Preview
Copywork
About This Passage
Mary Pope Osborne stages the moment of returning the queen's possessions through three small physical actions followed by a question. The actions are concrete: reach, pull, put. The question is uncertain: was the sigh real or imagined? Mary Pope Osborne refuses to resolve the question. Students will study how a writer can deliver a possible miracle through small physical detail and an unanswered question, trusting the reader to feel the weight without being told what to feel.
Jack reached into his pack. He pulled out the scroll and the scepter. He put them next to the mummy's skull. Was it just his imagination, or did a deep sigh seemed to shudder throughout the room?
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 calls the mummy gross and runs out of the room. Jack stays and calls it interesting. Mary Pope Osborne is showing two different reactions to the same body. Are both reactions honest, or is one better than the other? What in the chapter makes you think so?
- Mary Pope Osborne describes the mummy in detail — broken teeth, wrinkled ears, squashed nose, withered flesh, hollow eye sockets, rotting bandages. The description is unusually specific for a children's book. Why does she give us so much detail instead of just saying 'a mummy'?
+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide
Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
A dead body that has been preserved by drying and wrapping, especially as practiced by the ancient Egyptians for religious reasons.
Item 2
Long strips of cloth used to wrap or cover, especially for protection or preservation.
Item 3
Dried up, shrunken, and lost in moisture and life.
+ 7 more vocabulary words in the complete study guide
Critical Thinking
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