Because of Winn-Dixie — Chapter 1

About This Passage

This passage teaches a technique writers call the loose sentence fragment — the way DiCamillo chops 'And ugly.' and 'And he looked like he was having a real good time' into their own sentences instead of joining them with commas. Each fragment lands like a separate impression in Opal's mind, mimicking the way a real person actually notices things one at a time rather than in one tidy sentence. The passage also contains a beautifully precise verb — 'skidded' — which does three things at once: it tells us about speed, about the slick grocery-store floor, and about the dog's complete lack of dignity. Notice also how the word 'smiled' treats the dog as a person with an inner life. This is the first moment in the book where the reader is told to treat this dog as a character, not an animal.

Narration Prompt

Retell the chapter in your own words, paying special attention to the moment Opal chooses to say 'that's my dog.' Then explain what you think that moment is really about — not just what happens, but what it shows us about Opal.

Discussion Questions

1. The chapter opens with the sentence 'My name is India Opal Buloni, and last summer my daddy, the preacher, sent me to the store for a box of macaroni-and-cheese, some white rice, and two tomatoes and I came back with a dog.' What does the writer get done in this single sentence, and why do you think she decided to put so much into the first sentence of the book?
2. Opal calls her father 'the preacher' almost every time she mentions him, instead of 'my dad' or 'my father.' What do you notice about this choice? What does it tell us about their relationship before we even meet him?

+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide