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Copywork
About This Passage
Collodi defeats the chapter's monster not with cleverness or courage but with the absurd image of Pinocchio's legs flailing upside-down. Copying this passage trains the middle-grade reader to feel how a fairy-tale danger can be undone by its own laughter — and how Collodi keeps tipping serious moments into comedy on purpose.
At the sight of the marionette kicking his legs with incredible velocity the serpent was seized with convulsions of laughter. He laughed and laughed and laughed with such force that he broke a blood v...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Walk through Chapter 20's three episodes: the muddy run toward the Fairy's house, the encounter with the green serpent, and the polecat trap. What does each episode reveal about Pinocchio's progress as a character?
Discussion Questions
- Pinocchio runs and jumps through the mud 'like a hare,' splashing his clothes and hat without caring. What in the story shows you how badly he wants to reach his papa and the Fairy? Why does Collodi let him get filthy on his way to do something noble?
- On the road, Pinocchio gives himself a long thinking-out-loud speech: he is headstrong and touchy, he never listens to wiser people, but from now on he will be a good obedient boy. How do you know Collodi placed this speech right before the serpent on purpose? What is the chapter setting up?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
Determined to do things one's own way; stubborn.
Item 2
A wooden puppet moved by strings.
Item 3
Willing to do what one is told.
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Critical Thinking
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