
a dark wood and fall under the power of beloved? Are lovers in control of themselves
sprites. and their destinies? Which is more real, the
“daylight” world of reason and law or the
A Magical Night To Shakespeare’s “nighttime” world of passion and chaos?
audiences, the play’s title was a clue that the Shakespeare leaves these questions for the
play might be about romance, magic, and audience to answer.
madness. Midsummer Night was thought to
be one of the nights of the year when sprites Drama: The Good and the Ugly Drama was
were especially powerful. People also tremendously popular during Shakespeare’s
believed that flowers gathered on lifetime. The queen herself, Elizabeth I,
Midsummer Night could work magic and loved to watch plays—including many
that Midsummer Night was a time when by Shakespeare—in her court. Companies
people dreamed of their true loves and of actors traveled throughout England,
sometimes went insane. performing for eager audiences. Over a short
period of time, dramatic literature developed
A Classical Plot Shakespeare and other rapidly, from the slapstick plays popular
Elizabethan dramatists based their comedy during Shakespeare’s youth to the complex
plots on Classical (ancient Greek and dramas written by Shakespeare and his
Roman) models. Often a grumpy old father contemporaries.

INTRODUCTION TO T H E PLAY
Yet not everyone in late sixteenth- and early attacks on drama being made in his time and
seventeenth-century England loved plays deliberately showing plays, actors, and audiences
and acting. Theater owners tried to avoid at their worst.
city authorities, many of whom disapproved
of the theater because it drew large crowds, A Midsummer Night’s Dream contains a
creating the potential for crime, the possible play-within-a-play, which features comically
spread of disease, and the introduction of clumsy writing, poor staging, cheap costumes,
controversial ideas. Many local authorities and awful acting. Furthermore, Oberon, the
mistrusted and persecuted visiting actors, fairy king, can be seen as a kind of mad
which forced the actors to seek the director, stage managing the passions of
protection of powerful nobles. Religious others for his own amusement or pleasure.
factions such as the Puritans decried acting
as wicked and tried to outlaw it. In fact, the Yet A Midsummer Night’s Dream allows us
Puritans succeeded in closing down the to laugh at human nature and observe the
theaters in 1642. interaction between actors and audience.
Pyramus and Thisbe––the play-within-a-play—
Many of Shakespeare’s plays seem to may be silly, but it is funny. A Midsummer
address the issue of whether drama is mere Night’s Dream can also be seen as a tribute
entertainment or a vehicle for showing the to the magic of illusion. After waking from
truth of human experience. In the eyes of their dream parts in Oberon’s “play,” Bottom,
contemporary critic Alvin B. Kernan: Lysander, Demetrius, Helena, and Hermia all
express a sense of wonder and bewilderment
Shakespeare seems to have constructed in Dream at their recent experience.
the “worst case” for theater, voicing all the
Blank Verse and Prose

Shakespeare wrote much of A Four days will quickly steep In A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
Midsummer Night’s Dream, and themselves in night; Shakespeare uses different writing
most of his plays, in blank verse. Four nights will quickly dream styles to suit different characters.
This style was fairly new in the away the time; For example, Bottom and his
1500s. Blank verse was first used in friends generally speak in prose,
English drama in a play four years Most English verse, or poetry, falls which gives them a simple, rustic
before Shakespeare was born. It naturally into this pattern. Prose, or quality. For the speeches of Oberon
follows a flexible rhythmic pattern ordinary, everyday language, was and Titania, Shakespeare uses a
consisting of an unstressed syllable also becoming a popular dramatic much more complex form of
followed by a stressed syllable. writing style, frequently mixed with poetry, implying the exquisite
blank verse. beauty and magic of the fairy
Look, for example, at the lines that kingdom.
Hippolyta speaks to Theseus in Act
1, Scene 1:
MEET TH E AUTHOR
William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
daughter of a farmer. The couple had

“He was not of an age, but for all time.” become parents of two daughters and a son
—Ben Jonson, poet and contemporary by 1585. Sometime in the next eight years,
of Shakespeare Shakespeare left his family in Stratford and
moved to London to pursue a career in the
Little is known about William Shakespeare, theater. Records show that by 1592, he had
generally acknowledged as the greatest become a successful actor and playwright in
playwright of all time. In some ways, the that city.
lack of information is ironically fitting.
Whereas we can draw on personal history to The Actor and Writer Although an outbreak
understand and explain the work of most of plague forced the London theaters to close
writers, in the case of Shakespeare, we must in 1592, Shakespeare continued to write,
rely primarily on his work. His command of producing the long narrative poem Venus
comedy and tragedy, his ability to depict the and Adonis and a number of comedies. By
range of human character, and his profound 1594 the plague was less of a threat, and
insights into human nature add clues to the theaters reopened. Shakespeare had joined
few facts that are known about his life. a famous acting group called the Lord
Chamberlain’s Men, so named for their
Shakespeare’s Childhood William patron, or supporter, a high official in the
Shakespeare was born in April 1564 in court of Queen Elizabeth I. One of the first
the English town of Stratford-upon-Avon. plays Shakespeare wrote for this company
The son of John Shakespeare, a successful was Romeo and Juliet. In 1598 Shakespeare
glovemaker and public official, and Mary became part owner of a major new theater,
Arden, the daughter of a gentleman, the Globe.
William was the oldest surviving sibling
of eight children. For more than a decade, Shakespeare
produced a steady stream of works, both
Shakespeare probably attended the local tragedies and comedies, which were
grammar school and studied Latin. His performed at the Globe, the royal court,
writings indicate that he was familiar with and other London theaters. However, shortly
classical writers such as Ovid (the source after the Globe was destroyed by fire in
for the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, the 1613, he retired and returned to Stratford.
play-within-a-play in A Midsummer Night’s
Dream). Throughout Shakespeare’s Fairly wealthy from the sales of his plays
childhood, companies of touring actors and from his shares in both the acting
visited Stratford. Although there is no company and the Globe, Shakespeare was
evidence to prove that Shakespeare ever able to buy a large house and an impressive
saw these actors perform, most scholars amount of property. He died in Stratford in
agree that he probably did. 1616. Seven years later the first collection of
his plays was published.
Adult Life In 1582, at the age of 18,
Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, the

BEFORE YOU READ: Act 1

Why do young people in love sometimes experience conflict with their entries about the novels that you read
parents? this year.
Create a Graphic Organizer

WRITE THE CAPTION
What is the best way to resolve a conflict? Create a graphic organizer to show
the six steps of problem solving listed below. Include ideas on how these steps
might be applied to the question of why young people in love sometimes Build Background.
experience conflict with their parents.
1. identify the problem

2. determine the importance of the problem
3. identify and discuss options
4. agree on an option
5. act on your decision
6. evaluate your decision
Build Background
Borrowing from Mythology
Shakespeare borrowed the characters of Theseus and Hippolyta from Greek
mythology. Theseus was the national hero of Athens. He was a friend of
Heracles (Hercules) and the survivor of many adventures, including his slaying
of the Minotaur, a creature half man and half bull. Hippolyta was Queen of
the Amazons, a group of female warriors. Theseus took her prisoner and then
married her.
A M i ds um m e r N i g h t ’s Dr e a m : Act 1 167

SF_Head
왘 BIG Idea The Power of Love
austerity [os ter´ə tē]
Think about your definition of love and how it compares with the romances n. condition of lacking pleasure or
you have seen in the media. What does true love really mean? What kind of luxury
barriers prevent people from experiencing true love? The family’s austerity was clear to
us when we entered their very
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, author William Shakespeare explores just humble home.
how far people are willing to go to experience true love. As you read, list the
beguile [bi ¯l´]
barriers that prevent the characters from being with the one they love and
v. to trick
note what these characters do to overcome these barriers?
The speaker tried to beguile his
listeners, but they recognized that
Literary Element Soliloquy, Aside, and Monologue many of his statements were untrue.
In a monologue, a character speaks directly to another character or to himself feign [fān]

or herself. In a soliloquy, a character speaks his or her innermost thoughts v. to pretend
when no other characters are on stage. An aside is when a character says The school nurse is aware that
something to the audience that the other characters are not supposed to sometimes students feign sickness to
hear. Monologues and soliloquies are usually long speeches; asides are brief avoid taking a test.
comments. idolatry [¯ dol´ə trē]
n. false worship
Playwrights cannot comment directly upon how a character is thinking or Some people argue that movie stars
feeling, so they rely on these devices to help characters share their thoughts. and rock stars should not be the
objects of teenagers’ idolatry.
As you read, pay special attention to the monologues, soliloquies, and asides
reveling [rev´əl in]
in the play. Ask yourself what these passages reveal about the characters. Use
n. enjoying festivities
the graphic organizer on the next page to help you.
On New Year’s Eve, many people
spend the night reveling.
Reading Strategy Make Inferences about Characters
To make inferences about characters, we use reason and knowledge
of the situation to form our own ideas about a character’s motivations,
personality, and social status.
A character’s motivations, or reasons for acting in a certain way, are not

always clear. Personality and social status must also often be inferred. Sometimes,
the character’s style of speaking—for example, rustic or poetic—will provide a
clue to personality or social status.
As you read, pay attention to your understanding of a character. Are you being
given this information directly, or are you making inferences based on the
character’s words or behaviors? You might find it helpful to use a graphic
Words /Behaviors What They Reveal

ACTIVE READING: Act 1
Shakespeare uses monologues, soliloquies, and audience. As you encounter one of these literary
asides in the play to allow his characters to share devices, record information about it in the chart below.
their thoughts, desires, and internal conflicts with the
speaker quote significance

Monologue
Soliloquy
Literary Element PLAY EXCERPT: ACT 1, SCENE 1

Soliloquy, Aside, and Monologue 180 HERMIA. God speed, fair Helena! Whither away?
How does the soliloquy on the HELENA. Call you me fair? That ‘fair’ again unsay.
next page enhance the meaning Demetrius loves your fair: O happy fair!
of the scene as compared with
the dialogue on this page? Your eyes are lodestars,˚ and your tongue’s sweet air
More tuneable than lark to shepherd’s ear
185 When wheat is green, when hawthorn buds appear.
Sickness is catching. O, were favour so,
Yours would I catch, fair Hermia, ere I go;
My ear should catch your voice, my eye your eye,
My tongue should catch your tongue’s sweet melody.
190 Were the world mine, Demetrius being bated,˚
The rest I’d give to be to you translated.
O, teach me how you look and with what art
You sway the motion of Demetrius’ heart.
HERMIA. I frown upon him; yet he loves me still.
195 HELENA. O that your frowns would teach my smiles such skill!
HERMIA. I give him curses; yet he gives me love.
HELENA. O that my prayers could such affection move!
HERMIA. The more I hate, the more he follows me.
HELENA. The more I love, the more he hateth me.
200 HERMIA. His folly, Helena, is no fault of mine.
HELENA. None but your beauty; would that fault were mine!
HERMIA. Take comfort: he no more shall see my face;
Lysander and myself will fly this place.
Before the time I did Lysander see,
205 Seemed Athens as a paradise to me.
O then, what graces in my love do dwell,
That he hath turned a heaven unto a hell?
LYSANDER. Helen, to you our minds we will unfold:
Tomorrow night, when Phoebe˚ doth behold
210 Her silver visage in the watery glass,
Decking with liquid pearl the bladed grass
(A time that lovers’ flights doth still conceal),
Through Athens’ gates have we devised to steal.
HERMIA. And in the wood, where often you and I
215 Upon faint primrose beds were wont to lie,
Emptying our bosoms of their counsel sweet,
183 lodestars guiding stars

190 bated excepted
209 Phoebe Diana, goddess of the moon, associated with chastity

There my Lysander and myself shall meet, Literary Element

And thence from Athens turn away our eyes
Soliloquy, Aside, and Monologue
To seek new friends and stranger companies.
What plan does Helena reveal in
220 Farewell, sweet playfellow; pray thou for us, her soliloquy?
And good luck grant thee thy Demetrius.
Keep word, Lysander; we must starve our sight
From lovers’ food till morrow deep midnight.
LYSANDER. I will, my Hermia.
[Exit HERMIA.]
Helena, adieu!
225 As you on him, Demetrius dote on you.
[Exit LYSANDER.]
HELENA. How happy some o’er other some can be!
Through Athens I am thought as fair as she.
But what of that? Demetrius thinks not so;
He will not know what all but he do know.
230 And as he errs, doting on Hermia’s eyes,
So I, admiring of his qualities.
Things base and vile, holding no quantity,˚
Love can transpose to form and dignity.
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
235 And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
Nor hath love’s mind of any judgement taste;
Wings, and no eyes, figure unheedy haste;
And therefore is love said to be a child
Because in choice he is so oft beguiled.˚
240 As waggish˚ boys in game themselves forswear,˚
So the boy Love is perjured everywhere;
For, ere Demetrius looked on Hermia’s eyne,˚
He hailed down oaths that he was only mine,
And when this hail some heat from Hermia felt,
245 So he dissolved, and showers of oaths did melt.
I will go tell him of fair Hermia’s flight:
Then to the wood will he, tomorrow night,
Pursue her; and for this intelligence,
If I have thanks it is a dear expense;
250 But herein mean I to enrich my pain,
To have his sight thither, and back again.
232 holding no quantity having no value

239 beguiled tricked
240 waggish mischievous forswear falsely promise
242 eyne eyes
A M i d s u m m e r N i ght ’s Dr e a m : Act 1 171

Reading Strategy PLAY EXCERPT: ACT 1, SCENE 2

Make Inferences about BOTTOM. That will ask some tears in the true performing of it. If I
Characters What inferences can 20 do it, let the audience look to their eyes: I will move storms, I will
you make about the craftsmen
condole,˚ in some measure. To the rest—yet my chief humour is
based on this excerpt?
for a tyrant. I could play Ercles˚ rarely, or a part to tear a cat in,˚ to
make all split:
The raging rocks
25 And shivering shocks
Shall break the locks
Of prison gates,
And Phibbus’˚ car
Shall shine from far,
30 And make and mar
The foolish Fates.
This was lofty. Now name the rest of the players.—This is Ercles’
vein, a tyrant’s vein; a lover is more condoling.
QUINCE. Francis Flute, the bellows-mender?
35 FLUTE. Here, Peter Quince.
QUINCE. Flute, you must take Thisbe on you.
QUINCE. What is Thisbe? A wandering knight?
QUINCE. It is the lady that Pyramus must love.
FLUTE. Nay, faith, let not me play a woman: I have a beard coming.
40 QUINCE. That’s all one: you shall play it in a mask, and you may
speak as small˚ as you will.
BOTTOM. And I may hide my face, let me play Thisbe too. I’ll speak
in a monstrous little voice: ‘Thisne, Thisne!’ — ‘Ah, Pyramus, my
lover dear; thy Thisbe dear, and lady dear.’
45 QUINCE. No, no; you must play Pyramus; and Flute, you Thisbe.
BOTTOM. Well, proceed.
QUINCE. Robin Starveling, the tailor?
STARVELING. Here, Peter Quince.
QUINCE. Robin Starveling, you must play Thisbe’s mother. Tom
50 Snout, the tinker?
SNOUT. Here, Peter Quince.
QUINCE. You, Pyramus’ father; myself, Thisbe’s father; Snug, the
joiner, you the lion’s part; and I hope here is a play fitted.
21 condole show grief

22 Ercles Hercules to tear a cat in to rant and rave
28 Phibbus Phoebus, god of the sun, who was supposed to drive a chariot (‘car’) through the sky
40 small high-pitched

SNUG. Have you the lion’s part written? Pray you, if it be, give it Reading Strategy
55 me; for I am slow of study.
Make Inferences about Characters
QUINCE. You may do it extempore;˚ for it is nothing but roaring.
What is Bottom’s motivation for
BOTTOM. Let me play the lion too. I will roar that I will do any playing the lion? Why does he give
man’s heart good to hear me. I will roar that I will make the Duke the part up so easily?
say ‘Let him roar again, let him roar again!’

60 QUINCE. And you should do it too terribly, you would fright the
Duchess and the ladies that they would shriek; and that were
enough to hang us all.
ALL. They would hang us, every mother’s son.
BOTTOM. I grant you, friends, if you should fright the ladies out of
65 their wits they would have no more discretion but to hang us;
but I will aggravate my voice so that I will roar you as gently as any
sucking dove. I will roar you and ’twere any nightingale.
QUINCE. You can play no part but Pyramus; for Pyramus is a sweet-
faced man, a proper man as one shall see in a summer’s day, a most
70 lovely, gentlemanlike man: therefore you must needs play Pyramus.
BOTTOM. Well, I will undertake it. What beard were I best to
play it in?
QUINCE. Why, what you will.
BOTTOM. I will discharge it in either your straw-colour beard, your
75 orange-tawny beard, your purple-in-grain beard, or your French-
crown-colour beard, your perfect yellow.
QUINCE. Some of your French crowns˚ have no hair at all, and then
you will play bare-faced. But, masters, here are your parts, and I am
to entreat you, request you, and desire you to con˚ them by
80 tomorrow night, and meet me in the palace wood, a mile without
the town, by moonlight; there will we rehearse, for if we meet in
the city we shall be dogged with company,˚ and our devices
known. In the meantime I will draw a bill of properties, such as
our play wants. I pray you, fail me not.
85 BOTTOM. We will meet, and there we may rehearse most obscenely
and courageously. Take pains, be perfect: adieu!
QUINCE. At the Duke’s oak we meet.
BOTTOM. Enough; hold, or cut bowstrings.
56 extempore ad lib
77 French crown bald
79 con learn
82 be dogged with company have people watching

MARK IT UP PLAY EXCERPT: ACT 1, SCENE 1

Are you allowed to write in your
novel? If so, then mark up the LYSANDER. How now, my love? Why is your cheek so pale?
pages as you read, or reread, to How chance the roses there do fade so fast?
help with your note-taking.
130 HERMIA. Belike for want of rain, which I could well
Develop a shorthand system,
including symbols, that works for Beteem˚ them from the tempest of my eyes.
you. Here are some ideas: LYSANDER. Ay me! For aught that I could ever read,
Underline = important idea Could ever hear by tale or history,
Bracket = text to quote The course of true love never did run smooth;
Asterisk = just what you were
135 But either it was different in blood—˚
looking for
HERMIA. O cross! too high to be enthralled˚ to low.
Circle = unfamiliar word or phrase
LYSANDER. Or else misgraffèd˚ in respect of years—
to look up HERMIA. O spite! too old to be engaged to young.
LYSANDER. Or else it stood upon the choice of friends—
140 HERMIA. O hell, to choose love by another’s eyes!
LYSANDER. Or, if there were a sympathy in choice,
War, death, or sickness did lay siege to it,
Making it momentany as a sound,
Swift as a shadow, short as any dream,
145 Brief as the lightning in the collied˚ night,
That in a spleen˚ unfolds both heaven and earth,
And, ere a man hath power to say, ‘Behold!’,
왘 BIG Idea The jaws of darkness do devour it up.
The Power of Love How do So quick bright things come to confusion.
Hermia and Lysander feel about
150 HERMIA. If then true lovers have been ever crossed
their love?
It stands as an edict˚ in destiny.
Mark up the excerpt, looking for Then let us teach our trial patience,
Because it is a customary cross,
Big Idea.
As due to love as thoughts, and dreams, and sighs,
155 Wishes, and tears—poor fancy’s followers.
131 beteem grant

135 blood class, family background
136 enthralled bound
137 misgraffèd mismatched
145 collied darkened, like coal
146 spleen burst of temper
151 edict command

reduce your notes.
Record
ASK QUESTIONS
the play. Do you have to go to an
Recap

A FT ER YOU READ: Act 1

1. Why is Egeus angry with his daughter? [Recall] Reread Meet the Author on
what you read in the play?
2. Why is Helena envious of Hermia? [Summarize]
3. Describe Theseus’s character. What sort of leader does he seem to be?

[Analyze]
4. Do you think Egeus is justified in being angry with his daughter? Why or
why not? [Evaluate]
5. The Power of Love Research the myth of Pyramus and Thisbe. How does
this story compare to the love stories that Shakespeare has introduced to
the reader in Act 1? [Compare]

Literary Element Soliloquy, Aside, and Vocabulary Practice

Monologue
A synonym is a word that has the same or nearly
What does Egeus threaten in his short monologue in the same meaning as another word. Match each
Act 1, Scene 1 (lines 22-45)? boldfaced vocabulary word below with its synonym.
1. austerity a. false reverence

2. beguile b. adherence
3. feign c. deceive
4. idolatry d. somberness
5. reveling e. pretend
f. celebrating
Academic Vocabulary
To avoid having to marry Demetrius, Hermia develops
a scheme with Lysander: they plan to meet in the
woods at night and elope. In the preceding sentence,
scheme means “a secret plan.” Have you ever
developed a scheme in order to get out of a difficult
situation? Did your scheme end up being successful?
Explain.
Reading Strategy Make Inferences about

Characters
When Hermia says in Act 1, Scene 1 (line 59), “I
know not by what power I am made bold,” what
inference can you make about how she would usually
address Theseus?


Write a Plan How do you go about solving your Visual/Media Presentation
problems or conflicts? Think about a conflict you have Assignment Create a casting chart of the modern
experienced in the past week or so. Now, consider the comedians who could best play each of the craftsmen’s
dilemmas that Theseus, Hermia, Lysander and Helena parts in a modern production of A Midsummer
are facing in the play. Night’s Dream.
Create your own graphic organizer that allows you to Get Ideas Divide into small groups, and make a list
list the characters, how they are trying to solve the of comic actors in the television or movie business
problem, and an alternative solution that you would today who could best play each craftsman’s part.
suggest. Develop a list of the qualities that make each actor
suitable for role that you will assign to him or her.
Then develop a plan for solving each character’s problem.
Outline your plan on a separate sheet of paper. Research Assign each person in your group to find a
photo of one of the modern actors you have agreed
Jot down some notes here first. to include. Choose an image that best captures this
actor’s identity as a comic figure.
Prepare As a group, determine how you will organize

your casting chart. Make sure that you include both
the actor’s picture and the qualities that make him/her
suitable for a particular role.
Present Present your casting chart to the class, and

take a class vote to decide which actor would be best
cast in each part. Use appropriate eye contact and
speak clearly when you present.


How would you feel if someone you liked suddenly stopped liking you? entries about the novels that you read
this year.
On a separate sheet of paper, jot down some of the feelings and reactions
WRITE THE CAPTION
you might have toward someone whom you felt had stopped liking you.
Build Background.
Build Background
The Character Puck
Shakespeare did not create the character of Puck. Puck appears in many
earlier works about magic and witchcraft. In some cases, he is presented as an
evil goblin; in others he is merely naughty. Author Robert Burton (who lived a
little later than Shakespeare) describes fire spirits who purposely mislead
travelers: “We commonly call them pucks.” Generally the character of Puck is
not malicious, but rather intent on amusing himself at the expense of others.
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Puck often interferes with other characters’
activities and, in doing so, changes the course of the play. He also assumes
animal shapes in order to frighten or mislead people.


SF_Head
왘 BIG Idea Awkward Encounters
dissemble [di sem´ bəl]
Awkward encounters are uncomfortable because they reveal an underlying v. to pretend
problem or conflict. Have you ever had an awkward encounter with another She tried to dissemble ignorance,
person? Why was it awkward? What did you do to try to resolve the situation? but her friends all knew she was
smarter than she was willing
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, awkward encounters occur frequently. As you to admit.
read, notice how the characters react during these uncomfortable meetings
flout [flout]
with other characters.
v. to mock
He decided to flout the school rules
because he felt that some of them
Literary Element Metaphor
were simply unfair.
A metaphor is a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two
progeny [proj´ə nē]
seemingly unlike things. Unlike a simile, a metaphor does not use the words
n. offspring
like or as. An extended metaphor is a comparison that extends through an
Most parents hope their progeny will
entire paragraph, stanza or selection.
grow up to be more successful than
they were in their lives.
Authors use metaphors to help the reader develop a more thorough
understanding of a character, setting, or situation. promontory [prom´ən tor ē]
n. peak of land that juts out
As you read, make note of the metaphors Shakespeare uses in his dialogue. The travelers carefully walked out to
Consider what each metaphor reveals about the things being compared. the edge of the promontory, hoping
to spot whales in the ocean.
wanton [wont´ən]
Reading Strategy Interpret Imagery adj. shameless
The word pictures in a work of literature are called imagery. In creating Black bears sometimes seem to show
effective imagery, writers use descriptions that appeal to one or more of the wanton cruelty toward their prey.
five senses and to suggest ideas and to evoke an emotional response in the
reader. To interpret imagery, a reader notices the effect that sensory details
have on his or her understanding of the characters, settings, or mood in
the text.
As you read Act 2, pay attention to the imagery that Shakespeare uses. You
might find it helpful to use a graphic organizer like the one below. The graphic
organizer on the next page can help you to organize your ideas about imagery.
Imagery My Interpretation

In Act 2, Shakespeare uses imagery related to night. Write them down on the web below. Add more boxes
As you read, identify some examples of this imagery. if you need to.
spangled starlight
(Scene 1, line 30)
night

Metaphor How do these DEMETRIUS. I love thee not, therefore pursue me not.
metaphors reveal the contrast Where is Lysander, and fair Hermia?
between Demetrius and Helen’s
190 The one I’ll slay, the other slayeth me.
feelings about each other?
Thou told’st me they were stol’n unto this wood,
And here am I, and wood within this wood˚
Because I cannot meet my Hermia.
Hence, get thee gone, and follow me no more.
195 HELENA. You draw me, you hard-heart adamant!˚
But yet you draw not iron, for my heart
Is true as steel. Leave you your power to draw,
And I shall have no power to follow you.
DEMETRIUS. Do I entice you? Do I speak you fair?
200 Or rather do I not in plainest truth
Tell you I do not, nor I cannot love you?
HELENA. And even for that do I love you the more.
I am your spaniel; and, Demetrius,
The more you beat me I will fawn on you.
205 Use me but as your spaniel: spurn me, strike me,
Neglect me, lose me; only give me leave,
Unworthy as I am, to follow you.
What worser place can I beg in your love
(And yet a place of high respect with me)
210 Than to be usèd as you use your dog?
DEMETRIUS. Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit;
For I am sick when I do look on thee.
HELENA. And I am sick when I look not on you.
DEMETRIUS. You do impeach˚ your modesty too much,
215 To leave the city and commit yourself
Into the hands of one that loves you not;
To trust the opportunity of night,
And the ill counsel of a desert˚ place,
With the rich worth of your virginity.
220 HELENA. Your virtue is my privilege: for that
It is not night when I do see your face,
Therefore I think I am not in the night;
192 wood mad, insane while he is in a real wood. Elizabethans were fond of wordplay
and puns
195 adamant hard stone, diamond
214 impeach call into question
218 desert lonely, deserted

Nor doth this wood lack worlds of company, Literary Element

For you, in my respect, are all the world.
Metaphor How does Helena use
225 Then how can it be said I am alone
metaphors to explain her pursuit
When all the world is here to look on me? of Demetrius?
DEMETRIUS. I’ll run from thee and hide me in the brakes,˚
And leave thee to the mercy of wild beasts.
HELENA. The wildest hath not such a heart as you.
230 Run when you will: the story shall be changed;
Apollo flies, and Daphne holds the chase,
The dove pursues the griffin,˚ the mild hind
Makes speed to catch the tiger—bootless˚ speed,
When cowardice pursues, and valour flies!
235 DEMETRIUS. I will not stay thy questions. Let me go;
Or if thou follow me, do not believe
But I shall do thee mischief in the wood.
HELENA. Ay, in the temple, in the town, the field,
You do me mischief. Fie, Demetrius,
240 Your wrongs do set a scandal on my sex!
We cannot fight for love, as men may do;
We shall be wooed, and were not made to woo.
[Exit DEMETRIUS.]
I’ll follow thee, and make a heaven of hell,
To die upon the hand I love so well.
227 brakes undergrowth, thicket

232 griffin beast, half eagle, half lion
233 bootless useless

Interpret Imagery What does TITANIA. These are the forgeries of jealousy:
Shakespeare express with the And never since the middle summer’s spring
imagery in Titania’s first monologue
Met we on hill, in dale, forest, or mead,
in this excerpt?
By pavèd fountain or by rushy brook,
85 Or in the beachèd margentº of the sea
To dance our ringletsº to the whistling wind,
But with thy brawls thou hast disturbed our sport.
Therefore the winds, piping to us in vain,
As in revenge have sucked up from the sea
90 Contagious fogs; which, falling in the land,
Hath every pelting river made so proud
That they have overborne their continents.
The ox hath therefore stretched his yoke in vain,
The ploughman lost his sweat, and the green corn
95 Hath rotted ere his youth attained a beard.
The fold stands empty in the drownèd field,
And crows are fatted with the murrion flock;º
The nine-men’s-morrisº is filled up with mud,
And the quaint mazes in the wanton green
100 For lack of tread are undistinguishable.
The human mortals want their winter cheer;
No night is now with hymn or carol blessed.
Therefore the moon, the governess of floods,
Pale in her anger, washes all the air,
105 That rheumatic diseases do abound;
And thorough this distemperatureº we see
The seasons alter; hoary-headed frosts
Fall in the fresh lap of the crimson rose,
And on old Hiems’º thin and icy crown
110 An odorous chaplet of sweet summer buds
Is, as in mockery, set. The spring, the summer,
The childingº autumn, angry winter change
85 beachèd margent shore

86 ringlets dancing in a circle
97 murrion flock diseased sheep
98 nine-men’s-morris an outdoor game
106 distemperature disorder
109 old Hiems winter
112 childing pregnant, fruitful

Their wonted liveries, and the mazèdº world Reading Strategy

By their increase now knows not which is which.
Interpret Imagery How is the
115 And this same progeny of evils comes
imagery in Titania’s second speech
From our debate, from our dissension. appropriate for the topic of that
We are their parents and original. speech?
OBERON. Do you amend it, then: it lies in you.

