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Copywork
About This Passage
This passage shows Jonas separating the community's expectations (the announcement, the apology, the procedures) from the thing that actually puzzles him — the apple itself. The carefully balanced sentence teaches students how a writer can signal 'the real question is here' by contrast rather than by loud emphasis.
Jonas thought again about that incident. He was still bewildered by it. Not by the announcement or the necessary apology; those were standard procedures, and he had deserved them—but by the incident i...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell the chapter as three scenes: the arrival of the newchild Gabriel with his pale eyes; the conversation about Lily wanting to be a Birthmother; and the memory of the apple that changed in midair during catch with Asher.
Discussion Questions
- Lily notices the pale eyes Jonas and Gabriel share, and Jonas waits for Father to chastise her. What does this moment reveal about which feelings the community treats as rudeness, and which it leaves unspoken?
- Mother tells Lily there is "very little honor" in the Birthmother Assignment. Why does Lowry choose the word "honor" here rather than "importance" or "value," and what does Mother's word choice teach Lily about how the community ranks its work?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
Confused and unable to explain what you are seeing
Item 2
An event that happened, often one that stands out
Item 3
Needed; not able to be skipped
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Critical Thinking
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