The Cricket in Times Square — Chapter 1

About This Passage

George Selden makes the Times Square subway station feel alive. The first sentence names a feeling — emptiness — as if a place could feel empty the way a stomach feels empty. The second sentence tells us why: the station is 'waiting' for people. A train station cannot really wait, but the author writes it that way so we feel what it is like to be in a busy place when the people have all gone away. Copying this teaches a writer how two short sentences can work together to change a description of a place into a description of a mood.

Narration Prompt

Tell someone what happened in this chapter in order. When you get to the most important part, slow down and tell it carefully — what happened, why it mattered, and what you think about it.

Discussion Questions

1. Mario's friend Paul gave him a whole fifty cents for a Sunday paper that costs only twenty-five cents, and then jumped onto the train before Mario could give him his change. Was Paul kind to Mario, or was Paul just wasteful with his money? What in the story makes you think so?
2. Mario shouted 'All late papers! Magazines!' and nobody stopped. Nobody even looked at him. Does Mario enjoy working at the newsstand, or is the newsstand a hard and lonely place for him? What in the story makes you think so?

+ 2 more questions in the complete study guide