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Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride — Chapter 8

Study guide for 7th – 9th Grade

Preview

Copywork

About This Passage

Eugenia delivers a small monument to confident wrongness. The phrase 'apparently I am the only one' is the language of a person who has converted disagreement into proof of her own superior insight. Kate DiCamillo never names the failure; the phrasing does the work.

'I do think,' said Eugenia, 'that this has something to do with that pig. And I do think, apparently I am the only one around here who does.'

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 about Eugenia's reasoning.

Discussion Questions

  1. Eugenia uses the phrase 'apparently I am the only one around here who does.' This is the language of someone who has converted disagreement into proof of being right. Where else have you seen this kind of reasoning?
  2. Compare Eugenia's reasoning here with Officer Tomilello's in chapter 6. Both face an unusual situation. The officer separated unusual from wrong; Eugenia merges them. What is Kate DiCamillo claiming about the structure of fair vs. unfair judgment?

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Vocabulary Builder

Item 1

the act of assuming something without sufficient evidence

Item 2

the tendency to interpret new information as supporting existing beliefs

Item 3

it seems; from outward appearances

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Critical Thinking

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More chapters of Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride

Chapter 1 (10th – 12th)Chapter 1 (7th – 9th)Chapter 1 (1st – 3rd)Chapter 1 (Adult)Chapter 1 (4th – 6th)Chapter 2 (10th – 12th)View all chapters

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