Name _____________________________ Class _________________ Date ___________________
Unit 1: Collection 1
Vocabulary Development
SKILL BUILDER
Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket Jack Finney
Activity 1: Semantic Mapping
Creating a semantic map can help you represent different types of word knowledge in
graphic form. Based on the example, create a semantic map for each of these vocabulary
words from “Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket”: projection, exhalation, imperceptibly,
rebounded, irrelevantly.
Example
Activity 2: Vocabulary in Context
“The paper was caught between a projection of the corner ornament and the ledge.” Which sentence
uses the word projection the same way as this sentence?
A) The map maker created a projection of the earth.
B) We watched the projection of pictures on the wall.
C) The company made a projection that profits would increase.
D) The hikers stood on the projection of rocks and looked over the valley.
Original content Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.
Unit 1 Resources
Name _____________________________ Class _________________ Date ___________________
Complete the sentences with the words from the box.
1. Tom’s feet moved slowly and almost ____________________________ along the ledge.
2. The yellow sheet of paper was caught on a _______________________ of the building wall.
3. Tom thought ____________________________ about what questions people might ask if he fell
from the ledge.
4. His arm ___________________________ from the window pane when he tried unsuccessfully to
strike through the glass.
Activity 3: LITERARY FOCUS: PLOT: TIME AND SEQUENCE
DIRECTIONS: Number the following events from earliest (1) to latest (5) to indicate the correct
chronological order of events in the story’s plot.
_____ Tom leaves the apartment to find Clare at the movie theater.
_____ Tom sets fire to a few scraps of paper.
_____ Clare asks Tom if he wants to join her at the movie; Tom declines.
_____ Tom reaches the corner of the ledge, where the yellow paper is.
_____ Tom drops a few coins onto the street below him.
Original content Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.
Unit 1 Resources