Why should Titania cross her Oberon?
120 I do but beg a little changeling boy
To be my henchman.º
TITANIA. Set your heart at rest.
The fairy land buys not the child of me.
His mother was a votressº of my order,
And in the spicèd Indian air by night
125 Full often hath she gossiped by my side,
And sat with me on Neptune’s yellow sands
Marking th’embarkèd traders on the flood,
When we have laughed to see the sails conceive
And grow big-bellied with the wantonº wind;
130 Which she, with pretty and with swimming gait
Following (her womb then rich with my young squire),
Would imitate, and sail upon the land
To fetch me trifles, and return again
As from a voyage, rich with merchandise.
135 But she, being mortal, of that boy did die,
And for her sake do I rear up her boy;
And for her sake I will not part with him.
113 mazèd amazed, confused

121 henchman page
123 votress member of religious order, worshipper
129 wanton mischievous, immoral

novel? If so, then mark up the HELENA. But who is here?—Lysander, on the ground?
pages as you read, or reread, to Dead, or asleep? I see no blood, no wound.
Lysander, if you live, good sir, awake!
including symbols, that works for LYSANDER. [Waking.]
you. Here are some ideas: And run through fire I will for thy sweet sake!
Underline = important idea 110 Transparentº Helena, nature shows art
Bracket = text to quote That through thy bosom makes me see thy heart.
Where is Demetrius? O, how fit a word
looking for
Is that vile name to perish on my sword!
HELENA. Do not say so, Lysander, say not so.
to look up 115 What though he love your Hermia? Lord, what though?
Yet Hermia still loves you; then be content.
LYSANDER. Content with Hermia? No; I do repent
The tedious minutes I with her have spent.
Not Hermia, but Helena I love.
120 Who will not change a raven for a dove?
The will of man is by his reason swayed,
And reason says you are the worthier maid.
Things growing are not ripe until their season;
So I, being young, till now ripe not to reason.
왘 BIG Idea 125 And touching now the point of human skill,
Awkward Encounters What is Reason becomes the marshal to my will.
awkward about the encounter
And leads me to your eyes, where I o’erlook
between Helena and Lysander?
Love’s stories written in love’s richest book.
Mark up the excerpt, looking for HELENA. Wherefore was I to this keen mockery born?
130 When at your hands did I deserve this scorn?
Big Idea.
Is’t not enough, is’t not enough, young man,
That I did never, no, nor never can
Deserve a sweet look from Demetrius’ eye
But you must floutº my insufficiency?
135 Good troth, you do me wrong, good sooth, you do,
In such disdainful manner me to woo!
But fare you well: perforce I must confess
I thought you lord of more true gentleness.
O, that a lady of one man refused
140 Should of another therefore be abused!
[Exit HELENA.]
110 transparent honest, open

134 flout mock

reduce your notes.
Record
MY VIEW
the excerpt.
Recap

1. How does Oberon intend to blackmail Titania into giving him what he Reread Build Background on
wants? [Recall] page 179. How did that information
2. By the end of Act 2, what is similiar about the following pairs: Lysander and
Hermia, Demetrius and Helena, and Oberon and Titania? [Compare]
3. How would you describe the character of Puck? What kind of mood does
he create? [Analyze]
4. How might the magical herb described by Oberon act as a metaphor for
the way infatutation operates in real life? Explain. [Connect]
5. Awkward Encounters Describe Hermia’s dream at the end of Act 2,

Scene 2. Why will her ignorance about the preceding events lead to an
awkward encounter? [Infer]

Literary Element Metaphor Vocabulary Practice

Find an example of an extended metaphor in Act 2 A synonym is a word that has the same or nearly
and evaluate its effectiveness. [Evaluate] the same meaning as another word. Match each
boldfaced vocabulary word below with its synonym.
1. dissemble a. children
2. flout b. needless
3. progeny c. pretend
4. promontory d. mock
5. wanton e. admit
f. cape
g. parents
Academic Vocabulary
Puck alters the course of events in A Midsummer
Night’s Dream when he uses his magic on Lysander.
To become more familiar with the word alter, fill out
the graphic organizer below.
definition synonyms
Reading Strategy Interpret Imagery
What imagery presented by the sprites do you
remember the best from this act? What does this
imagery remind you of? [Connect] alter
sentence/
antonyms image
Write With Style Speaking and Listening

Apply Metaphor Performance
Assignment Metaphors are frequently part of a Assignment With a group of classmates, research
poet’s style. Review the metaphors used in Foley art and create and perform a sound design for
Midsummer Night’s Dream. Write a descriptive Act 2. Foley artists create sound effects with found
paragraph about a person you know well and use objects.
metaphors to make that person come alive to your
reader. As an added challenge, consider using one Prepare Foley artists create sound effects with found
extended metaphor throughout your paragraph. objects. As a group, research Foley art on the Internet.
Next, decide what general kinds of sounds you would
Get Ideas Make a word web. Around the person you need to create the appropriate magical effect for a
will describe, jot down actions, personality traits, and performance of Act 2, Scene 1. Together, decide what
other items that you associate with that person. kinds of objects you could use to generate those
Connect words that connect in your mind. Add sounds. Identify one person who will create these
additional levels to your web using words from the first sounds during your performance.
level. This time think about how the central word is
like something else that is normally completely Together, assign a character to the remaining group
different. Write those comparisons around it, members. Then plan how to present the scene.
continuing the web and the comparisons. Discuss staging (how and where actors move
“onstage”) and any necessary props to accompany
the Foley “soundtrack.” Rehearse your performance at
teddy bear least once to make sure that everyone knows his or
her part and that you are clear about when the sound
effects should be used.
big hugs generous
Perform Present your performance to your class.
sunshine Be sure that your chosen body language and tone
of voice match your character and contribute to the
Grandma
magical mood of the scene.
calm ocean
breeze
Evaluate After the performance, get together with your
group and discuss how successful your performance
wonderful crossword
baker puzzles was and how it might have been better. Use a chart
Choose two or more images from your webs to use in

your descriptive paragraph. If you use an extended What worked well What needed
metaphor, choose one strong image from your word improvement
webs to develop your extended metaphor.
We used the We needed to
EXAMPLE: sound devices practice reading
My grandmother’s big hugs envelope me in a burst of appropriately. our lines more.
sunshine.
Give It Structure Present your descriptions in a

logically structured paragraph.
Look at Language Be careful not to use contrasting

metaphors in your paragraph. The metaphors should
complement one another.


Think of a time when you got so involved in a play or movie that you entries about the novels that you read
temporarily forgot that it was not real. this year.
Share Experiences
SUMMARIZE
Talk to other classmates and share examples of experiences when a play or
movie made you forget the division between illusion and reality.
Build Background
Perception versus Sight
Seeing is the act of using the eyes to gain physical knowledge about the
world. Perceiving is the psychological act of interpreting information received
through the eyes and other senses. In Act 3, Shakespeare plays with ideas of
vision, of blindness, and of different ways of interpreting what one sees. One
of the things that love, or infatuation, does is to make the lover see the
beloved as perfect, no matter what the actual circumstances. As you read this
act, pay special attention to imagery of eyes and seeing. Analyze what
Shakespeare is saying about the nature of perception.

SF_Head
bequeath [bi kwēth´]
How do individuals deal with conflicts that arise because of love? Think about v. to leave to or pass on to, as in
relationships that you have seen, either in person or in the media. How are a will
individuals affected when something goes awry with their relationship or when Brian’s grandfather revealed that he
they have a conflict with the one they love? would bequeath his coin collection
to him once he turned 14.
In Act 3 of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, author William Shakespeare explores
chide [ch¯d]
what happens when two people who would not otherwise be together find
v. to scold
themselves deeply in love, and ultimately, involved in conflicts because of
Please don’t chide me for forgetting
Puck’s magic spells. As you read, pay attention to how the characters try to
to clean my room; I had too much
deal with these conflicts.
homework to do last night!
entreat [en trēt´]

Literary Element Farce v. to beg
I entreat you—please help me shovel
A farce is a type of comedy with stereotyped characters in ridiculous
all of this snow out of my driveway!
situations. Most farce incorporates exaggerated speech and action.
rebuke [ri būk´]
Farce is intended to make the audience or reader laugh, but it can also shed v. to scold
light on the author’s perceptions of his subject. After carelessly breaking her mother’s
prized vase, Vanessa was rebuked
As you read, think about why Shakespeare would have included farcical sharply by both of her parents.
characters and situations at certain points in the play. What commentary do sojourn [sō´jurn]
these characters and situations make on the other actions going on v. to stay somewhere for a while
simultaneously? How do they help reveal some of the play’s themes? My family sojourns in the French
Riviera every summer.
Reading Strategy Identify Sequence

Identifying sequence involves recognizing the order in which characters, plot
events and, in the case of drama, movements on the stage are arranged.
Sequence of Events
Identifying sequence will help you sort out more complex arrangements of
characters and plot events, and it will also help you remember the text longer.
Within a play, identifying sequence will also help you keep track of the
characters’ movements and physical interactions.
Shakespeare intentionally creates confusion in Midsummer Night’s Dream,

and this confusion can make it difficult to keep track of characters and their
actions. As you read, keep track of the sequence of events and the movement
of characters in and out of the more complicated scenes. It might be helpful
to use a graphic organizer like the one at the right. The graphic organizer on
the next page can also help you keep track of the events in the play as they
lead to the climax.

The climax, or turning point, of A Midsummer Night’s other boxes, write the major events leading up to the
Dream comes at the end of Act 3. Describe the climax climax. Write the events in the correct chronological
in the box at the top of the diagram below. In the order. You may add more boxes if you wish.
Climax
night
Titania falls in love

with Bottom.

Farce How do the craftsmen/ SNOUT. You can never bring in a wall. What say you, Bottom?
actors’ words help define this BOTTOM. Some man or other must present Wall; and let him have
scene as farce?
some plaster, or some loam, or some rough-cast about him to
signify Wall; or let him hold his fingers thus, and through that
55 cranny shall Pyramus and Thisbe whisper.
QUINCE. If that may be, then all is well. Come, sit down every
mother’s son, and rehearse your parts. Pyramus, you begin. When
you have spoken your speech, enter into that brake, and so
everyone according to his cue.
[Enter PUCK.]
60 PUCK. What hempen homespuns˚ have we swaggering here
So near the cradle of the Fairy Queen?
What, a play toward? I’ll be an auditor,
An actor too perhaps, if I see cause.
QUINCE. Speak, Pyramus! Thisbe, stand forth!
BOTTOM. [as Pyramus.]
65 Thisbe, the flowers of odious savours sweet—
QUINCE. Odours—‘odorous’!
BOTTOM. [as Pyramus.] . . . odours savours sweet.
So hath thy breath, my dearest Thisbe dear.
But hark, a voice! Stay thou but here awhile,
70 And by and by I will to thee appear.
[Exit BOTTOM.]
PUCK. A stranger Pyramus than e’er played here.
[Exit PUCK.]
FLUTE. Must I speak now?
QUINCE. Ay, marry must you; for you must understand he goes but
to see a noise that he heard, and is to come again.
FLUTE. [as Thisbe.]
75 Most radiant Pyramus, most lilywhite of hue,
Of colour like the red rose on triumphant briar,
Most brisky juvenal, and eke˚ most lovely Jew,
As true as truest horse that yet would never tire,
I’ll meet thee, Pyramus, at Ninny’s tomb—
80 QUINCE. ‘Ninus’ tomb’, man!—Why, you must not speak that yet;
that you answer to Pyramus. You speak all your part at once, cues
and all. Pyramus, enter—your cue is past. It is ‘never tire’.
60 hempen homespuns they are dressed in rough, homemade clothes

77 eke also

FLUTE. O— Literary Element

[as Thisbe.]
Farce Why would Bottom’s
As true as truest horse, that yet would never tire.
transformation and his ensuing
[Enter PUCK, and BOTTOM with the ass head on.] comments be considered farcical?
85 If I were fair, fair Thisbe, I were only thine.
QUINCE. O monstrous! O strange! We are haunted! Pray, masters,
fly, masters! Help!
[Exit QUINCE, SNUG, FLUTE, SNOUT, and STARVELING.]
PUCK. I’ll follow you: I’ll lead you about a round,
Through bog, through bush, through brake, through briar;
90 Sometime a horse I’ll be, sometime a hound,
A hog, a headless bear, sometime a fire,
And neigh, and bark, and grunt, and roar, and burn,
Like horse, hound, hog, bear, fire at every turn.
[Exit PUCK.]
BOTTOM. Why do they run away? This is a knavery of them to make
95 me afeard.
[Enter SNOUT.]
SNOUT. O Bottom, thou art changed. What do I see on thee?
BOTTOM. What do you see? You see an ass head of your own, do you?
[Exit SNOUT; enter QUINCE.]
QUINCE. Bless thee, Bottom, bless thee! Thou art translated!
[Exit QUINCE.]
BOTTOM. I see their knavery. This is to make an ass of me, to fright
100 me, if they could; but I will not stir from this place, do what they
can. I will walk up and down here, and will sing, that they shall
hear I am not afraid.
[Sings.] The ousel˚ cock˚ so black of hue,
With orange-tawny bill,
105 The throstle˚ with his note so true,
The wren with little quill—
103 ousel blackbird

cock male bird
105 throstle song thrush

Identify Sequence Who remains OBERON. But we are spirits of another sort.
onstage at the end of this excerpt? I with the morning’s love have oft made sport,
390 And like a forester the groves may tread
Even till the eastern gate, all fiery-red,
Opening on Neptune˚ with fair blessèd beams,
Turns into yellow gold his salt green streams.
But notwithstanding, haste, make no delay;
395 We may effect this business yet ere day.
[Exit OBERON.]
PUCK. Up and down, up and down,
I will lead them up and down;
I am feared in field and town.
Goblin, lead them up and down.
400 Here comes one.
[Enter LYSANDER.]
LYSANDER. Where art thou, proud Demetrius? Speak thou now.
PUCK. Here, villain, drawn and ready! Where art thou?
LYSANDER. I will be with thee straight.
PUCK. Follow me then
To plainer ground.
[Exit LYSANDER.]
[Enter DEMETRIUS.]
DEMETRIUS. Lysander, speak again.
405 Thou runaway, thou coward, art thou fled?
Speak! In some bush? Where dost thou hide thy head?
PUCK. Thou coward, art thou bragging to the stars,
Telling the bushes that thou look’st for wars,
And wilt not come? Come, recreant,˚ come, thou child,
410 I’ll whip thee with a rod. He is defiled
That draws a sword on thee.
DEMETRIUS. Yea, art thou there?
PUCK. Follow my voice. We’ll try no manhood here.
[Exit PUCK and DEMETRIUS.]
[Enter LYSANDER.]
392 Neptune god of the sea. The morning’s sunbeams turn the sea from green to ‘yellow gold,’
transforming it.
409 recreant coward, villain

LYSANDER. He goes before me, and still dares me on; Reading Strategy
When I come where he calls, then he is gone.
Identify Sequence Why do you
415 The villain is much lighter-heeled than I;
think Shakespeare moves
I followed fast, but faster he did fly, characters on and off stage so
That fallen am I in dark uneven way, frequently in this excerpt?
And here will rest me. [Lies down.] Come, thou gentle day,
For if but once thou show me thy grey light
420 I’ll find Demetrius and revenge this spite. [Sleeps.]
[Enter PUCK and DEMETRIUS.]
PUCK. Ho, ho, ho! Coward, why com’st thou not?
DEMETRIUS. Abide˚ me if thou dar’st, for well I wot˚
Thou runn’st before me, shifting every place,
And dar’st not stand nor look me in the face.
425 Where art thou now?
PUCK. Come hither; I am here.
DEMETRIUS. Nay then, thou mock’st me. Thou shalt buy this dear
If ever I thy face by daylight see.
Now, go thy way; faintness constraineth me
To measure out my length on this cold bed.
430 By day’s approach look to be visited. [Sleeps.]
[Enter HELENA.]
HELENA. O weary night, O long and tedious night,
Abate˚ thy hours, shine comforts from the east,
That I may back to Athens by daylight
From these that my poor company detest;
435 And sleep, that sometimes shuts up sorrow’s eye,
Steal me awhile from mine own company. [Sleeps.]
422 Abide face

wot know
432 Abate diminish, cut short

novel? If so, then mark up the LYSANDER. What? Should I hurt her, strike her, kill her dead?
pages as you read, or reread, to 270 Although I hate her, I’ll not harm her so.
help with your note-taking. HERMIA. What? Can you do me greater harm than hate?
including symbols, that works for
Hate me? Wherefore? O me, what news, my love?
you. Here are some ideas: Am not I Hermia? Are not you Lysander?
Underline = important idea I am as fair now as I was erewhile.
Bracket = text to quote 275 Since night you loved me; yet since night you left me.
Asterisk = just what you were Why then, you left me—O, the gods forbid!—
looking for In earnest, shall I say?
Checkmark = might be useful LYSANDER. Ay, by my life;
Circle = unfamiliar word or phrase And never did desire to see thee more.
to look up Therefore be out of hope, of question, of doubt;
280 Be certain, nothing truer—’tis no jest
That I do hate thee and love Helena.
HERMIA. [To Helena.]
O me, you juggler, you canker-blossom,˚
You thief of love! What, have you come by night
And stol’n my love’s heart from him?
HELENA. Fine, i’faith!
285 Have you no modesty, no maiden shame,
No touch of bashfulness? What, will you tear
왘 BIG Idea Impatient answers from my gentle tongue?
The Power of Love What have Fie, fie, you counterfeit, you puppet, you!
you found out about how the HERMIA. ‘Puppet’? Why so?—Ay, that way goes the game.
characters deal with romantic 290 Now I perceive that she hath made compare
conflicts?
Between our statures; she hath urged her height,
Mark up the excerpt, looking for And with her personage, her tall personage,
evidence of how it expresses the Her height, forsooth, she hath prevailed with him.
Big Idea. And are you grown so high in his esteem
295 Because I am so dwarfish and so low?
How low am I, thou painted maypole? Speak!
How low am I? I am not yet so low
But that my nails can reach unto thine eyes.
HELENA. I pray you, though you mock me, gentlemen,
300 Let her not hurt me. I was never curst;
I have no gift at all in shrewishness.
I am a right maid for my cowardice;
Let her not strike me. You perhaps may think
Because she is something lower than myself
305 That I can match her.
282 canker-blossom diseased flower

reduce your notes.
Record
TO THE POINT
Recap

1. How does Bottom become an ass? What is the reason for this strange Reread Introduction to the Play
event? [Recall] on pages 164–165. How did that
information help you understand
the play?
2. What causes Helena to become angry with Hermia? In your opinion, why
does Helena refuse to believe her friend and her would-be lovers? [Infer]
3. In Act 3, what emotion does Oberon show he is capable of? How does he
show this? [Analyze]
4. Think of characters from television or the movies who are tricksters like
Puck. Why might audiences enjoy watching the antics of such characters?
[Connect]
5. The Power of Love What elements of Titania’s relationship with Bottom

show the farcical aspects of love? [Interpret]
20 0 NOVEL COMPANION: Unit 4

Literary Element Farce Vocabulary Practice

In your opinion, do the craftsmen’s absurd Identify whether each set of paired words have the
preparations for their play add to or detract from the same or the opposite meaning.
love stories in this act? [Evaluate]
1. bequeath and inherit
2. chide and scold
3. entreat and plead
4. rebuke and praise
5. sojourn and depart
Academic Vocabulary
Lysander rejects Hermia, to her surprise and dismay,
after Puck puts a spell on him. Using context clues, try
to figure out the meaning of the boldfaced word in the
sentence above. Write your guess below. Then check it
in a dictionary.
Reading Strategy Identify Sequence
In what way does the confusion within Act 3 help
Shakespeare create a comic effect? [Analyze]

Write a Scene Choose one of the scenes in Act 3 to Debate
rewrite using modern issues, characters, and language, Assignment Some critics see Bottom as a fool.
but displaying the same elements of farce that Others think he is wiser than he appears. Divide into
Shakespeare employed. As you outline a modern two teams. Conduct a debate about whether Bottom
version of Shakespeare’s scene, try to stay true to the is a fool or wiser than he appears. Use examples from
sequence of events that Shakespeare developed. the text to support your argument.
Finally, use modern language and characters as you
recreate this scene from a contemporary perspective. Prepare Evidence—and how you use it—is key to a
successful debate. Organize your arguments and
Jot down some notes here first. evidence in a chart to make sure you include all the
important points. Fill out a separate chart listing your
opponents’ potential arguments. Find evidence to
counter those claims.
Your team’s position: Bottom is a fool.
Argument Evidence
Bottom lacks any He has no idea that he is
self-awareness wearing an asses’ head.
Opponents’ Your Counter-argument

Possible
Argument
Bottom is honest She is under a magic spell
with Titania about and is unable to “see” his
his shortcomings. shortcomings.
Debate Use your chart to help you defend your point

with specific examples. When your opponents present
their side, listen carefully so you can challenge their
arguments with counter-arguments and counter-
evidence. This will both weaken their argument and
strengthen your own.
Evaluate Write one paragraph evaluating your

individual and team performance. Write another
paragraph evaluating your opponents. Conclude with
a few statements about where you succeeded, what
you learned, and how you might do things differently
next time.


Think of a movie or book in which characters have an unusual experience that entries about the novels that you read
makes them shake their heads and ask, “Did that really happen?” this year.
Create a List
SUMMARIZE
Working in a small group, list stories, novels, movies, and television shows
Summarize in one sentence the
in which a character has an amazing experience and then wakes up to
most important idea(s) in Build
realize it was just a dream. Then compare your lists with the ones compiled Background.
by other groups.
Build Background
A Mix of Settings
A curious feature of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the casual way in which
Shakespeare mixes his settings. Whereas some of his fairies are beings from
Celtic and Anglo-Saxon folklore, and the flowers and seasons he describes
belong to the English countryside, Theseus and Hippolyta inhabit the world of
ancient Greece. In this act, the royal lovers refer to Sparta, an ancient Greek
city; Thessaly, a region of Greece; and Crete, a Greek island. Then, amusingly,
Theseus mentions St. Valentine, a Christian martyr who lived and died long
after the era in which Theseus would have lived.


SF_Head
discourse [dis´kors]
Do you believe in a happily ever after? What is your view of the ideal n. conversation
romance? Some incredible discourse takes
place on university campuses.
In Act 4, Shakespeare straightens out the confusion that he established in
Acts 2 and 3. In doing so, he offers a happy ending for the lovers who once enmity [en´mə tē]
again are reunited with their rightful partners. As you read, think about how n. hostility
this act might have played out if the lovers had not been reacquainted. Enmity between nations can result
in war.
paragon [par´ə on´]

Literary Element Foil n. model of perfection
A foil is a character who provides a strong contrast to another character, Mother Theresa was a paragon of
usually a main character. A foil is often known for one exaggerated trait or good-will and charity.
characteristic; that trait highlights a specific difference between the foil and
the main character.
By using a foil, a writer calls attention to the strengths

or weaknesses of another character.
Setting Mood
Shakespeare’s minor characters often serve as foils for

the major characters. As you read, see if you can
identify which of the minor characters serve as foils to
some of the major characters. Scene
Reading Strategy Compare and Contrast Acts

and Scenes
To compare and contrast acts and scenes is to look Plot
for elements that reappear in different guises at Development Characterization
different points in a play.
Playwrights carefully craft the scenes within an act

to further the plot and to create artful parallels
and contrasts.
Setting Mood
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare uses
doubling, a technique in which elements or characters
in one part of the play repeat or reflect elements in
another part. To compare two scenes in the play, you
might find it helpful to use a graphic organizer like the
one at the right. The graphic organizer on the next page Scene
can also help you to compare and contrast two acts in
the play.
Plot
Development Characterization

The action of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is, in part, Act 4. As you read, identify the similarities and
propelled by the contrasts between characters, scenes differences that exist between Act 3 and Act 4.
and acts, and these contrasts become even clearer in Record your findings in the Venn diagram below.
Act 3 Act 4
Act 3: Titania falls in Act 4: Titania and

love with Bottom. Oberon reunite.


Foil In what way does Theseus EGEUS. Enough, enough, my lord; you have enough—
help reestablish the order and I beg the law, the law upon his head!
peace that were missing from the
They would have stol’n away, they would, Demetrius,
previous scenes? How does this
illuminate the differences between Thereby to have defeated you and me,
Bottom and Theseus? 155 You of your wife, and me of my consent,
Of my consent that she should be your wife.
DEMETRIUS. My lord, fair Helen told me of their stealth,
Of this their purpose hither to this wood;
And I in fury hither followed them,
160 Fair Helena in fancy following me.
But, my good lord, I wot not by what power
(But some power it is), my love to Hermia,
Melted as the snow, seems to me now
As the remembrance of an idle gaud˚
165 Which in my childhood I did dote upon;
And all the faith, the virtue of my heart,
The object and the pleasure of mine eye,
Is only Helena. To her, my lord,
Was I betrothed ere I saw Hermia;
170 But like a sickness did I loathe this food.
But, as in health come to my natural taste,
Now I do wish it, love it, long for it,
And will for evermore be true to it.
THESEUS. Fair lovers, you are fortunately met.
175 Of this discourse we more will hear anon.
Egeus, I will overbear your will;˚
For in the temple, by and by, with us
These couples shall eternally be knit.
And, for the morning now is something worn,
180 Our purposed hunting shall be set aside.
Away with us to Athens. Three and three,
We’ll hold a feast in great solemnity.
Come, Hippolyta.
[Exit THESEUS with HIPPOLYTA, EGEUS, and his train.]
DEMETRIUS. These things seem small and undistinguishable,
185 Like far-off mountains turnèd into clouds.
164 idle gaud worthless toy

176 overbear your will overrule your decision

HERMIA. Methinks I see these things with parted eye, Literary Element
When everything seems double.
Foil How does Bottom propose
HELENA. So methinks;
to bring order to the strange
And I have found Demetrius, like a jewel, dream he believes he just had?
Mine own, and not mine own. How does his proposal reflect his
role as a foil to Theseus?
DEMETRIUS. Are you sure
190 That we are awake? It seems to me
That yet we sleep, we dream. Do not you think
The Duke was here, and bid us follow him?
HERMIA. Yea, and my father.
HELENA. And Hippolyta.
LYSANDER. And he did bid us follow to the temple.
195 DEMETRIUS. Why, then, we are awake. Let’s follow him,
And by the way let us recount our dreams.
[Exit lovers.]
[BOTTOM wakes.]
BOTTOM. When my cue comes, call me, and I will answer. My next is
‘Most fair Pyramus’. Heigh ho! Peter Quince? Flute the bellows-
mender? Snout the tinker? Starveling? God’s my life! Stolen hence
200 and left me asleep! I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream,
past the wit of man to say what dream it was. Man is but an ass
if he go about to expound this dream. Methought I was—there is
no man can tell what. Methought I was—and methought I had—but
man is but a patched fool if he will offer to say what methought
205 I had. The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen,
man’s hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart
to report what my dream was! I will get Peter Quince to write a
ballad of this dream; it shall be called ‘Bottom’s Dream’, because
it hath no bottom; and I will sing it in the latter end of a play, before
210 the Duke. Peradventure, to make it the more gracious, I shall sing
it at her death.


Compare and Contrast Acts and 25 TITANIA. What, wilt thou hear some music, my sweet love?
Scenes How is the action in this BOTTOM. I have a reasonable good ear in music. Let’s have the tongs
excerpt a doubling of what has
and the bones.˚
happened earlier in other acts and
scenes in the play? TITANIA. Or say, sweet love, what thou desir’st to eat.
BOTTOM. Truly, a peck of provender, I could munch your good dry oats.
30 Methinks I have a great desire to a bottle of hay. Good hay, sweet
hay hath no fellow.
TITANIA. I have a venturous fairy that shall seek
The squirrel’s hoard, and fetch thee new nuts.
BOTTOM. I had rather have a handful or two of dried peas. But, I pray
35 you, let none of your people stir me; I have an exposition of˚ sleep
come upon me.
TITANIA. Sleep thou, and I will wind thee in my arms.
Fairies be gone, and be all ways away.
[Exit FAIRIES.]
So doth the woodbine˚ the sweet honeysuckle
40 Gently entwist; the female ivy so
Enrings the barky fingers of the elm.
O, how I love thee! How I dote on thee!
[They sleep.]
[Enter PUCK. OBERON comes forward.]
OBERON. Welcome, good Robin. Seest thou this sweet sight?
Her dotage now I do begin to pity;
45 For, meeting her of late behind the wood
Seeking sweet favours for this hateful fool,
I did upbraid her and fall out with her,
For she his hairy temples then had rounded
With coronet of fresh and fragrant flowers;
50 And that same dew, which sometime on the buds
Was wont to swell like round and orient pearls,
Stood now within the pretty flowerets’ eyes
Like tears that did their own disgrace bewail.
When I had at my pleasure taunted her,
55 And she in mild terms begged my patience,
I then did ask of her her changeling child,
Which straight she gave me, and her fairy sent
26–7 tongs . . . bones simple musical instruments

35 exposition of another of Bottom’s mistakes; surely he means disposition to?
39 woodbine bindweed

To bear him to my bower in Fairyland. Reading Strategy

And now I have the boy, I will undo
Compare and Contrast Acts and
60 This hateful imperfection of her eyes.
Scenes In Act 1, Scene 1 (lines
And, gentle Puck, take this transformèd scalp 134–142), Lysander states, “the
From off the head of this Athenian swain,˚ course of true love never did run
smooth.” How is that theme
That, he awaking when the other do,
expressed in this excerpt from
May all to Athens back again repair, Act 4, Scene 1, as compared to
65 And think no more of this night’s accidents that scene?
But as the fierce vexation of a dream.

But first I will release the Fairy Queen.
[Squeezing a herb on TITANIA’S eyes.]
Be as thou wast wont to be;
See as thou wast wont to see.
70 Dian’s bud o’er Cupid’s flower
Hath such force and blessèd power.
Now, my Titania, wake you, my sweet Queen!
TITANIA. [Starting up.]
My Oberon, what visions I have seen!
Methought I was enamoured of an ass.
75 OBERON. There lies your love.
TITANIA. How came these things to pass?
O, how mine eyes do loathe his visage now!
OBERON. Silence awhile: Robin, take off this head.
Titania, music call, and strike more dead
Than common sleep of all these five the sense.
80 TITANIA. Music, ho, music such as charmeth sleep!
[Soft music plays.]
PUCK. [To BOTTOM, removing the ass’s head.]
Now, when thou wak’st, with thine own fool’s eyes peep.
OBERON. Sound, music! Come, my Queen, take hands with me,
And rock the ground whereon these sleepers be.
[They dance.]
Now thou and I are new in amity,
85 And will tomorrow midnight solemnly
Dance in Duke Theseus’ house triumphantly,
And bless it to all fair prosperity.
There shall the pairs of faithful lovers be
Wedded, with Theseus, all in jollity.
62 swain lover


novel? If so, then mark up the LYSANDER. Pardon, my lord.
pages as you read, or reread, to THESEUS. I pray you all, stand up.
I know you two are rival enemies:
including symbols, that works for 140 How comes this gentle concord in the world,
you. Here are some ideas: That hatred is so far from jealousy
Underline = important idea To sleep by hate, and fear no enmity?
Bracket = text to quote LYSANDER. My lord, I shall reply amazedly,
Half sleep, half waking; but as yet, I swear,
looking for
145 I cannot truly say how I came here.
But as I think (for truly would I speak)
to look up And now I do bethink me, so it is—
I came with Hermia hither. Our intent
Was to be gone from Athens, where we might
150 Without the peril of the Athenian law—
EGEUS. Enough, enough, my lord; you have enough—
I beg the law, the law upon his head!
They would have stol’n away, they would, Demetrius,
Thereby to have defeated you and me,
155 You of your wife, and me of my consent,
Of my consent that she should be your wife.
왘 BIG Idea DEMETRIUS. My lord, fair Helen told me of their stealth,
The Power of Love How does Of this their purpose hither to this wood;
Shakespeare resolve all of the
And I in fury hither followed them,
romantic confusion of earlier acts?
160 Fair Helena in fancy following me.
Mark up the excerpt, looking for But, my good lord, I wot not by what power
(But some power it is), my love to Hermia,
Big Idea.
Melted as the snow, seems to me now
As the remembrance of an idle gaud˚
165 Which in my childhood I did dote upon;
And all the faith, the virtue of my heart,
The object and the pleasure of mine eye,
Is only Helena. To her, my lord,
Was I betrothed ere I saw Hermia;
170 But like a sickness did I loathe this food.
But, as in health come to my natural taste,
Now I do wish it, love it, long for it,
And will for evermore be true to it.
137 couple pair up

164 idle gaud worthless toy

reduce your notes.
Record
TO THE POINT
Recap

1. How do most of the dreamers respond to the dream experience upon Reread Build Background on
waking? Which character is changed permanently by the dream experience? page 203. How did that information
[Summarize] help you understand or appreciate
2. How does Theseus’s current decision regarding Hermia and Lysander

contradict his earlier statement? [Interpret]
3. The fourth act opens and ends with Bottom at center stage. What is your
opinion of Bottom’s character? How might he be the antithesis, or opposite,
of Theseus’s character? [Evaluate]
4. In this act, several characters look back at prior infatuations with disbelief.
What do you think Shakespeare is saying about love and infatuation?
[Analyze]
5. The Power of Love Which character was most responsible for facilitating
the happy endings that occurred in this act? Why? [Analyze]

Literary Element Foil Vocabulary Practice

Identify one character other than Bottom that serves as
Studying the etymology, or origin and history, of a
a foil in the play so far. What does this foil reveal about word can help you better understand and explore its
another character? [Analyze] meaning. Create a word map, like the one below, for
discourse enmity paragon
EXAMPLE: scripture
Definition: any sacred writing or book
Etymology: Latin scriptura means “writing”
Sample Sentence:
Academic Vocabulary
In Act 4 Scene 1, Oberon decides to facilitate the
end of the spell that he had placed on Titania in
Act 2. In the previous sentence, facilitate means
“to help bring about.” Think about the way in which
Oberon helped to bring about the end of Titania’s
spell, then fill in the blank. In order to facilitate
the end of Titania’s spell, Oberon
Reading Skill Compare and Contrast
Acts and Scenes
In what way did Shakespeare’s use of contrast
.
enhance your appreciation of the comedic moments
in the play?


Write a Letter When Bottom is reunited with his Oral Report
friend, they press him for details of what happened, Assignment Present an oral report about what
but he is unable to tell them much. Imagine that later Bottom’s “dream” might mean, incorporating modern
Bottom calms down enough to relate his amazing dream symbolism, classical mythology, English folklore,
experiences. Write a letter from Bottom to his friends or contemporary English life.
telling about his transformation into an ass, his meeting
with the fairies, and his love affair with Titania. Try Prepare Before you begin your research, decide
to write as Bottom would (misusing long words, what part of the topic you plan to make your focus.
for example). Next, develop a list of research questions on this topic.
For example, if you focus on dream symbolism, one
Jot down some notes here first. research question might be: “What does acquiring
animal characteristics symbolize in a dream?” As you
research, be sure to use a variety of reliable and
authoritative sources.
Finally, organize the information you find into an

outline like the one below. Use your outline as a
reference while giving your report.
Bottom’s Dream Explained

I. Dream symbols
a. Animals
b.
II. The meaning of these symbols
a.
b.
Report Assemble three or four visual aids, such as

posters, graphs, or images that are relevant to the
topic of dream interpretation or to Bottom’s dream in
particular. These should either explain the conclusions
that you are presenting or add new information.
Incorporate them into your outline, so you know when
to refer to each one during your presentation.
Evaluate Write a paragraph in which you assess

how effectively you justified your analysis of Bottom’s
dream, and how well you incorporated your visual aids
into your presentation.


