The Life You Save May Be Your Own
By Flannery O’Connor
About the Author
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Flannery O’Connor died at the age of ________.
As a child, she had a pet ________________.
What town in Georgia was she from? __________________________
She was stricken with ____________ (disease) the same that killed her ____________.
At that point, she moved to __________________________, where she spent the remainder of her
years.
Literary Vocabulary
Irony comes from a Greek word meaning dissembler, someone who hides under a false appearance. Irony
promises one thing out loud and does the opposite on the sly.
6. Irony is a contrast between _______________ and ________________.
7. _____________ irony occurs when _______________ know more about a _____________ than the
character themselves know—as though the ____________ is letting you in on a secret the characters
aren’t privy to.
8. _____________ irony is a _____________ between what a _______________ or _______________
expects to happen and what actually does happen.
The Story
9. What do you learn from the first paragraph about the Mr. Shiftlet? (List specific details)
a. ___________________________________________________
b. ___________________________________________________
c. ___________________________________________________
10. Given what you read in the first 3 paragraphs, what can you infer about the daughter?
a. ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
11. Metaphor or Simile “She was about the size of a cedar __________ post…”
12. When the old woman said “Good Evening” to the tramp, he didn’t verbally respond instead he turned his
back and faced the _______________, then he formed a _____________ __________ with his body.
13. The tramp said he would give a fortune to see what every evening? __________________
14. He leaned to one side, rooting in his pants pocket, and in a second he brought out a package of
____________ _________ and offered her a piece. What does the word rooting mean in this sentence?
a. To plant
c. To place inside of
b. To dig around
d. To hide away
15. Why did the old woman not accept a piece of gum? __________________________
16. What are the full names of the 3 characters?
a. _________________________________
b. _________________________________
c. _________________________________
17. Metaphor or Simile Mr. Shiftlet tells the old lady that a doctor in ________________ has cut a
__________ __________ and studied it like it was a __________ ________ ______________.
18. Instead of responding to the old woman’s question about where he was from Mr. Shiftlet rolls himself a
_______________.
19. What states did Mr. Shiftlet finally say he might be from?
a. ___________________
c. ___________________
b. ___________________
d. ___________________
20. What is Mr. Shiftlet’s line of work? ______________________
21. Mr. Shiftlet tells the old woman that he was not raised to only be interested in ____________.
22. Onomatopoeia or Personification “A fat yellow moon appeared in the branches of the fig tree…”
23. “I wouldn’t have any of this trash I could just pick up.” What is Mr. Shiftlet referring to when he uses
the word trash in this sentence? ___________________
24. The old woman told Mr. Shiftlet that he could stay around and work for ___________, if he didn’t mind
sleeping in the _________.
25. With Mr. Shiftlet around we discover that Lucynell, the daughter is __________ but learns to speak her
first word, __________.
26. “She was ravenous for a son-in-law.” What does the word ravenous mean in this sentence?
a. To keep away
c. Anxiously awaiting
b. In a hurry
d. In desperate need of
27. What did Mr. Shiftlet say was wrong with the world? _____________________
28. What word did the old woman want her daughter to learn to say? _________________
29. Why did the old woman want her to learn that particular word? ____________________
____________________________________________________________
30. The old woman told Mr. Shiftlet that her daughter was ____ or _____ years old, but in actuality she was
near ______.
31. After Mr. Shiftlet got the car running, the old woman began to speak to him about the type of woman he
was looking for. She told him that her daughter can’t _____________________ or
___________________________. She then told him that she would not give him any trouble.
32. Mr. Shiftlet told the old woman that he couldn’t get married because he didn’t have any
_____________.
33. He told the old woman that he wanted to be able to take his wife to a ____________ and give her
something __________ ____ _________.
34. She explained to him that there was no place in the world for a _________ _____________
____________ ____________ ________.
35. Mr. Shiftlet explained that a man’s body is divided into 2 parts _____________ and ______________.
He said one is like a _____________ and the other is like an _____________________.
36. Mr. Shiftlet and the old woman negotiate the terms of the marriage arrangement and finally agree that
she will give him $__________ to take his bride away for a weekend.
37. After they were married and left for the weekend, Mr. Shiftlet stopped Lucynell at ______________ and
she fell asleep. He paid for her meal, told the waiter he had to get to ________________ and that she
was a ___________________.
38. Consider the sentence “Drive Carefully. The life you save may be your own.” What is ironic about this
statement? __________________________________________________