Chapter 17 · Lily's Crossing

Copywork

It was still ticking, but slowly.

The sea was tinged with green. Her father would say it had something to do with algae. There was only the slightest swell now, a perfect afternoon to teach Albert to swim.

Giff says the clock was “still ticking, but slowly.” Why not just say it ticked slowly?

For the educator Two passages, four sentences, in story order: the clock on the piano, then the sea out the window a few lines later. The first is one short sentence. A comma and “but” hold back the last word, so we wait for “slowly” the way Lily waits for the hands to move. That is the point of the talk. A student may say “still” is funny, since Lily has just put her ear to the clock to check it is alive; another may say the comma makes the sentence drag, the way the half hour drags. Either is good if it points to “still,” “but” or the comma. The next line in the chapter, not copied here, says it “would take forever,” the word Lily also used for learning the piano and for arguing with Gram. The second passage is three sentences that move from what Lily sees to what she wants. The first is plain: the sea “tinged with green.” The second puts Poppy’s voice in her head: “would say” tells what he says about the sea. The third turns. It starts with what she sees, “only the slightest swell,” and after the comma a renaming phrase tells what that calm sea means to her: “a perfect afternoon to teach Albert to swim.” Notice for yourself that inside, time crawls, and outside the window it seems perfect. Leave that for the student to find. Claim nothing about where Poppy is, or whether Lily could teach Albert to swim. The vocabulary words tinged and slightest both stand in the second passage.

Discussion

Narration Tell back the chapter, from Gram calling down the road to what Lily tells Albert in the kitchen.

Lily makes sure Gram sees her huge sigh, but twice she thinks, “Gram was right.” Why does she keep that to herself? Character
In Lily’s daydream, Albert might only keep himself afloat, and the ship might not be Poppy’s. Is she facing those problems, or waving them away? Inference
Lily smiles a little when she remembers that Madeline was in Paris. What happens to that smile when she thinks, “And so was Ruth”? Tone
Lily isn’t sure the noise was Albert laughing. Should she have played “The Blue Danube” to the end anyway? Character
After the wrong note, the kitchen goes quiet. Then Lily plays the C scale one last time, softly. Who is she playing it for? Inference
In the kitchen, Gram listens to Albert with her head to one side. Why is Lily in such a hurry to get him out of there? Character

Make a Connection Think of something you wanted to learn that turned out slower than you hoped. What kept you going, or what made you want to quit?

Vocabulary

shading: Her grandmother was standing at the other end of the road, hand shading her eyes. Blocking the sun from her eyes so she can see far.
shifted: Lily shifted from one foot to the other. Moved her weight from one place to another.
tinged: The sea was tinged with green. Touched with a little bit of a color.
slightest: There was only the slightest swell now, a perfect afternoon to teach Albert to swim. The smallest amount there could be, hardly any at all.
afloat: Even if he could just keep himself afloat, she could help him. Staying up on top of the water instead of sinking.
blotch: all she could find were a bunch of black lines wandering up and down on a yellow blotch that looked like the piece of a puzzle. A shapeless patch of color with uneven edges.
plunked: She plunked herself down on the bench again and began to play “The Blue Danube” as nicely as she could. Dropped down heavily and all at once.

Critical thinking

Lily tells Gram she hates the piano. Gram says, “And you love music.” Which of them is closer to the truth?
Gram tells Lily, “You can do anything if you really work at it.” Does that hold for swimming out to a troop ship, or only for learning the piano?