Have you ever seen a live performance that was so badly presented it entries about the novels that you read
was entertaining? this year.
Make Lists
SUMMARIZE
A live theatrical performance is a two-way relationship between the performers
and the audience. Make a list of ways in which the performers affect the
audience. Then, next to that list, jot down typical audience reactions to
the performance.
Build Background
Elizabethan Entertainment
For wealthy Elizabethans, entertainment was something quite different from
today’s CD/video/television center. Elizabethans, poor and rich, watched live
entertainment. Nobles and members of the royalty could afford to have
performers come to their homes. Sometimes they watched knights jousting in
courtyards or tennis players competing in special indoor rooms. Often they
watched theater. Every year, one of England’s great theater companies would
be chosen to appear at the court of Queen Elizabeth I. The Queen’s Master of
the Revels (like Theseus’s Master of the Revels, Philostrate) would watch a
number of performances and pick the best. Then no expense was spared for
the final production. Workers painted elaborate sets and made costumes out
of silk and velvet.

SF_Head
amends [ə mends´]
Think about any tragic love stories you have read. Why is it that, in these n. something done to make up for a
tragedies, like Romeo and Juliet, the lovers are ultimately forced to commit a fault or mistake
final, tragic act of desperation? After having a fight with a friend, it
is important to make amends quickly.
In Act 5, the bumbled performance of the tragic Pyramus and Thisbe contrasts
starkly with the happy, ordered ending of the reunited Midsummer lovers. As audacious [o dā´shəs]
adj. bold
you read, think about why Shakespeare included a play within a play that
presents a tragic end to romance. What does this draw the audience’s The employee’s audacious decision
surprised his boss.
attention to?
gait [āt]
n. manner of walking
Literary Element Comedy After breaking her leg, she walked
with a crooked gait.
Comedy is a type of drama that is humorous and typically has a happy ending.
Typically, a comedy moves from chaos to order to celebration. premeditated [prē medí tāt əd]
adj. planned
Comedy can be divided into two categories: high and low. High comedy It was clear that the burglary was
makes fun of human behavior in a witty, sophisticated matter. Low comedy premeditated because the burglars
involves physical humor and simple, often vulgar, wordplay. knew the homeowner was going to
be out of town for a week.
Shakespeare uses many different comedic devices in A Midsummer Night’s satire [sat´¯ r]
Dream. As you read Act 5, think about how the craftsmen’s comic n. literary work exposing human
performance captures many of the themes presented in the play. Use the vices and shortcomings to ridicule
graphic organizer on the next page to help you keep track of examples of and scorn
comedy in the play. In a satire, an author often pokes
fun at current events and human
weakness.
Reading Strategy Draw Conclusions About Author’s Meaning
To draw conclusions about an author’s meaning is
to form an understanding of what the author is trying to
say based on evidence from the text.
It requires the reader to gather evidence from the

writing and to use it to support ideas suggested by
the work as a whole. Shakespeare’s
truths
Through his use of humor, Shakespeare provides
commentary on the powerful emotions and confusion
that love can cause. As you read, consider what the
happy ending of this play reveals about the truths that
Shakespeare wanted to convey. You might want to use
a graphic organizer like the one at the right.

Shakespeare uses a number of different techniques to organizer below to indicate examples of some of his
create humor in the play-within-a-play. Use the graphic comic devices.
ridiculous metaphor lily lips (line 347)
excessive alliteration
breaking the play’s

illusion of reality
using the wrong word

or name
repeating a word excessively
using puns


Comedy What types of comedic SNOUT. [as Wall.]
devices are evident in this excerpt? In this same interlude˚ it doth befall
Give examples of each.
That I, one Snout by name, present a wall;
155 And such a wall as I would have you think
That had in it a crannied hole or chink,
Through which the lovers, Pyramus and Thisbe,
Did whisper often, very secretly.
This loam, this rough-cast, and this stone doth show
160 That I am that same wall; the truth is so.
And this the cranny is, right and sinister,
Through which the fearful lovers are to whisper.
THESEUS. Would you desire lime and hair to speak better?
DEMETRIUS. It is the wittiest partition that ever I heard discourse, my
165 lord.
[Enter BOTTOM as Pyramus.]
THESEUS. Pyramus draws near the wall; silence!
O grim-looked night, O night with hue so black,
O night which ever art when day is not!
O night, O night, alack, alack, alack,
170 I fear my Thisbe’s promise is forgot!
And thou, O wall, O sweet, O lovely wall,
That stand’st between her father’s ground and mine,
Thou wall, O wall, O sweet and lovely wall,
Show me thy chink, to blink through with mine eyne.
[Wall parts his fingers.]
175 Thanks, courteous wall; Jove shield thee well for this!
But what see I? No Thisbe do I see.
O wicked wall, through whom I see no bliss,
Cursed by thy stones for thus deceiving me!
THESEUS. The wall, methinks, being sensible, should curse again.˚
180 BOTTOM. No, in truth sir, he should not. ‘Deceiving me’ is Thisbe’s
cue. She is to enter now, and I am to spy her through the wall.
You shall see it will fall pat as I told you. Yonder she comes.
[Enter FLUTE as Thisbe.]
FLUTE. [as Thisbe.]
153 interlude short play

179 curse again should curse back, since it is ‘sensible’ (alive)

O wall, full often hast thou heard my moans, Literary Element

For parting my fair Pyramus and me.
Comedy Is the comedy in this
185 My cherry lips have often kissed thy stones,
excerpt high or low? Explain.
Thy stones with lime and hair knit up in thee.
I see a voice; now will I to the chink,
To spy and I can hear my Thisbe’s face.
Thisbe!
FLUTE. [as Thisbe.]
My love! Thou art my love, I think?
190 Think what thou wilt, I am thy lover’s grace,
And like Limander˚ am I trusty still.
FLUTE. [as Thisbe.]
And I like Helen,˚ till the Fates me kill.
Not Shafalus˚ to Procrus˚ was so true.
FLUTE. [as Thisbe.]
As Shafalus to Procrus, I to you.
195 O, kiss me through the hole of this vile wall!
FLUTE. [as Thisbe.]
I kiss the wall’s hole, not your lips at all.
Wilt thou at Ninny’s tomb meet me straightway?
FLUTE. [as Thisbe.]
Tide˚ life, tide death, I come without delay.
[Exit BOTTOM and FLUTE in different directions.]
SNOUT. [as Wall.]
Thus have I, Wall, my part dischargèd so;
200 And being done, thus Wall away doth go.
[Exit SNOUT.]
THESEUS. Now is the mural˚ down between the two neighbours.
DEMETRIUS. No remedy, my lord, when walls are so willful to hear
without warning.
HIPPOLYTA. This is the silliest stuff that ever I heard.
191–2 Limander, Helen this should be Leander and Hero, two legendary lovers
193 Shafalus, Procrus this should be Cephalus and Procris, other legendary lovers
198 tide come
201 mural wall

Draw Conclusions about PHILOSTRATE. A play there is, my lord, some ten words long,
Author’s Meaning What reason Which is as ‘brief’ as I have known a play,
does Theseus give for wanting to
But by ten words, my lord, it is too long,
see Pyramus and Thisbe performed,
despite Philostrate’s suggestion Which makes it ‘tedious’. For in all the play
otherwise? What evidence leads 65 There is not one word apt, one player fitted.
you to this conclusion?
And ‘tragical’, my noble lord, it is,
For Pyramus therein doth kill himself,
Which when I saw rehearsed, I must confess,
Made mine eyes water; but more ‘merry’ tears
70 The passion of loud laughter never shed.
THESEUS. What are they that do play it?
PHILOSTRATE. Hard-handed men that work in Athens here,
Which never laboured in their minds till now:
And now have toiled their unbreathed˚ memories
75 With this same play against your nuptial.
THESEUS. And we will hear it.
PHILOSTRATE. No, my noble lord,
It is not for you. I have heard it over,
And it is nothing, nothing in the world,
Unless you can find sport in their intents,
80 Extremely stretched, and conned˚ with cruel pain,
To do you service.
THESEUS. I will hear that play;
For never anything can be amiss
When simpleness and duty tender it.
Go bring them in; and take your places, ladies.
[Exit PHILOSTRATE.]
85 HIPPOLYTA. I love not to see wretchedness o’ercharged,˚
And duty in his service perishing.
THESEUS. Why, gentle sweet, you shall see no such thing.
HIPPOLYTA. He says they can do nothing in this kind.
THESEUS. The kinder we, to give them thanks for nothing.
90 Our sport shall be to take what they mistake;
And what poor duty cannot do, noble respect
Takes it in might, not merit.˚
Where I have come, great clerks have purposèd
74 unbreathed unpractised
80 conned learnt
85 wretchedness o’ercharged those of little ability overstretched
92 in might, not merit accepts it given the ability of those that offer it

To greet me with premeditated welcomes, Reading Strategy

95 Where I have seen them shiver and look pale,
Draw Conclusions about
Make periods˚ in the midst of sentences,
Author’s Meaning According to
Throttle their practised accent in their fears, this excerpt, what message might
And in conclusion dumbly have broke off, Shakespeare have been trying to
send his audience?
Not paying me a welcome. Trust me, sweet,
100 Out of this silence yet I picked a welcome,
And in the modesty of fearful duty
I read as much as from the rattling tongue
Of saucy and audacious eloquence.
Love, therefore, and tongue-tied simplicity
105 In least speak most, to my capacity.˚
[Enter PHILOSTRATE.]
PHILOSTRATE. So please your grace, the Prologue is addressed.˚
THESEUS. Let him approach.
[Flourish of trumpets.]
[Enter QUINCE as Prologue.]
QUINCE. If we offend, it is with our good will.
That you should think, we come not to offend,
110 But with good will. To show our simple skill,
That is the true beginning of our end.
Consider then, we come but in despite.
We do not come as minding to content you,
Our true intent is. All for your delight,
115 We are not here. That you should here repent you,
The actors are at hand; and by their show
You shall know all that you are like to know.
THESEUS. This fellow doth not stand upon points.˚
LYSANDER. He hath rid his prologue like a rough colt; he knows not
120 the stop.˚ A good moral, my lord; it is not enough to speak, but to
speak true.
HIPPOLYTA. Indeed, he hath played on this prologue like a child on
a recorder—a sound, but not in government.˚
THESEUS. His speech was like a tangled chain, nothing impaired, but
125 all disordered.
96 periods stops
105 capacity understanding
106 addressed ready
118 stand upon points take notice of punctuation or detail
120 stop a pun on full stop, and suddenly stopping a horse when riding
123 in government under control


novel? If so, then mark up the OBERON. Through the house give glimmering light
pages as you read, or reread, to 370 By the dead and drowsy fire;
Every elf and fairy sprite
including symbols, that works for Hop as light as bird from briar,
you. Here are some ideas: And this ditty after me
Underline = important idea Sing, and dance it trippingly.
Bracket = text to quote 375 TITANIA. First rehearse your song by rote,
To each word a warbling note;
looking for
Hand in hand with fairy grace
Will we sing and bless this place.
to look up [Song and dance.]
OBERON. Now until the break of day
380 Through this house each fairy stray.
To the best bride-bed will we,
Which by us shall blessèd be;
And the issue there create
Ever shall be fortunate.
385 So shall all the couples three
Ever true in loving be,
And the blots of nature’s hand
왘 BIG Idea Shall not in their issue stand.
The Power of Love Who is Never mole, harelip, nor scar,
responsible for helping to craft a
390 Nor mark prodigious,˚ such as are
happy ending for the lovers?
Despisèd in nativity,
Mark up the excerpt, looking for Shall upon their children be.
With this field-dew consecrate,
Big Idea.
Every fairy take his gait,˚
395 And each several chamber bless
Through this palace with sweet peace;
And the owner of it blessed
Ever shall in safety rest.
Trip away, make no stay;
400 Meet me all by break of day.
390 mark prodigious birthmark that is ominous

394 take his gait go his way

reduce your notes.
Record
MY VIEW
your own notes.
Recap


1. Why does Hippolyta initially seem hesitant to watch the play? [Interpret] Reread Build Background on
2. Why does Snug, who plays the Lion, make a fuss about proclaiming his
true identity? [Infer]
3. In reading the play-within-a-play, we become the audience for the drama

played out by Theseus, Hippolyta, and the others. These performers, in
turn, form the audience for the reenactment of Pyramus and Thisbe. How
does observing another audience help you understand the relationship
between audience and performers? [Connect]
4. Modern television shows often create comic effects by having a silly,

innocent, or “clueless” character and a sarcastic, knowing, clever character
play off of each other. What examples can you think of? [Connect]
5. The Power of Love Who is most responsible for the happy ending to the
lovers’ jumbled romances? [Analyze]

Literary Element Comedy Vocabulary Practice

How does Shakespeare’s comedy compare to the Write the vocabulary word that correctly completes
comedies you see in modern media and theater? each sentence. If none of the words fits the sentence,
What are the similarities and differences between the write “none.”
two? [Compare]
amends audacious gait premeditated satire
1. The written about the

President of the United States made some
government officials uneasy.
2. A long time ago, large
wandered the earth in search of food.
3. In order to make with my
mom, I had to apologize for my behavior.
4. In the United States, the punishment for a
crime is significantly worse
than for one that was not planned.
5. I can’t believe you made the
decision to quit your job!
6. The zoo keeper left the tiger’s
open accidentally.
7. His confident made him
appear stronger and tougher than he really was.
Academic Vocabulary
Theseus, Hippolyta and the others comment openly
Reading Strategy Draw Conclusions about and honestly about the craftsmen’s performance
Author’s Meaning of Pyramus and Thisbe. In the preceding sentence,
What conclusions about the nature of romance can comment means “to share opinions about.” If you
you support with evidence from Act 5? were watching this play-within-a-play, how would you
comment on it?


Write a Blurb Imagine that you are given the job Performance
of creating the program for A Midsummer Night’s Assignment With a group of classmates, plan and
Dream. Write a letter to the audience explaining the present a performance of the craftsmen’s play-within-
purpose of the play-within-a-play. Offer one or two a-play.
suggestions about why Shakespeare may have included
it in his comedy and, specifically, how it sheds light on Prepare Together, assign a character to each group
the play’s lovers and their antics. member. Then plan how to present the scene. Discuss
staging (how and where actors move “onstage” based
Jot down some notes here first. on both stated and implied stage directions), any
necessary props, and how to best convey the humor
of the scene. Costumes and sets are not necessary.
Rehearse your performance at least once to make sure
that everyone knows his or her part.
Perform Present your performance to your class. Be

sure that your chosen body language and tone of
voice match your character and contribute to the
comic effect.
Evaluate After the performance, get together with your

group and discuss how successful your performance
was and how it might have been better. Use a chart
What worked What needed

well improvement
We got the humor At times actors forgot
across. (Audience exactly where they were
laughed.) supposed to be.


Comedy Allow Puck to Introduce Kids to Will

Christopher Fry Lynne Heffley
In creating characters for a comedy, Fry says, “If the Do you agree with Lisa Wolpe that New York City
characters were not qualified for tragedy there would makes a good setting for a modern Midsummer
be no comedy.” How might this statement apply to the Night’s Dream? Why or why not?
characters of Helena, Lysander, Hermia, and Demetrius
in A Midsummer Night’s Dream?
How the Bard Won the West

Jennifer Lee Carrell
Forget the Footnotes! And Other Advice How do you think Shakespeare would have reacted to
Norrie Epstein a nineteenth-century Western audience?
In your opinion, would it better to see or read A
Midsummer Night’s Dream? Justify your answer.
Based on an Original Idea by William

Shakespeare
Victoria McKee
In terms of modernizing Shakespeare, with whose
approach do you agree, Branagh’s or McKellen’s?
LITERATURE EXCERPT: Romeo and Juliet

SAMPSON. Nay, as they dare. I will bite my thumb° at them,
which is disgrace to them if they bear it.
40 ABRAM. Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?
SAMPSON. I do bite my thumb, sir.
ABRAM. Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?
SAMPSON. [Aside to GREGORY.] Is the law of our side if I say ay?
GREGORY. [Aside to SAMPSON.] No.
45 SAMPSON. No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir; but I
bite my thumb, sir. . . .
BENVOLIO. Part, fools!
60 Put up your swords. You know not what you do. [Beats
down their swords.]
[TYBALT, LADY CAPULET’s nephew, enters with his sword drawn. He
speaks first to BENVOLIO.]
TYBALT. What, art thou drawn among these heartless hinds?º
Turn thee, Benvolio; look upon thy death.
BENVOLIO. I do but keep the peace. Put up thy sword,
Or manage it to part these men with me.
65 TYBALT. What, drawn, and talk of peace? I hate the word
As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee.
Have at thee, coward!
[BENVOLIO and TYBALT fight as men of both families enter and join the
brawl. Then an OFFICER of the town and several CITIZENS enter. They
carry clubs, battle-axes (bills), and spears (partisans).] . . .
[PRINCE ESCALUS enters with his TRAIN.]
PRINCE. Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace,
Profaners of this neighbor-stained steelº—
Will they not hear? What, ho! You men, you beasts,
That quench the fire of your pernicious rage
80 With purple fountains issuing from your veins!
On pain of torture, from those bloody hands
Throw your mistemper’dº weapons to the ground
And hear the sentence of your movedº prince.
61 heartless hinds cowardly servants

77 Profaners . . . steel Those who disrespect the law by staining weapons with neighbors’ blood
82 mistemper’d “poorly made” or “put to bad use”
83 moved angry

Compare the play you have just read to the literature selection at the left, WRITE ABOUT IT
which is excerpted from Romeo and Juliet in Glencoe Literature. Then In a short paragraph, compare the
answer the questions below. Provide details from the selections to support characters of the Prince and either
your answers. Theseus or Egeus. What do these
characters have in common? In what
ways are they different?
Compare & Contrast
1. Foil In what way is Tybalt a foil for Benvolio in this excerpt? How does this
compare to the way foils were used in A Midsummer Night’s Dream?
2. Monologue What is the purpose of the Prince’s monologue, and how

does this compare with the function of monologues in A Midsummer
Night’s Dream?
3. Comedy What technique does Shakespeare use to create a comic effect

during the encounter between the Montague and Capulet servants? When
was this effect used in Midsummer?
Expository Essay UNDERSTAND THE TASK

• Farce is a type of comedy with
Compare and Contrast the Use of Farce Write an essay in which you stereotyped characters in ridiculous
situations.
compare the way that farce is used to create a comic effect in Midsummer
Night’s Dream and Anton Chekhov’s The Bear, available in Glencoe Literature
or on the Internet. Support your ideas with examples from the text.
Grammar Tip
Prewrite Plan carefully before you begin to write. You may wish to skim
Apostrophes
through the selections and record instances of farce in a graphic organizer Look at these two sentences. Which
like the one shown below. sentence seems more informal?
Let us go to the theater tonight to

see A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Element of Farce Effect
Let’s go to the theater tonight to
Titania falls in love with a presents a ridiculous
see A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
craftsmen wearing an example of aphorism
asses’ head. “love is blind.” The apostrophe in the second
sentence is used to replace the
letters that are omitted when
The Bear two words, in this case let and
us, are combined to form a
Element of Farce Effect
conjunction. Conjunctions often
make a statement more informal,
so in this case, the use of an
apostrophe helps an author
create an informal mood.
Once you have completed your graphic organizer, use the collected information
Authors, poets and playwrights also
to establish a controlling idea and general structure for your essay. What will your
use apostrophes to help create a
overall point be? In what order will you present your information?
specific rhythm in a given line or
stanza. In these situations, the use
Draft Make a list of the ways in which both authors use farce. Then, consider
of an apostrophe allows the writer
what effect farce has on each play. Does it help to establish characters? Develop to omit a syllable from a line of text.
the theme? Create or propel the major conflict? In what ways do these authors
use farce for similar purposes, and it what ways do their uses of farce differ?
Consider these questions as you develop your draft.
Revise Exchange papers with a classmate and evaluate each others’ essays.
Are any claims or viewpoints well-supported with logical assertions? Does
the writer make detailed references to the text? Provide comments for
your classmate and revise your own paper according to the comments
you received.

Jane Eyre
Charlotte Brontë
Ja n e E y r e 231
Jane Eyre
Charlotte Brontë
or friends. The novel charts her progress
“ The writer has us by the hand, forces us
along her road, makes us see what she sees,
toward maturity as she contends with a
social world that is hostile and indifferent
never leaves us for a moment or allows us to to her goals and desires.
forget her. At the end we are steeped through Unconventional Storytelling Brontë’s novel
and through with the genius, the vehemence, is unconventional in ways other than her
the indignation of Charlotte Brontë. ” choice of heroine. Brontë tells Jane’s story in
the form of an autobiographical narrative. In
—Virginia Woolf, British novelist so doing, she takes readers into Jane’s inner
life, a world of intense feeling and vigorous
How did Charlotte Brontë come to write thought. At the time that the novel was
Jane Eyre? According to her friend and published, such exploration of character
biographer Elizabeth Gaskell, Brontë was and motive was new in English literature.
having a debate with her sisters about the While the popular Gothic novels of the
important qualities of a female protagonist. time—stories of the supernatural set in
Acknowledging the tendency of authors exotic places—had explored the emotional
to make their heroines beautiful, Brontë side of experience, Brontë revealed the
asserted she would create “a heroine as psychological undercurrents of everyday
plain and small as myself, who shall be life. So lifelike was her depiction of Jane
as interesting as any of yours.” Eyre’s personality that many readers
believed Jane was a real person. As Brontë’s
Plain Jane She succeeded, creating Jane
contemporary G. H. Lewes remarked,
Eyre, a complex character who says of
“Reality—deep significant reality, is the
herself:
characteristic of this book.”
I sometimes regretted that I was not handsomer:
I sometimes wished to have rosy cheeks, a straight Charlotte Brontë was strongly influenced
nose, and small cherry mouth; I desired to be tall, by the Romantic poets of the early 1800s,
stately and finely developed in figure; I felt it a including William Wordsworth and Lord
misfortune that I was so little, so pale, and had Byron. Their works stressed the importance
features so irregular and so marked. of imagination, subjective emotion, and
individual freedom. Brontë embraced these
Brontë’s unconventional heroine appealed to ideas, but she also believed that literature
her readers. As one critic said in 1887, “Jane should represent life. She showed concern
Eyre neither languishes in drawing-rooms about the social and economic problems of
nor sits dangling her ankles upon gates, but her day, about the poverty of the working
is always interesting, eloquent, vehement.” classes and the secondary status of women.
Later in life, she wrote Shirley, a novel about
Jane Eyre is a young governess, a middle- an industrial conflict that took place in
class woman hired to teach the children of Yorkshire. Jane Eyre expresses Brontë’s social
well-to-do families. When we first meet Jane, conscience as well as her interest in the
she is ten years old, without money, family, imaginative experience of the individual.

Many early readers of Jane Eyre also read the Victorian era. This period takes its name
Elizabeth Gaskell’s biography of Brontë, from Queen Victoria, who reigned from
which came out just two years after Brontë’s 1837 to 1901. The period was generally a
death. Details in the biography fueled time of peace and prosperity, and by the
speculation about just how closely the novel 1840s, England had emerged as the leading
mirrors Brontë’s own life. While there is not industrial society of the world and the hub
an exact correspondence, the novel does of a vast colonial empire. The rising middle
incorporate incidents and characters from class was amassing unprecedented wealth,
Brontë’s life. Today the parallels between but for the working population the 1840s
Charlotte and Jane are still part of the appeal came to be known as the “Hungry Forties,”
of Jane Eyre, which remains one of the most a time of poverty and economic upheaval.
popular of all English novels. These class distinctions as well as the
deprivations of the socially disadvantaged
Prosperity and Poverty The novel takes are evident in the plot, settings, and
place in England around the 1840s, during characters of Jane Eyre.
The Role of a Governess

The occupation of governess had was not treated as an equal. At the of a housekeeper or lady’s maid.
a special appeal for middle-class same time, her social status was While their wages rose over time,
women during the Victorian era. At above that of the servants, who governesses, unlike servants, were
this time, a woman who was not often ridiculed the governess’s expected to purchase their own
financially supported by a husband claims to gentility. Working long clothes and pay for their own
or other male relative had few hours and being expected to travel. Thus, they were often left
ways to earn a living. While many remain invisible during social with only pocket money and had
women in the 1800s worked in gatherings, governesses had little little extra to save.
mills and factories, the unmarried social contact with adults, male or
daughters of merchants, doctors, female. They had difficulty receiving In addition, the working life of a
lawyers, and clergymen sought visits in their employers’ homes governess was generally short.
more “suitable” employment that and kept in touch with friends Families favored governesses in
could offer a moderately respectable mainly through correspondence. their mid- to late-twenties. This
lifestyle. A governess lived with the Thus the life of a governess was fact, coupled with the oversupply
upper-middle-class or upper-class extremely lonely. As Brontë herself of women seeking posts, made it
family who hired her to teach their commented, “A private governess harder for governesses to find work
children. In addition to securing has no existence, is not considered after age thirty, and many faced
comfortable lodgings, she earned as a living and rational being retirement by the age of forty. To
a modest salary. except as connected with the stave off an impoverished old age,
wearisome duties she has to fulfil.” a disproportionate number of
Being a governess, however, had governesses ended up living in
considerable drawbacks. Although The financial situation of a mental asylums, the cheapest
a governess maintained a ladylike governess was also precarious. lodgings they could find, or old-age
appearance and was often better The wages of first-time governesses homes designed specifically for
educated than her employers, she were not much higher than those these working women.
Ja n e E y r e 233
MEET TH E AUTHOR
Charlotte Brontë (1816–1855)
story-writing provided an essential outlet for

“ Unless I have something of my own to say,
and a way of my own to say it in, I have no
Charlotte’s creativity, an outlet she would
painfully miss once she began her “wretched
business to publish. . . . Unless I can have bondage” as a governess.
the courage to use the language of Truth in After unsuccessful attempts at living away from
preference to the jargon of Conventionality, Haworth as students or teachers, Charlotte,
Emily, and Anne decided to launch a school
”
I ought to be silent.
for girls in their hometown. To help them
—Charlotte Brontë prepare for this venture, their aunt paid for
them to go to a school in Belgium to study
Charlotte Brontë, born in 1816, grew up in the foreign languages. There, Charlotte fell deeply
small mill town of Haworth on the edge of the in love with her French teacher, a man with
rugged moors of West Yorkshire, in northeastern whom she had no hope of a future. Heartsick,
England. The setting was isolated and made she returned home.
lonelier by the fact that Charlotte’s mother had
died when Charlotte was five. Charlotte, her Literary Ambitions When the sisters’ school
four sisters—Maria, Elizabeth, Emily, and failed to attract pupils, all three turned in earnest
Anne—and their brother, Branwell, turned to to their long-cherished literary ambitions. Under
each other for companionship. male pseudonyms they published a joint collection
of poems. Soon afterward, each sister completed
Charlotte Brontë’s father was a Cambridge- a first novel. Emily’s Wuthering Heights was
educated clergyman. Because the family was not published, as was Anne’s novel. But Charlotte’s
well off, the Brontë girls were sent to a boarding The Professor, a story loosely based on her
school where they could prepare for their future experiences in Belgium, was rejected. Charlotte’s
employment as governesses. At the school, second novel was an immediate success. Jane
discipline was harsh, the food inadequate, Eyre, the compelling story of a self-reliant young
and living conditions unhealthful. Students governess, was published in 1847. Alternately
often became ill. Maria and Elizabeth Brontë referred to by critics as “a book after our own
both contracted consumption (today called heart” and an “anti-Christian composition,” Jane
tuberculosis) at the school and died at home Eyre signified the triumph of Charlotte’s desire
in 1825. After this tragedy, Mr. Brontë himself to bring forth a creation entirely her own.
educated the children at Haworth.
Brontë’s enjoyment of her fame was short-lived.
A Family of Storytellers Throughout their Her brother, Branwell, an unsuccessful artist
childhood and into adulthood, the close-knit who had become an alcoholic, died in 1848. Then,
Brontë children entertained themselves by within a year, both of her sisters died of
creating fanciful stories. Inspired by a set of consumption. Charlotte continued to live at
twelve wooden soldiers their father brought Haworth in order to care for her elderly father. She
home, they invented imaginary worlds that also continued to write. Finally, a year before
were a blend of myth, history, current events, her death, she married a family friend. She
and society-page stories from newspapers and confided to her close friend Ellen Nussey, “What
magazines. Gradually Charlotte came to focus I taste of happiness is of the soberest order.”
on romantic passion and themes of temptation
and betrayal in these melodramatic tales. This


Most people experience being left out or feeling like an outsider at some point entries about the novels that you read
in their lives. In your opinion, why is this experience so painful? this year.
Discuss with a Partner

SUMMARIZE
With a partner, think of some situations in which a person might feel ignored
or rejected by a group of people. What kinds of feelings do people have in
these situations? How can the experience of feeling like an outcast shape a
person’s personality? Explain.
Build Background
Talk About the Weather
The novel opens with a modest statement about the weather: “There was no
possibility of taking a walk that day.” It is winter; the weather is cold, dark, and
rainy. Jane, taking refuge from the unfriendly Reed family, nestles on a window
seat close to the glass, hidden by a heavy red curtain. There she reads a
favorite book in search of comfort.
In this emblematic description of the setting, Brontë quickly conveys one of

the main themes of the novel: Self-respect is vital to happiness, especially when
a person is emotionally isolated. The bleak winter weather reflects not only
Jane’s inhospitable surroundings but also her lonely state of mind. Jane lives
without the warmth of close family or friends. In this scene, she turns from
people to nature, from society to her own imagination. As you read the novel,
notice how Brontë continues to use the weather to represent Jane’s inner self
and, in addition, to establish mood and underscore the action of the story.
Ja n e E y re : C h a p te r s 1 – 10 235

SF_Head
왘 BIG Idea Courage and Cleverness
antipathy [an tip´ə thē]
Think about what it means to be courageous. For people to be courageous, n. strong dislike
do they have to encounter a difficult situation, or can courage emerge even in The little boy’s antipathy for all
seemingly mundane daily situations? When in your life have you demonstrated vegetables constantly frustrated
courage? his parents.
In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë creates a character who is faced with many ardently [ard´ənt lē]
adv. with passion or energy
difficult situations. As your read, make a list of the ways in which Jane
demonstrates both courage and cleverness. She practiced her violin ardently
because she was determined to
become a world-class musician.
Literary Element Characterization ascertain [as ´ər tān´]

v. to find out for sure
Characterization refers to the methods a writer uses to reveal the personality
The detective knew that he had to
of a character. In direct characterization, the writer makes explicit statements
ascertain all of the facts before
about a character. In indirect characterization, the writer reveals a character
trying to solve the crime.
through that individual’s words, thoughts, and actions and through what other
characters think and say about that character. chastisement [chas t¯z´mənt]
n. punishment
In Jane Eyre, the title character is reflecting back upon events that occurred in Seth knew he would have to endure
the past. As a result, readers need to remember that the narrator’s descriptions chastisement from his parents after
of others are memories, some of which occurred when she was only a young he broke their prized vase.
child. As you read, ask yourself how her situation at a given time might affect solace [sol´ is]
the way she remembers a particular person and how those perceptions are n. relief from grief or anxiety
utilized in the author’s characterization. Use the graphic organizer on the next When Elena gets sad or angry, she
page to help you organize information about the characters. often seeks solace in her friends.
Reading Strategy Compare and Contrast Characters

When you compare and contrast characters, you look for
similarities and differences in the way characters think, look, and
Narrator’s Unique Others’
act. You can also note similarities and differences in the way
characters are presented by the author. For example, you can
Comments Behaviors Comments
compare and contrast main characters, who are described in
great detail, with minor characters, who are described in only a
Character 1
few words.
Comparing characters can give you greater insight into the major
characters, the primary conflicts, and the theme of a text. You
may also gain greater insights into the many tools that authors
use in characterization.
Character 2
As you read, consider how characters interact with others in the

book and how others view them. Think also about what their
behaviors tell you about them. This allows you to compare
characters more fully. You may find it helpful to use a graphic

In Chapters 1–10, readers learn a great deal about and describe him or her in a short phrase. Then note
Jane through her interactions with other characters. the feelings Jane has toward each of these characters.
As you read, identify each character who is introduced
Mrs. Reed John Reed

description: Jane’s aunt description:
unfriendly and impatient
feelings:
feelings: Jane sees Mrs. Reed as
a bully; she fears her.
Bessie Mr. Brocklehurst

description: description:
feelings: feelings:
Jane Eyre
Helen Burns Miss Temple

description: description:
feelings: feelings:

Characterization What does Jane’s “I came on purpose to find you, Jane Eyre,” said she; “I
fear that others will see her as want you in my room; and as Helen Burns is with you, she
“wicked” tell the reader about Jane’s may come too.”
character? Is this an example of direct We went; following the superintendent’s guidance, we had
or indirect characterization?
to thread some intricate passages, and mount a staircase before
we reached her apartment; it contained a good fire, and looked
cheerful. Miss Temple told Helen Burns to be seated in a low
arm-chair on one side of the hearth, and herself taking another,
she called me to her side.
“Is it all over?” she asked, looking down at my face. “Have
you cried your grief away?”
“I am afraid I never shall do that.”
“Why?”
“Because I have been wrongly accused; and you, ma’am, and
everybody else will now think me wicked.”
“We shall think you what you prove yourself to be, my child.
Continue to act as a good girl, and you will satisfy me.”
“Shall I, Miss Temple?”
“You will,” said she, passing her arm round me. “And now
tell me who is the lady whom Mr. Brocklehurst called your
benefactress?”
“Mrs. Reed, my uncle’s wife. My uncle is dead, and he left
me to her care.”
“Did she not, then, adopt you of her own accord?”
“No, ma’am; she was sorry to have to do it: but my uncle,
as I have often heard the servants say, got her to promise before
he died, that she would always keep me.”
“Well now, Jane, you know, or at least I will tell you, that
when a criminal is accused, he is always allowed to speak in his
own defence. You have been charged with falsehood; defend
yourself to me as well as you can. Say whatever your memory
suggests as true; but add nothing and exaggerate nothing.”
I resolved, in the depth of my heart, that I would be most
moderate—most correct; and, having reflected a few minutes
in order to arrange coherently what I had to say, I told her all
the story of my sad childhood. Exhausted by emotion, my
language was more subdued than it generally was when it
developed that sad theme; and mindful of Helen’s warnings
against the indulgence of resentment, I infused into the
narrative far less gall and wormwood than ordinarily. Thus
restrained and simplified, it sounded more credible: I felt as I
went on that Miss Temple fully believed me.
In the course of the tale I had mentioned Mr. Lloyd as having
come to see me after the fit: for I never forgot the, to me,

frightful episode of the red-room; in detailing which, my Literary Element

excitement was sure, in some degree, to break bounds; for
nothing could soften in my recollection the spasm of agony Characterization After rereading
this excerpt, how does your view
which clutched my heart when Mrs. Reed spurned my wild
of Miss Temple compare with the
supplication for pardon, and locked me a second time in the descriptions of her that Jane offers?
dark and haunted chamber.
I had finished: Miss Temple regarded me a few minutes in
silence; she then said—
“I know something of Mr. Lloyd; I shall write to him; if his
reply agrees with your statement, you shall be publicly cleared
from every imputation: to me, Jane, you are clear now.”
She kissed me, and still keeping me at her side (where I was
well contented to stand, for I derived a child’s pleasure from the
contemplation of her face, her dress, her one or two ornaments,
her white forehead, her clustered and shining curls, and
beaming dark eyes), she proceeded to address Helen Burns.
“How are you to-night, Helen? Have you coughed much
to-day?”
“Not quite so much I think, ma’am.”
“And the pain in your chest?”
“It is a little better.”
Miss Temple got up, took her hand and examined her pulse;
then she returned to her own seat: as she resumed it, I heard her
sigh low. She was pensive a few minutes, then rousing herself,
she said cheerfully:—
“But you two are my visitors to-night; I must treat you as
such.” She rang her bell.
“Barbara,” she said to the servant who answered it, “I have
not yet had tea; bring the tray, and place cups for these two
young ladies.”
And a tray was soon brought. How pretty, to my eyes, did
the china and bright teapot look, placed on the little round table
near the fire! How fragrant was the steam of the beverage, and
the scent of the toast! of which, however, I, to my dismay (for
I was beginning to be hungry), discerned only a very small
portion: Miss Temple discerned it too:—
“Barbara,” said she, “can you not bring a little more bread
and butter? There is not enough for three.”
Barbara went out: she returned soon:—
“Madam, Mrs. Harden says she has sent up the usual
quantity.”
Mrs. Harden, be it observed, was the housekeeper: a woman
after Mr. Brocklehurst’s own heart, made up of equal parts of
whalebone and iron.

