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Copywork
About This Passage
This is the chapter's strangest moment — two creatures sitting in the dark belly of a sea monster, having a conversation about philosophy. The Tunny has decided to be calm because he thinks dying in the water is nobler than ending up as dinner. Pinocchio refuses to give up. Copying this passage trains the writer to feel a real difference between two characters who are in the same trouble: one resigned, one ready to fight, both speaking carefully even in fear.
"But I do not wish to be digested," said Pinocchio, beginning to cry. "Neither do I wish to be digested," added the Tunny; "but I am philosopher enough to console myself by thinking that it is more di...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Tell what happens in this chapter from the moment the buyer pulls on the rope to the moment Pinocchio sees the glimmer of light. Be sure to include the marionette in place of the donkey, the true story Pinocchio tells, the swim away with the goodbye joke, the blue Goat on the marble rock, the Dogfish chase, the swallowing, and the talk with the Tunny.
Discussion Questions
- When the buyer asks how Pinocchio went from being a donkey to being a marionette, Pinocchio first jokes that 'the sea never tells its secrets.' What does this joke tell you about how Pinocchio feels right now, and why does Collodi let him be playful before he tells the true story?
- Pinocchio tells the buyer his whole true story — the bad companion, the donkey, the master, the lameness, the sale. What in the chapter shows that this is the first time Pinocchio has told the whole truth without trying to leave parts out?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
a large saltwater fish, also called a tuna; a Tunny fish is swallowed by the Dogfish at the same time as Pinocchio and becomes his philosophical companion in the dark.
Item 2
a frightening and unnatural creature, often very large; the Dogfish in this chapter is called 'The Attila of fishes and fishermen' for his bloodthirsty nature.
Item 3
to break free from a place where one is trapped or in danger; Pinocchio refuses to be digested and tells the Tunny, 'I want to escape.'
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Critical Thinking
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