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Copywork
About This Passage
A long, calmly balanced sentence that contains the joke inside its parenthetical aside: the soldier does not chase, does not leap, does not strain — he simply reaches out and grabs the only part of Pinocchio large enough to grab. Trailblazers transcribing this passage meet four Tier 2 words (SOLDIER, SEIZED, MARIONETTE, RIDICULOUS) and can study how Collodi uses a parenthetical to slip a joke inside a calm sentence.
The soldier, scarcely moving his body, seized the marionette by the nose (which was a very ridiculous one, just the size to be seized by a soldier) and consigned him to the hands of Geppetto, who trie...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell Chapter 3 by organizing it as a chain of prank-and-consequence: Geppetto makes a body part, Pinocchio uses it to cause trouble, Geppetto reacts. Keep the order of the body parts and the specific mischief each one produces.
Discussion Questions
- Pinocchio plays a prank immediately after each body part is finished: eyes stare, nose grows, mouth laughs, hands steal, legs kick and run. Why do you think the author, Collodi, writes the mischief in this exact order? What does the order tell us about how Pinocchio is being formed?
- Geppetto’s home has a painted fireplace with a painted pot of soup. What in the story does this small detail about the painted fire tell us about Geppetto’s real situation before Pinocchio even arrives? Why does the author put it right at the beginning of the chapter?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
A jointed puppet moved by strings; a specifically theatrical Italian word Collodi chooses rather than ‘puppet.’
Item 2
A person who serves in the army or as a public guard; in this chapter, the soldier is the figure of public authority.
Item 3
Took hold of suddenly and firmly; the verb carries urgency and decision.
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Critical Thinking
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