Compare and Contrast Characters Daylight began to forsake the red-room; it was past four
Why might Jane envision Mr. Reed as a o’clock, and the beclouded afternoon was tending to drear
kinder, more benevolent figure than twilight. I heard the rain still beating continuously on the
his wife? staircase window, and the wind howling in the grove behind
the hall; I grew by degrees cold as a stone, and then my courage
sank. My habitual mood of humiliation, self-doubt, forlorn
depression, fell damp on the embers of my decaying ire. All said I
was wicked, and perhaps I might be so; what thought had I been
but just conceiving of starving myself to death? That certainly
was a crime: and was I fit to die? Or was the vault under the
chancel of Gateshead Church an inviting bourne? In such vault
I had been told did Mr. Reed lie buried; and led by this thought
to recall his idea, I dwelt on it with gathering dread. I could not
remember him; but I knew that he was my own uncle—my
mother’s brother—that he had taken me when a parentless infant
to his house; and that in his last moments he had required a
promise of Mrs. Reed that she would rear and maintain me as
one of her own children. Mrs. Reed probably considered she had
kept this promise; and so she had, I dare say, as well as her nature
would permit her; but how could she really like an interloper not
of her race, and unconnected with her, after her husband’s death,
by any tie? It must have been most irksome to find herself bound
by a hard-wrung pledge to stand in the stead of a parent to a
strange child she could not love, and to see an uncongenial alien
permanently intruded on her own family group.
A singular notion dawned upon me. I doubted not—never
doubted—that if Mr. Reed had been alive he would have treated
me kindly; and now, as I sat looking at the white bed and
overshadowed walls—occasionally also turning a fascinated eye
towards the dimly gleaming mirror—I began to recall what I
had heard of dead men, troubled in their graves by the violation
of their last wishes, revisiting the earth to punish the perjured
and avenge the oppressed; and I thought Mr. Reed’s spirit,
harassed by the wrongs of his sister’s child, might quit its
abode—whether in the church vault or in the unknown world
of the departed—and rise before me in this chamber. I wiped
my tears and hushed my sobs, fearful lest any sign of violent
grief might waken a preternatural voice to comfort me, or elicit
from the gloom some haloed face, bending over me with
strange pity. This idea, consolatory in theory, I felt would be
terrible if realised: with all my might I endeavoured to stifle it—
I endeavoured to be firm. Shaking my hair from my eyes, I
lifted my head and tried to look boldly round the dark room: at
this moment a light gleamed on the wall. Was it, I asked myself,
a ray from the moon penetrating some aperture in the blind?
No; moonlight was still, and this stirred; while I gazed, it glided Reading Strategy
up to the ceiling and quivered over my head. I can now conjecture
readily that this streak of light was, in all likelihood, a gleam Compare and Contrast Characters
In what way does this dialogue
from a lantern, carried by some one across the lawn: but then,
establish a contrast between Bessie
prepared as my mind was for horror, shaken as my nerves were and Mrs. Reed?
by agitation, I thought the swift-darting beam was a herald of
some coming vision from another world. My heart beat thick,
my head grew hot; a sound filled my ears, which I deemed the
rushing of wings; something seemed near me; I was oppressed,
suffocated: endurance broke down; I rushed to the door and
shook the lock in desperate effort. Steps came running along the
outer passage; the key turned, Bessie and Abbot entered.
“Miss Eyre, are you ill?” said Bessie.
“What a dreadful noise! it went quite through me!”
exclaimed Abbot.
“Take me out! Let me go into the nursery!” was my cry.
“What for! Are you hurt! Have you seen something?” again
demanded Bessie.
“Oh! I saw a light, and I thought a ghost would come.” I had
now got hold of Bessie’s hand, and she did not snatch it from me.
“She has screamed out on purpose,” declared Abbot, in some
disgust. “And what a scream! If she had been in great pain one
would have excused it, but she only wanted to bring us all here.
I know her naughty tricks.”
“What is all this?” demanded another voice peremptorily; and
Mrs. Reed came along the corridor, her cap flying wide, her gown
rustling stormily. “Abbot and Bessie, I believe I gave orders that
Jane Eyre should be left in the red-room till I came to her myself.”
“Miss Jane screamed so loud, ma’am,” pleaded Bessie.
“Let her go,” was the only answer. “Loose Bessie’s hand,
child: you cannot succeed in getting out by these means, be
assured. I abhor artifice, particularly in children; it is my duty to
show you that tricks will not answer: you will now stay here an
hour longer, and it is only on condition of perfect submission
and stillness that I shall liberate you then.”
“Oh aunt, have pity! Forgive me! I cannot endure it—let me
be punished some other way! I shall be killed if—”
“Silence! This violence is all most repulsive:” and so, no
doubt, she felt it. I was a precocious actress in her eyes: she
sincerely looked on me as a compound of virulent passions,
mean spirit, and dangerous duplicity.
Bessie and Abbot having retreated, Mrs. Reed, impatient of
my now frantic anguish and wild sobs, abruptly thrust me back
and locked me in, without farther parley. I heard her sweeping
away; and soon after she was gone, I suppose I had a species of
fit: unconsciousness closed the scene.

If so, then mark up the pages as you Speak I must: I had been trodden on severely, and must
read, or reread, to help with your turn: but how? What strength had I to dart retaliation at my
note-taking. Develop a shorthand antagonist? I gathered my energies and launched them in this
blunt sentence:—
“I am not deceitful: if I were, I should say I loved you, but I
declare I do not love you: I dislike you the worst of anybody in
the world except John Reed; and this book about the liar, you
Asterisk = just what you were looking may give to your girl, Georgiana, for it is she who tells lies, and
for
not I.”
Mrs. Reed’s hands still lay on her work inactive: her eye of
Circle = unfamiliar word or phrase to ice continued to dwell freezingly on mine.
look up
“What more have you to say?” she asked, rather in the tone
in which a person might address an opponent of adult age than
such as is ordinarily used to a child.
That eye of hers, that voice stirred every antipathy I had.
Shaking from head to foot, thrilled with ungovernable
excitement, I continued:—
“I am glad you are no relation of mine: I will never call you
aunt again as long as I live. I will never come to see you when
I am grown up; and if any one asks me how I liked you, and
how you treated me, I will say the very thought of you makes
me sick, and that you treated me with miserable cruelty.”
“How dare you affirm that, Jane Eyre?”
왘 BIG Idea “How dare I, Mrs. Reed? How dare I? Because it is the truth.
Courage and Cleverness How does You think I have no feelings, and that I can do without one bit of
Jane demonstrate courage, even as
love or kindness; but I cannot live so: and you have no pity. I
a child?
shall remember how you thrust me back—roughly and violently
Mark up the excerpt, looking for thrust me back—into the red-room, and locked me up there, to
evidence of how it expresses the my dying day; though I was in agony; though I cried out, while
Big Idea. suffocating with distress, ‘Have mercy! Have mercy, aunt Reed!’
And that punishment you made me suffer because your wicked
boy struck me—knocked me down for nothing. I will tell
anybody who asks me questions this exact tale. People think
you a good woman, but you are bad; hard-hearted. You are
deceitful!”
Ere I had finished this reply, my soul began to expand, to
exult, with the strangest sense of freedom, of triumph, I ever
felt. It seemed as if an invisible bond had burst, and that I had
struggled out into unhoped-for liberty.

reduce your notes.
Record
MY VIEW
the excerpt.
Recap

1. Describe the conditions at Lowood school. What is unfair about Reread Meet the Author on
Mr. Brocklehurst’s treatment of Jane? What observation does Helen page 234. How did that information
make about Jane? [Recall] help you understand or appreciate
2. Why do conditions at Lowood improve? What does Jane gain from her
eight years there? What is her ambition? [Summarize]
3. How are Jane and Helen Burns different in their attitude toward injustice?
How would you explain this difference? [Compare]
4. Mr. Brocklehurst, the head of Lowood school, believes that hardship builds
strong character. What is your opinion of this point of view? [Evaluate]
5. Courage and Cleverness What personal traits enable Jane not only to
survive physically but also thrive academically at Lowood School? [Analyze]

Literary Element Characterization Vocabulary Practice

To what extent do others’ perceptions of Jane affect An antonym is a word that has the opposite or nearly
her own self-perception? [Analyze] the opposite meaning of another word. Match each
boldfaced vocabulary word below with its antonym.
1. antipathy a. praise
2. ardently b. implore
3. ascertain c. lazily
4. chastisement d. admit
5. solace e. ignore
f. chaos
g. sympathy
Academic Vocabulary
At Lowood school, Jane demonstrates that she has
a great capacity for learning; she excels in all of
her subjects. Using context clues, try to figure out the
meaning of the word capacity in the sentence above.
Reading Strategy Compare and Contrast

Characters
Why was Jane drawn to Helen Burns? What was it
about Helen that made her so different from anyone
Jane had ever met before? [Conclude]
Writing Connect to Content Areas

Write a Character Analysis In this portion of the Social Studies
novel, Brontë lets the reader into Jane’s mind as Jane Assignment In Charlotte Brontë’s day, many orphans
analyzes her relations with others and describes her were sent to institutions like Lowood. Conduct research
own personality. The author also describes Jane from to find out what options exist today for children
the outside, through the words of other characters, without parents. Then prepare two or three case
such as Helen Burns, Mrs. Reed, and Mr. Brocklehurst. studies, using made-up names, that present typical
situations of orphans today.
Write a character analysis of Jane. To prepare review
the first ten chapters, paying special attention to Investigate First, make a list of possible sources
Chapters 2, 4, 7, and 8, to answer these questions: of information, how to gain access to them, and their
What challenges or trials does Jane face at Gateshead likely reliability. Consult library and Internet resources
and at Lowood? What do we learn about Jane from as well as the children’s services department in your
her response to these trials? Do you see any sign of county government. Use a chart like the one below.
personal growth or change in Jane in these settings?
What generalizations might you make about Jane from
age ten to age eighteen?
Source Access Reliability
Dr. Jenkins ph: 555-1212 probably reliable
Jot down some notes here first.
(local child
psychologist)
U.S. www.hhs.gov reliable

Department (government site)
of Health
and Human
Services
Take notes on what you learn from each source. If

there is contradictory information, use what you found
in the most reliable source. If you are unfamiliar with
any of the terms you come across, investigate further
to clarify the meanings of those terms.
Create Each case study that you create should reflect

one option for an orphan today. Explain, in your case
study, why this particular orphan might receive certain
resources and describe in detail what these resources
are. At the end of each case study, include a bibliography
that identifies where you found the information that
helped you create that profile.
Report Create your case study on a word processor

so that it looks professional, and proofread for
grammar and spelling errors.


Do you believe that opposites attract in romantic relationships? Why or why entries about the novels that you read
not? What attributes besides physical characteristics might cause two people this year.
to be attracted to each other?
Create a Chart WRITE THE CAPTION

Create a chart of personality traits that could be attraction factors. List at least
from a film version of Jane Eyre, using
six factors. Then rate each factor on a scale of 1 (least important) to 10 information in Build Background.
(most important).
Build Background
Writing from Experience
Many of the settings and characters in Jane Eyre are drawn from Charlotte
Brontë’s own life. The Clergy Daughters’ School that Charlotte attended at the
age of eight was the real-life model for the fictional Lowood Institution. Like
Mr. Brocklehurst, its director, Carus Wilson, was a stern, aristocratic clergyman
who believed that children were inherently wicked and should be kept in a
state of humility. Another character at Lowood, the patient and wise Helen
Burns, is believed to be a tribute to Charlotte’s older sister Maria. The setting
of Thornfield also has a counterpart in Charlotte Brontë’s life. Some of its
features are based on the stately family home of Charlotte’s close friend Ellen
Nussey, whom she met in her teens at Roe Head school.
Ja ne Ey re : C h a p te r s 11 – 2 0 247

SF_Head
왘 BIG Idea Journeys
imperious [im pēré̄ əs]
Think about the last journey that you embarked upon. What did you need to adj. commanding; dominant
do in order to be comfortable in a new setting or an unfamiliar culture? How The imperious president of the
did you interact with the strangers that you met along the way, and in what company refused to listen to his
ways did they help you on your journey? employees.
As a young woman, Jane has already embarked on a number of journeys to neophyte [nē´ ə f¯t ´]
n. beginner; inexperienced person
unfamiliar places, and she has undertaken these journeys alone. As you read,
make note of how Jane tries to familiarize herself with each new place and She considers herself a soccer
neophyte; she just started playing a
how she presents herself to the new people she encounters.
few months ago.
nonchalantly [non shə lant´lē]

Literary Element Character Archetype adv. coolly; without concern
The dog walked nonchalantly down
An archetype is an idea, a character, a story, or an image that is common to
the street; it didn’t seem to mind the
human experience across cultures and throughout the world. In their purest
torrential rain.
form, archeteypes occur in oral tradition, but they also appear in written works
of literature. quell [kwel]
v. to put to rest; to suppress
Character archetypes refer to familiar individuals such as the wise leader, In order to quell the forest fire, the
the rebel, the damsel in distress, the hero, the temptress, and the traitor. The mayor called in fire departments
Byronic hero, as Rochester could be defined, is often rebellious, alienated, from all the surrounding towns.
gloomy, bold, dangerous, ruggedly handsome, adventurous, and moody, and tenacious [ti nā´shəs]
he often has a guilty or shady past and a magnetic personality. The Byronic adj. persistent
hero is named for the poet George Gordon, Lord Byron, embodied these The tenacious scientist spent years
attributes in himself and in the heroes of his poems. trying to find a cure for cancer.
As you read, consider the similarities characters in the book have to characters
you commonly come across in literature, in movies and TV shows, and in real
life. Use the graphic organizer on the next page to help you.
Reading Strategy Respond to Events Events My Response

When you respond to events, you tell what you like, dislike, or find
interesting or surprising about the events in a selection.
Reacting in a personal way to what you read helps you enjoy and remember
the selection, and it also helps you connect more deeply with the characters
and the conflicts they encounter.
As you read, be aware of your reactions to events that occur. Do they

make you angry? Frustrated? Happy? You may find it helpful to use a
graphic organizer like the one to the right.

In these chapters, Jane gets to know her new employer, appearance, manner or mood, past, and goals. Think
Edward Rochester of Thornfield Hall. As you read, about whether Rochester fits the archetype of a
make notes in the chart below about Rochester’s Byronic hero, as described on page 248.
Physical Appearance Manner or Mood
broad, projecting eyebrows
Rochester
Past Goals

Character Archetype Based on this It was not till after I had withdrawn to my own chamber
excerpt, to what extent does Rochester for the night, that I steadily reviewed the tale Mr. Rochester had
fit the Byronic hero archetype? told me. As he had said, there was probably nothing at all
extraordinary in the substance of the narrative itself: a wealthy
Englishman’s passion for a French dancer, and her treachery to
him, were every-day matters enough, no doubt, in society; but
there was something decidedly strange in the paroxysm of
emotion which had suddenly seized him, when he was in the
act of expressing the present contentment of his mood, and
his newly revived pleasure in the old hall and its environs.
I meditated wonderingly on this incident: but gradually quitting
it, as I found it for the present inexplicable, I turned to the
consideration of my master’s manner to myself. The confidence
he had thought fit to repose in me seemed a tribute to my
discretion: I regarded and accepted it as such. His deportment
had now for some weeks been more uniform towards me than
at the first. I never seemed in his way; he did not take fits of
chilling hauteur: when he met me unexpectedly, the encounter
seemed welcome; he had always a word and sometimes a smile
for me: when summoned by formal invitation to his presence,
I was honoured by a cordiality of reception that made me feel
I really possessed the power to amuse him, and that these
evening conferences were sought as much for his pleasure as
for my benefit.
I, indeed, talked comparatively little; but I heard him talk
with relish. It was his nature to be communicative; he liked to
open to a mind unacquainted with the world, glimpses of its
scenes and ways (I do not mean its corrupt scenes and wicked
ways, but such as derived their interest from the great scale on
which they were acted, the strange novelty by which they were
characterised); and I had a keen delight in receiving the new
ideas he offered, in imagining the new pictures he portrayed, or
followed him in thought through the new regions he disclosed,
never startled or troubled by one noxious allusion.
The ease of his manner freed me from painful restraint; the
friendly frankness, as correct as cordial, with which he treated
me, drew me to him. I felt at times as if he were my relation,
rather than my master: yet he was imperious sometimes still;
but I did not mind that; I saw it was his way. So happy, so
gratified did I become with this new interest added to life, that
I ceased to pine after kindred: my thin crescent-destiny seemed
to enlarge; the blanks of existence were filled up; my bodily
health improved; I gathered flesh and strength.

And was Mr. Rochester now ugly in my eyes? No, reader: Literary Element
gratitude, and many associations, all pleasurable and genial,
made his face the object I best liked to see; his presence in a Character Archetype The archetypal
Byronic hero often possesses a degree
room was more cheering than the brightest fire. Yet I had
of mystery or intrigue. What puzzles
not forgotten his faults: indeed, I could not, for he brought Jane about Rochester?
them frequently before me. He was proud, sardonic, harsh to
inferiority of every description: in my secret soul I knew that his
great kindness to me was balanced by unjust severity to many
others. He was moody, too; unaccountably so: I more than once,
when sent for to read to him, found him sitting in his library
alone, with his head bent on his folded arms; and, when he
looked up, a morose, almost a malignant scowl, blackened his
features. But I believed that his moodiness, his harshness, and
his former faults of morality (I say former, for now he seemed
corrected of them) had their source in some cruel cross of fate.
I believed he was naturally a man of better tendencies, higher
principles, and purer tastes than such as circumstances had
developed, education instilled, or destiny encouraged. I thought
there were excellent materials in him; though for the present
they hung together somewhat spoiled and tangled. I cannot
deny that I grieved for his grief, whatever that was, and would
have given much to assuage it.
Though I had now extinguished my candle and was laid
down in bed, I could not sleep, for thinking of his look when
he paused in the avenue, and told how his destiny had risen
up before him, and dared him to be happy at Thornfield.
“Why not?” I asked myself. “What alienates him from the
house? Will he leave it again soon? Mrs. Fairfax said he seldom
stayed here longer than a fortnight at a time and he has now
been resident eight weeks. If he does go the change will be
doleful. Suppose he should be absent, spring, summer, and
autumn: how joyless sunshine and fine days will seem!”
I hardly know whether I had slept or not after this musing;
at any rate, I started wide awake on hearing a vague murmur,
peculiar and lugubrious, which sounded, I thought, just above
me. I wished I had kept my candle burning: the night was
drearily dark: my spirits were depressed. I rose and sat up in
bed, listening. The sound was hushed.
I tried again to sleep; but my heart beat anxiously: my
inward tranquillity was broken. The clock, far down in the hall,
struck two. Just then it seemed my chamber-door was touched;
as if fingers had swept the panels in groping a way along the
dark gallery outside. I said, “Who is there?” Nothing answered.
I was chilled with fear.

Respond to Events What interests or I put my fingers into his. “Warm and steady,” was his
surprises you about this scene? remark: he turned the key and opened the door.
I saw a room I remembered to have seen before, the day
Mrs. Fairfax showed me over the house: it was hung with
tapestry; but the tapestry was now looped up in one part, and
there was a door apparent, which had then been concealed.
This door was open; a light shone out of the room within:
I heard thence a snarling, snatching sound, almost like a dog
quarrelling. Mr. Rochester, putting down his candle, said to me,
“Wait a minute,” and he went forward to the inner apartment.
A shout of laughter greeted his entrance; noisy at first, and
terminating in Grace Poole’s own goblin ha! ha! She then was
there. He made some sort of arrangement, without speaking:
though I heard a low voice address him: he came out and closed
the door behind him.
“Here, Jane!” he said; and I walked round to the other side
of a large bed, which with its drawn curtains concealed a
considerable portion of the chamber. An easy-chair was near
the bed-head: a man sat in it, dressed with the exception of his
coat; he was still; his head leant back; his eyes were closed.
Mr. Rochester held the candle over him; I recognised in his pale
and seemingly lifeless face—the stranger, Mason: I saw too that
his linen on one side, and one arm, was almost soaked in blood.
“Hold the candle,” said Mr. Rochester, and I took it; he
fetched a basin of water from the wash-stand: “Hold that,” said
he. I obeyed. He took the sponge, dipped it in and moistened
the corpse-like face: he asked for my smelling-bottle, and
applied it to the nostrils. Mr. Mason shortly unclosed his eyes;
he groaned. Mr. Rochester opened the shirt of the wounded
man, whose arm and shoulder were bandaged: he sponged
away blood, trickling fast down.
“Is there immediate danger?” murmured Mr. Mason.
“Pooh! No—a mere scratch. Don’t be so overcome, man:
bear up! I’ll fetch a surgeon for you now, myself: you’ll be able
to be removed by morning, I hope. Jane,” he continued.
“Sir?”
“I shall have to leave you in this room with this gentleman,
for an hour, or perhaps two hours; you will sponge the blood as
I do when it returns: if he feels faint, you will put the glass of
water on that stand to his lips, and your salts to his nose. You
will not speak to him on any pretext—and—Richard—it will be
at the peril of your life if you speak to her: open your lips—
agitate yourself—and I’ll not answer for the consequences.”
Again the poor man groaned: he looked as if he dared not
move: fear, either of death or of something else, appeared
almost to paralyse him. Mr. Rochester put the now bloody Reading Strategy
sponge into my hand, and I proceeded to use it as he had done.
He watched me a second, then saying, “Remember!—No Respond to Events What was your
opinion of Mr. Rochester when he said
conversation,” he left the room. I experienced a strange feeling
to Jane, amidst the blood and strange
as the key grated in the lock, and the sound of his retreating circumstances, “Remember!—No
step ceased to be heard. conversation!”?
Here then I was in the third story, fastened into one of its
mystic cells; night around me; a pale and bloody spectacle under
my eyes and hands; a murderess hardly separated from me by a
single door: yes—that was appalling—the rest I could bear; but I
shuddered at the thought of Grace Poole bursting out upon me.
I must keep to my post, however. I must watch this ghastly
countenance—these blue, still lips forbidden to unclose—these
eyes now shut, now opening, now wandering through the
room, now fixing on me, and ever glazed with the dulness of
horror. I must dip my hand again and again in the basin of
blood and water, and wipe away the trickling gore. I must see
the light of the unsnuffed candle wane on my employment; the
shadows darken on the wrought antique tapestry round me,
and grow black under the hangings of the vast old bed, and
quiver strangely over the doors of a great cabinet opposite—
whose front, divided into twelve panels, bore, in grim design,
the heads of the twelve apostles, each inclosed in its separate
panel as in a frame; while above them at the top rose an ebon
crucifix and a dying Christ.
According as the shifting obscurity and flickering gleam
hovered here or glanced there, it was now the bearded physician,
Luke, that bent his brow; now St. John’s long hair that waved;
and anon the devilish face of Judas, that grew out of the panel,
and seemed gathering life and threatening a revelation of the
arch-traitor—of Satan himself—in his subordinate’s form.
Amidst all this, I had to listen as well as watch: to listen for
the movements of the wild beast or the fiend in yonder side
den. But since Mr. Rochester’s visit it seemed spellbound: all the
night I heard but three sounds at three long intervals,—a step
creak, a momentary renewal of the snarling, canine noise, and a
deep human groan.
Then my own thoughts worried me. What crime was this
that lived incarnate in this sequestered mansion, and could
neither be expelled nor subdued by the owner? What mystery,
that broke out, now in fire and now in blood, at the deadest
hours of night? What creature was it, that, masked in an
ordinary woman’s face and shape, uttered the voice, now of a
mocking demon, and anon of a carrion-seeking bird of prey?

If so, then mark up the pages as you When Mrs. Fairfax had bidden me a kind good-night, and
read, or reread, to help with your I had fastened my door, gazed leisurely round, and in some
note-taking. Develop a shorthand measure effaced the eerie impression made by that wide hall, that
dark and spacious staircase, and that long, cold gallery, by the
livelier aspect of my little room, I remembered that after a day of
bodily fatigue and mental anxiety, I was now at last in safe haven.
The impulse of gratitude swelled my heart, and I knelt down at
Asterisk = just what you were looking the bedside, and offered up thanks where thanks were due; not
for
forgetting, ere I rose, to implore aid on my further path, and the
power of meriting the kindness which seemed so frankly offered
Circle = unfamiliar word or phrase to me before it was earned. My couch had no thorns in it that
look up
night; my solitary room no fears. At once weary and content,
I slept soon and soundly: when I awoke it was broad day.
The chamber looked such a bright little place to me as the
sun shone in between the gay blue chintz window curtains,
showing papered walls and a carpeted floor, so unlike the bare
planks and stained plaster of Lowood, that my spirits rose at
the view. Externals have a great effect on the young: I thought
that a fairer era of life was beginning for me, one that was to
have its flowers and pleasures, as well as its thorns and toils.
My faculties, roused by the change of scene, the new field
offered to hope, seemed all astir. I cannot precisely define what
they expected, but it was something pleasant: not perhaps that
왘 BIG Idea day or that month, but at an indefinite future period.
Journeys How does Jane react to I rose; I dressed myself with care: obliged to be plain—
journeys that take her to new places
for I had no article of attire that was not made with extreme
and new people?
simplicity—I was still by nature solicitous to be neat. It was not
Mark up the excerpt, looking for my habit to be disregardful of appearance, or careless of the
evidence of how it expresses the impression I made: on the contrary, I ever wished to look as well
Big Idea. as I could, and to please as much as my want of beauty would
permit. I sometimes regretted that I was not handsomer: I
sometimes wished to have rosy cheeks, a straight nose, and
small cherry mouth; I desired to be tall, stately, and finely
developed in figure; I felt it a misfortune that I was so little, so
pale, and had features so irregular and so marked. And why had
I these aspirations and these regrets? It would be difficult to say:
I could not then distinctly say it to myself; yet I had a reason,
and a logical, natural reason too. However, when I had brushed
my hair very smooth, and put on my black frock—which,
Quakerlike as it was, at least had the merit of fitting to a
nicety—and adjusted my clean white tucker, I thought I should
do respectably enough to appear before Mrs. Fairfax; and that
my new pupil would not at least recoil from me with antipathy.
Having opened my chamber window, and seen that I left all
things straight and neat on the toilet table, I ventured forth.
reduce your notes.
Record
TO THE POINT
Recap

1. How do Jane and Rochester behave toward each other when they Reread Introduction to the Novel
converse? How does Jane find herself in the position of saving Rochester’s on pages 232–234. How did that
life? What sort of suspicion is aroused by the event that threatens information help you understand
Rochester’s life? [Interpret] or appreciate what you read in
the novel?
2. Who is Mason? How does Rochester react when he learns of Mason’s

arrival? What strange incident involving Mason brings Jane to Rochester’s
aid again? What do all these events tell you about the relationship between
Rochester and Mason? [Infer]
3. How does Brontë create a sense of suspense, tension, and uncertainty in

Chapters 11–20? [Analyze]
4. Do you think Rochester is in love with Blanche Ingram? Do you think he

has any feelings for Jane? Support your answers with examples from the
novel. [Conclude]
5. Journeys Based on your reading of these chapters, is Jane truly in control

of her life at Thornfield, or are other people and situations controlling her?
[Conclude]

Literary Element Character Archetype Vocabulary Practice

Choose one character, other than Rochester, from Denotation is the literal, or dictionary, meaning
this section and identify an archetype that character of a word. Connotation is the implied, or cultural,
represents. Feel free to research character archetypes meaning of a word. For example, the words scrawny
on the Internet for more ideas and classifications. and skeletal have a similar denotation, “very thin,”
[Classify] but they have different connotations:
Negative More Negative

scrawny skeletal
Each of the vocabulary words is listed with a word

that has a similar denotation. Choose the word that
has a stronger connotation.
1. imperious influential
2. neophyte beginner
3. nonchalantly apathetically
4. quell squash
5. tenacious stubborn
Academic Vocabulary
When Jane arrived at Thornfield, Mrs. Fairfax
demonstrated that she cared a great deal about
Jane’s welfare. In the preceding sentence, welfare
means “well-being or happiness.” List three examples
from these chapters that prove Mrs. Fairfax is
Reading Strategy Respond to Events concerned with Jane’s welfare.
Choose one situation or event in this section and tell
how you felt when you read it. Describe your visceral
(or “gut”) reactions. [Connect]

Write Diary Entries Choose one of the following Literary Criticism
topics: Assignment Evaluate literary criticism about Charlotte
Brontë’s work and write a short response in which you
Jane explain whether you agree or disagree that the criticism
Arriving at Thornfield, Jane feels that a “fairer” era of applies to Jane Eyre. Present the response to the class.
life is beginning for her. If Jane had kept a diary of her
experiences as a new governess at Thornfield Hall, what Prepare Read the following quotation about Brontë’s
might she have written? Put yourself in Jane’s place work by George Henry Lewes:
and write entries for at least three or four different days
that reveal her as an archetypal character. For example, Jane herself is a creation. The delicate handling of
you might reflect on your tour of Thornfield Hall, your this figure alone implies a dramatic genius of no
first meeting with your new pupil, the big house party, common order. We never lose sight of her plainness;
a conversation with Mr. Rochester, his intended marriage no effort is made to throw romance about her—no
to Blanche Ingram, or one of the strange events that extraordinary goodness or cleverness appeals to your
has occurred at Thornfield. Choose the events that admiration; but you admire, you love her,—love her
best define Jane as a character archetype. for the strong will, honest mind, loving heart, and
peculiar but fascinating person. A creature of flesh
Rochester and blood, with very fleshly infirmities, and very mortal
Rochester captivates Jane with his self-possessed excellencies; a woman, not a pattern: that is the Jane
nature and air of mystery, but most of the descriptions Eyre here represented.
of him come from Jane. If Rochester himself had
kept a diary of his experiences during Jane’s tenure As you read this excerpt, write notes about the ideas
at Thornfield Hall, what might he have written? Put you agree or disagree with and list points for why you
yourself in Rochester’s place and write entries that feel the way you do. Look for examples from the text
reveal him as a character archetype. Write entries to support your opinions. It will also be helpful to find
for at least three or four different days. See above for the meanings of any unfamiliar words in the excerpt
examples of the kind of situations you might write and keep them in your notes.
about. Choose events that best define Rochester as
a character archetype. Determine your position. Craft a thesis statement
about your position, and gather details from the story
Jot down some notes here first. to support your argument.
Report When you present your response, make eye

contact, speak loudly and clearly, and maintain good
posture to reflect confidence. Use an appropriate tone
of voice to enhance emotional and logical appeals.
All this will help as you try to persuade your audience
to agree with your point of view.
Evaluate Write a paragraph evaluating your report.

their presentations.


