Preview
Copywork
About This Passage
Mary Pope Osborne uses a sequence of short sentences to deliver a single shocking discovery. Each sentence is one beat: the lady stops, Jack offers the scepter, his hand shakes, he gasps, the scepter passes through her, she is made of air. The pacing accelerates as the truth becomes clear. Students will study how a chain of short sentences can carry a moment of revelation that one long sentence could not.
The Egyptian lady stopped in front of them. Jack held out the scepter. His hand was trembling. He gasped. The scepter passed right through the lady's hand. She was made of air.
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
In your own words, tell the story of this chapter. What were the most important moments? What made them important — and how do you know?
Discussion Questions
- Annie immediately wants to give the scepter back to the figure she thinks is a mummy. She has not yet learned the figure is a robber. Annie's first impulse is to help, even when help would be foolish. Is this trust a virtue or a weakness? What in the chapter makes you think so?
- Jack reads about tomb robbers in the book and recognizes that the white figure was not a mummy. The book gives him an explanation. What does this tell us about how books can change the way we understand events that have already happened to us?
+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide
Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
A ceremonial staff carried by a king or queen as a symbol of royal authority.
Item 2
A burial chamber or building in which a body is interred, often above ground.
Item 3
A person who steals from others, especially through force or stealth; in Egyptian history, a recurring threat to royal burial sites.
+ 7 more vocabulary words in the complete study guide
Critical Thinking
+ 5 more questions in the complete study guide
Get the complete study guide — free
Sign up and get your first book with every chapter included. Copywork, discussion questions, vocabulary, and critical thinking.
Sign up free