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Copywork
About This Passage
This sentence is one of the chapter's quietest moments of full feeling. Opal has gathered her whole summer's worth of friends in one room — Miss Franny, Otis, Gloria, Sweetie Pie, Amanda, the Dewberry boys, the preacher, Winn-Dixie. She looks around at all their faces and her heart swells. Notice the word 'pure.' Earlier in the book, Opal has been having complicated feelings (swollen with joy AND longing). This time, the swelling is pure. Notice also 'all the different faces' — the word 'different' honors the variety of her friends. They are not the same; they are different from each other, and the difference is part of what makes the room beautiful. Copying this sentence teaches a writer how to render a moment of full joy without any sad undertone, and how small words like 'pure' and 'different' can carry a whole scene.
I looked around the room at all the different faces, and I felt my heart swell up inside me with pure happiness.
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell the chapter. How did the party change when it moved inside? And where was Winn-Dixie the whole time?
Discussion Questions
- Winn-Dixie was under Gloria's bed the whole time Opal was searching in the rain. He was drawn out by Otis playing his guitar. Analyze this detail. Why is it Otis's music, specifically, that finds Winn-Dixie?
- The Dewberry boys are now at the party, singing along with everybody else. Gloria's prediction about them has come true. Is this a happy moment for Opal, or is there something uncomfortable about it?
+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide
Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
covered with dust; showing signs of having been in a place that was not cleaned
Item 2
a song of praise or worship, usually sung in church
Item 3
a talent or special ability given naturally, not earned through training
+ 7 more vocabulary words in the complete study guide
Critical Thinking
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