When you are faced with a tough decision, how do you make up your mind? entries about the novels that you read
How do you figure out what is the best thing to do? this year.

SUMMARIZE
Describe a time when you faced a difficult “either/or” decision. What were
the pros and cons of each side? Did you make a good decision? Was your
decision guided by emotions, principles, the opinions of others, or some
other factor?
Build Background
Gothic Novels
In this portion of the novel, Jane has embarked on a new phase of her life
at Thornfield Hall, where she serves as a governess. At Thornfield, the novel
takes on a more Gothic feeling. Gothic novels take place in gloomy or eerie
settings, such as old castles or dark mansions, and emphasize horror, mystery,
and the supernatural. Gothic novels, read mainly for entertainment, were
especially popular in England in the early 1800s. While Jane Eyre is not a
Gothic novel, it does contain Gothic features. Even in earlier chapters, there
is a reference to the supernatural, when Jane, in the red-room, thinks she
sees a ghost.
Ja ne Ey re : C h a p te r s 2 1 – 2 7 259

SF_Head
왘 BIG Idea Courage and Cleverness
atone [ə tōn´]
Often, it takes incredible courage to stay true to yourself and your ideals, v. to make amends
especially when society encourages you to do otherwise. Think of a situation Because he regretted lying to his
when you were tempted to do something you knew wasn’t right. What employer, the man knew that he
decision did you make? Why did you make that decision? would have to atone for his action.
In Jane Eyre, it takes great courage and cleverness for Jane to be able to stay dubious [d¯oo´bē əs]
adj. doubtful; questionable
true to her beliefs and to her sense of self; as a result, she is often in conflict
with what her heart wants her to do. As you read, notice how she deals with The bank robber gave a dubious
explanation for his actions.
this conflict.
feign [fān]
v. to pretend
Literary Element Conflict Parents usually know when their
children feign sickness to avoid
Conflict is the struggle between opposing forces in a story or drama. An
going to school.
external conflict exists when a character struggles against some outside
force, such as another person, nature, society, or fate. An internal conflict is impediment [im ped´ə mənt]
a struggle that takes place within the mind of a character who is torn between n. obstacle
opposing feelings or goals. The war veteran was not going to
let his disability be an impediment
As you read, make a list of the external and internal conflicts that the characters in his life.
face. Ask yourself how these conflicts can help reveal the novel’s themes. Use vehemence [vē´ ə məns]
the graphic organizer on the next page to help you think about Jane’s external n. intense emotion or force
and internal conflicts. The tornado attacked the town with
a vehemence the people had never
seen before.
To interpret imagery is to notice details in the text that appeal to your senses.
Analyze how these details affect your emotions and influence your understanding
of the text.
Images can also have symbolic value; they can stand for something more than
their literal meaning. Studying these images and interpreting their meaning can
help you to better connect with the text.
As you read, pay attention to the way that Jane describes her surroundings and
her feelings. Record examples of the images that make a particular impression
on you. You may find it helpful to use a graphic organizer like the one below.
Image My Emotional Response Symbolic Meaning

You have seen Jane encounter and try to reconcile journeys of her life. As you read this section, record
a number of different conflicts during the various both Jane’s internal and external conflicts.
Internal External
Conflicts Conflicts
Jane

Conflict What conflict does Jane I did not need to be guided to the well-known room: to which
encounter when she returns to I had so often been summoned for chastisement or reprimand in
Gateshead to see the ailing Mrs. Reed? former days. I hastened before Bessie, I softly opened the door:
Is this internal, external, or both? a shaded light stood on the table, for it was now getting dark.
There was the great four-post bed with amber hangings as of old;
there the toilet-table, the arm-chair, and the foot-stool: at which I
had a hundred times been sentenced to kneel, to ask pardon for
offences, by me, uncommitted. I looked into a certain corner near,
half-expecting to see the slim outline of a once-dreaded switch;
which used to lurk there, waiting to leap out imp-like and lace
my quivering palm or shrinking neck. I approached the bed;
I opened the curtains and leant over the high-piled pillows.
Well did I remember Mrs. Reed’s face, and I eagerly sought
the familiar image. It is a happy thing that time quells the
longings of vengeance, and hushes the promptings of rage and
aversion: I had left this woman in bitterness and hate, and I
came back to her now with no other emotion than a sort of ruth
for her great sufferings, and a strong yearning to forget and
forgive all injuries—to be reconciled and clasp hands in amity.
The well-known face was there: stern, relentless as ever—
there was that peculiar eye which nothing could melt; and the
somewhat raised, imperious, despotic eyebrow. How often had
it lowered on me menace and hate! and how the recollection of
childhood’s terrors and sorrows revived as I traced its harsh line
now! And yet I stooped down and kissed her: she looked at me.
“Is this Jane Eyre?” she said.
“Yes, aunt Reed. How are you, dear aunt?”
I had once vowed that I would never call her aunt again: I
thought it no sin to forget and break that vow now. My fingers
had fastened on her hand which lay outside the sheet: had she
pressed mine kindly, I should at that moment have experienced
true pleasure. But unimpressionable natures are not so soon
softened, nor are natural antipathies so readily eradicated: Mrs.
Reed took her hand away, and turning her face rather from me,
she remarked that the night was warm. Again she regarded me,
so icily, I felt at once that her opinion of me—her feeling towards
me—was unchanged, and unchangeable. I knew by her stony
eye—opaque to tenderness, indissoluble to tears—that she was
resolved to consider me bad to the last; because to believe me good,
would give her no generous pleasure: only a sense of mortification.
I felt pain, and then I felt ire; and then I felt a determination
to subdue her—to be her mistress in spite both of her nature and
her will. My tears had risen, just as in childhood: I ordered them
back to their source. I brought a chair to the bed-head: I sat
down and leaned over the pillow.
“You sent for me,” I said, “and I am here; and it is my Literary Element
intention to stay till I see how you get on.”
“Oh, of course! You have seen my daughters?” Conflict Given the conflicts that
she had with the Reeds in the past
“Yes.”
and Jane’s cool reception at Gateshead
“Well, you may tell them I wish you to stay till I can talk in this excerpt, do you agree with
some things over with you I have on my mind: tonight it is too Jane’s decision to return there?
late, and I have a difficulty in recalling them. But there was
something I wished to say—let me see—”
The wandering look and changed utterance told what wreck
had taken place in her once-vigorous frame. Turning restlessly,
she drew the bed-clothes round her; my elbow, resting on a
corner of the quilt, fixed it down: she was at once irritated.
“Sit up!” said she; “don’t annoy me with holding the clothes
fast—are you Jane Eyre?”
“I am Jane Eyre.”
“I have had more trouble with that child than any one would
believe. Such a burden to be left on my hands—and so much
annoyance as she caused me, daily and hourly, with her
incomprehensible disposition, and her sudden starts of temper,
and her continual, unnatural watchings of one’s movements! I
declare she talked to me once like something mad, or like a
fiend—no child ever spoke or looked as she did; I was glad to get
her away from the house. What did they do with her at Lowood?
The fever broke out there, and many of the pupils died. She,
however, did not die: but I said she did—I wish she had died!”
“A strange wish, Mrs. Reed: why do you hate her so?”
“I had a dislike to her mother always; for she was my
husband’s only sister, and a great favourite with him: he
opposed the family’s disowning her when she made her low
marriage; and when news came of her death, he wept like a
simpleton. He would send for the baby; though I entreated him
rather to put it out to nurse and pay for its maintenance, I hated
it the first time I set my eyes on it—a sickly, whining, pining
thing! It would wail in its cradle all night long—not screaming
heartily like any other child, but whimpering and moaning.
Reed pitied it; and he used to nurse it and notice it as if it had
been his own: more, indeed, than he ever noticed his own at that
age. He would try to make my children friendly to the little
beggar: the darlings could not bear it, and he was angry with
them when they showed their dislike. In his last illness, he had
it brought continually to his bedside; and but an hour before he
died, he bound me by vow to keep the creature. I would as soon
have been charged with a pauper brat out of a workhouse: but
he was weak, naturally weak. . . .

Interpret Imagery Notice the . . . The thought of Mrs. O’Gall and Bitternutt Lodge struck
references to coldness and the ocean. cold to my heart; and colder the thought of all the brine and
Why are these images appropriate in foam, destined, as it seemed, to rush between me and the
this scene? master at whose side I now walked; and coldest the
remembrance of the wider ocean—wealth, caste, custom
intervened between me and what I naturally and inevitably
loved.
“It is a long way,” I again said.
“It is, to be sure; and when you get to Bitternutt Lodge,
Connaught, Ireland, I shall never see you again, Jane: that’s
morally certain. I never go over to Ireland, not having myself
much of a fancy for the country. We have been good friends,
Jane; have we not?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And when friends are on the eve of separation, they like
to spend the little time that remains to them close to each other.
Come—we’ll talk over the voyage and the parting quietly, half
an hour or so, while the stars enter into their shining life up in
heaven yonder: here is the chestnut tree: here is the bench at its
old roots. Come, we will sit there in peace to-night, though we
should never more be destined to sit there together.” He seated
me and himself.
“It is a long way to Ireland, Janet, and I am sorry to send
my little friend on such weary travels: but if I can’t do better,
how is it to be helped? Are you anything akin to me, do you
think, Jane?”
I could risk no sort of answer by this time: my heart was full.
“Because,” he said, “I sometimes have a queer feeling with
regard to you—especially when you are near me, as now:
it is as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs tightly
and inextricably knotted to a similar string situated in the
corresponding quarter of your little frame. And if that
boisterous channel, and two hundred miles or so of land come
broad between us, I am afraid that cord of communion will be
snapt; and then I’ve a nervous notion I should take to bleeding
inwardly. As for you,—you’d forget me.”
“That I never should, sir: you know” . . .

NOVEL EXCERPT: CHAPTER 23 Reading Strategy

But what had befallen the night? The moon was not yet set, Interpret Imagery Reread the
and we were all in shadow: I could scarcely see my master’s descriptions of the old chestnut tree.
face, near as I was. And what ailed the chestnut tree? it writhed In what way does it symbolize the
and groaned; while wind roared in the laurel walk, and came relationship between Rochester
and Jane?
sweeping over us.
“We must go in,” said Mr. Rochester: “the weather changes.
I could have sat with thee till morning, Jane.”
“And so,” thought I, “could I with you.” I should have said
so, perhaps, but a livid, vivid spark leapt out of a cloud at
which I was looking, and there was a crack, a crash, and a close
rattling peal; and I thought only of hiding my dazzled eyes
against Mr. Rochester’s shoulder.
The rain rushed down. He hurried me up the walk, through
the grounds, and into the house; but we were quite wet before
we could pass the threshold. He was taking off my shawl in
the hall, and shaking the water out of my loosened hair, when
Mrs. Fairfax emerged from her room. I did not observe her at
first, nor did Mr. Rochester. The lamp was lit. The clock was on
the stroke of twelve.
“Hasten to take off your wet things,” said he: “and before
you go, good-night—good-night, my darling!”
He kissed me repeatedly. When I looked up, on leaving his
arms, there stood the widow, pale, grave, and amazed. I only
smiled at her, and ran upstairs. “Explanation will do for another
time,” thought I. Still, when I reached my chamber, I felt a pang
at the idea she should even temporarily misconstrue what she
had seen. But joy soon effaced every other feeling; and loud as
the wind blew, near and deep as the thunder crashed, fierce
and frequent as the lightning gleamed, cataract-like as the rain
fell during a storm of two hours’ duration, I experienced no
fear, and little awe. Mr. Rochester came thrice to my door in the
course of it, to ask if I was safe and tranquil: and that was
comfort, that was strength for anything.
Before I left my bed in the morning, little Adèle came
running in to tell me that the great horse-chestnut at the bottom
of the orchard had been struck by lightning in the night, and
half of it split away.

If so, then mark up the pages as you “Mr. Rochester, . . . You will forget me before I forget you.”
read, or reread, to help with your “You make me a liar by such language: you sully my honour.
note-taking. Develop a shorthand I declared I could not change: you tell me to my face I shall
change soon. And what a distortion in your judgment, what a
perversity in your ideas, is proved by your conduct! Is it better
to drive a fellow-creature to despair than to transgress a mere
human law—no man being injured by the breach? . . .”
Asterisk = just what you were looking This was true: and while he spoke my very conscience and
for
reason turned traitors against me, and charged me with crime
in resisting him. They spoke almost as loud as Feeling: and that
Circle = unfamiliar word or phrase to clamoured wildly. “Oh, comply!” it said. “Think of his misery;
look up
think of his danger—look at his state when left alone; remember
his headlong nature; consider the recklessness following on
despair—soothe him; save him; love him; tell him you love him
and will be his. Who in the world cares for you? or who will be
injured by what you do?”
Still indomitable was the reply—“I care for myself. The more
solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more
I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned
by man. I will hold to the principles received by me when I was
sane, and not mad—as I am now. Laws and principles are not
for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such
moments as this when body and soul rise in mutiny against
왘 BIG Idea their rigour; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be. If at my
Courage and Cleverness What have individual convenience I might break them, what would be their
you learned about Jane’s courage as
worth? They have a worth—so I have always believed; and if I
she struggles to stay true to herself?
cannot believe it now, it is because I am insane—quite insane:
Mark up the excerpt, looking for with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than I can
evidence of how it expresses the count its throbs. Preconceived opinions, foregone determinations,
Big Idea. are all I have at this hour to stand by: there I plant my foot.”
I did. Mr. Rochester, reading my countenance, saw I had done
so. His fury was wrought to the highest: he must yield to it for a
moment, whatever followed; he crossed the floor and seized my
arm, and grasped my waist. He seemed to devour me with his
flaming glance: physically, I felt, at the moment, powerless as
stubble exposed to the draught and glow of a furnace—mentally,
I still possessed my soul, and with it the certainty of ultimate
safety. The soul, fortunately, has an interpreter—often an
unconscious, but still a truthful interpreter—in the eye. My eye
rose to his; and while I looked in his fierce face, I gave an
involuntary sigh: his grip was painful, and my over-tasked
strength almost exhausted.
“Never,” said he, as he ground his teeth, “never was anything
at once so frail and so indomitable. . . .

reduce your notes.
Record
MY VIEW
your own notes.
Recap

1. What surprising revelation does Rochester make to Jane? What can you Reread Build Background on
infer about Jane’s feelings and beliefs from her statement “I could not, in page 259. How did that information
those days, see God for his creature: of whom I had made an idol.” [Infer] help you understand or appreciate
2. What disastrous event happens on Jane’s wedding day? Who is Bertha?

How does Jane feel when she learns of Bertha’s existence? What does
Jane decide to do? Why? [Recall]
3. Many fiction writers use dreams to foreshadow, or give hints of, later
events. Give three examples of this technique from Chapters 21–27.
[Analyze]
4. In Victorian England, a man could not divorce his wife if she was insane.
Given this fact, was Rochester justified in asking Jane to marry him? Why
or why not? [Evaluate]
5. Courage and Cleverness Did Jane make the right decision in choosing to
leave Mr. Rochester? [Evaluate]

Literary Element Conflict Vocabulary Practice

In your opinion, do external or internal conflicts play A synonym is a word that has the same or nearly
a more significant role in Jane’s decision to leave the same meaning as another word. Match each
Thornfield? [Analyze] boldfaced vocabulary word below with its synonym.
1. atone a. blameless
2. dubious b. fervor
3. feign c. make reparations
4. impediment d. debatable
5. vehemence e. penalize
f. hindrance
g. fake
Academic Vocabulary
To justify his decision to keep Bertha’s presence
a secret from Jane, Mr. Rochester reveals all of the
details about his previous courtship and marriage.
justify in the sentence above. Write your guess below.
Then check it in a dictionary.

Though much of this novel has revolved around
Jane’s rebirth, both at Lowood School and at
Thornfield, images of death and darkness appear
frequently, even in seemingly happy scenes. Choose
a passage that includes such imagery, and explain
why it is appropriate in that situation. [Analyze]
Write With Style Speaking and Listening

Apply Imagery Visual/Media Presentation
Assignment Review how Brontë uses imagery Assignment Create and deliver a presentation that
throughout Jane Eyre. Then write a paragraph that uses images and music to capture the mood and
uses imagery to portray a conflict in your life. setting of Gothic novels.
Get Ideas Make a list of conflicts that you are familiar Prepare Conduct research to determine what makes
with. Consider both external conflicts (siblings, parents, Gothic novels unique. As you identify the elements
friends, teachers, and so on) and internal conflicts (your of plot, character, and theme that these novels have
desire to do something versus the knowledge that it is in common, pay attention to what kinds of mental
wrong, a pressure you place on yourself to succeed). images you associate with Gothic novels. Then, using
Next, generate a list of sensory details that could help the Internet and your own music collection, gather at
convey these conflicts. Consider including the kinds of least five images and five songs that you think best
symbolic imagery that Brontë uses, such as light and reflect the mood and setting of Gothic novels. As you
dark. Based on your prewriting work, choose the gather these pieces, consider organizing your materials
conflict that you can best convey through imagery. in a graphic organizer like the one below.
Give It Structure Introduce the conflict at the start

of your paragraph, then use vivid descriptions and Image/ Connection to the
imagery to describe this conflict. Even if this conflict song title Gothic novel
has not been resolved in real life, consider including
a resolution at the end of your paragraph.
Look at Language Imagery is conveyed through

word choice, especially words that evoke the senses.
Remember that your goal is to paint a picture of this
conflict, with words, for your readers. To expand your
use of imagery, it might help to use an extended
simile or metaphor that describes part of the conflict. Report Assemble your images and songs in a logical
way that will appeal to your audience. As you share
EXAMPLE: your information with your classmates, make sure
My brother acts like Napoleon, waving his arms and that you discuss how each image and song reveals a
demanding that all others bow down to him and unique characteristic of the Gothic novel. Make sure
follow in his footsteps. Because he wears so much you speak clearly and loudly.
cologne, his pungent smell lingers and overtakes
the whole house. It prevents me from enjoying even Evaluate Write a paragraph in which you evaluate
one moment of peaceful solitude, one moment when how well your presentation captured the mood and
I can truly be myself. setting of Gothic novels. Were there any images or
songs that you would replace if you were to present
this material again?


People who are committed to improving the world around them must often entries about the novels that you read
make personal sacrifices. What do you think are some of the costs and this year.
benefits of making such a commitment?
Create a Web WRITE THE CAPTION

In a small group, think of some individuals who have dedicated their lives
to helping others or to making the world a better place. Then create a web Build Background.
detailing the satisfactions and sacrifices that might go with dedicating one’s
life to an ideal.
Build Background
Brontë Country
The scene shifts again in these next chapters as Jane finds herself in a remote
moorland region, surrounded by bare, heather-clad hills. This landscape is
much like that found in northern Yorkshire, where Charlotte Brontë grew up.
The Brontë family has made this region of England so famous that the tourism
bureau has dubbed it “Brontë Country.”
Today, Brontë Country draws many visitors who travel there to see many of
the area’s well-known sites, including the Brontë Parsonage Museum. Formerly
known as Haworth Parsonage, this site was home to the Brontë sisters for
most of their lives. The museum is run by one of the world’s oldest literary
societies, the Brontë society, which works to preserve the powerful literary
tradition that the Brontës established.

SF_Head
왘 BIG Idea Journey
averse [ə vurs´]
Think about a journey you have taken. Journeys can introduce us to new adj. opposed
people, places and cultures, but they can also cause a significant change in Vegetarians are averse to eating
the way that we perceive the world around us. meat.
In Jane Eyre, the title character goes on a number of journeys to find herself despots [des´pəts]
and to escape from difficult situations. As you read, consider why she needs n. rulers with absolute power
to embark on each new journey. What is she learning about life, love, and Despots often make living conditions
herself during these experiences? quite difficult for the people they rule.
fetters [fet´ərs]
n. chains; restraints
Literary Element Plot Archetype She sometimes felt as if the school
Plot is the sequence of events in a narrative work. Conflicts are introduced, rules constrained her like fetters she
could not break.
followed by complications, which lead to the climax, or turning point,
followed in turn by the falling action and resolution, sometimes called the inexorable [i nek´sər ə bəl]
denouement, which reveal the logical results of the climax. adj. relentless; inflexible
Some people hold inexorable beliefs
A plot archetype is a story pattern that occurs in many cultures. Making the about the way a country should
long journey home, completing the “impossible” task, fulfilling a quest, and be run.
outwitting the formidable enemy are all archetypal plots. stoicism [stō´ ə siz ´ əm]
n. indifference to pain
Jane Eyre contains elements of the Gothic novel plot archetype. These include He faced his illness with tremendous
gloomy settings, the sublime, temptation, the protagonist’s struggle with a stoicism.
terrible strange person or force, and supernatural or mysterious events. As you
read, notice the gloomy descriptions Jane offers us of Thornfield, as well as
the mysterious events that occur under its roof. Do they seem to follow a
pattern that is familiar to you?
Cause
Reading Strategy Analyze Cause-and-Effect Relationships
To analyze cause-and-effect relationships in a work of literature you look
at the causes, or reasons, and their effects, or results, to see how these Effect
relationships have an impact on the story. Doing this will help you better
understand the work’s plot and themes.
Cause-and-effect relationships allow the writer to reveal how and why things Effect
happen. In many cases, authors want the readers to see how the characters’
behaviors and choices ultimately determine the outcome of their situations.
As you continue to read Jane Eyre, consider why the characters are dealing
with some of the more difficult challenges that they encounter. What have
they done to help bring about these challenges? You may find it helpful to use
a graphic organizer like the one at the right.

Chapter 28 introduces Jane to the Rivers family, but village. As you read, make note of events that end
Brontë makes it clear that Jane might not have met up bringing about unanticipated effects for Jane and
them had she not been turned away by others in the the others.
Cause Effect
Jane is unable to find work or sufficient Jane ends up at Marsh End.
food in the village near Whitcross.

Plot Archetype What elements of the He laid his hand on my head as he uttered the last words.
Gothic novel plot archetype are evident He had spoken earnestly, mildly: his look was not, indeed, that
on this page? of a lover beholding his mistress; but it was that of a pastor
recalling his wandering sheep—or better, of a guardian angel
watching the soul for which he is responsible. All men of talent,
whether they be men of feeling or not; whether they be zealots,
or aspirants, or despots—provided only they be sincere—have
their sublime moments: when they subdue and rule. I felt
veneration for St. John—veneration so strong that its impetus
thrust me at once to the point I had so long shunned. I was
tempted to cease struggling with him—to rush down the torrent
of his will into the gulf of his existence, and there lose my own.
I was almost as hard beset by him now as I had been once
before, in a different way, by another. I was a fool both times.
To have yielded then would have been an error of principle; to
have yielded now would have been an error of judgment. So
I think at this hour, when I look back to the crisis through the
quiet medium of time: I was unconscious of folly at the instant.
I stood motionless under my hierophant’s touch. My refusals
were forgotten—my fears overcome—my wrestlings paralysed.
The Impossible—i.e., my marriage with St. John—was fast
becoming the Possible. All was changing utterly with a sudden
sweep. Religion called—Angels beckoned—God commanded—
life rolled together like a scroll—death’s gates opening, showed
eternity beyond: it seemed, that for safety and bliss there, all here
might be sacrificed in a second. The dim room was full of visions.
“Could you decide now?” asked the missionary. The inquiry
was put in gentle tones: he drew me to him gently. Oh, that
gentleness! how far more potent is it than force! I could resist
St. John’s wrath: I grew pliant as a reed under his kindness. Yet I
knew all the time, if I yielded now, I should not the less be made
to repent, some day, of my former rebellion. His nature was not
changed by one hour of solemn prayer: it was only elevated.
“I could decide if I were but certain,” I answered: “were I but
convinced that it is God’s will I should marry you, I could vow
to marry you here and now—come afterwards what would!”
“My prayers are heard!” ejaculated St. John. He pressed his
hand firmer on my head, as if he claimed me: he surrounded
me with his arm, almost as if he loved me (I say almost—I knew
the difference—for I had felt what it was to be loved; but, like
him, I had now put love out of the question, and thought only
of duty): I contended with my inward dimness of vision, before
which clouds yet rolled. I sincerely, deeply, fervently longed to
do what was right; and only that. “Show me, show me the path!”
I entreated of Heaven. I was excited more than I had ever been;
and whether what followed was the effect of excitement, the Literary Element
reader shall judge.
All the house was still; for I believe all, except St. John and Plot Archetype What other elements
of the Gothic plot archetype exists
myself, were now retired to rest. The one candle was dying out:
within this excerpt?
the room was full of moonlight. My heart beat fast and thick:
I heard its throb. Suddenly it stood still to an inexpressible
feeling that thrilled it through, and passed at once to my head
and extremities. The feeling was not like an electric shock; but it
was quite as sharp, as strange, as startling: it acted on my senses
as if their utmost activity hitherto had been but torpor; from
which they were now summoned, and forced to wake. They
rose expectant: eye and ear waited, while the flesh quivered on
my bones.
“What have you heard? What do you see?” asked St. John.
I saw nothing: but I heard a voice somewhere cry—
“Jane! Jane! Jane!” nothing more.
“Oh, God! what is it?” I gasped.
I might have said, “Where is it?” for it did not seem in the
room—nor in the house—nor in the garden: it did not come
out of the air—nor from under the earth—nor from overhead.
I had heard it—where, or whence, for ever impossible to know!
And it was the voice of a human being—a known, loved, well-
remembered voice—that of Edward Fairfax Rochester; and it
spoke in pain and woe wildly, eerily, urgently.
“I am coming!” I cried. “Wait for me! Oh, I will come!” I flew
to the door, and looked into the passage: it was dark. I ran out
into the garden: it was void.
“Where are you?” I exclaimed.
The hills beyond Marsh Glen sent the answer faintly back—
“Where are you?” I listened. The wind sighed low in the firs: all
was moorland loneliness and midnight hush.
“Down superstition!” I commented, as that spectre rose up
black by the black yew at the gate. “This is not thy deception,
not thy witchcraft: it is the work of nature. She was roused, and
did—no miracle—but her best.”
I broke from St. John; who had followed, and would have
detained me. It was my time to assume ascendancy. My powers
were in play, and in force. I told him to forbear question or
remark; I desired him to leave me: I must, and would be alone. He
obeyed at once. Where there is energy to command well enough,
obedience never fails. I mounted to my chamber; locked myself
in; fell on my knees; and prayed in my way—a different way to
St. John’s, but effective in its own fashion. I seemed to penetrate
very near a Mighty Spirit; and my soul rushed out in gratitude
at His feet. I rose from the thanksgiving—took a resolve—and
lay down, unscared, enlightened—eager but for the daylight.

Analyze Cause-and-Effect The recollection of about three days and nights succeeding
Relationships According to this this is very dim in my mind. I can recall some sensations felt
passage, why does Jane feel so thankful in the interval; but few thoughts framed, and no actions
and beholden to the Rivers family and performed. I knew I was in a small room; and in a narrow bed.
especially to Mary and Diana?
To that bed I seemed to have grown; I lay on it motionless as a
stone; and to have torn me from it would have been almost to
kill me. I took no note of the lapse of time—of the change from
morning to noon, from noon to evening. I observed when any
one entered or left the apartment; I could even tell who they
were; I could understand what was said when the speaker stood
near to me; but I could not answer; to open my lips or move my
limbs was actually impossible. Hannah, the servant, was my
most frequent visitor. Her coming disturbed me. I had a feeling
that she wished me away: that she did not understand me or
my circumstances: that she was prejudiced against me. Diana
and Mary appeared in the chamber once or twice a day. They
would whisper sentences of this sort at my bedside:—
“It is very well we took her in.”
“Yes; she would certainly have been found dead at the door
in the morning, had she been left out all night. I wonder what
she has gone through?”
“Strange hardships, I imagine—poor, emaciated, pallid
wanderer!”
“She is not an uneducated person, I should think, by her
manner of speaking; her accent was quite pure; and the clothes
she took off, though splashed and wet, were little worn and
fine.”
“She has a peculiar face; fleshless and haggard as it is, I
rather like it; and when in good health and animated, I can
fancy her physiognomy would be agreeable.”
Never once in their dialogues did I hear a syllable of regret
at the hospitality they had extended to me; or of suspicion of,
or aversion to, myself. I was comforted.
Mr. St. John came but once: he looked at me, and said my
state of lethargy was the result of reaction from excessive and
protracted fatigue. He pronounced it needless to send for a
doctor: nature, he was sure, would manage best, left to herself.
He said every nerve had been overstrained in some way, and
the whole system must sleep torpid a while. There was no
disease. He imagined my recovery would be rapid enough
when once commenced. These opinions he delivered in a few

words, in a quiet, low voice; and added, after a pause, in the Reading Strategy
tone of a man little accustomed to have expansive comment,
“rather an unusual physiognomy; certainly, not indicative of Analyze Cause-and-Effect
Relationships What one other
vulgarity or degradation.”
unanticipated effect is brought about
“Far otherwise,” responded Diana. “To speak truth, St. John, by the Riverses’ kindness to Jane?
my heart rather warms to the poor little soul. I wish we may be
able to benefit her permanently.”
“That is hardly likely,” was the reply. “You will find she is
some young lady who has had a misunderstanding with her
friends and has probably injudiciously left them. We may,
perhaps, succeed in restoring her to them, if she is not obstinate:
but I trace lines of force in her face which make me sceptical of
her tractability.” He stood considering me some minutes; then
added, “She looks sensible, but not at all handsome.”
“She is so ill, St. John.”
“Ill or well, she would always be plain. The grace and
harmony of beauty are quite wanting in those features.”
On the third day, I was better; on the fourth, I could speak,
move, rise in bed, and turn. Hannah had brought me some
gruel and dry toast, about, as I supposed, the dinner hour. I
had eaten with relish: the food was good—void of the feverish
flavour which had hitherto poisoned what I had swallowed.
When she left me, I felt comparatively strong and revived: ere
long satiety of repose, and desire for action stirred me. I wished
to rise; but what could I put on? Only my damp and bemired
apparel; in which I had slept on the ground and fallen in the
marsh. I felt ashamed to appear before my benefactors so clad.
I was spared the humiliation.
On a chair by the bedside were all my own things, clean
and dry. My black silk frock hung against the wall. The traces
of the bog were removed from it; the creases left by the wet
smoothed out: it was quite decent. My very shoes and stockings
were purified and rendered presentable. There were the means
of washing in the room, and a comb and brush to smooth my
hair. After a weary process, and resting every five minutes,
I succeeded in dressing myself. My clothes hung loose on me;
for I was much wasted, but I covered deficiencies with a shawl,
and once more, clean and respectable-looking—no speck of dirt,
no trace of the disorder I so hated, and which seemed so to
degrade me, left—I crept down a stone staircase with the aid
of banisters, to a narrow low passage, and found my way
presently to the kitchen.

