English 10
Short Stories Unit
Name _______________________
A Man Who Had No Eyes
By MacKinlay Kantor
1. Research and provide background information about the author (5 marks) .
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Define the following words and identify the parts of speech (5 marks).
Wheedled ___________________________________________________________________________
Boorish _____________________________________________________________________________
Inquisitive ___________________________________________________________________________
Reminiscence ________________________________________________________________________
Unamiable __________________________________________________________________________
3. A Man Who Had No Eyes. Make predictions about what the short story might be about.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. Answer the following questions
1. How did Mr. Parsons and Markwardt meet?
2. How could you tell Mr. Parsons was blind before he revealed it at the end of the story?
English 10
Short Stories Unit
Name _______________________
3. What did Mr. Parsons look like?
4. What did Markwardt look like?
5. What are the differences between Markwardt and Mr. Parsons? (name three)
6. What was ironic in this story?
7. Who was dishonest, how could you tell?
8. What did Markwardt say that was a lie?
9. The peddler's grammar is sometimes wrong. Can you find examples and correct them?
Why does the author make him speak like this?
Parag. 8:
Parag. 11:
Parag. 15:
Parag. 17:
Parag. 17:
English 10
Short Stories Unit
Name _______________________
10. Explain how the ending of the story promotes the rereading of the whole story. What
details are you looking for in the second reading?
5. Literary Terms/devices
1. a. What is foreshadowing?
1.b. Although the ending is a surprise, there are clues to it throughout the story. Look back
at the story (examine the text) from the beginning. What are some clues that Mr. Parsons is
blind?
Examples of foreshadowing
Quote
Explanation
2.a. What is a theme?
2. b. What is the theme of the story?
3. a. What are Methods of Characterization?
3. b. Find examples of Methods of Characterization in the story.
Quote
Method of Characterization
English 10
Short Stories Unit
Name _______________________
6. Writing. Discuss Methods of Characterization that McKinley Kantor uses in the short
story to create the characters. (6 marks)
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________