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Copywork
About This Passage
This passage is worth slow study because of how James Howe uses one small action (a pat that is really a pinch) to reveal everything about Kevin, and one short line of dialogue to reveal everything about Mrs. Morgan. Kevin is the kind of bully who has learned to be cruel in front of witnesses by disguising cruelty as affection — a sign of practiced bullying, not accidental meanness. Mrs. Morgan is the kind of neighbor who actually watches and does not look away. Two sentences, two fully drawn characters.
He pretended to pat Pinky on the shoulder but pinched him hard instead. 'I know what you did,' Mrs. Morgan said, pushing Kevin's hand away. 'I saw the whole thing.'
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell the chapter, then identify the single moment that does the most work in establishing Kevin as a bully and Mrs. Morgan as a protector.
Discussion Questions
- James Howe opens the book with a bullying scene rather than with a peaceful introduction to Pinky's life. Why does he choose to start with the crisis? What does this opening accomplish?
- Kevin's cruelty is targeted at something specific — Pinky's love of pink and his nickname. But his underlying issue is probably not really about color. What is Kevin actually afraid of, and how does the chapter hint at it without stating it?
+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide
Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
having absorbed someone else's values or rules until they feel like your own, even when they are harmful — Pinky has internalized Kevin's idea of what a boy should be
Item 2
a lack of confidence about oneself that often leads people to attack others as a way of managing their own fear
Item 3
done for the sake of being seen rather than because of real intention — Kevin's fake pat is performative cruelty dressed as friendliness
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Critical Thinking
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