If so, then mark up the pages as you Two days are passed. It is a summer evening; the coachman
read, or reread, to help with your has set me down at a place called Whitcross; he could take me
note-taking. Develop a shorthand no farther for the sum I had given, and I was not possessed of
another shilling in the world. The coach is a mile off by this
time; I am alone. At this moment I discover that I forgot to take
my parcel out of the pocket of the coach, where I had placed it
for safety; there it remains, there it must remain; and now, I am
Asterisk = just what you were looking absolutely destitute.
for
. . . There are great moors behind and on each hand of me;
there are waves of mountains far beyond that deep valley at my
Circle = unfamiliar word or phrase to feet. The population here must be thin, and I see no passengers
look up
on these roads: they stretch out east, west, north, and south—
white, broad, lonely; they are all cut in the moor, and the heather
grows deep and wild to their very verge. Yet a chance traveller
might pass by; and I wish no eye to see me now: strangers
would wonder what I am doing, lingering here at the sign-post,
evidently objectless and lost. I might be questioned: I could
give no answer but what would sound incredible, and excite
suspicion. Not a tie holds me to human society at this moment—
not a charm or hope calls me where my fellow-creatures are—
none that saw me would have a kind thought or good wish for
me. I have no relative but the universal mother, Nature: I will
seek her breast and ask repose.
왘 BIG Idea I struck straight into the heath; I held on to a hollow I saw
Journeys What struggles does Jane deeply furrowing the brown moorside; I waded knee-deep in
face during each new journey?
its dark growth; I turned with its turnings, and finding a moss-
blackened granite crag in a hidden angle, I sat down under it.
evidence of how it expresses the High banks of moor were about me; the crag protected my head:
Big Idea. the sky was over that.
Some time passed before I felt tranquil even here: I had a
vague dread that wild cattle might be near, or that some
sportsman or poacher might discover me. If a gust of wind
swept the waste, I looked up, fearing it was the rush of a bull;
if a plover whistled, I imagined it a man. Finding my
apprehensions unfounded, however, and calmed by the deep
silence that reigned as evening declined at nightfall, I took
confidence. As yet I had not thought; I had only listened,
watched, dreaded; now I regained the faculty of reflection.
What was I to do? Where to go? Oh, intolerable questions,
when I could do nothing and go nowhere!—when a long way
must yet be measured by my weary, trembling limbs, before I
could reach human habitation—when cold charity must be
entreated before I could get a lodging: reluctant sympathy
importuned: almost certain repulse incurred: before my tale
could be listened to, or one of my wants relieved!
reduce your notes.
Record
TO THE POINT
Recap

1. How does St. John help Jane? What news does he bring to Jane? What Reread Build Background on
does Jane’s reaction to the news reveal about her? [Infer] page 271. How did that information
2. Why does St. John ask Jane to come to India with him as his wife? How
does she answer him? What do you think Jane means when she says,
“If I join St. John, I abandon half myself?” [Interpret]
3. Jane comes close to changing her mind about marrying St. John. Why?
What does her response to Rochester’s voice suggest about her values
and feelings? What conflicts seem to be troubling her? [Analyze]
4. What imagery does Brontë use to describe St. John? Give two examples.
Why is this imagery appropriate? [Analyze]
5. Journeys Jane’s journey from Thornfield takes her away from everything
and everyone she knows. Now that you have read through Chapter 35,
do you think her journey was worthwhile? Why or why not? [Evaluate]

Literary Element Plot Archetype Vocabulary Practice

What aspects of the Gothic novel plot archetype in Studying the etymology, or origin and history, of a
Jane Eyre do you recognize from other stories, word can help you better understand and explore its
television shows, or movies? Give examples. [Classify] meaning. Create a word map, like the one below, for
averse inexorable
despots stoicism
fetters
EXAMPLE: scripture
Definition: any sacred writing
Etymology: Latin scriptura means book or “writing”
Sample Sentence:
Academic Vocabulary
Without the assistance she received from the Rivers
siblings, Jane might not have survived her journey
from Thornfield. In the preceding sentence, assistance
means “help”. Think about a time when you needed
assistance. In what way did others help you?
Reading Strategy Analyze Cause-and-Effect
Relationships
When St. John noticed Jane’s real name on one of
her drawings, it had an unexpected consequence.
If you were St. John, would you have told Jane earlier
that you knew who she really was? Why or why not?
[Connect]

Write a Script Jane and St. John, her clergyman Interview
cousin, have a number of intense conversations that Assignment When St. John proposes a new path in
reveal much about their personalities as well as their life for Jane, she raises a number of objections, but
feelings for each other. In your group, choose one of St. John has an answer ready for each protest she
these conversations and rewrite it as a script on a makes. Being able to anticipate and address objections
separate sheet of paper. A script requires that you add can help you in certain situations. Choose one of the
stage directions, so consider how movement can help following two situations and write out a mock interview
your characters convey their personalities and their in which you address potential protests or objections
feelings about the topic at hand. The stage directions that might be brought up by your interviewer.
should also include suggestions about particular tones
of voice and attitudes that the actors should convey as Option 1: You are eager to be hired for a particular job.
they perform their lines. Make sure you follow the You are generally well qualified, but there are certain
proper format for a script. weaknesses in your background.
Jot down some notes here first. Option 2: You are asking a parent or another adult to
give you permission to do something special. That
person needs to be sure you will behave responsibly
and safely.
Prepare Once you have chosen your interview topic,

write a list of relevant questions that the interviewer
might ask you. Phrase these questions in mature,
sensitive, respectful language. Your questions should
reflect your understanding of the situation.
Interview Now, give your interview questions to

a classmate. Have them ask you these questions and
jot down your responses. At the end of the mock
interview, ask your interviewer if you successfully
convinced them that you were a strong job candidate
or that you were responsible enough to gain permission
to do something special, depending on the situation
you chose.
Report Summarize the interview questions and

your classmates’ notes on your responses in a
written report. If needed, extend some of your
responses to fully address the objections or concerns
that the “interviewer” raised. Follow a logical
organization, and make sure that you use correct
grammar and punctuation.
Evaluate Have the classmate who helped you

conduct this mock interview read your report and
evaluate how accurate it is and how convincing your
arguments are.


Have you ever heard the expression “What goes around comes around”? What entries about the novels that you read
does this mean? Do you subscribe to this idea? Explain. this year.
Share Ideas with a Partner

SUMMARIZE
Sometimes, a person does something bad or good. Then, later, something
equally bad or good, but unrelated, happens to that person. The second event
is not a result of the first, but people may view the two events as related. With
a partner think of one or more examples of this phenomenon of “cosmic
justice” from books, movies, television, daily life, or your imagination.
Build Background
Charlotte Brontë: Feminist?
In an early scene in the novel, Jane, just after arriving at Thornfield, reflects on
her prospects in life as a woman:
Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel

just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field
for their efforts as much as their brothers do; . . . and it is narrow-
minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they
ought to confine themselves to making pudding and knitting
stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is
thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do
more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for
their sex.
In Brontë’s day, some women were speaking out for education, voting rights,
and better employment opportunities for women. While Brontë was not
among these so-called “Strong-Minded Women,” this statement by her main
character indicates that Brontë was concerned about the status of women in
her society. As you finish reading the novel, think about the outcome of the
story. Has Jane fulfilled her vision of the future, as described in Chapter 12?
Would you describe Charlotte Brontë as a realist or an idealist about women’s
roles in society?

SF_Head
왘 BIG Idea Journeys
countenance [koun´ tə nəns]
What marks the end of a journey? Is it the moment of physically arriving in a n. face; expression
place, the recognition that the journey has changed you in some way, or the Though she claimed to be brave,
start of another new journey? her countenance revealed that she
was indeed afraid.
In some senses, Jane’s journey to find herself comes to an end in this
section. In others, a new journey is just beginning. As you read, ask yourself desolate [des ´ ə lit]
what these journeys have taught Jane about herself and about the world adj. alone and apart
around her. The desolate town was located in
the middle of a desert; the closest
grocery store was 20 miles away.
Literary Element Motif lachrymose [lak ´ rə mōs ´]
A motif is a significant word, phrase, image description, idea, or other adj. tearful
element that is repeated throughout a literary work and is related to the The boy was lachrymose for quite a
theme. Common motifs in hero stories include good and evil, light and dark, while after his dog died.
and awareness and deception. relapse [rē´ laps]
v. to fall back to an earlier state
Authors include motifs to illuminate the theme of a text. In Jane Eyre, Brontë
After contracting the flu at work,
weaves multiple motifs through her novel. The most prominent of these are she was determined not to have
the journey, light and dark, and death and rebirth. a relapse; she washed her hands
obsessively.
As you read, notice how and when these motifs appear in the text. What
do they reveal about the characters and the situations in which they find vainly [vān´ lē]
themselves? Use the graphic organizer on the next page to record examples adv. without success
of the light-and-dark motif. The pilot tried vainly to avoid the
storm; he ended up having to fly
right through it.
Reading Strategy Make Inferences About Theme
The theme of a piece of literature is a dominant idea—often a universal
message about life—that the writer communicates to the reader. A work may
have more than one theme. Because the author will not usually explicitly state
a theme, you must make inferences about theme based on textual details. Inference
Detail About
Archetypal themes or universal themes, exist for different kinds of texts. In Theme
romance texts, themes such as “love will conquer all” appear frequently.
As you finish Jane Eyre, pay particular attention to the details of Rochester
and Jane’s new relationship. Based on these details, identify which themes
Brontë wanted to present to her readers. Are any of these archetypal themes?
You may find it helpful to use a graphic organizer like the one at the right.

Though Brontë weaves the motif of light and dark these references to light and dark. Then record these
through her entire novel, these images are especially references on the graphic organizer below.
prominent in Chapters 36–38. As you read, look for
Light Dark

Motif What references to light and . . . Even when within a very short distance of the manor-
dark can you find in these excerpts? house, you could see nothing of it; so thick and dark grew the
timber of the gloomy wood about it. Iron gates between granite
pillars showed me where to enter, and passing through them, I
found myself at once in the twilight of close-ranked trees. There
was a grass-grown track descending the forest aisle, between
hoar and knotty shafts and under branched arches. I followed
it, expecting soon to reach the dwelling; but it stretched on and
on, it wound far and farther: no sign of habitation or grounds
was visible.
I thought I had taken a wrong direction and lost my way.
The darkness of natural as well as of sylvan dusk gathered over
me. I looked round in search of another road. There was none:
all was interwoven stem, columnar trunk, dense, summer
foliage—no opening anywhere.
I proceeded: at last my way opened, the trees thinned a little;
presently I beheld a railing, then the house—scarce, by this dim
light, distinguishable from the trees; so dank and green were
its decaying walls. Entering a portal, fastened only by a latch, I
stood amidst a space of enclosed ground, from which the wood
swept away in a semicircle. There were no flowers, no garden-
beds; only a broad gravel-walk girdling a grass-plat, and this
set in the heavy frame of the forest. The house presented two
pointed gables in its front: the windows were latticed and
narrow: the front-door was narrow too, one step led up to it.
The whole looked, as the host of Rochester Arms had said,
“quite a desolate spot.” It was as still as a church on a weekday:
the pattering rain on the forest leaves was the only sound
audible in its vicinage.
“Can there be life here?” I asked.
Yes: life of some kind there was; for I heard a movement—
that narrow front-door was unclosing, and some shape was
about to issue from the grange.
It opened slowly; a figure came out into the twilight and
stood on the step; a man without a hat: he stretched forth
his hand as if to feel whether it rained. Dusk as it was, I had
recognised him—it was my master, Edward Fairfax Rochester,
and no other.
I stayed my step, almost my breath, and stood to watch him—
to examine him, myself unseen, and alas! to him invisible. . . .

NOVEL EXCERPT: CHAPTER 37 Literary Element

Very early the next morning, I heard him up and astir, Motif What does Brontë’s use of the
wandering from one room to another. As soon as Mary came light versus dark motif reveal about the
down I heard the question: “Is Miss Eyre here?” Then: “Which characters’ situations?
room did you put here into? Was it dry? Is she up? Go and ask
if she wants anything; and when she will come down.”
I came down as soon as I thought there was a prospect of
breakfast. Entering the room very softly, I had a view of him
before he discovered my presence. It was mournful, indeed, to
witness the subjugation of that vigorous spirit to a corporeal
infirmity. He sat in his chair,—still, but not at rest: expectant
evidently; the lines of now habitual sadness marking his strong
features. His countenance reminded one of a lamp quenched,
waiting to be relit—and alas! it was not himself that could now
kindle the lustre of animated expression: he was dependent on
another for that office! I had meant to be gay and careless, but
the powerlessness of the strong man touched my heart to the
quick: still I accosted him with what vivacity I could:—
“It is a bright, sunny morning, sir,” I said. “The rain is over
and gone, and there is a tender shining after it: you shall have
a walk soon.”
I had wakened the glow: his features beamed.
“Oh, you are indeed there, my skylark! Come to me. You
are not gone: not vanished? I heard one of your kind an hour
ago, singing high over the wood: but its song had no music for
me, any more than the rising sun had rays. All the melody on
earth is concentrated in my Jane’s tongue to my ear (I am glad
it is not naturally a silent one): all the sunshine I can feel is in
her presence.”
The water stood in my eyes to hear this avowal of his
dependence: just as if a royal eagle, chained to a perch, should
be forced to entreat a sparrow to become its purveyor. But I
would not be lachrymose: I dashed off the salt drops, and
busied myself with preparing breakfast.
Most of the morning was spent in the open air. I led him out
of the wet and wild wood into some cheerful fields: I described
to him how brilliantly green they were; how the flowers and
hedges looked refreshed; how sparklingly blue was the sky. I
sought a seat for him in a hidden and lovely spot: a dry stump
of a tree; nor did I refuse to let him, when seated, place me on
his knee: why should I, when both he and I were happier near
than apart? Pilot lay beside us: all was quiet. He broke out
suddenly while clasping me in his arms:—

Make Inferences About Theme In “Jane! you think me, I daresay, an irreligious dog: but my
this passage, Rochester refers to heart swells with gratitude to the beneficent God of this earth
“divine justice.” What does he mean, just now. He sees not as man sees, but far clearer: judges not
and what theme might this reveal? as man judges, but far more wisely. I did wrong: I would have
sullied my innocent flower—breathed guilt on its purity: the
Omnipotent snatched it from me. I, in my stiff-necked rebellion,
almost cursed the dispensation: instead of bending to the
decree, I defied it. Divine justice pursued its course; disasters
came thick on me: I was forced to pass through the valley of the
shadow of death. His chastisements are mighty; and one smote
me which has humbled me for ever. You know I was proud of
my strength: but what is it now, when I must give it over to
foreign guidance, as a child does its weakness? Of late, Jane—
only—only of late—I began to see and acknowledge the hand
of God in my doom. I began to experience remorse, repentance;
the wish for reconcilement to my Maker. I began sometimes to
pray: very brief prayers they were, but very sincere.
“Some days since: nay, I can number them—four; it was last
Monday night, a singular mood came over me: one in which
grief replaced frenzy—sorrow, sullenness. I had long had the
impression that since I could nowhere find you, you must be
dead. Late that night—perhaps it might be between eleven and
twelve o’clock—ere I retired to my dreary rest, I supplicated
God, that, if it seemed good to Him, I might soon be taken from
this life, and admitted to that world to come, where there was
still hope of rejoining Jane.
“I was in my own room, and sitting by the window, which
was open: it soothed me to feel the balmy night-air; though I
could see no stars, and only by a vague, luminous haze, knew
the presence of a moon. I longed for thee, Janet! Oh, I longed for
thee both with soul and flesh! I asked of God, at once in anguish
and humility, if I had not been long enough desolate, afflicted,
tormented; and might not soon taste bliss and peace once more.
That I merited all I endured, I acknowledged—that I could
scarcely endure more, I pleaded; and the alpha and omega of
my heart’s wishes broke involuntarily from my lips in the
words—‘Jane! Jane! Jane!’”
“Did you speak these words aloud?”
“I did, Jane. If any listener had heard me, he would have
thought me mad: I pronounced them with such frantic energy.”
“And it was last Monday night: somewhere near midnight?”
“Yes; but the time is of no consequence: what followed is
the strange point. You will think me superstitious,—some
superstition I have in my blood, and always had: nevertheless,
this is true—true at least it is that I heard what I now relate.
“As I exclaimed ‘Jane! Jane! Jane!’ a voice—I cannot tell Reading Strategy
whence the voice came, but I know whose voice it was—replied,
‘I am coming: wait for me;’ and a moment after went whispering Make Inferences About Theme What
theme about love might Brontë be
on the wind, the words—‘Where are you?’
communicating in this passage?
“I’ll tell you, if I can, the idea, the picture these words
opened to my mind: yet it is difficult to express what I want to
express. Ferndean is buried, as you see, in a heavy wood, where
sound falls dull, and dies unreverberating. ‘Where are you?’
seemed spoken amongst mountains; for I heard a hill-sent echo
repeat the words. Cooler and fresher at the moment the gale
seemed to visit my brow. I could have deemed that in some
wild, lone scene, I and Jane were meeting. In spirit, I believe we
must have met. You no doubt were, at that hour, in unconscious
sleep, Jane: perhaps your soul wandered from its cell to comfort
mine; for those were your accents—as certain as I live—they
were yours!”
Reader, it was on Monday night—near midnight—that I too
had received the mysterious summons: those were the very
words by which I replied to it. I listened to Mr. Rochester’s
narrative; but made no disclosure in return. The coincidence
struck me as too awful and inexplicable to be communicated
or discussed. If I told anything, my tale would be such as must
necessarily make a profound impression on the mind of my
hearer: and that mind, yet from its sufferings too prone to
gloom, needed not the deeper shade of the supernatural. I kept
these things then, and pondered them in my heart.
“You cannot now wonder,” continued my master, “that when
you rose upon me so unexpectedly last night, I had difficulty in
believing you any other than a mere voice and vision: something
that would melt to silence and annihilation, as the midnight
whisper and mountain echo had melted before. Now, I thank
God! I knew it to be otherwise. Yes, I thank God!”
He put me off his knee, rose, and reverently lifting his hat
from his brow, and bending his sightless eyes to the earth, he
stood in mute devotion. Only the last words of the worship
were audible.
“I thank my Maker, that in the midst of judgment he has
remembered mercy. I humbly entreat my Redeemer to give
me strength to lead henceforth a purer life than I have done
hitherto!”
Then he stretched his hand out to be led. I took that dear
hand, held it a moment to my lips, then let it pass round my
shoulder: being so much lower of stature than he, I served both
for his prop and guide. We entered the wood, and wended
homeward.

If so, then mark up the pages as you My tale draws to its close: one word respecting my experience
read, or reread, to help with your of married life, and one brief glance at the fortunes of those
note-taking. Develop a shorthand whose names have most frequently recurred in this narrative,
and I have done.
I have now been married ten years. I know what it is to live
entirely for and with what I love best on earth. I hold myself
supremely blest—blest beyond what language can express;
Asterisk = just what you were looking because I am my husband’s life as fully as he is mine. No woman
for
was ever nearer to her mate than I am: ever more absolutely
bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh. I know no weariness of
Circle = unfamiliar word or phrase to my Edward’s society: he knows none of mine, any more than we
look up
each do of the pulsation of the heart that beats in our separate
bosoms; consequently, we are ever together. To be together is
for us to be at once as free as in solitude, as gay as in company.
We talk, I believe, all day long: to talk to each other is but a
more animated and an audible thinking. All my confidence is
bestowed on him, all his confidence is devoted to me; we are
precisely suited in character—perfect concord is the result.
Mr. Rochester continued blind the first two years of our
union: perhaps it was that circumstance that drew us so very
near—that knit us so very close! for I was then his vision, as I
am still his right hand. Literally, I was (what he often called me)
the apple of his eye. He saw nature—he saw books through me;
왘 BIG Idea and never did I weary of gazing for his behalf, and of putting
Journeys What have you learned into words the effect of field, tree, town, river, cloud, sunbeam—
about the purpose of Jane’s journeys?
of the landscape before us; of the weather round us—and
impressing by sound on his ear what light could no longer
evidence of how it expresses the stamp on his eye. Never did I weary of reading to him; never
Big Idea. did I weary of conducting him where he wished to go: of doing
for him what he wished to be done. And there was a pleasure
in my services, most full, most exquisite, even though sad—
because he claimed these services without painful shame or
damping humiliation. He loved me so truly, that he knew no
reluctance in profiting by my attendance: he felt that I loved him
so fondly, that to yield that attendance was to indulge my
sweetest wishes.
One morning at the end of the two years, as I was writing a
letter to his dictation, he came and bent over me, and said—
“Jane, have you a glittering ornament round your neck?”
I had a gold watch-chain: I answered “Yes.”
“And have you a pale blue dress on?”
I had. He informed me then, that for some time he had
fancied the obscurity clouding one eye was becoming less dense;
and that now he was sure of it.

reduce your notes.
Record
MY VIEW
your own notes.
Recap

1. How does Rochester say he felt in Jane’s absence? What spiritual change Reread Build Background on
has occurred in Rochester? [Paraphrase] page 283. How did that information
2. Do Jane and Rochester still feel the same way about one another? Explain.
[Interpret]
3. In what way have the roles in Jane and Rochester’s relationship been
reversed? [Analyze]
4. Do you think the story has a fairy-tale ending? Or is the situation at the end
ironic? (Situational irony refers to a strong or surprising contrast between
what is expected to happen and what actually happens.) [Evaluate]
5. Journeys At the conclusion of the novel, at what point does Jane reveal
that her journey has been successful, that she has found a situation in
which she could be true to herself? [Identify]

Literary Element Motif Vocabulary Practice

In what way does Rochester’s new ability to see, even Write the vocabulary word that correctly completes
faintly, extend the motif of light and dark that Brontë each sentence. If none of the words fits the sentence,
established? [Analyze] write “none.”
countenance relapse
desolate vainly
lachrymose
1. When her older sister left for college, she tried

hard not to be , but it was no
use. The tears came anyway.
2. I could tell, just by looking at his ,
that he was thankful for the help I had given him.
3. After hearing that he had won the
, the governor was ecstatic.
4. The architect tried to convince
the city planning commision to allow him to
build an apartment complex in the already-
crowded town.
5. The circus performers tried to
find more audience members; the next three
performances were sold-out as a result.
6. In order to prevent a , the
recovering alcoholic knew that he would have
to avoid places where alcohol was served.
Reading Strategy Make Inferences
7. The island had not been
About Theme habitated by humans for many years.
Why do you think Jane chooses not to tell Rochester
that she too heard his voice at Marsh End the same
night that he heard hers? [Infer] Academic Vocabulary
When Jane resolves to attend to Rochester’s every
need for the rest of their lives, the reader might
initially be surprised that she is sacrificing herself and
her abilities. Using context clues, try to figure out the
meaning of the word resolve in the sentence above.

Personal Response Did you find the ending of the Performance
novel satisfying? Why or why not? Assignment In Chapter 24, Rochester sings a love
ballad for Jane. Love songs, both happy and tragic,
have been popular for centuries. Compose a song that
tells the story of Jane and Rochester’s love.
Prepare Select a tune you know or make up one of

your own. Before you begin writing, take a moment to
think about the style and scope of your song. Will it be
folk, rock, rap, country-western, or some other style?
Will you tell the whole story or focus on one incident
or section of the novel?
Perform Present your song to the class. If you feel

uncomfortable, either ask a friend to sing the song for
you or speak the lyrics along with a music recording.
Be sure that you sing or speak clearly enough so that
everyone can understand the lyrics.
Evaluate After performing your song, critique yourself.

Were the listeners able to identify what scene or
situations you were singing about? Did you convey the
complexity of Jane and Rochester’s relationship? Did
your song have a good melody, and did the words
flow smoothly?

Jane Eyre
details from the text. Write your answers on a separate sheet of
Sonnet 116; Wedding Day in the Rockies Signs and Symbols

William Shakespeare; E.B. White Vladimir Nabokov
How would you compare and contrast the feelings In portraying the wife in his story, Nabokov says that
expressed in theses two poems with the feelings that “after all living did mean accepting the loss of one
Jane and Rochester have for each other? joy after another, not even joys in her case—mere
possibilities of improvement.” Relate this statement to
one of the characters in Jane Eyre. Using examples
from the novel, explain how the quotation describes
the character you have chosen.
from Wide Sargasso Sea

Jean Rhys
Consider Bertha’s description of the events
surrounding the Thornfield fire in light of Brontë’s
description of the same events in Jane Eyre. from The Life of Charlotte Brontë
Does having a different perspective change your Elizabeth Gaskell
attitude about any of the characters involved in the What descriptions of Charlotte and her experiences
tragedy? Explain. at Roe Head correspond to Jane Eyre and her
experiences at Lowood?
from A Stranger in a Strange Land

Juliet Barker
How do you think life in and around Haworth
influenced the themes that Charlotte Brontë developed
in Jane Eyre? Use information from this selection as
well as descriptions and events from the novel to
explain your answer.
Ja n e E y r e 295
LITERATURE EXCERPT: The Odyssey

20 “Now! 45 Eat and be quiet where you are, or
You think you’ll shuffle off and get away shamble elsewhere,
after that impudence? Oh, no you don’t!” unless you want these lads to stop your
The stool he let fly hit the man’s right mouth
shoulder pulling you by the heels, or hands and feet,
on the packed muscle under the shoulder over the whole floor, till your back is
blade— peeled!”
25 like solid rock, for all the effect one saw. But now the rest were mortified,° and
thoughts of bloody work,° as he walked someone
on, 50 spoke from the crowd of young bucks to
then sat, and dropped his loaded bag again rebuke5 him:
upon the door sill. Facing the whole crowd “A poor show, that—hitting this famished
tramp—
30 he said, and eyed them all:
bad business, if he happened to be a god.
“One word only,
You know they go in foreign guise, the
my lords, and suitors of the famous queen.
gods do,
One thing I have to say.
looking like strangers, turning up
There is no pain, no burden for the heart
55 in towns and settlements to keep an eye
35 when blows come to a man, and he
on manners, good or bad.”
defending
But at this notion
his own cattle—his own cows and lambs.
Antinous only shrugged.
Here it was otherwise. Antinous
Telemachus,
hit me for being driven on by hunger—
60 after the blow his father bore, sat still
how many bitter seas men cross for
hunger! without a tear, though his heart felt the
blow.
40 If beggars interest the gods, if there are
Furies Slowly he shook his head from side to side,
pent in the dark to avenge a poor man’s containing murderous thoughts.
wrong, then may Penelope
Antinous meet his death before his 65 on the higher level of her room had heard
wedding day!”° the blow, and knew who gave it. Now she
Then said Eupeithes’° son, Antinous: murmured:
“Enough. “Would god you could be hit yourself,
Antinous—
hit by Apollo’s bowshot!”°
26–27 containing thoughts of bloody work: keeping murderous thoughts
under control. Odysseus imagines killing Antinous, but holds his
temper.
34–42 There is . . . wedding day: A man is not really hurt, the beggar says,
when he is injured defending his property; but when he is attacked 49 mortified: deeply embarrassed, shamed, or humiliated.
by being hungry, that’s another matter. Odysseus’s curse upon 50 rebuke: to scold sharply; criticize
Antinous calls upon the Furies—three female spirits who punish 68 Apollo’s bowshot: Among other things, Apollo is the archer god
wrongdoers—to bring about his death. and the god of truth. His sacred silver bow can kill literally with an
43 Eupeithes (yoo pē thēz) arrow and figuratively with the truth.

Compare the novel you have just read to the literature selection at the left, TALK ABOUT IT
which is excerpted from The Odyssey by Homer in Glencoe Literature. Then The Odyssey is an archetypal hero
answer the questions below. journey, and Odysseus is clearly
presented as an archetypal hero.
In your opinion, is Jane an archetypal
Compare & Contrast hero, and could Jane’s journeys
follow the path of the archetypal
1. Plot Archetype In this passage, a number of characters foreshadow
hero’s journey? Support your
Antinous’ ultimate fate. As the reader, you know that within a hero myth, responses with evidence from the text.
those who commit evil deeds or who upset the gods are usually punished.
In Jane Eyre, Rochester and Jane both evoke God and religion frequently and
understand the consequences of making the wrong decisions. How does
the idea of divine supernatural, consequence play out in each literary work?
2. Character Archetype Which character archetype does Antinous reflect in

this passage, and which character in Jane Eyre also fulfills this archetype?
3. Conflict Is the major conflict in this passage an external or internal

conflict? Are the primary conflicts in Jane Eyre internal or external?
Ja n e E y r e 297
Expository Essay UNDERSTAND THE TASK

• When you analyze, you identify
Analyze Cause-and-Effect Relationships The plot of Jane Eyre is moved the parts to find meaning in their
along by a series of cause-and-effect relationships. These relationships involve relationships to the whole.
not only interactions between characters but also the idea of cosmic justice—the • A thesis is the main idea of a
belief that a divine power will reward individuals for good actions and will punish work of nonfiction, such as an
them for bad. Write an essay in which you analyze a cause-and-effect chain in essay. The thesis may be stated
directly or implied.
this story and explain what it suggests about the role of cosmic justice. Use
evidence from the text to support the thesis of your essay.
Prewrite To help you organize your essay, fill out a graphic organizer like the Grammar Tip
one below. Add as many rows as you need.
Semicolons
Semicolons are used to connect
Cause I have been married, and the woman to whom I was closely related ideas. For this
married lives. purpose, they are used in two
specific situations. First, semicolons
Effect Jane Eyre, who had been an ardent, expectant are used to separate main
woman – almost a bride – was a cold, solitary girl clauses that are not joined by a
coordinating conjunction such as
again… and or or:
Effect My daughter, flee temptation!...Mother, I will There were two speakers at
Gettysburg that day; only Lincoln’s
Effect My name is Jane Elliot. speech is remembered.
Semicolons may also be used to

Draft Using the cause-and-effect relationships established in your chart, separate main clauses joined by
determine how each one supports your thesis. You may want to use sentence a conjunctive adverb or by for
frames as you draft your essay. For instance, your body paragraphs will contain example or that is:
statements that support your thesis, such as the following: Because of the ice storm, most
students could not get to school;
The scene in which shows that was the consequently, the principal
cause of and . canceled all classes for the day.
Revise Ask a classmate to underline your thesis statement and highlight two
sentences that support your thesis. If this proves difficult, you may need to
make your thesis and supporting points clearer. You may even wish to include
all or part of your cause-and-effect chart in your essay as a visual aid.

