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Copywork
About This Passage
These two sentences perform a major emotional movement in the smallest possible form. The first sentence names the reading's purpose — not just to share a story, but to push back against the bad memories that hang on Gloria's bottle tree. The second sentence is in Gloria's dialect ('listened to it good' rather than 'well'), which quietly tells us that Opal has been around Gloria enough to pick up her rhythms. The dialect is a mark of intimacy. Notice also how the two sentences are symmetrical: one about Opal's action, one about Gloria's response. The reading is not a gift given to a passive recipient; it is a mutual act, with each person doing their part. Copying this passage teaches a writer how two short sentences can render the reciprocity of a real friendship.
I read it loud enough to keep her ghosts away. And Gloria listened to it good.
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell the chapter. Then identify the moment the reading becomes more than just a reading — when it becomes a specific act of care that only Opal could have offered Gloria.
Discussion Questions
- DiCamillo has Opal describe her own reading as 'loud enough to keep her ghosts away.' The phrase turns reading into a form of spiritual practice — literally a ghost-keeping ritual. Analyze this framing. Is DiCamillo making a claim that reading can be a form of exorcism, or is the ghost-keeping just a metaphor for something simpler like comfort or distraction?
- The second sentence of the passage uses Gloria's dialect ('listened to it good'). Opal's normal narration does not use this grammar. Why does DiCamillo slip Gloria's voice into Opal's narration at this moment? What is she showing us about the relationship between Opal and Gloria?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
balanced, with matching parts on either side — in writing, two sentences or phrases that mirror each other in structure
Item 2
the quality of a relationship in which each party contributes something of value, so that the relationship is not one-sided
Item 3
the specific patterns of speech characteristic of a particular region, class, or individual — when one character's dialect shows up in another character's speech, it often signals intimacy
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Critical Thinking
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