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Copywork
About This Passage
Selected because Dad's three sentences perform the entire reversal of his prior position. "You are right" is the small concession an adult must make to admit he was wrong to a child; "This fly is smart" is the new judgment; "He needs a name" is the action that consolidates the new judgment. The structure is rhetorical: concession, claim, conclusion.
"You are right," said Dad. "This fly is smart. He needs a name."
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Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Summarize this chapter, then explain what you think the author most wanted the reader to notice or feel. What techniques did the author use?
Discussion Questions
- Tedd Arnold structures the chapter as a small reversal driven by a single dramatic event. Argue why Arnold chooses event-driven reversal over the more patient process of accumulated persuasion, and what this reveals about how he thinks minds actually change.
- Dad's reversal from "flies are pests" to "this fly is smart, he needs a name" is fast. Argue whether this represents admirable open-mindedness, intellectual instability, or the proper response to genuinely new evidence. What kind of adult does the chapter show?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
A change to the opposite direction; the structural shape of Dad's opinion across the chapter.
Item 2
Facts or information that prove or disprove a claim; what the rescue provides Dad about the fly's intelligence.
Item 3
Acknowledging that an opponent's point has merit; the small act Dad performs when he says "You are right."
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Critical Thinking
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