Recollections of

Home and

Family

The Day the Old Man Melted

- Dave Jacox

Questions

1. At age four, how did Jacox perceive his father?

2. How and why did this perception change?

3. Do most young people experience a similar change in perception? Explain.

4. What feelings dos the author have for his father?

Response Journal

M-O-T-H-E-R

- Christy Brown

Questions

1. What physical difficulties dos the author face?2. In trying to have Brown live a full life, what

obstacles do Brown and his family encounter?3. What is there about Brown and his family that

enables him to learn despite these obstacles?4. Why did the author choose to end that selection

with the anecdote about spelling mother?5. What is the purpose of this selection?

No Response Journal

Deep Freeze

- Drana C. Aspin

Short Story Analysis

• Setting• Protagonist• Antagonist• Complication• Conflicts

– External (3)– Internal (1)

• Climax• Dénouement

Questions

1. What metaphor does the author use throughout the story?

2. At the end of the story, Alison says that the family is moving closer to each other, “drawn by habit and history – and by the light and dark of that history – and above all, yes, above all by love. There is nothing to forgive.” What does she mean by this? Do you agree with her?

Response Journal (3)

Ballade of Lost Objects

- Phyllis McGinley

Stanza Analysis• Stanza 1

Talks about all the things that seem to get misplaced – hair ribbons, lipstick, earrings, etc.

• Stanza 2This is the house where my girls used to live. She can remember how girls climbed the stairs giggling.

They are gone but she doesn’t know exactly when theydisappeared (left, grew up).

• Stanza 3 There are now two tall strangers – they are her daughters but they have changed – “neither my friends nor quite my foes.”

• Stanza 4Time steals things away and you can do nothing about it.

Children grow up.

Response Journal

Those Winter Sundays

- Robert Hayden

SummaryOn Sundays Hayden’s father would get up early and put wood on the fire so the house was warm when everyone else got up.

Hayden would get up when it was warm. He talks about the chronic angers of that house.

He would be indifferent towards his father. He did not know, as a child, about why adults (parents) were like they were.

Response Journal

Penny in the Dust

- Buckler

Short Story Analysis

• Setting (Characters)• Complication (Initial incident)• Conflicts (Rising Action)

– Internal (2)– External

• Climax• Denoument (Conclusion)

Questions

1. What is the purpose of the flashback?

2. The penny in this story is symbolic. What does it represent to the father?

3. What does the penny represent to his son?

Response Journal

Brother Death

- Sherwood Anderson

Short Story Analysis

• Setting (Characters)• Complication (Initial incident)• Conflicts (Rising Action)

– Internal – External (3)

• Climax• Denoument (Conclusion)

• Point of View• Themes• Symbolism

Questions

1. Which type of death is worse: physical of emotional? Why?

2. Mary is referred to as “being older than her age.” What is meant by this?

Response Journal (2)

How to do Battle with Grown-Ups

- James Collier

Pre-reading

• Think-Pair-Share– Individually, record two things that parents

and their children typically disagree about.– Then share your responses with a partner.– Finally, share you and your partners

response with the class

Questions

1. What are the four ways that children might get their own way with grown-ups? Do children sometimes behave the way the author describes.

2. Mr. and Mrs. Goliath are the names of the characters. Why are these names especially appropriate?

3. What might a new parent learn about child-rearing from reading this selection?

4. Formal or informal?

Extending and EnrichmentChoose one of Collier’s examples and tell what the parents might have done to win the “battle”?

Response Journal

Two Kinds

- Amy Tan

Questions

1. “America was where all my mother’s hopes lay.” a) How did Jing-Mei’s mother envision the United States?b) What were her greatest hopes after leaving China?c) How realistic were her hopes and dreams? Elaborate and

assess.

2. How does Jing-Mei feel about her mother’s view of her as a “prodigy”? Is she being fair to her mother and her dreams? Is her mother being too rigid and pushy?

3. “I won’t let her change me, I promised myself. I won’t be what I’m not;” Why does Jing-Mei react this way to her mother’s encouragement? To what extent do you agree with her reactions?

Questions

4. “Who ask you be genius? … Only ask you be your best.”

a) Is this true? Is Jin-Mei’s mother only asking her daughter to be the best she can be?

b) Why does Jin-Mei react the way she does? Is she “ungrateful”? Elaborate.

c) Why does she behave the way she does with Old Chong and the piano lessons?

5. Why does her mother’s expression after the piano recital devastate Jing-Mei? How does Jing-Mei try to get back at her mother? Assess their behaviour towards each other.

6. “Only two kinds of daughters …” Discuss the mother’s philosophy. Are there only two kinds – or is there “a middle ground”?

Response Journal

The Great Electrical Revolution

- Ken Mitchell

Questions

1. Describe the character of Mitchell’s grandfather.

2. List things in the story which give an indication of the time the story took place.

Response Journal