Literal Reading + Figurative Reading
“Happiness is not whatever they tell you it is, a weightless bright light that lives private
inside you. Everyone can see it. It is laid out for the world, stacked on shelves underneath
the glare of everyone’s gaze. It belongs to somebody, each parcel of happiness, just one
person at a time. Gwen had just realized what this meant. It meant, of course, that people
could steal it” (We Are Pirates, p.36).
For the above paragraph, complete the following for a literal reading:
1. Summarize what the passage is saying:
2. What are the two perspectives on happiness in the paragraph?
3. Make bold the phrase in the last sentence that is unnecessary. What is a question
you could ask about that phrase in order to do a literal reading?
For the above paragraph, complete the following for a figurative reading:
1. Highlight in red the two different metaphors for happiness in this passage. What is
the effect of the metaphors?