Preview
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Summarize the page twice: once as the fact sheet it pretends to be — spots, eyes, size, holes, diet — and once as the argument it is, from the matched openers to the bite that works regardless of belief. Then state, in one sentence each, what the page claims, what it implies, and what it withholds, and name the sentence doing the heaviest work in each category.
Discussion Questions
- The page's central rule arrives in its second sentence: a bite 'doesn't make a difference whether you believe in it or not.' Everything after it — counted spots, corrected colors, a hedged death — can be read as evidence for that rule. Decide whether the page earns the rule or merely asserts it. Use the chapter's words to identify which facts function as proof, and explain why the author spends a whole page proving what one sentence could state.
- The page makes knowledge-claims of different strengths: 'exactly eleven yellow spots,' 'in truth, its eyes are yellow,' 'up to twenty lizards may live in one hole,' 'you are probably dead.' Weigh these claims as a set. Which is best supported by the page's own method, and which leans hardest on trust? Use the chapter's words to explain what this mix of certainty and hedge reveals about the narrator's craft with evidence.
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Critical Thinking
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