Preview
Copywork
About This Passage
Kate DiCamillo turns Baby's quietness into a small revelation. Eugenia is so used to automatic agreement that she keeps waiting for it after Baby has slipped away. The chapter is a small moral observation about how the chronically agreeable become invisible.
Eugenia paused, waiting for Baby to say 'yes sister.' Baby said nothing. Baby was saying nothing because Baby was not there.
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Summarize the chapter and explain what Kate DiCamillo wants you to notice.
Discussion Questions
- Eugenia waits for an automatic 'yes sister' that never comes because Baby has already left. The structure makes Eugenia's habit visible. Is the chapter making a serious observation about how the chronically agreeable become invisible to the people they agree with?
- Kate DiCamillo shows Baby's absence through Eugenia's NOT noticing it. The dramatic irony lets the reader see the loss before the character does. Where else have you seen this technique deployed for moral effect?
+ 1 more question in the complete study guide
Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
happening without thought or attention
Item 2
unseen, often because too familiar to notice
Item 3
the literary technique in which the reader knows what the characters do not
+ 3 more vocabulary words in the complete study guide
Critical Thinking
+ 2 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