Marigolds by Eugenia W. Collier Teacher: Sara Safa Subject: English You can contact me at Sara.s@eps.ae Grade 9 Warming up activity ● • • • • Chit-chat: What do you like best about your school? Do you think school is fun? Which is the part that you don’t like? How often should the teacher ‘? give you a test? CCSS ● ● ● RL.9-10.1 - Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. RL.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. RL.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme. CONTENTS “. . . one cannot have both compassion and innocence.” ● . from “Marigolds” by Eugenia W. Collier WHAT IS THIS TOPIC ABOUT? The narrator of this story lives in a small town in Maryland during the Great Depression. Because her family has always been poor, Elizabeth is unaware of new family hardships. She cannot explain why her neighbor’s lovely flowers should anger her soul. Conflict • Internal conflict—characters struggle with opposing needs, desires, or emotions. • External conflict—characters struggle with something outside themselves (other characters, society, or nature). Marigolds Literary Focus: Conflict Conflict is most intense when characters face both internal and external struggles. In this story, Elizabeth • takes part in an external confrontation with Miss Lottie • struggles with contradictory desires that she doesn’t fully understand [End of Section] Marigolds Reading Skills: Making Inferences A character’s motivation helps explain the conflicts that occur. • When you read, think about why characters behave as they do. • As you consider the reasons for their actions, you are trying to determine their motivation. Marigolds Reading Skills: Making Inferences Often writers don’t make direct explanations about a character’s motives. The reader makes inferences, or educated guesses. Clues from the text: What characters say and don’t say. How characters act. + Prior knowledge: What you know about people and how they behave. = Inference about a character’s motivation. Marigolds Reading Skills: Making Inferences While you read this story, look for clues that may help you infer the motives of the characters. • Look for reasons behind the children’s behavior as individuals and in groups. • Don’t forget to consider deeper motives behind the neighbor’s garden work. [End of Section] The Great Depression In the 1930s, a terrible economic depression swept the world. The booming stock market had collapsed in 1929, causing businesses to shut down all over the United States and factories to close their doors. Banks failed. People lost their life savings. Life was hard for almost every American during those years. Literary devices and Techniques Theme Symbolizim Figurative language ● Symbol: What kind of life has Miss Lottie had? What do the marigolds symbolize to her? What do the marigolds symbolize to the children? What do the marigolds symbolize to the narrator as an adult? ● Figurative Language: Language that conveys ideas beyond the ordinary meanings of the words is called figurative language. Similes and metaphors are two kinds of figurative language used by the writer of this story. ● For example, at the beginning of the story the narrator says, “…memory is an abstract painting—it does not present things as they are, but rather as they feel.” What is she saying about memories? What does the narrator mean when she states, “Everything was suddenly out of tune, like a broken accordian”? ■ Find at least eight other símiles and metaphors in the story. Theme: how does the narrator define innocence? ● Why does she say that "one cannot have both compassion and innocence"? ● How is the lesson she learns an important part of her growing process? ● How has her experience been both destructive and constructive? ● ● Lizabeth says that destroying the marigolds was her last act of childhood. Why does she think of herself as an adult from that moment on? ● Is this a positive or negative rite of passage? Why? Vocabulary Definition Futile Adj.: useless; in vain. Application Her gentle attempts to get Zain to sit were futile. Malicious Adj.: showing a desire to harm another; spiteful. It can be harsh and may seem malicious at times. Vigor Adj.:strong, healthy, and full of energy. The man's strength and vigor decreased as he aged. Vocabulary Amorphous Lure Abstract Definition Application Adj.: without a clearly defined shape or form ;shapeless It is a brownish amorphous solid, which is insoluble in water. tempt (a person or animal) to do something or to go somewhere, especially by offering some form of reward. existing in thought or as an idea but not having a physical or concrete existence The police lured him back to the scene of the crime I cannot distinguish any defined shapes within the artist's abstract painting. Vocabulary Definition Application perverse Adj: turned away from what is right or good Degradation N:the act of treating someone or something poorly and without respect Being sent to prison was the final degradation. Adj.:causing or having a very sharp feeling of sadness: It is especially poignant that he died on the day before the wedding. Poignant Zain was being perverse and refusing to agree with anything we said. Vocabulary Definition retribution N: deserved and severe punishment: Application Many saw her death as divine retribution (= punishment by God) for her crimes. FEATURES OF THE TOPIC My identity Creativity Differinatation y y y Creativity This story is about the passage from childhood to adulthood, a journey that is often marked by conflict. In fact, negotiating this passage can demand as much courage as a struggle with an outside enemy. Write down your response to the following question: What fears and conflicts do most young people deal with as they move into adult life? Keep your notes for use later on. Interdisciplinary Science : What are the physical and mental effects of fear? Plenary join quizizz Video https://www.youtube.com/w atch?v=VOVHmxL39so