Animal Farm
George Orwell
An im a l Fa r m 299
Animal Farm
George Orwell
Satire In a satire, the writer attacks a
“ Animal Farm is written on many levels.
It is already a children’s story in its own
serious issue by presenting it in a ridiculous
light or otherwise poking fun at it. Orwell
right. . . . [It] is also a lament for the fate uses satire to expose what he saw as the
myth of Soviet socialism. Thus, the novel
of revolutions and the hopes contained in tells a story that people of all ages can
them. It is a moving comment on man’s understand, but it also tells us a second
constant compromise with the truth. ” story—that of the real-life Revolution.
Many critics have matched in great detail
—John Atkins, George Orwell the story’s characters to historical persons––
for example, linking the power struggle
On the publication of Animal Farm in 1945,
between Napoleon and Snowball to the
George Orwell discovered with horror
historical feuding between Joseph Stalin and
that booksellers were placing his novel
Leon Trotsky for control of the Soviet Union.
on children’s shelves. According to his
Critics also believe that Old Major represents
housekeeper, he began traveling from
Karl Marx, who dies before realizing his
bookstore to bookstore requesting that the
dream. Other comparisons include Moses as
book be shelved with adult works. This
the Russian Orthodox church, Boxer and
dual identity—as children’s story and adult
Clover as workers, the sheep as the general
satire—has stayed with Orwell’s novel for
public, Squealer as Stalin’s government news
more than fifty years.
agency, the dogs as Stalin’s military police,
Animal Farm tells the story of Farmer Jones’s and Farmer Jones as Czar Nicholas II. The
animals who rise up in rebellion and take farm’s neighbors, Pilkington and Frederick,
over the farm. Tired of being exploited solely are said to represent Great Britain and
for human gain, the animals—who have Germany, while Mollie suggests the old
human characteristics such as the power Russian aristocracy, which resists change.
of speech—vow to create a new and more
A tremendous success when published,
just society.
Animal Farm has since become part of school
Though the novel reads like a fairy tale, curriculums and popular literary culture.
and Orwell subtitles it as just that, it is also Readers and critics alike have enjoyed its
a satire containing a message about world imaginative premise and the engaging
politics and especially the former Soviet charm of its animal characters. Orwell’s
Union in particular. Since the Bolshevik straightforward language draws readers into
revolutions of the early 1900s, the former the farm’s world, while the witty underlying
Soviet Union had captured the attention satire invites serious analysis. In George
of the world with its socialist experiment. Orwell: A Personal Memoir, T. R. Fyvel writes:
Stalin’s form of government had some
[Orwell] turned the domestic animals on
supporters in Britain and the United States,
the farm into immediately recognizable and
but Orwell was against this system.
memorable and sometimes lovable characters.
30 0 NOVEL COMPANION: Unit 6

Animal Farm is more than a fairy tale. It Joseph Stalin, head of the Communist
is a commentary on the the relevance of Party, struggled for power. Stalin won
independent thought, truth, and justice. the battle, and he deported Trotsky into
permanent exile.
The Allegorical Novel An allegory is a
narrative that can be read on more than Once in power, Stalin began, with despotic
one level. Critics often consider Animal Farm urgency and exalted nationalism, to move
to be an allegory of the Russian Revolution. the Soviet Union into the modern industrial
In the early 1900s, Russia’s Czar Nicholas II age. His government seized land in order
faced an increasingly discontented populace. to create collective farms. Stalin’s Five Year
Freed from feudal serfdom in 1861, many Plan was an attempt to modernize Soviet
Russian peasants were struggling to survive industry. To counter resistance (many
under an oppressive government. By 1917, peasants refused to give up their land),
amidst the tremendous suffering of World Stalin used vicious military tactics. Rigged
War I, a revolution began. In two major trials led to executions of an estimated
battles, the Czar’s government was 20 million government officials and ordinary
overthrown and replaced by the Bolshevik citizens. The government controlled the flow
leadership of Vladmir Lenin. When Lenin and content of information to the people,
died in 1924, his former colleagues Leon and all but outlawed churches.
Trotsky, hero of the early Revolution, and
Individualism vs. Socialism

Orwell initially struggled to find Also, British publishers were and fascism, to name a few. As
a publisher for Animal Farm. hesitant to publicly criticize their an individualist who believed that
Many liberal intellectuals in Europe Soviet allies as World War II his own experiences should guide
admired the Soviet experiment came to a close. The book was his philosophy, he was often at
with socialism. They believed published in 1945, after Germany odds with these popular ideas.
socialism would produce a society surrendered. He believed that governments
in which everyone—workers and were encroaching on the
employers—was equal, and in Orwell believed that the basis for individual’s freedom of choice,
which there were no upper, society was human decency and love of family, and tolerance
middle, or lower classes. In Orwell’s common sense, which conflicted for others. He emphasized honesty,
words “they want[ed] to believe with the ideals for society that individuality, and the welfare of
that, somewhere, a really Socialist were prevalent at the time: society throughout his writings.
country does actually exist.” socialism, capitalism, communism,
MEET TH E AUTHOR
George Orwell (1903–1950)
radio broadcasts, most of which grew out of

“want
Liberty is telling people what they do not
to hear.”
his own personal experience.
—George Orwell Orwell’s beliefs about politics were affected

by his experiences fighting in the Spanish
In the years since the publication of Animal Civil War. He viewed socialists, communists,
Farm and 1984, both of which conjure visions and fascists as repressive and self-serving.
of modern government’s dangerous power, Orwell patriotically supported England
critics have studied and analyzed George during World War II, but remained skeptical
Orwell’s personal life. Orwell was a man of governments and their willingness to
who had a reputation for standing apart and forsake ideals in favor of power.
even making a virtue of his detachment. This
The Author’s Vision With each book or essay,
“outsider” position often led him to oppose
Orwell solidified his role as the outsider
the crowd.
willing to question any group’s ideology.
Orwell began life as Eric Arthur Blair (George Orwell spoke his mind with Animal Farm, in
Orwell was a pen name he adopted later for which he criticized the Soviet Union despite
its “manly, English, country-sounding ring.”) its role as a World War II ally of Great Britain.
He spent his early years in India as a lonely At first, no one would publish the novel, but
boy who liked to make up stories and talk when Animal Farm finally appeared in 1945
with imaginary companions. He began to it was a success. It was later adapted both as
“write” before he even knew how, dictating an animated film and as a play.
poems to his mother, and perhaps saw
In explaining how he came to write Animal
this outlet as an alternative to the human
Farm, Orwell says he once saw a little boy
relationships he found so difficult. Refuge
whipping a horse:
in words and ideas became increasingly
important when Orwell’s parents sent him,
It struck me that if only such animals became
at age eight, to boarding school in England.
aware of their strength we should have no power
over them, and that men exploit animals in much
Political Views Later, instead of going on to
the same way as the rich exploit the [worker].
university, he decided to take a job in Burma
with the Indian Imperial Police. Orwell
Orwell said it was the first book in which
wrote about this experience in Burmese
he consciously tried to blend artistic and
Days (1934) and in the essay “Shooting an
political goals. Orwell’s final novel, 1984,
Elephant.” At odds with British colonial rule,
continued that effort with a grim portrayal
Orwell said he “theoretically—and secretly,
of a world totally under government control.
of course . . . was all for the Burmese and all
against their oppressors, the British.” Orwell pursued his writing career faithfully,
although it was not always easy. In his final
Returning to England to recover from a bout
days he made the statement, “Writing . . . is
of the chronic lung illness that plagued him
a horrible, exhausting struggle . . . One
all his life, Orwell began his writing career in
would never undertake such a thing if one
earnest. Over the next two decades, he wrote
were not driven . . .”
newspaper columns, novels, essays, and


Why do you think revolutions occur? What circumstances would lead people entries about the novels that you read
to overthrow the daily political and economical structure of their lives? this year.
Make a List
WRITE THE CAPTION
With a partner, identify two or three revolutions that occurred more than
ten years ago. What circumstances, if any, do these revolutions have in
common? What sorts of goals were the revolutionaries seeking to accomplish?
In retrospect were the revolutions successful?
Build Background
Karl Marx and the Soviet Revolution
Many of the ideals behind the Soviet revolution were based on the writings
and teachings of Karl Marx. A German intellectual who lived in the mid-1800s,
Marx believed that societies are divided into two segments, a working class
and an owner class. The working class creates all the products, while the
owner class enjoys all the benefits of these products. This class division leads
to inequality and oppression of the working class. Marx’s objective was to
create a classless society in which the work is shared by all for the benefit of
all, and he believed revolution was the way to achieve this goal.
In leading workers toward revolution, Marx used slogans like “From each
according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.” He also urged
people to give up their religion, which he believed gave them false hope for a
better life in heaven. The character of Old Major in Animal Farm is sometimes
interpreted as a representation of Karl Marx. Major’s speech in the novel’s
opening chapter reflects many Marxist ideas, from the opening “Comrades,” a
typical form of address in the former Soviet Union, to the revolutionary song
he teaches the other animals.
A n i m a l Fa rm: C h a p te r s 1 – 4 303
BEFOR E YOU READ: Chapters 1–4

SF_Head
왘 BIG Idea Our World and Beyond
cannibalism [kan´ə bə liz´əm]
Have you ever considered what the world would be like if humans n. practice of eating one’s own kind
weren’t in charge? Who would take over? What kind of government, In the wild, some animals
if any, would they establish? What changes would they make, and what have to resort to cannibalism
institutions would they want to maintain? in order to survive.
In Animal Farm, animals on a farm rebel against their owner and develop cryptic [krip´tik]
adj. intended to be mysterious
their own system of rule. As you read, consider what the animals’ interactions
or obscure
reveal about the nature of leadership and government. Keep a list of opinions
The computer specialist was unable
the author seems to be sharing about power (where does it come from?
to decipher the cryptic program that
who deserves it?) and equality (can it exist?).
had somehow found its way onto
my computer.
Literary Element Allegory gambol [am´bəl]

v. to skip about in play
An allegory is a literary work in which all or most of the characters, setting,
Kids like to gambol on the
and events stand for ideas, qualities or figures beyond themselves. An allegory playground with their friends.
is a kind of fable; a fable teaches a lesson, or moral, about human behavior.
ignominious [ińə miné̄ əs]
Allegories are often written so that an author can share his or her opinion adj. shameful; dishonorable
about a historical event or situation. Historical allusions are references After being defeated 10-1 in the
to well-known characters, places or situations from history. In Animal Farm, finals, the soccer team made an
Orwell makes allusions to the Russian Revolution and the individuals who ignominious retreat from the field.
were involved in and affected by the Revolution. indefatigable [in´di fat´ə ə bəl]
adj. untiring
As you read, draw conclusions about which historical individuals each of the After she happily shoveled snow
main characters stands for. for hours without a break, I was
sure that she was indefatigable.
Reading Strategy Evaluate Details

When you evaluate details, you look carefully at each element of plot,
character, and setting, and ask why the author might have chosen those
particular details.
De
ta
i
ls
Next, determine whether the author successfully used these details to

develop believable characters, settings and action. This is particularly important
when the author is describing an extraordinary situation, as Orwell does in
Animal Farm. Setting
As you read, ask yourself how the details that Orwell includes about his
characters and situations help contribute to his message about government
and leadership. You may find it helpful to use a graphic organizer like the one
at right. The graphic organizer on the next page can also help you evaluate
details about characters.
Author’s Message

As you read, think about the purpose of each of drawing a conclusion about which individuals or
Orwell’s major characters. Complete the chart by groups within the Russian Revolution that character
noting details that describe each character and by is supposed to represent.
Character Characteristics, Actions, Historical Allusion

and Purpose
Old Major gets the revolution started; Karl Marx

inspires hope for real change

Allegory The animals are initially Three nights later old Major died peacefully in his sleep. His
resistant to the idea of a revolution. body was buried at the foot of the orchard.
Do you think Snowball and Napoleon’s This was early in March. During the next three months
justifications for why it has to take there was much secret activity. Major’s speech had given to the
place are convincing? Would similar
more intelligent animals on the farm a completely new outlook
arguments work for humans
considering revolution? on life. They did not know when the Rebellion predicted by
Major would take place, they had no reason for thinking that
it would be within their own lifetime, but they saw clearly that
it was their duty to prepare for it. The work of teaching and
organising the others fell naturally upon the pigs, who were
generally recognised as being the cleverest of the animals.
Pre-eminent among the pigs were two young boars named
Snowball and Napoleon, whom Mr. Jones was breeding up
for sale. Napoleon was a large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire
boar, the only Berkshire on the farm, not much of a talker, but
with a reputation for getting his own way. Snowball was a
more vivacious pig than Napoleon, quicker in speech and more
inventive, but was not considered to have the same depth of
character. All the other male pigs on the farm were porkers. The
best known among them was a small fat pig named Squealer,
with very round cheeks, twinkling eyes, nimble movements,
and a shrill voice. He was a brilliant talker, and when he was
arguing some difficult point he had a way of skipping from
side to side and whisking his tail which was somehow very
persuasive. The others said of Squealer that he could turn black
into white.
These three had elaborated old Major’s teachings into a
complete system of thought, to which they gave the name of
Animalism. Several nights a week, after Mr. Jones was asleep,
they held secret meetings in the barn and expounded the
principles of Animalism to the others. At the beginning they
met with much stupidity and apathy. Some of the animals
talked of the duty of loyalty to Mr. Jones, whom they referred to
as “Master,” or made elementary remarks such as “Mr. Jones
feeds us. If he were gone, we should starve to death.” Others
asked such questions as “Why should we care what happens
after we are dead?” or “If this Rebellion is to happen anyway,
what difference does it make whether we work for it or not?”,
and the pigs had great difficulty in making them see that this
was contrary to the spirit of Animalism. The stupidest questions
of all were asked by Mollie, the white mare. The very first
question she asked Snowball was: “Will there still be sugar after
the Rebellion?”

“No,” said Snowball firmly. “We have no means of making Literary Element
sugar on this farm. Besides, you do not need sugar. You will
have all the oats and hay you want.” Allegory Why is this an appropriate
time for the animals to take over
“And shall I still be allowed to wear ribbons in my mane?”
Manor Farm? What does this tell
asked Mollie. you about what is necessary for a
“Comrade,” said Snowball, “those ribbons that you are so revolution to be successful?
devoted to are the badge of slavery. Can you not understand
that liberty is worth more than ribbons?”
Mollie agreed, but she did not sound very convinced.
The pigs had an even harder struggle to counteract the lies
put about by Moses, the tame raven. Moses, who was Mr.
Jones’s especial pet, was a spy and a tale-bearer, but he was also
a clever talker. He claimed to know of the existence of a
mysterious country called Sugarcandy Mountain, to which all
animals went when they died. It was situated somewhere up in
the sky, a little distance beyond the clouds, Moses said. In
Sugarcandy Mountain it was Sunday seven days a week, clover
was in season all the year round, and lump sugar and linseed
cake grew on the hedges. The animals hated Moses because he
told tales and did no work, but some of them believed in
Sugarcandy Mountain, and the pigs had to argue very hard to
persuade them that there was no such place.
Their most faithful disciples were the two cart-horses, Boxer
and Clover. These two had great difficulty in thinking anything
out for themselves, but having once accepted the pigs as their
teachers, they absorbed everything that they were told, and
passed it on to the other animals by simple arguments. They
were unfailing in their attendance at the secret meetings in the
barn, and led the singing of Beasts of England, with which the
meetings always ended. Now, as it turned out, the Rebellion
was achieved much earlier and more easily than anyone had
expected. In past years Mr. Jones, although a hard master, had
been a capable farmer, but of late he had fallen on evil days. He
had become much disheartened after losing money in a lawsuit,
and had taken to drinking more than was good for him. For
whole days at a time he would lounge in his Windsor chair in
the kitchen, reading the newspapers, drinking, and occasionally
feeding Moses on crusts of bread soaked in beer. His men were
idle and dishonest, the fields were full of weeds, the buildings
wanted roofing, the hedges were neglected, and the animals
were underfed.

Evaluate Details What details does But they woke at dawn as usual, and suddenly remembering
Orwell use to remind the reader that the glorious thing that had happened, they all raced out into
the main characters are still animals, the pasture together. A little way down the pasture there was a
despite their newfound freedom? knoll that commanded a view of most of the farm. The animals
rushed to the top of it and gazed round them in the clear
morning light. Yes, it was theirs—everything that they could see
was theirs! In the ecstasy of that thought they gambolled round
and round, they hurled themselves into the air in great leaps of
excitement. They rolled in the dew, they cropped mouthfuls of
the sweet summer grass, they kicked up clods of the black earth
and snuffed its rich scent. Then they made a tour of inspection
of the whole farm and surveyed with speechless admiration
the ploughland, the hayfield, the orchard, the pool, the spinney.
It was as though they had never seen these things before, and
even now they could hardly believe that it was all their own.
Then they filed back to the farm buildings and halted in
silence outside the door of the farmhouse. That was theirs too,
but they were frightened to go inside. After a moment, however,
Snowball and Napoleon butted the door open with their
shoulders and the animals entered in single file, walking with
the utmost care for fear of disturbing anything. They tiptoed
from room to room, afraid to speak above a whisper and gazing
with a kind of awe at the unbelievable luxury, at the beds with
their feather mattresses, the looking-glasses, the horsehair
sofa, the Brussels carpet, the lithograph of Queen Victoria over
the drawing-room mantelpiece. They were just coming down
the stairs when Mollie was discovered to be missing. Going
back, the others found that she had remained behind in the
best bedroom. She had taken a piece of blue ribbon from Mrs.
Jones’s dressing-table, and was holding it against her shoulder
and admiring herself in the glass in a very foolish manner. The
others reproached her sharply, and they went outside. Some
hams hanging in the kitchen were taken out for burial, and
the barrel of beer in the scullery was stove in with a kick from
Boxer’s hoof, otherwise nothing in the house was touched.
A unanimous resolution was passed on the spot that the
farmhouse should be preserved as a museum. All were agreed
that no animal must ever live there.
The animals had their breakfast, and then Snowball and
Napoleon called them together again.
“Comrades,” said Snowball, “it is half-past six and we have a
long day before us. Today we begin the hay harvest. But there is
another matter that must be attended to first.”

The pigs now revealed that during the past three months Reading Strategy
they had taught themselves to read and write from an old
spelling book which had belonged to Mr. Jones’s children and Evaluate Details Are the details
that showed the main characters as
which had been thrown on the rubbish heap. Napoleon sent
animals convincing, or do you start
for pots of black and white paint and led the way down to the to question the animals’ abilities
five-barred gate that gave on to the main road. Then Snowball and characteristics?
(for it was Snowball who was best at writing) took a brush
between the two knuckles of his trotter, painted out Manor
Farm from the top bar of the gate and in its place painted
Animal Farm. This was to be the name of the farm from now
onwards. After this they went back to the farm buildings, where
Snowball and Napoleon sent for a ladder which they caused
to be set against the end wall of the big barn. They explained
that by their studies of the past three months the pigs had
succeeded in reducing the principles of Animalism to Seven
Commandments. These Seven Commandments would now
be inscribed on the wall; they would form an unalterable law
by which all the animals on Animal Farm must live for ever
after. With some difficulty (for it is not easy for a pig to balance
himself on a ladder) Snowball climbed up and set to work, with
Squealer a few rungs below him holding the paint-pot. The
Commandments were written on the tarred wall in great white
letters that could be read thirty yards away. They ran thus:
THE SEVEN COMMANDMENTS
1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are equal.
It was very neatly written, and except that “friend” was
written “freind” and one of the “S’s” was the wrong way round,
the spelling was correct all the way through. Snowball read it
aloud for the benefit of the others. All the animals nodded in
complete agreement, and the cleverer ones at once began to
learn the Commandments by heart.
“Now, Comrades,” cried Snowball, throwing down the paint-
brush, “to the hayfield! Let us make it a point of honour to get
in the harvest more quickly than Jones and his men could do.”

If so, then mark up the pages as you Napoleon took no interest in Snowball’s committees. He
read, or reread, to help with your said that the education of the young was more important than
note-taking. Develop a shorthand anything that could be done for those who were already grown
up. It happened that Jessie and Bluebell had both whelped soon
after the hay harvest, giving birth between them to nine sturdy
puppies. As soon as they were weaned, Napoleon took them
away from their mothers, saying that he would make himself
Asterisk = just what you were looking responsible for their education. He took them up into a loft
for
which could only be reached by a ladder from the harness-room,
and there kept them in such seclusion that the rest of the farm
Circle = unfamiliar word or phrase to soon forgot their existence.
look up
The mystery of where the milk went to was soon cleared up.
It was mixed every day into the pigs’ mash. The early apples
were now ripening, and the grass of the orchard was littered
with windfalls. The animals had assumed as a matter of course
that these would be shared out equally; one day, however, the
order went forth that all the windfalls were to be collected and
brought to the harness-room for the use of the pigs. At this
some of the other animals murmured, but it was no use. All the
pigs were in full agreement on this point, even Snowball and
Napoleon. Squealer was sent to make the necessary explanations
to the others.
“Comrades!” he cried. “You do not imagine, I hope, that we
왘 BIG Idea pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many
Our World and Beyond How have of us actually dislike milk and apples. I dislike them myself. Our
the pigs established their power and
sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health. Milk
leadership?
and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain
Mark up the excerpt, looking for substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We
evidence of how it expresses the pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organisation
Big Idea. of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over
your welfare. It is for your sake that we drink that milk and
eat those apples. Do you know what would happen if we pigs
failed in our duty? Jones would come back! Yes, Jones would
come back! Surely, comrades,” cried Squealer almost pleadingly,
skipping from side to side and whisking his tail, “surely there is
no one among you who wants to see Jones come back?”
Now if there was one thing that the animals were completely
certain of, it was that they did not want Jones back. When it
was put to them in this light, they had no more to say. The
importance of keeping the pigs in good health was all too
obvious. So it was agreed without further argument that the
milk and the windfall apples (and also the main crop of apples
when they ripened) should be reserved for the pigs alone.

reduce your notes.
Record
ASK QUESTIONS
Recap

1. Describe how the Rebellion takes place. How does the animals’ behavior Reread Introduction to the Novel
during the Rebellion suggest both human and animal characteristics? on pages 300–301. How did that
[Interpret] information help you understand
the novel?
2. How do the pigs gain the rights to the cow’s milk? Why do the other animals
allow this to occur? What does this event suggest about the power
hierarchy on the farm? [Infer]
3. What technique does Orwell use to cast doubt on the likelihood of a

successful revolution? [Analyze]
4. Characterize Snowball as a leader. Do you think his reaction to the

stable boy’s death is the appropriate reaction to have during a revolution?
[Evaluate]
5. Our World and Beyond How do the pigs initially establish themselves as
the rightful leaders of Animal Farm? [Interpret]

Literary Element Allegory Vocabulary Practice

In what way do the events in these chapters reflect Identify the context clues in the following sentences
the rise of Stalin and the beginnings of the Russian that help you determine the meaning of each
Revolution? [Connect] boldfaced vocabulary word.
1. When they’re not able to find enough food to

survive, some animals resort to cannibalism.
2. Instead of being easy to solve, the riddle turned

out to be cryptic.
3. After finding out that he got into his first choice

college, Robert was so excited that he gamboled
around his room.
4. She was embarassed by her ignominious conduct

at the debate tournament; she shamefully
ridiculed one of her opponents.
5. The world-renowned athlete seemed to be

indefatigable, or untiring.
Reading Strategy Evaluate Details

In your opinion, does Orwell create believable Academic Vocabulary
characters and settings in Animal Farm? [Evaluate] Initially, the humans doubted that the animals could
sustain the farm and their livelihoods, but the animals
vowed to prove them wrong. Using context clues, try
to figure out the meaning of the word sustain in the
sentence above. Write your guess below. Then check
it in a dictionary.
A ni m a l Fa rm : C h a p te r s 1 – 4 313

Write a Log The animals recognize the Battle of the Oral Interpretation
Cowshed as a pivotal moment in the Revolution. What Assignment While addressing a serious topic on one
effects did the battle have on the animals, individually level, the plot of Animal Farm, when taken literally,
and as a group? Write a short battle log describing is also quite humorous. With a partner, reread two
the events and evaluating the animals’ behavior. passages and then identify how Orwell creates humor.
Share your battle log with a partner and compare
your evaluations of the events and the effects on Prepare With a partner, choose two scenes or
the animals. passages that you find especially funny. Determine
who will read and who will interpret each scene.
Discuss The reader of the first passage should
read clearly and expressively. After the reading, the
interpreter should explain how Orwell created humor
in that particular passage. Together, fill in a graphic
Humorous
Orwell’s
comment or
technique
situation
When you finish the first passage, continue with your

reading and discussion of the second passage.
Perform Read one excerpt aloud to the class, and

briefly explain how Orwell created humor in these two
passages. Make sure you read loudly and clearly, using
your voice to emphasize the humorous moments in
the chosen passage.
Evaluate Write a paragraph in which you assess the

effectiveness of your interpretation and partner work.


How would you feel if the rules for correct behavior kept changing? entries about the novels that you read
this year.
Have a Discussion
In a small group, discuss some methods people have for persuading others
WRITE THE CAPTION
to follow particular rules of behavior. Consider ways in which this persuasion
relies on bias and manipulation of information.
Build Background
Power Struggle
In Chapters 5 through 7, the battle for power between Snowball and Napoleon
comes to its climax. In Soviet history, a similar battle raged between two
very different men, Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. Stalin exercised power
through regulations and rules. As its leader, he controlled the Communist
Party bureaucracy. Trotsky had proven himself a masterful military strategist
and inspirational leader during the Russian Civil War. He wanted to limit
government power. The two also disagreed about how to industrialize and
whether to focus on Soviet or worldwide socialism. Stalin took control in 1925,
and he kept this control largely through tactics of terror. Large portraits of Stalin
were placed around the country to remind the people of the dictator’s control.
BEFOR E YOU READ: Chapters 5–7

SF_Head
canvas [kan´vəs]
In what ways are you influenced by others and by institutions around you v. to request support
(for example, media, government, school)? Do you consider yourself a free- Michelle knew she needed to canvas
thinker, or are your beliefs and opinions shaped by these external forces? her school in order to get enough
votes to be elected freshman class
In these chapters, Napoleon begins to secretly rewrite the rules upon which president.
Animalism was founded. As you read, think about how he and the other pigs
dynamo [d¯ńə mō]
are exploiting the other animals. How do they justify their unequal rations and
n. electric generator
powers? Why are the other animals so willing to accept these justifications?
When the power goes out, a
dynamo can be a lifesaver.
Literary Element Dialogue embolden [em bōld´ən]

v. to instill with courage
Dialogue is conversation between characters in a literary work. Dialogue
He knew that if won his division
brings characters to life by revealing their personalities and by showing what
at Saturday’s regional debate
they are thinking and feeling as they react to other characters. Dialogue can
competition, the win would
also create mood, advance the plot, and develop theme. embolden him during the state
competition next month.
In an allegory, look closely at what is being said and what is being implied.
By “reading between the lines,” you can identify allusions being made and malignity [mə lińə tē]
discover the author’s social commentary. n. an example of evil behavior
The killing of those who opposed his
As you read, keep track of the inferences you make as you read the character’s leadership is just one example of a
dialogue. What do these reveal about Orwell’s attitude toward socialism? Use malignity during Stalin’s rule.
the graphic organizer on the next page to help you “read between the lines.” manouever [mə n¯ oo´vər]
(U.S.: maneuver)
n. strategy to gain a particular aim
Reading Strategy Analyze Motivation The boat’s captain knew he need to
perform a tricky manouever to avoid
Motivation is the stated or implied reason or cause for a character’s actions.
hitting the approaching whale.
Motivation can be revealed through a character’s speech or actions, or through
suggestions made by the narrator.
As you read, try to determine what motivation each animal has for their
behavior on the farm. You may find it helpful to use a graphic organizer like
the one below.
Character Action Motivation

Orwell’s characters and narrator use language to by filling in some examples of manipulative
communicate hidden agendas. Sometimes Orwell communication. Then state what you think the
hints that language should be carefully questioned, language really means. Use as many boxes as
other times it’s up to the reader to notice. As you you need. You may paraphrase the passages
read Chapters 5 through 7, complete the chart below from the text.
The Words What They Really Mean

In future all questions relating to the
working of the farm would be settled by Napoleon is going to make all the
a special committee of pigs presided over decisions from now on.
by himself.

Dialogue What impression do you get Napoleon decreed that there should be a full investigation
of Squealer from this speech? into Snowball’s activities. With his dogs in attendance he set out
and made a careful tour of inspection of the farm buildings, the
other animals following at a respectful distance. At every few
steps Napoleon stopped and snuffed the ground for traces of
Snowball’s footsteps, which, he said, he could detect by the
smell. He snuffed in every corner, in the barn, in the cow-shed,
in the henhouses, in the vegetable garden, and found traces of
Snowball almost everywhere. He would put his snout to the
ground, give several deep sniffs, and exclaim in a terrible voice,
“Snowball! He has been here! I can smell him distinctly!” and at
the word “Snowball” all the dogs let out blood-curdling growls
and showed their side teeth.
The animals were thoroughly frightened. It seemed to them
as though Snowball were some kind of invisible influence,
pervading the air about them and menacing them with all kinds
of dangers. In the evening Squealer called them together, and
with an alarmed expression on his face told them that he had
some serious news to report.
“Comrades!” cried Squealer, making little nervous skips,
“a most terrible thing has been discovered. Snowball has sold
himself to Frederick of Pinchfield Farm, who is even now
plotting to attack us and take our farm away from us! Snowball
is to act as his guide when the attack begins. But there is worse
than that. We had thought that Snowball’s rebellion was caused
simply by his vanity and ambition. But we were wrong, comrades.
Do you know what the real reason was? Snowball was in league
with Jones from the very start! He was Jones’s secret agent all
the time. It has all been proved by documents which he left
behind him and which we have only just discovered. To my
mind this explains a great deal, comrades. Did we not see for
ourselves how he attempted—fortunately without success—to
get us defeated and destroyed at the Battle of the Cowshed?”
The animals were stupefied. This was a wickedness far
outdoing Snowball’s destruction of the windmill. But it was
some minutes before they could fully take it in. They all
remembered, or thought they remembered, how they had seen
Snowball charging ahead of them at the Battle of the Cowshed,
how he had rallied and encouraged them at every turn, and
how he had not paused for an instant even when the pellets
from Jones’s gun had wounded his back. At first it was a little
difficult to see how this fitted in with his being on Jones’s side.
Even Boxer, who seldom asked questions, was puzzled. He lay

down, tucked his fore hoofs beneath him, shut his eyes, and Literary Element
with a hard effort managed to formulate his thoughts.
“I do not believe that,” he said. “Snowball fought bravely at Dialogue What do these exchanges
reveal about how the pigs are able
the Battle of the Cowshed. I saw him myself. Did we not give
to brainwash the other animals into
him ‘Animal Hero, First Class,’ immediately afterwards?” believing the stories that they make up?
“That was our mistake, comrade. For we know now—it is all
written down in the secret documents that we have found—that
in reality he was trying to lure us to our doom.”
“But he was wounded,” said Boxer. “We all saw him running
with blood.”
“That was part of the arrangement!” cried Squealer. “Jones’s
shot only grazed him. I could show you this in his own writing,
if you were able to read it. The plot was for Snowball, at the
critical moment, to give the signal for flight and leave the field
to the enemy. And he very nearly succeeded—I will even say,
comrades, he would have succeeded if it had not been for our
heroic Leader, Comrade Napoleon. Do you not remember how,
just at the moment when Jones and his men had got inside the
yard, Snowball suddenly turned and fled, and many animals
followed him? And do you not remember, too, that it was just at
that moment, when panic was spreading and all seemed lost,
that Comrade Napoleon sprang forward with a cry of ‘Death to
Humanity!’ and sank his teeth in Jones’s leg? Surely you
remember that, comrades?” exclaimed Squealer, frisking from
side to side.
Now when Squealer described the scene so graphically, it
seemed to the animals that they did remember it. At any rate,
they remembered that at the critical moment of the battle
Snowball had turned to flee. But Boxer was still a little uneasy.
“I do not believe that Snowball was a traitor at the
beginning,” he said finally. “What he has done since is different.
But I believe that at the Battle of the Cowshed he was a good
comrade.”
“Our Leader, Comrade Napoleon,” announced Squealer,
speaking very slowly and firmly, “has stated categorically—
categorically, comrade—that Snowball was Jones’s agent from
the very beginning—yes, and from long before the Rebellion
was ever thought of.”
“Ah, that is different!” said Boxer. “If Comrade Napoleon
says it, it must be right.”
“That is the true spirit, comrade!” cried Squealer, but it was
noticed he cast a very ugly look at Boxer with his little
twinkling eyes. He turned to go, then paused and added
impressively: “I warn every animal on this farm to keep his eyes
very wide open. For we have reason to think that some of
Snowball’s secret agents are lurking among us at this moment!”

Analyze Motivation What is Apart from the disputes over the windmill, there was the
Snowball’s motivation to build a question of the defence of the farm. It was fully realised that
windmill on Animal Farm land? though the human beings had been defeated in the Battle of
the Cowshed they might make another and more determined
attempt to recapture the farm and reinstate Mr. Jones. They had
all the more reason for doing so because the news of their defeat
had spread across the countryside and made the animals on the
neighbouring farms more restive than ever. As usual, Snowball
and Napoleon were in disagreement. According to Napoleon,
what the animals must do was to procure firearms and train
themselves in the use of them. According to Snowball, they
must send out more and more pigeons and stir up rebellion
among the animals on the other farms. The one argued that
if they could not defend themselves they were bound to
be conquered, the other argued that if rebellions happened
everywhere they would have no need to defend themselves.
The animals listened first to Napoleon, then to Snowball, and
could not make up their minds which was right; indeed, they
always found themselves in agreement with the one who was
speaking at the moment.
At last the day came when Snowball’s plans were completed.
At the Meeting on the following Sunday the question of whether
or not to begin work on the windmill was to be put to the vote.
When the animals had assembled in the big barn, Snowball
stood up and, though occasionally interrupted by bleating from
the sheep, set forth his reasons for advocating the building of
the windmill. Then Napoleon stood up to reply. He said very
quietly that the windmill was nonsense and that he advised
nobody to vote for it, and promptly sat down again; he had
spoken for barely thirty seconds, and seemed almost indifferent
as to the effect he produced. At this Snowball sprang to his
feet, and shouting down the sheep, who had begun bleating
again, broke into a passionate appeal in favour of the windmill.
Until now the animals had been about equally divided in their
sympathies, but in a moment Snowball’s eloquence had carried
them away. In glowing sentences he painted a picture of Animal
Farm as it might be when sordid labour was lifted from the
animals’ backs. His imagination had now run far beyond chaff-
cutters and turnip-slicers. Electricity, he said, could operate
threshing machines, ploughs, harrows, rollers, and reapers
and binders, besides supplying every stall with its own electric
light, hot and cold water, and an electric heater. By the time
he had finished speaking, there was no doubt as to which way
the vote would go. But just at this moment Napoleon stood

up and, casting a peculiar sidelong look at Snowball, uttered Reading Strategy

a high-pitched whimper of a kind no one had ever heard him
utter before. Analyze Motivation What are
Napoleon’s true motivations for ending
At this there was a terrible baying sound outside, and nine
the Sunday-morning Meetings?
enormous dogs wearing brass-studded collars came bounding
into the barn. They dashed straight for Snowball, who only
sprang from his place just in time to escape their snapping jaws.
In a moment he was out of the door and they were after him.
Too amazed and frightened to speak, all the animals crowded
through the door to watch the chase. Snowball was racing
across the long pasture that led to the road. He was running
as only a pig can run, but the dogs were close on his heels.
Suddenly he slipped and it seemed certain that they had him.
Then he was up again, running faster than ever, then the dogs
were gaining on him again. One of them all but closed his jaws
on Snowball’s tail, but Snowball whisked it free just in time.
Then he put on an extra spurt and, with a few inches to spare,
slipped through a hole in the hedge and was seen no more.
Silent and terrified, the animals crept back into the barn. In
a moment the dogs came bounding back. At first no one had
been able to imagine where these creatures came from, but
the problem was soon solved: they were the puppies whom
Napoleon had taken away from their mothers and reared
privately. Though not yet full-grown, they were huge dogs, and
as fierce-looking as wolves. They kept close to Napoleon. It was
noticed that they wagged their tails to him in the same way as
the other dogs had been used to do to Mr. Jones.
Napoleon, with the dogs following him, now mounted on
to the raised portion of the floor where Major had previously
stood to deliver his speech. He announced that from now on the
Sunday-morning Meetings would come to an end. They were
unnecessary, he said, and wasted time. In future all questions
relating to the working of the farm would be settled by a special
committee of pigs, presided over by himself. These would meet
in private and afterwards communicate their decisions to the
others. The animals would still assemble on Sunday mornings
to salute the flag, sing Beasts of England, and receive their orders
for the week; but there would be no more debates.
In spite of the shock that Snowball’s expulsion had given
them, the animals were dismayed by this announcement.
Several of them would have protested if they could have found
the right arguments. Even Boxer was vaguely troubled. He set
his ears back, shook his forelock several times, and tried hard
to marshal his thoughts; but in the end he could not think of
anything to say. Some of the pigs themselves, however, were
more articulate.

