Preview
Copywork
About This Passage
This is Sara's theory of dolls, delivered with perfect seriousness to a bemused Mariette. It is whimsical on its surface, but it reveals the imaginative interiority that is the deepest resource of Sara's character, the same inward life that lets her endure the day's humiliation without bitterness. Notice the patient, reasoning structure, the conditional 'if people knew... they would make them work,' which gives a child's fancy the shape of an argument. Copying this paragraph lets a student study how Burnett makes Sara's imagination feel both playful and intelligent, and how syntax can lend logic to make-believe.
“What I believe about dolls,” she said, “is that they can do things they will not let us know about. Perhaps, really, Emily can read and talk and walk, but she will only do it when people are out of t...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Give a concise summary of the chapter, then identify the single most consequential moment in it and explain why it matters to the chapter as a whole and what it reveals about Burnett's larger design.
Discussion Questions
- What Central One Idea does this chapter advance, and how does Burnett make that claim persuasive through the French lesson and the reactions it provokes? Defend your reading with details from the chapter.
- The novel could have established Sara's gifts in many ways, yet Burnett chooses a public humiliation over French. Why does this particular episode reward close attention, and what would a reader miss by treating it as a minor early scene? Use the chapter's details to explain.
+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide
Vocabulary
Item 1
Imaginative thoughts, fancies, or made-up ideas.
Item 2
Made extremely angry.
Item 3
Showing fondness, warmth, or tender feeling.
+ 3 more vocabulary words in the complete study guide
Critical Thinking
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