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Copywork
About This Passage
This is the chapter's turning point. Mary's true question comes out by accident — 'quavered' and 'faltered' show how hard it was for her to ask, and 'eagerness' shows why she asked it anyway.
“Might I,” quavered Mary, “might I have a bit of earth?” In her eagerness she did not realize how queer the words would sound and that they were not the ones she had meant to say. Mr. Craven looked qu...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
In your own words, retell how Mary comes to meet Mr. Craven and what she asks him. Include how Mrs. Sowerby, Martha, and Mrs. Medlock each help make the meeting happen.
Discussion Questions
- When Mr. Craven tells Mary, “You remind me of someone else who loved the earth and things that grow,” his eyes look “almost soft and kind.” What does this sudden softening reveal about the grief Mr. Craven has been carrying since Mrs. Craven died, and why does a child's request for dirt reach him when nothing else has?
- Mary first meets Mr. Craven only because Mrs. Sowerby, a woman he does not know, stopped him on the moor to speak up for a child she has never met. What does this scene suggest about the way real change sometimes enters a household — through the door no one expected, opened by someone who felt she had to speak?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
disarranged or tousled, as hair disturbed by wind or motion
Item 2
reliable and faithful; someone who can be counted on to keep a promise
Item 3
required or forced to do something by duty or circumstance
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Critical Thinking
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