If so, then mark up the pages as you It was about this time that the pigs suddenly moved into the
read, or reread, to help with your farmhouse and took up their residence there. Again the animals
note-taking. Develop a shorthand seemed to remember that a resolution against this had been passed
in the early days, and again Squealer was able to convince them
that this was not the case. It was absolutely necessary, he said,
that the pigs, who were the brains of the farm, should have a quiet
place to work in. It was also more suited to the dignity of the
Asterisk = just what you were looking Leader (for of late he had taken to speaking of Napoleon under the
for
title of “Leader”) to live in a house than in a mere sty. Nevertheless,
some of the animals were disturbed when they heard that the pigs
Circle = unfamiliar word or phrase to not only took their meals in the kitchen and used the drawing-
look up
room as a recreation room, but also slept in the beds. Boxer
passed it off as usual with “Napoleon is always right!”, but Clover,
who thought she remembered a definite ruling against beds,
went to the end of the barn and tried to puzzle out the Seven
Commandments which were inscribed there. Finding herself
unable to read more than individual letters, she fetched Muriel.
“Muriel,” she said, “read me the Fourth Commandment.
Does it not say something about never sleeping in a bed?”
With some difficulty Muriel spelt it out.
“It says, ‘No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets,’” she
announced finally.
Curiously enough, Clover had not remembered that the
왘 BIG Idea Fourth Commandment mentioned sheets; but as it was there on
Our World and Beyond Why is it that the wall, it must have done so. And Squealer, who happened to
the animals on Animal Farm can be
be passing at this moment, attended by two or three dogs, was
so easily influenced by Napoleon?
able to put the whole matter in its proper perspective.
Mark up the excerpt, looking for “You have heard then, comrades,” he said, “that we pigs now
evidence of how it expresses the sleep in the beds of the farmhouse? And why not? You did not
Big Idea. suppose, surely, that there was ever a ruling against beds? A bed
merely means a place to sleep in. A pile of straw in a stall is a
bed, properly regarded. The rule was against sheets, which are a
human invention. We have removed the sheets from the farmhouse
beds, and sleep between blankets. And very comfortable beds
they are too! But not more comfortable than we need, I can tell
you, comrades, with all the brainwork we have to do nowadays.
You would not rob us of our repose, would you, comrades? You
would not have us too tired to carry out our duties? Surely none
of you wishes to see Jones back?”
The animals reassured him on this point immediately, and no
more was said about the pigs sleeping in the farmhouse beds.
And when, some days afterwards, it was announced that from
now on the pigs would get up an hour later in the mornings than
the other animals, no complaint was made about that either.

reduce your notes.
Record
TO THE POINT
Recap

1. What happens to Snowball during the meeting about the windmill? Reread Build Background on
What events in Soviet history does this scene suggest? [Infer] page 315. How did that information
2. Identify three ways that Napoleon tries to solidify his leadership position on
the farm. How does the process of decision-making on the farm change
under Napoleon’s leadership? [Conclude]
3. How does Orwell compare Animal Farm under Napoleon’s leadership,

to its exploited state under Farmer Jones’s rule? What attitude about
totalitarian government do you think Orwell conveys? [Infer]
4. Do you think it’s fair that those who are more educated or more skilled—
like the pigs in Animal Farm—have more influence in decision-making?
Consider how decisions are made in your community, state, or in the
nation. [Connect]
5. Our World and Beyond In their own unique world, the animals reveal
how far some are willing to go to achieve fame and power. While we know
that Orwell intended for his readers to make connections to Soviet leaders
like Stalin, are there any other historical or contemporary figures you know
who have been known to go too far in order to secure power? [Connect]

Literary Element Dialogue Vocabulary Practice

What happens each time the sheep start bleating, Write the vocabulary word that correctly completes
“Four legs good, two legs bad!”? [Analyze] each sentence. If none of the words fits the sentence,
write “none.”
canvas malignity
dynamo manoeuvre
embolden
1. The chess master’s final

allowed him to win the match.
2. When their power went out during the storm,

the Smiths were glad that they had kept their
old .
3 An act of terrorism is an extreme

.
4. The telephone company wanted to offer additional

, but they weren’t sure that
people would want to buy them.
5. The presidential candidates knew it was important

to as many states as possible
if they wanted to win the election.
Reading Strategy Analyze Motivation 6. The dictator did not want to

What is Boxer’s motivation for consistently working his subjects; if he did, he was afraid that
hard and putting in even longer hours than he needs they would speak their minds and try to revolt
to? [Infer] against him.
7. The melting glaciers are already threatening the

of native wildlife.
Academic Vocabulary
In these chapters of Animal Farm, some of the
fundamental rules of Animalism are mysteriously
altered. In the preceding sentence, fundamental
means “basic or underlying.” Think about those rules,
and complete the following sentence:
, one of the fundamental rules of

Animalism, was changed to

Visual/Media Presentation
Write a List What do you think of the way Napoleon Assignment Governments, like businesses, need
runs the farm? Would you support his leadership? to convey a particular image to their citizens and to
Imagine you are a newcomer to the farm. Write a list other nations in the world. They use public relations
of talking points that you would use if you were going experts to craft that image and communicate it through
to craft a political speech advocating either support for electronic and print media, word of mouth, and specific
or opposition to Napoleon’s views and methods. In policies. Present examples of public relations media
your list, include the specific examples you would use or images that craft a positive image of your home
to support each talking point. country or city, and discuss why you think these pieces
are created.
Get Ideas Craft a question to help guide your
research. For example, what public relations media or
images are currently being used to present a positive
image of ? On a chart like the one
below, make a list of potential sources that you can
use as you conduct your research.
Information I
Potential Source
might find there
Research Use both print resources and the Internet

to conduct your research. You might also consider
contacting the public relations coordinator in your
town. As you collect information, make sure to make
copies of the images/media that you want to include
in your presentation and record the source information
for each piece.
Prepare Create a media presentation of the

information you have found. Consider using
presentation software such as Powerpoint to help you
develop a professional-looking report. Your presentation
should also include a discussion of why these specific
images/media were created and what effect they have
on public opinion of your country or city. At the end of
your presentation, comment on how your research
relates to what Napoleon does in the novel.
Present Share your media presentation with the

class. Use appropriate and effective eye contact, tone
of voice, and body language.


Do you think revolution is worth the upheaval and damage it inevitably entries about the novels that you read
causes? Can it bring about real and lasting change? Why or why not? this year.
Conduct a Debate
SUMMARIZE
With a partner, identify and discuss factors that a government can modify
(such as policies) and those that it cannot (such as climate conditions).
Consider also whether there are elements to the human condition so basic
that no revolution can change them.
Build Background
Allies and Enemies
Napoleon wants the farm to have greater contact with the outside world.
Joseph Stalin had similar visions for the Soviet Union. During the 1930s, he
was torn between allying himself with Western capitalist nations or with Adolf
Hitler’s fascist German government. The Soviet propaganda machine defiled
each “enemy” in turn as Stalin shifted allegiances. In 1939 Stalin pledged
himself to Hitler by signing a “non-aggression pact.” Hitler broke his promise
and invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. The Soviets then became allies with
the West. At first, Hitler had great success against Stalin’s less modern armies.
Ultimately, the Soviet army turned the tide with the Battle of Stalingrad, though
the city was nearly destroyed and hundreds of thousands of Soviets killed.

SF_Head
demeanor [di mēńər]
Have you ever traveled to a country that has a completely different culture n. outward manner
than your own? Often, it is not until we are removed from our own culture that The teacher had such a kind
we can begin to see it more objectively and to reevalute our own societal and demeanor that students could not
personal belief systems. help liking him.
As Orwell brings his discussion of leadership and government on Animal devotees [dev´ə tēz´]
n. ardent followers
Farm to a close in these chapters, what ideas do you think he wants you to
consider about your own society? The devotees of the Australian pop
singer attended all of her concerts.
interment [in tur´mənt]

Literary Element Moral n. the act of burial
A moral is a practical lesson about right and wrong conduct. The moral can After the funeral service at the
church, we traveled to the cemetary,
either be stated directly or implied.
his place of interment.
Authors use both satire and irony to highlight the morals of their stories. machinations [mak´ə nā´shəns]
Satire uses humor to ridicule the follies of people or societies. Irony refers to n. scheming actions
a discrepany between appearance and reality. Dramatic irony refers to a His secret machinations ended
situation in which the reader knows more than the characters do. up getting him in trouble with
the police.
As you read, try to determine what lessons Orwell is trying to convey through taciturn [tas´ə turn´]
the final resolution of characters and situations. adj. not inclined to talking
Some authors are rather taciturn;
they prefer to write in solitude, not
Reading Strategy Connect to Contemporary Issues to talk in public forums.
To connect to contemporary issues is to make links between the issues
and situations in a literary work and similar issues and situations that occur in
today’s world.
Issue/Problem in Novel
When reading works that have an unusual or unfamiliar setting, it is important
to consider how the events in the story relate to issues in the real world.
For example, a recent film production of Animal Farm established connections
between the situations the animals encountered and the situation in
modern Russia.
As you read, record at least three significant issues or problems that the Contemporary Issue/Problem
chapters raise. After you finish reading, note issues from today’s world
that relate to each issue in the story. You may find it helpful to use a
graphic organizer like the one below. The graphic organizer on the next
page can also help you organize issues from the book that relate to
contemporary issues.

As Napoleon takes over leadership of the farm, a new around the world when leadership changes hands.
social and political structure emerges. This restructuring As you read, record each major change that occurs on
brings about many changes in power and privilege Animal Farm, then identify a contemporary situation
among the animals, and it mirrors many of the social, that mirrors this change.
political and economic changes that occur in countries
Changes Brought
About by Leadership
Animal Farm Contemporary Situation
pigs live in farmhouse work longer hours

Napoleon is waited on receive less food

Moral How is Mr. Pilkington’s He believed that he was right in saying that the lower animals
assertion here ironic and satiric? How on Animal Farm did more work and received less food than any
does this satire highlight the moral of animals in the county. Indeed, he and his fellow-visitors today
Animal Farm? had observed many features which they intended to introduce
on their own farms immediately.
He would end his remarks, he said, by emphasising once
again the friendly feelings that subsisted, and ought to subsist,
between Animal Farm and its neighbours. Between pigs and
human beings there was not, and there need not be, any clash of
interests whatever. Their struggles and their difficulties were
one. Was not the labour problem the same everywhere? Here it
became apparent that Mr. Pilkington was about to spring some
carefully prepared witticism on the company, but for a moment
he was too overcome by amusement to be able to utter it. After
much choking, during which his various chins turned purple,
he managed to get it out: “If you have your lower animals to
contend with,” he said, “we have our lower classes!” This bon
mot set the table in a roar; and Mr. Pilkington once again
congratulated the pigs on the low rations, the long working
hours, and the general absence of pampering which he had
observed on Animal Farm.
And now, he said finally, he would ask the company to rise
to their feet and make certain that their glasses were full.
“Gentlemen,” concluded Mr. Pilkington, “gentlemen, I give you
a toast: To the prosperity of Animal Farm!”
There was enthusiastic cheering and stamping of feet. Napoleon
was so gratified that he left his place and came round the table
to clink his mug against Mr. Pilkington’s before emptying it.
When the cheering had died down, Napoleon, who had remained
on his feet, intimated that he too had a few words to say.
Like all of Napoleon’s speeches, it was short and to the point.
He too, he said, was happy that the period of misunderstanding
was at an end. For a long time there had been rumours—
circulated, he had reason to think by some malignant enemy—
that there was something subversive and even revolutionary in
the outlook of himself and his colleagues. They had been
credited with attempting to stir up rebellion among the animals
on neighbouring farms. Nothing could be further from the
truth! Their sole wish, now and in the past, was to live at peace
and in normal business relations with their neighbours. This
farm which he had the honour to control, he added, was a
co-operative enterprise. The title-deeds, which were in his own
possession, were owned by the pigs jointly.
He did not believe, he said, that any of the old suspicions
still lingered, but certain changes had been made recently in the
routine of the farm which should have the effect of promoting Literary Element
confidence still further. Hitherto the animals on the farm had
had a rather foolish custom of addressing one another as Moral What does the final
sentence of Animal Farm reveal
“Comrade.” This was to be suppressed. There had also been a
about the moral Orwell wanted
very strange custom, whose origin was unknown, of marching his readers to understand?
every Sunday morning past a boar’s skull which was nailed to a
post in the garden. This, too, would be suppressed, and the
skull had already been buried. His visitors might have
observed, too, the green flag which flew from the masthead. If
so, they would perhaps have noted that the white hoof and
horn with which it had previously been marked had now been
removed. It would be a plain green flag from now onwards.
He had only one criticism, he said, to make of Mr. Pilkington’s
excellent and neighbourly speech. Mr. Pilkington had referred
throughout to “Animal Farm.” He could not of course know—
for he, Napoleon, was only now for the first time announcing
it—that the name “Animal Farm” had been abolished.
Henceforward the farm was to be known as “The Manor
Farm”—which, he believed, was its correct and original name.
“Gentlemen,” concluded Napoleon, “I will give you the same
toast as before, but in a different form. Fill your glasses to the
brim. Gentlemen, here is my toast: To the prosperity of The
Manor Farm!”
There was the same hearty cheering as before, and the mugs
were emptied to the dregs. But as the animals outside gazed at
the scene, it seemed to them that some strange thing was
happening. What was it that had altered in the faces of the pigs?
Clover’s old dim eyes flitted from one face to another. Some of
them had five chins, some had four, some had three. But what
was it that seemed to be melting and changing? Then, the
applause having come to an end, the company took up their
cards and continued the game that had been interrupted, and
the animals crept silently away.
But they had not gone twenty yards when they stopped
short. An uproar of voices was coming from the farmhouse.
They rushed back and looked through the window again. Yes, a
violent quarrel was in progress. There were shoutings, bangings
on the table, sharp suspicious glances, furious denials. The
source of the trouble appeared to be that Napoleon and Mr.
Pilkington had each played an ace of spades simultaneously.
Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all
alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the
pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from
man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was
impossible to say which was which.

Connect to Contemporary Issues The very next morning the attack came. The animals were at
Why is Napoleon’s belief that the breakfast when the look-outs came racing in with the news that
windmill is strong enough to withstand Frederick and his followers had already come through the five-
an attack flawed? Does his attitude barred gate. Boldly enough the animals sallied forth to meet
remind you of any current political
them, but this time they did not have the easy victory that they
leaders toward avowed “enemies”
or other threatening situations? had had in the Battle of the Cowshed. There were fifteen men,
with half a dozen guns between them, and they opened fire as
soon as they got within fifty yards. The animals could not face
the terrible explosions and the stinging pellets, and in spite of
the efforts of Napoleon and Boxer to rally them, they were soon
driven back. A number of them were already wounded. They
took refuge in the farm buildings and peeped cautiously out
from chinks and knot-holes. The whole of the big pasture,
including the windmill, was in the hands of the enemy. For the
moment even Napoleon seemed at a loss. He paced up and
down without a word . . .
Meanwhile Frederick and his men had halted about the
windmill. The animals watched them, and a murmur of dismay
went round. Two of the men had produced a crowbar and a
sledge hammer. They were going to knock the windmill down.
“Impossible!” cried Napoleon. “We have built the walls far
too thick for that. They could not knock it down in a week.
Courage, comrades!”
But Benjamin was watching the movements of the men
intently. The two with the hammer and the crowbar were
drilling a hole near the base of the windmill. Slowly, and with
an air almost of amusement, Benjamin nodded his long muzzle.
“I thought so,” he said. “Do you not see what they are
doing? In another moment they are going to pack blasting
powder into that hole.”
Terrified, the animals waited. It was impossible now to
venture out of the shelter of the buildings. After a few minutes
the men were seen to be running in all directions. Then there
was a deafening roar. The pigeons swirled into the air, and all
the animals, except Napoleon, flung themselves flat on their
bellies and hid their faces. When they got up again, a huge
cloud of black smoke was hanging where the windmill had
been. Slowly the breeze drifted it away. The windmill had
ceased to exist!
At this sight the animals’ courage returned to them. The fear
and despair they had felt a moment earlier were drowned in
their rage against this vile, contemptible act. A mighty cry for
vengeance went up, and without waiting for further orders they
charged forth in a body and made straight for the enemy. This

time they did not heed the cruel pellets that swept over them Reading Strategy
like hail. It was a savage, bitter battle. The men fired again and
again, and, when the animals got to close quarters, lashed out Connect to Contemporary Issues
George Orwell intended this passage
with their sticks and their heavy boots. A cow, three sheep, and
to refer to the Battle of Stalingrad.
two geese were killed, and nearly everyone was wounded. Even What battle or conflict that you have
Napoleon, who was directing operations from the rear, had the studied does this passage call to mind?
tip of his tail chipped by a pellet. But the men did not go
unscathed either. . . . They saw that they were in danger of
being surrounded. Frederick shouted to his men to get out
while the going was good, and the next moment the cowardly
enemy was running for dear life. The animals chased them right
down to the bottom of the field, and got in some last kicks at
them as they forced their way through the thorn hedge.
They had won, but they were weary and bleeding. Slowly
they began to limp back towards the farm. The sight of their
dead comrades stretched upon the grass moved some of them
to tears. And for a little while they halted in sorrowful silence at
the place where the windmill had once stood. Yes, it was gone;
almost the last trace of their labour was gone! Even the
foundations were partially destroyed. And in rebuilding it they
could not this time, as before, make use of the fallen stones. This
time the stones had vanished too. The force of the explosion had
flung them to distances of hundreds of yards. It was as though
the windmill had never been.
As they approached the farm Squealer, who had
unaccountably been absent during the fighting, came skipping
towards them, whisking his tail and beaming with satisfaction.
And the animals heard, from the direction of the farm buildings,
the solemn booming of a gun.
“What is that gun firing for?” said Boxer.
“To celebrate our victory!” cried Squealer.
“What victory?” said Boxer. His knees were bleeding, he had
lost a shoe and split his hoof, and a dozen pellets had lodged
themselves in his hind leg.
“What victory, comrade? Have we not driven the enemy off
our soil—the sacred soil of Animal Farm?”
“But they have destroyed the windmill. And we had worked
on it for two years!”
“What matter? We will build another windmill. We will build
six windmills if we feel like it. You do not appreciate, comrade,
the mighty thing that we have done. The enemy was in
occupation of this very ground that we stand upon. And now—
thanks to the leadership of Comrade Napoleon—we have won
every inch of it back again!”
“Then we have won back what we had before,” said Boxer.

If so, then mark up the pages as you And finally there was a tremendous baying of dogs and a
read, or reread, to help with your shrill crowing from the black cockerel, and out came Napoleon
note-taking. Develop a shorthand himself, majestically upright, casting haughty glances from side
to side, and with his dogs gambolling round him.
He carried a whip in his trotter.
There was a deadly silence. Amazed, terrified, huddling
together, the animals watched the long line of pigs march slowly
Asterisk = just what you were looking round the yard. It was as though the world had turned upside-
for
down. Then there came a moment when the first shock had
worn off and when, in spite of everything—in spite of their
Circle = unfamiliar word or phrase to terror of the dogs, and of the habit, developed through long
look up
years, of never complaining, never criticising, no matter what
happened—they might have uttered some word of protest. But
just at that moment, as though at a signal, all the sheep burst out
into a tremendous bleating of—
“Four legs good, two legs better! Four legs good, two legs
better! Four legs good, two legs better!”
It went on for five minutes without stopping. And by the time
the sheep had quieted down, the chance to utter any protest had
passed, for the pigs had marched back into the farmhouse.
Benjamin felt a nose nuzzling at his shoulder. He looked
round. It was Clover. Her old eyes looked dimmer than ever.
Without saying anything, she tugged gently at his mane and led
왘 BIG Idea him round to the end of the big barn, where the Seven
Our World and Beyond What is the Commandments were written. For a minute or two they stood
fate of Animalism?
gazing at the tarred wall with its white lettering.
“My sight is failing,” she said finally. “Even when I was
evidence of how it expresses the young I could not have read what was written there. But it
Big Idea. appears to me that that wall looks different. Are the Seven
Commandments the same as they used to be, Benjamin?”
For once Benjamin consented to break his rule, and he read
out to her what was written on the wall. There was nothing
there now except a single Commandment. It ran:
all animals are equal
but some animals are more equal than others
After that it did not seem strange when next day the pigs
who were supervising the work of the farm all carried whips in
their trotters.

reduce your notes.
Record
MY VIEW
the excerpt.
Recap

1. What dealings does Napoleon have with Frederick and Pilkington? How Reread Meet the Author on
does the battle over the windmill affect the animals? What events from page 302. How did that information
Soviet history is Orwell highlighting? [Infer] help you understand or appreciate
2. What changes are made to the Fifth and Sixth Commandments? How is the
entire list of Commandments ultimately refashioned? What point is Orwell
making about the role of communication in Soviet society? [Analyze]
3. In Chapter 10 the pigs begin to walk on two legs. In your opinion is this
evolution a sign of progress? Explain. [Evaluate]
4. Some critics believe that, at the end of the book, Orwell suggests that the
pigs and human political leaders are interchangeable. Do you think most
government rulers are interchangeable? How might power change those
who have it? Explain. [Connect]
5. Our World and Beyond Why do you think Orwell chose to place this
story in an unrealistic setting? [Infer]

Literary Element Moral Vocabulary Practice

How does dramatic irony help to establish the morals Identify whether each set of paired words have the
presented in Animal Farm? Give at least two examples same or the opposite meaning.
to support your response. [Analyze]
1. demeanor and deportment
2. devoteees and opposition
3. interment and burial
4. machinations and conspiracies
5. taciturn and garrulous
Academic Vocabulary
The animals were amazed to see Napoleon emerge
from the farmhouse walking on two, not four, legs.
the boldfaced word in the sentence above. Write your
Reading Strategy Connect to guess below. Then check it in a dictionary.
Contemporary Issues
What modern situations or figures come to your mind
as you consider the characters and situations in this
novel? [Connect]

Write a Profile Analyze the descriptions of Literary Criticism
Napoleon’s physical and behavioral characteristics Assignment Evaluate literary criticism about Orwell’s
in Chapters 9 and 10. On a separate sheet of paper, work and write a short response in which you explain
use these details to write a profile of Napoleon for whether you agree or disagree that the criticism
Animal Farm’s local newspaper. applies to Animal Farm. Present the response to
the class.
Prepare Read the following quotation about Orwell’s
work by critic Robert A. Lee:
The beast fable is in many ways the ideal form in

which to articulate attack [on social injustice].
The presence of beasts provides a readymade
vehicle for the tenor of the hatred in this essentially
metaphorical mode.
From Orwell’s Fiction.
Some literary criticism may include unfamiliar words

or words with unfamiliar connotations. Look up
articulate and tenor to be sure you know what they
mean in this context.
Determine your position. Craft a thesis statement

about your position, and gather details from the story
to support your argument.
Report When you present your response, make eye

contact, speak loudly and clearly, and maintain good
posture to reflect confidence. Use an appropriate tone
of voice to enhance emotional and logical appeals. All
this will help as you try to persuade your audience to
agree with your point of view.
Evaluate Write a paragraph evaluating your report.

their performances.

Animal Farm
Literature Library edition of this novel. Support your answers with details
from the text. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper, but jot
down some notes first on the lines provided.
The Last Word from Leaves from a Russian Diary –

Matthew Arnold and Thirty Years After
In your opinion, would Arnold and Orwell have agreed Pitirim A. Sorokin
about the possibility of successful social revolution? What advice do you think Sorokin would give the
Is Arnold’s purpose in writing “The Last Word” the animals for dealing with the oppression in Animal
same as or different from Orwell’s purpose in writing Farm? Support your answers with examples from
Animal Farm? Use elements of both the poem and the reading.
the novel to support your answers. How do these
writers’ thoughts compare with your own? Explain
your answer.
Inquisitive Nature Wins Swine Credit for Smarts

from USA Today
In your opinion, are the pigs in Animal Farm more
The Freedom of the Press intelligent than all the other animals? What qualities
George Orwell enabled them to lead the others? Give examples from
How does reading Orwell’s preface affect your the novel to support your answer.
interpretation of Animal Farm?
from Aesop’s Fables

adapted by Jack Zipes
Why do you think Orwell chose to use animals as the
characters for his story?
LITERATURE EXCERPT: The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind
“This cannot go on,” said the faint voice. your town to resemble nothing more nor
“Our people do nothing but rebuild our cities less than the wind. And we shall build like
to a different shape every day, every hour. They a golden kite. The wind will beautify the
have no time to hunt, to fish, to love, to be good kite and carry it to wondrous heights. And
to their ancestors and their ancestors’ children.” the kite will break the sameness of the wind’s
“This I admit,” said the mandarins of the existence and give it purpose and meaning.
towns of the Cage, the Moon, the Spear, the Fire, One without the other is nothing. Together,
the Sword and this, that, and other things. all will be beauty and cooperation and a
“Carry us into the sunlight,” said the voice. long and enduring life.”
The old men were borne out under the sun Whereupon the two mandarins were so
and up a little hill. In the late summer breeze overjoyed that they took their first nourishment
a few very thin children were flying dragon in days, momentarily were given strength,
kites in all the colors of the sun, and frogs and embraced, and lavished praise upon each
grass, the color of the sea and the color of coins other, called the Mandarin’s daughter a boy,
and wheat. a man, a stone pillar, a warrior, and a true and
The first Mandarin’s daughter stood by his bed. unforgettable son. Almost immediately they
“See,” she said. parted and hurried to their towns, calling out
“Those are nothing but kites,” said the two and singing, weakly but happily.
old men. And so, in time, the towns became the Town
“But what is a kite on the ground?” she said. of the Golden Kite and the Town of the Silver
“It is nothing. What does it need to sustain it Wind. And harvestings were harvested and
and make it beautiful and truly spiritual?” business tended again, and the flesh returned,
“The wind, of course!” said the others. and disease ran off like a frightened jackal.1
“And what do the sky and the wind need to And on every night of the year the inhabitants
make them beautiful?” in the Town of the Kite could hear the good
“A kite, of course—many kites, to break the clear wind sustaining them. And those in the
monotony, the sameness of the sky. Colored Town of the Wind could hear the kite singing,
kites, flying!” whispering, rising, and beautifying them.
“So,” said the Mandarin’s daughter. “You, “So be it,” said the Mandarin in front of his
Kwan-Si, will make a last rebuilding of silken screen.
1. A jackal is a small doglike animal. The jackal has long been connected
with superstitions about death and evil spirits.

Compare the novel you have just read to the literature selection at the left, WRITE ABOUT IT
which is excerpted from “The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind” by Ray Bradbury in Briefly discuss why the two mandarins
Glencoe Literature. Then answer the questions below. call the mandarin’s daughter “a boy,
a man, a stone pillar.” How is such
name-calling used in Animal Farm?
Compare & Contrast Jot down some notes here first.
1. Allegory What comment do Bradbury and Orwell make about what
initially motivates most leaders?
2. Dialogue Who ultimately provides the most sensible advice to the two
mandarins? In what way are the animals prevented from giving advice to
their leaders?
3. Moral What is the moral of this story? How does this compare with the
moral of Animal Farm?
Editorial UNDERSTAND THE TASK

• When you argue in a persuasive
Offer a Solution In Animal Farm, Orwell offered a frightening statement essay, you use logic or reason to
about the ways in which Stalin manipulated the Russian citizens during the try to influence a reader’s ideas
Russian Revolution. Unfortunately, this issue continues to exist today, even or actions.
outside the political arena: many workers in a variety of fields are abused by
management. Write an editorial in which you offer a solution to this problem
and justify why your solution is appropriate. Grammar Tip
Italics
Prewrite Fill in a chart with evidence that supports your solution. Make another
In addition to identifying titles
chart with opposing arguments and evidence to refute those arguments. of books, plays, films, etc., italics
can also be used to emphasize a
certain idea or to call out a special
Solution concept that might otherwise be
in quotation marks.
Argument Evidence When Nicholas Copernicus
(unionization allows for published On the Revolution of
strength in numbers) Heavenly Spheres, he put in
motion a period of scientific
inquiry now referred to as the
labor strikes have been
Scientific Revolution.
successful at bringing about
change
Opposing Argument Counter-Evidence
In the past, union leaders

have grown wealthy at their
members’ expense
Draft Begin your editorial by presenting your solution, or thesis. Your body
paragraphs should all have topic sentences related to the thesis. Use evidence
from your chart as support. Cite the page numbers for quotations. Address
opposing arguments in a separate paragraph. Conclude by restating your thesis.
Revise Exchange papers with a partner. Evaluate each other’s editorial. Is

the recommended solution logical and well-supported? Does the essay refute
potential counter-arguments? Does the essay include persuasive techniques?
Revise your essay based on the comments you receive.

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What is the purpose of the table of contents?

What is the purpose of the table of contents?

What literary elements are discussed in the text?

What literary elements are discussed in the text?

Novel

. . . And the Earth Jane Eyre

The Yearling Animal Farm

Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Except

Send all inquiries to:

Printed in the United States of America.

To Students, Parents, Guardians. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Work with Related Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

. . . And the Earth Did Not Devour Him by Tomás Rivera . . . . . 75

FROM THE “LOST YEAR” TO “A SILVERY NIGHT”

FROM “ONE AFTERNOON . . .” TO “A LITTLE BEFORE SIX . . .”

Interactive Reading: Reading Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

FROM “THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS” TO “UNDER THE HOUSE”

Work with Related Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Work with Related Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare. . . . . . . . . 163

Work with Related Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Work with Related Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Animal Farm by George Orwell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Work with Related Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

• Note-Taking Lessons presents two methods of note-taking to help you

• Interactive Reading Lessons are lessons based on the sequential chapter

WRITE THE CAPTION

groupings of chapters, or chapter sets, in the Novel Build Backg round

same time, they are tragic

You will also read background material to provide

context for the chapter set content.

You’re invited to interact with the information in Build

Background by summarizing content or writing a

caption for an image related to the content.

You are then introduced to the targeted skills for the

chapter set: the Big Idea, the literary element, and

the reading strategy. You will also get vocabulary for

the chapter set. you keep track

Read, Respond, Interpret

the literary element or the reading Joe Mrs. Joe

strategy for the chapter set.

Interactive reading pages include text friend of

Show What You Know AFTER YOU READ

will answer questions about the content, including

about Pip? [Conclude]

introduced to and learn a new vocabulary word that

can be used in your academic writing. 5. Matters of Life and

In addition, you will complete a short writing Reading Strat

read in the chapter set content. These activities will

draw on what you studied in your interactive work

on the excerpts from the chapters. Wr itin g

common with the class. n.

related readings, connect the novel to an excerpt

from Glencoe Literature, and finally, write an essay

or story that draws upon what you learned by What worked

reading. • We got the

scene across. audience.