Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride — Chapter 7

Narration Prompt

Summarize the chapter and identify the central tension.

Discussion Questions

1. Baby Lincoln, the silent dissenter of two books, finally takes an adventure. Augustine in Confessions VIII argues that conversion is sudden but prepared by long interior longing. Is Baby's moment an Augustinian conversion in miniature?
2. Baby redeems Eugenia's scolding word 'folly' into a word for joy. The reclamation of a negative word is one of the oldest rhetorical moves in religious and political literature. Where else have you seen it, and what does Kate DiCamillo do with the move that the older traditions cannot?

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