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Unit 3: Study Guide

Part 1: Complete the annotations for the short story.
Annotation Guide:
1. Highlight diction with strong connotation that develops the tone & mood in YELLOW
2. Highlight unique uses of punctuation that help develop the tone & mood in ORANGE
➢ Annotate how each piece of punctuation develops the tone & mood
3. Highlight figurative language (including allusions and analogies) in GREEN
➢ Annotate how each piece of figurative language develops the tone & mo
4. Highlight instances of irony in BLUE
➢ Annotate the type of irony and why it is ironic
5. Highlight instances of suspense and humor in PINK
➢ Annotate why the instance is suspenseful or humorous

RUTHLESS by William DeMille

Outside, the woods lay basking in clear October sunlight; trees a riot of color, air full of
Autumn’s tang and the sharp, exciting smell of moist, leaf-covered earth.
Inside, a man smiled grimly as he turned from the bathroom cabinet, entered the expensively
primitive living room of his mountain camp, and crossed to a closet set in the pine wall. It was
his special closet, with a spring lock and in it he kept guns, ammunition, fishing-rods, tackle
and liquor. Not even his wife was allowed to have a key, for Judson Webb loved his personal
possessions and felt a sense of deep outrage if they were touched by any hand but his own.
The closet door stood open; he had been packing his things away for the Winter, and in a few
minutes would be driving back to civilization.
As he looked at the shelf on which the liquor stood his smile was not attractive. All the bottles
were unopened except one quart of Bourbon which was placed invitingly in front, a whiskey
glass by its side. This bottle was less than half full. As he took it from the shelf his wife spoke
from the adjoining bedroom:
“I’m all packed, Judson,” she said. “Hasn’t Alec come to turn the water off and get the keys?”
Alec lived about a mile down the road and acted as a caretaker for the city folks when they
were away.
“He’s down at the lake taking the boats out of water. Said he’d be back in half an hour.”
Marcia came into the room carrying her suitcase. But she paused in surprise as she saw the
bottle in her husband’s hand.
“Judson!” she exclaimed, “you’re not taking a drink at ten o’clock in the morning?”
“You wrong me, my dear,” he chuckled, “I’m not taking anything out of this bottle: I am merely
putting a little kick into it.”
His closed hand opened and he put upon the table two tiny white pellets as he started to
uncork the whiskey. Her eyes narrowed as she watched him. She had learned to dread that
tone of his voice; it was the tone he used when he was planning to “put something over” in a
business deal.
“Whoever broke into my closet last Winter and stole my liquor will probably try it again once
we are out of here,” he went on, “only this time he’ll wish he hadn’t.”
She caught her breath at the cruel vindictiveness of his manner as one by one he dropped the
tablets into the bottle and held it up to watch them dissolve.
“What are they?” she asked, “something to make him sick?”
“And how!” He seemed fascinated as he saw the genial Bourbon change into a lethal dose: “At
least no one has found an antidote: once it’s down it’s curtains.” He corked his bottled
vengeance and set it back on the shelf alongside the little whiskey glass.
“Everything nice and handy,” he remarked approvingly. “Now, Mr. Thief, when you break in,
drink hearty; I won’t begrudge you this one.”
The woman’s face was pale. “Don’t do it, Judson,” she gasped. “It’s horrible — it’s murder.”
“The law doesn’t call it murder if I shoot a thief who is entering my house by force,” he said
harshly. “Also, the use of rat poison is quite legal. The only way any rat can get into this closet
is to break in. What happens then is his affair, not mine.”
“Don’t do it, Judson,” she begged. “The law doesn’t punish burglary by death; so what right
have you — ”
“When it comes to protecting my property I make my own laws.” His deep voice suggested a
big dog growling at threatened loss of a bone.
“But all they did was to steal a little liquor,” she pleaded. “Probably some boys off on a lark.8
They didn’t do any real damage.”
“That’s not the point,” he said. “If a man holds me up and robs me of five dollars it makes me
just as sore as if he took a hundred. A thief’s a thief.”
She made one last effort. “We won’t be here till next spring. I can’t bear to think of that
deathtrap waiting there all the time. Suppose something happens to us — and no one knows —
”
He chuckled once more at her words. “We’ll take a chance on that,” he said. “I’ve made my pile
by taking chances. If I should die, you can do as you please. The stuff will be yours.”
It was useless to argue, she knew. He had always been ruthless in business and whenever
anything crossed him. Things had to be done his way. She turned toward the outer door with a
sigh of defeat. “I’ll walk down the road and say goodbye at the farmhouse,” she said quietly.
“You can pick me up there.” She had made up her mind to tell Alec’s wife. Someone had to
know.
“Okay, my dear,” he smiled genially, “and don’t worry about your poor, abused little burglar.
No one is going to get hurt who hasn’t got it coming to him.”
As she went down the path he started to close the closet door; then paused as he remembered
his hunting boots drying outside on the porch. They belonged in the closet, so leaving the door
open he went to fetch them from the heavy, rustic table on which they stood, along with his
bag and top coat.
Alec was coming up from the lake and waved to him from a distance. A chipmunk, hearing
Judson’s heavy tread, abandoned the acorn he was about to add to his store within the cabin
wall and disappeared, like an electric bulb burning out. Judson, reaching for his boots, stepped
fairly upon the acorn, his foot slid from under him and his head struck the massive table as he
fell.
Several minutes later he began to regain his senses. Alec’s strong arm was supporting his head
as he lay on the porch and a kindly voice was saying: “’Twarn’t much of a fall, Mr. Webb. You
aren’t cut none; jest knocked out for a minute. Here, take this; it’ll pull you together.”
A small whiskey glass was pressed to his lips. Dazed and half-conscious, he drank.
Part 2: Complete the following questions for the short story.

