Preview
Copywork
About This Passage
These two sentences quietly reveal what Too-wit's people prize. Captain Guy offers two gifts — pretty blue beads and a useful knife — and the chief's reactions could not be more different: he scorns the beads with 'contempt' but is delighted by the blade. Copying it shows how Poe lets one small choice speak volumes: a people who value the powerful and practical over the merely decorative. It also lets a reader feel the careful, watchful courtesy of this whole strange visit, where every gift and gesture carries weight.
Captain Guy replied by assuring the chief of his eternal friendship and good-will, concluding what he had to say by a present of several strings of blue beads and a knife. At the former the monarch, m...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell this chapter in order: how the crew marches nine miles inland to Too-wit's village, Klock-klock, while small groups of islanders keep joining them 'as if by accident' until the narrator grows uneasy; how the strange village holds huts of every odd shape and tame animals, even wild black albatross living as pets; how the crew is led into Too-wit's hut and packed in so tightly they cannot rise or reach their weapons; how Captain Guy gives the chief beads, which he scorns, and a knife, which delights him; how the chief offers strange food the crew cannot stomach; and how Too-wit shows them reefs heavy with valuable biche de mer before they return to the ship. Pause where the chapter most quietly warns of danger and explain why.
Discussion Questions
- Throughout the visit, Too-wit's people act friendly, yet their party keeps growing and the crew ends up packed tightly into the hut. Why might Poe keep the visit so outwardly welcoming even as the crew grows more uneasy? Use details from the chapter.
- Captain Guy offers Too-wit blue beads, which he scorns, and a knife, which delights him. What might Too-wit's reaction reveal about what he values in this moment, and why? Use details from the chapter.
+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide
Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
A feeling that someone cannot be trusted; suspicion.
Item 2
Rough, rocky, and uneven.
Item 3
Thin and narrow.
+ 5 more vocabulary words in the complete study guide
Critical Thinking
+ 5 more questions in the complete study guide
Get the complete study guide — free
Sign up and get your first book with every chapter included. Copywork, discussion questions, vocabulary, and critical thinking.
Sign up free