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Copywork
About This Passage
Three sentences that build a portrait of a rare event. The first announces the news — a first-ever smile. The second gives the 'before' picture: the usual angry expression. The third paints the 'after,' growing the smile until it needs a comparison to hold it: 'like the smile on a jack-o'-lantern' — a sudden huge grin carved into a face that almost never makes one. Copy all three sentences, keeping the apostrophe and hyphens in 'jack-o'-lantern.' Notice the simile's double edge: a jack-o'-lantern's grin is bright and a little fragile — its light can be blown out. One sentence from Mr. Pendanski is about to do exactly that.
It was the first time Stanley had ever seen Zero smile. He usually had such an angry expression on his face. Now he had such a huge smile it almost seemed too big for his face, like the smile on a jac...
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Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Summarize the circle in order: Stanley arriving last, the goals talk, José's monkey dream, Stanley's joke, Zero's smile, the words that erase it, and 'I like to dig holes.' Then explain which single sentence in the chapter does the most damage, and use the chapter's words to show why that one.
Discussion Questions
- Mr. Pendanski announces the circle's rule: 'We don't laugh at people's dreams,' and later tells Zero, 'You're not completely worthless.' Compare the rule with those words. Why might the writer have the rule-maker say that line, and what does the contrast show? Use the chapter's words from both moments to explain your thinking.
- Stanley's joke — blaming his 'no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather' — makes the boys howl, and 'Even Zero smiled.' Why might this particular joke reach Zero when nothing else has? Use the chapter's words about the laughter to explain what kind of laughing this is, compared to the other laughter in the circle.
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
Having no value at all
Item 2
The look on a face that shows feeling
Item 3
To succeed at something through effort
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Critical Thinking
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