Comparing Texts: Short Story and Poem
Woman with a Flower
By Naomi Long Madgett
I wouldn't coax the plant if I were you.
Such watchful nurturing may do it harm.
Let the soil rest from so much digging.
And wait until it's dry before you water it.
The leaf's inclined to find its own direction;
Give it a chance to seek the sunlight for itself.
Much growth is stunted by too much prodding,
Too eager tenderness.
The things we love we have to learn to leave alone.
After Reading Questions
Common Core Standards: RL. 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..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..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.
1. Clarify – How is Doodle different from his brother and other children?
2. Recall – What motivates the narrator for teaching Doodle?
3. Summarize – Provide a brief (5-8 sentence) summary of the story. Be sure to provide
information about what happens to Doodle and why.
4. Think about the title of this story. How might the title hint to the reader that the Scarlet Ibis will
be paramount to the meaning of the story?
5. Reread lines 1-7 in the first paragraph of the story. What words or images add to the mood of
sorrow and yearning?
6.
Analyze Visuals
What qualities does the boy in this painting seem to have?
Explain your answer by pointing to details of line, color, and
shape, and texture. Does this boy have some of the same
qualities you would expect of the narrator?
7. Read the following quote and make an inference about the way the narrator feels about his
brother and how his feelings change. After analyzing the following quote, find two other
examples from the text the prove the narrator has mixed emotions about his brother, Doodle.
Comparing Texts: Short Story and Poem
“It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there was
unbearable, so I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow. However, one
afternoon as I watched him, my head poked between the iron posts of the foot of his bed, he
looked straight at me and grinned. I skipped through the rooms, down the echoing halls,
shouting, “Mama, he smiled. He’s all there! He’s all there!” and he was.
Quote/Evidence from Text
1.
2.
Explanation
8. How does Doodle get his nickname? According to the narrator, what is symbolic about this
nickname?
9. Interpreting the symbol of the Scarlet Ibis – The narrator sees Doodle as the Scarlet Ibis at the
end of the story, but Doodle identified with the Ibis right away. To discover more about this
symbolic connection, identify as many similarities between the ibis and Doodle as you can.
The Similarities between the Scarlet Ibis and Doodle
10. Which of the following themes does the symbolism of the ibis support? Find two details to
support your answer and write them in the chart below.
a. Selfish pride usually causes more pain than happiness.
b. Fragile beings need to be sheltered and cared for.
c. Malicious cruelty toward a loved one frequently stems from injured pride.
Theme :
Evidence from story –
Evidence from story-
11. Foreshadowing and Mood: Read the lines of the dramatic death of the ibis on page 602. This
dramatic death foreshadows the death of Doodle. Find three other examples that
foreshadowing. Describe what mood they create in the story.
Example of foreshadowing
Mood created in story
Comparing Texts: Short Story and Poem
12. What is a possible theme for this story? Explain using two pieces of evidence from the story.
Theme:
Evidence from story#1
Evidence from story #2
13. Comparing texts: Reread the poem “Woman with a flower.” What advice does she seem to have
for the narrator of “The Scarlet Ibis”? In what ways are the themes of these two texts similar? In
what ways are they different?
14. Author’s style: The Scarlet Ibis is an example of Southern literature, which is characterized in
part by its emphasis of setting, the importance of family and community, and exploration of the
past, and sense of a moral dilemma. How are these characteristics evident in the story?