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Copywork
About This Passage
This single sentence is the quiet warning at the heart of the chapter. On the friendly walk to the village, the narrator notices that small groups of islanders keep joining them in a way that seems planned, not accidental — there is too much ‘system’ in it. That hidden order makes him uneasy, so he tells Captain Guy his ‘apprehensions,’ a grown-up word for worried fears. Copying it helps a young reader feel how a careful person can sense danger before anything bad happens, just by noticing a pattern, and how Poe slips a chill into a peaceful-seeming scene.
There appeared so much of system in this that I could not help feeling distrust, and I spoke to Captain Guy of my apprehensions.
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell this chapter in order: how the crew walks nine miles inland to Too-wit's village, called Klock-klock, while more and more islanders quietly join them along the road; how the village is full of strange huts and tame animals, even wild black albatross living like pets that fly off to fish and come home; how the crew is led into Too-wit's crowded hut and packed in so tightly they can barely move; how Captain Guy gives the chief beads, which he scorns, and a knife, which delights him; how the chief offers strange food the sailors cannot eat; and how Too-wit shows them reefs full of valuable biche de mer before they return to the ship. Stop where the chapter makes you feel most uneasy and tell why.
Discussion Questions
- In Too-wit's village the crew sees wild black albatross living as tame pets that fly off to fish and always come home again. Why might that make the village seem welcoming, strange, or a little of both, and what part of the chapter helps you decide? Use details from the chapter.
- When Captain Guy offers the chief a string of blue beads, he turns up his nose, but a knife makes him very happy. Why might the chief care so much more about the knife than the pretty beads, and what makes you think so? Use details from the chapter.
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
Careful and watchful.
Item 2
Rough and uneven.
Item 3
Gentle and trained, not wild.
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Critical Thinking
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