File - Middle School Page

The Luckiest Time of All Answers

Context Clues • Context clues are examples, descriptions, and other details in the text or words around an unfamiliar or unusual word or expression. • Reread- replace the unfamiliar word with a word that would make sense in its place. • Read ahead to confirm meaning- are there examples after the word that tell you that you are correct, or do you need to guess again?

Point of View • Point of View is the perspective from which a narrative or story is told. It affects the details that are revealed to the reader. • First Person- inside the story, pronouns I and me, we and us- is usually able to only reveal his or her own thoughts or feelings. • Third Person- outside the story, pronouns, he, she, them, they, his, her • Omniscient- reveals thoughts of other characters. • Limited- reveals only actions of other characters.

You need to know • Elzie says the dogwood blooms remind her of her husband, because they bloom in the spring, and that is when she met him. • When Elzie throws her lucky stone at the dog, she is sad because she meant to throw a coin. • Mr. Pickens stops the dog by lassoing it with twine. • Elzie knows Mr. Pickens is kind because he cradles the dog

You also need to know • Elzie thinks her lucky stone and the day at the show are lucky because she met the man she would marry. • Although the story is told from the third person point of view, the narrator lets Elzie tell most of the story. • When Elzie tosses the stone, she realizes it will hit the dog.

You really must know • Elzie and Ovella want to join the Silas Greene so that they can see the world and have a good time. • Tee suggests that the stone might not have been lucky because Elzie had nearly been bitten by the dog. • “lost heart for shows” means they had lost interest in joining a traveling show.

Reading • 1. Clues: music and wonders as we never had seen! They had everything there. • Meaning: everything good that you could imagine, a whole world of exciting things. • 2. Clues: hit that dancing dog right on the nose! I flew! Round and Round that Silas Greene we run • Meaning: chased, ran

Reading • 3. Clues: picked up, talkin to him soft and sweet • Meaning: holding gently, as a baby is held by a cradle. • 4. Clues: helped me find my stone, searched and searched. • Meaning: spotted, caught sight of, found

Literary Analysis • Pronoun: her • What I learned: Elzie shook her head and laughed, she enjoys being with Tee • Pronoun: they • What I learned: Elzie and Tee rocked in their rocking chairs and smiled, they are comfortable being with each other. • Pronoun: her, she, their • What I learned: Lucille Clifton learned to appreciate books and poetry from the example set by her parents,

Vocabulary • A. No, mountain climbers would not use twine to secure themselves because it is not strong enough. • Yes, if I am acquainted with someone, I likel know where he or she lives because when I get t o know people , I usually find about this information. • B. 1. D 2. C