1. Describe how Judson feels about his possessions. (RL10)

2. What happened at Judson's mountain cabin last Winter? (RL10)

3. What is Judson doing with the whiskey? (RL10)

4. What does Judson want to happen if the thief returns? (RL10)

5. What does Judson's wife think about his actions? (RL10)

6. Why does Alec give Judson the whiskey? (RL10)

7. In 1-2 sentences, write an objective summary for the story. Be sure to include characters, setting,
conflict, and outcome in your writing. (RL2)

8. What could be a possible theme for the story? (RL2)

9. Identify a quote from the text that BEST reveals Judson’s belief about crime and punishment? (RL1)

10. Identify a quote from the text that BEST shows what action prompts Marci to become fearful? (RL1)

11. Identify a quote from the text that BEST identifies how Judson fell? (RL1)

12. How does the conversation between Judson and his wife develop the plot of the story c? (RL3)
13. How does Judson Webb cause his own death in the story? Be sure to identify the most important lines
of dialogue or events in the story and explain how they cause an important decision or action to take
place. (RL3)

14. Look up the denotation of ruthless. How does the title support the tone of the story? (RL4)

15. Judson’s last name is Webb. Considering how he basically constructs his own death, how does his last
name act as an allusion? (RL4)

16. What does Judson mean when he says, “When it comes to protecting my property I make my own
laws.”? (RL4)

17. How does the quote, “All the bottles were unopened except one quart of Bourbon which was placed
invitingly in front, a whiskey glass by its side.” help develop foreshadowing in the story? (RL5)

18. How does Marcia’s concern for Judson’s plan create suspense? (RL6)

19. Explain the dramatic irony present at the end of the story. (RL6)

20. Explain the situational irony present at the end of the story. (RL6)
Part 3: Complete the annotations for the poem.
How to Annotate a Poem
Title:_____________ Circle any unknown words and define them.
If it exists, label the rhyme scheme at the
By James Weldon Johnson (1983) end of each line.
1 My heart be brave, and do not falter so, [Place brackets around] and label all uses
of figurative language.
2 Nor utter more that deep, despairing wail. ○ Simile
○ Metaphor
3 Thy1 way is very dark and drear I know, ○ Analogy
○ Allusion
4 But do not let thy strength and courage fail; ○ Hyperbole
5 For certain as the raven-winged2 night ○ Personification
○ Imagery
6 Is followed by the bright and blushing morn,3 ○ Motif
Underline and label all uses of sound
7 Thy coming morrow will be clear and bright; devices.
8 ’Tis darkest when the night is furthest worn. ○ Rhyme Scheme
○ Meter
9 Look up, and out, beyond, surrounding clouds, ○ Rhythm
○ Cacophony
10 And do not in thine own gross darkness grope,4 ○ Euphony
11 Rise up, and casting off thy hind’ring5 shrouds,6 ○ Alliteration
○ Assonance
12 Cling thou7 to this, and ever inspiring hope: ○ Consonance
○ Repetition
13 Tho’8 thick the battle and tho’ fierce the fight, ○ Internal Rhyme
○ Slant Rhyme
14 There is a power making for the right.
Consider word choice. Place a ★ above
1. an old form of the word “your” words that help build the tone/mood or
2. a large bird known for its intense stare, intelligence, and dark, black add to the meaning of the poem.
feathers
3. an old form of the word “morning”
4. Grope (verb) to feel about or search for blindly
5. a colloquial expression for the word “hindering,” which means stopping or holding you back
6. Shroud (noun) a type of cloth used to wrap a dead body for burial
7. an old form of the word “you”
8. an old way of spelling the word “though”

Part 4: Complete the following questions for the poem.

1. What could be a possible theme for the poem?

2. How does the poet’s use of imagery develop the theme of the poem? Cite evidence to form your
answer.
3. What is the tone of the poem?

4. How does the word choice in the poem contribute to its tone?

5. Which line BEST shows how the speaker wants to respond to the challenges they face?

6. What is the form of the poem? How do you know?

7. How does the structure of the poem contribute to its meaning?

8. Why does the speaker caution the reader not to "grope" in their own "darkness"? What does this
mean?

9. Who is the intended audience of the poem? Who is the speaker speaking to?

10. Throughout the poem, the poet repeatedly uses personification. First, explain what the personification
is. Then, explain what message this personification sends to the reader.