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Copywork
About This Passage
Notice how DiCamillo uses anaphora — starting four sentences in a row with 'I had' — to give us the feeling of Opal counting her blessings on her fingers. The repetition is doing two things at once: it lists the good things, and it makes the act of listing feel like a small celebration. Notice also that the word 'first' in the last sentence is doing important work. 'My first invitation' tells us that Opal has been counting parties she was not invited to, and now she finally has one. The tiny word 'first' carries the whole loneliness of the chapters before. Copying this passage teaches a writer how to make a list of happy things feel earned and quiet rather than show-off or boastful.
All of a sudden I felt happy. I had a dog. I had a job. I had Miss Franny Block for a friend. And I had my first invitation to a party in Naomi.
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Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell the chapter. By the end, Opal has gone from a lonely girl with one friend to a girl with a dog, a job, two friends, and a party invitation. What did she DO to make all of this happen so quickly?
Discussion Questions
- Otis is described in detail: he wears 'pointy-toed cowboy boots,' has 'thick black hair... slicked back like Elvis Presley's,' and never looks Opal in the eye. Why do you think DiCamillo gives us such specific physical details about Otis when she gives the preacher almost none?
- Opal asks Otis for a payment plan to buy the leash and collar. Otis says no, but offers her a job. Analyze why the job is a better solution than the payment plan. What does the job give Opal that money alone could not?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
a regular small payment given to a child by a parent or guardian, often weekly
Item 2
one of a series of partial payments made to pay off something gradually instead of all at once
Item 3
able to be relied on to be honest and to do what you say you will do
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Critical Thinking
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