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Copywork
About This Passage
Colin is ten going on eleven, still speaks as the Rajah, still wears the crown Mary gave him — but the object of his commands has flipped. Where once he ordered nurses and Dr. Craven about his dying, he now announces scientific experiments about his recovery. Burnett places Ben's 'Aye, aye, sir!' (a sailor's submission) beside Mary's inner thought that Colin is a 'convincing sort of boy,' showing that even the adults and long-friends in the garden are choosing to be convinced.
“I am going to try a scientific experiment,” explained the Rajah. “When I grow up I am going to make great scientific discoveries and I am going to begin now with this experiment.” “Aye, aye, sir!” s...
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Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell Chapter 23 as the chapter in which Colin decides he is not dying but is instead a Scientific Discoverer. Begin with Dr. Craven's warning, then Mary calling Colin queer, then Colin's long speech announcing his experiment, then the circle of 'priests and devotees' under the plum-tree, then Colin's chant of 'The sun is shining... Being alive is the Magic,' then Colin's walk around the garden with his hand on Dickon's shoulder, and end with his promise that this will be the biggest secret of all.
Discussion Questions
- Mary tells Colin, 'It is always having your own way that has made you so queer,' and Colin — after a long pause — agrees and says he will stop being queer by going to the garden every day. What in Colin's willingness to hear this criticism shows you that he has changed since the early chapters when Mary could not even look at him without starting a quarrel?
- Colin says, 'I am sure there is Magic in everything, only we have not sense enough to get hold of it and make it do things for us—like electricity and horses and steam.' How does this comparison show you that Colin does not see a difference between Magic and science — and what do you think Burnett wants readers to consider about that confusion?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
Grand and impressive in the way of a king or queen; Burnett describes the robin parading on the wall in such a 'majestic' way that Colin, Mary, and Dickon all watch him instead of each other
Item 2
A line of people or animals moving forward together in a serious, ordered way (like at a wedding or a coronation); Colin, Dickon, and Mary walk around the garden in a kind of slow procession, with Colin stopping now and then to look at the flowers and the wall
Item 3
So large, solemn, or important-looking that a person feels they must pay attention; Colin behaves in an 'imposing' way when he stands up to give his scientific speech, holding his head high as if he were a great teacher
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Critical Thinking
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