9th Grade Collection 6 Study Guide
“The Scarlet Ibis” (pg. 415)
1. What is the setting of the story?
2. Why does the narrator name his brother “Doodle”?
3. Why does the narrator cry when his family praises him for teaching Doodle to walk?
4. After the narrator teaches Doodle to walk, what else does he plan for Doodle?
5. What can you infer about Doodle from the way he buries the ibis?
6. What might the terrible storm symbolize about the narrator?
“The Grandfather” (pg. 431)
7. What is the time span for the events in the story?
8. What does hijo mean?
9. Describe Grandfather.
10. Why was the avocado tree special to Grandfather?
11. What did Grandfather mean by his belief that a well-rooted tree was the color of
money?
12. What part did the avocado tree play in Gary Soto’s boyhood?
13. Why did Soto not climb the avocado tree when it grew big enough for climbing?
14. By its third year, why is the avocado tree important to Soto?
From Your Notes
14. True or False – All symbols mean the same thing to all people. ________________
15. True or False – All symbols mean the same thing to all characters in a story. _______
Identify the term associated with the following statements.
16. may be stated directly or implied
17. can be inherited or invented
18. educated guess
19. show up in art and literature even today
20. are often intended to teach a moral lesson or to make a comment about goodness and
Vice
21. an ordinary object, event, person, or animal to which we have attached extraordinary
meaning and significance
22. a story in which characters, settings, and actions stand for something beyond
themselves
23. a central message that the writer wants to communicate to the reader
Define the following vocabulary terms:
24. blighted –
25. doggedness—
26. sullenly –
27. imminent –
28. iridescent –
29. serene –
30. infallibility –
31. reiterated –
32. precariously –
33. mar –
34. gurgle –
35. hovered –
36. meager –
37. sulked –