Key Concepts Key Reading Skills

Marigolds

Memory and reality

Coming of age

Poverty and wealth

Poverty and family

Innocence vs compassion

Fear and violence

Youth and age

Consciousness

Explained feelings

Recognizing detail

Cause-effect relationships

Recognizing sequence

Making inferences

Judgments

Compare-contrast

Summarizing

Content-Process Analysis: “Marigolds”

Guided Reading Lesson: “Marigolds”Grade 8th

Fayzah Yahya12 November 2013

Guided Reading Lesson: “Marigolds”Grade level: 8th Background and Motivation

1. View photos depicting various elements in story and complete the worksheet.

What do you see? What do you think? What do you wonder?

2. View and discuss the PowerPoint.

3. How would you solve this problem:

You are an African American young woman. You live in a depression era town of barren land that is dusty. You are poor, hungry, and unhappy. You pass time playing with kids in the neighborhood. You and the kids start throwing pebbles at the marigolds planted in a woman’s yard only to run away after being yelled at. One night, you overhear your father crying because he is unable to provide for the family. This leaves you in fear and anger. So, you decide to take your anger out on marigolds by destroying them.

How else could you have dealt with your anger instead of destroying the marigolds?What could you do to make it up to the woman who planted those marigolds?

4. Read the story and begin answering purpose questions.

Vocabulary

Arid

Chary

Elude

Vigor

Shanty

Placid

Squalor

Contrition

Arid (adj)

dry, parched; being without moisture; dull, completely lacking in interest

The climate is arid—warm in the daytime, but much cooler in the evenings.

Compare and contrast the two pictures. Which picture depicts an arid climate? Why.

Chary (adj):

Cautiously or suspiciously reluctant to do something, careful

Most people are chary of allowing themselves to be photographed.

What is the woman pictured doing that makes her chary?

Elude (v.):

to avoid or escape; evade (can pertain to understanding as well)

The thief tried to evade from the police officer, but he was arrested.

Is there

something being evaded in these pictures? If so, what is being evaded?

Vigor (n):

Active strength or force; energy; intensity

The racers were running with great vigor.

Does it take vigor to kick a ball?

Shanty (n.)

A shack and rundown little house; falling apart

The woman was unhappy because she lived in a shanty town.

Which picture does not depict a shanty?

Placid(ly) (adj):

Pleasantly calm or peaceful; unruffled; tranquil; serenely quiet or undisturbed; not easily upset or excited

This horse is a relatively placid animal.

Is the expression of the Mona Lisa placid? Why or why not.

Squalor (n):

Filth and misery; the condition of being squalid (neglected, wretched)

The people in the small town lived in squalor and disease.

Which kitchen is in the state of squalor? Why?

Contrition (n):

Sincere sorrow or regret

The man was in deep contrition after destroying his neighbor’s garden.

Is this woman in a state of contrition? How can you tell?

Name________________________________________________Date____________________

Purpose Questions: “Marigolds”

1. What is the setting of the story (location and time of year)? List specific details. (detail)

2. Describe the economic situation during this time period. (detail, inference)

3. Describe the living conditions in this small town using at least two examples. Explain your answer. (detail)

4. Who is Lizabeth? (detail)

5. Who is Miss Lottie? (detail)

6. Who is John Burke? Describe him in detail.(detail)

7. What do the marigolds symbolize to the children and Miss Lottie? Be specific. (inference, compare-contrast)

8. Explain why Lizabeth is upset over the marigolds? (inference)

9. Who or what is the antagonist in Marigolds? Explain your answer. (detail)

10. From whose point – of –view is the story Marigolds being told?(detail)

11. What specific incident causes Lizabeth to wake up and go destroy the marigolds? (detail, cause-effect)

12. How does Lizabeth change in the moment she becomes face to face with Miss Lottie? What does she see in Miss Lotties eyes? (detail, inference)

13. Summarize the story in no more than five sentences. What are the major events in the story? (summarizing, sequence)

Name________________________________________________Date____________________

Discussion Questions: “Marigolds”

1. Why do you think Miss Lottie never planted marigolds again? Should she have planted them again? Why or why not? (inference)

2. What do you think Lizabeth means at the end of the story when she says “I too have planted marigolds”? Explain your answer. (inference)

3. How would you describe the mood of this story? (detail, judgement)

4. What conclusions can you draw from the description about the likelihood that Miss Lottie will punish the children for their actions? (inference)

5. Why do you think the children “pick on” Miss Lottie? Would you have done the same thing? (detail, inference)

6. 3. What does the author mean by “memory is an abstract painting”? (detail)

7. Find the quote that expresses what the “loss of innocence” means to Lizabeth. Now, internalize that and explain what that means to you. Explain how this has changed Lizabeth. (detail, judgment)

8. Examine the line: “I suppose that futile waiting was the sorrowful background music of our impoverished little community when I was young.” Underline words from this quote that reveal something about the narrator’s feelings during this time in her life. Then explain the tone of this sentence based on the words you underlined. (detail, judgment)

9. Identify the theme(s) in Marigolds. List three themes. Explain your answer. (detail, inference)

10. Describe the climax of this story. (detail)

11. Discuss how Miss Lottie reacts to Lizabeth’s fit. Explain why Lizabeth describes her fit as her “last act of childhood?” (detail, inference)

12. Why do you suppose Lizabeth calls this experience the end of her innocence? (inference)

13. Compare Lizabeth to yourself. What would you have done in her place? (compare-contrast)

14. Interpret what marigolds symbolized to Miss Lottie and what they symbolize to the grown-up Lizabeth? (inference)

15. Have you ever witnessed someone destroying something that belonged to someone? If so, why and what happened? (detail)

16. Have you destroyed something that belonged to someone? If so, why? (detail)

17. If you were in Miss Lottie’s place, what would you have done with Lizabeth after she destroyed the marigolds? Why? (inference, judgment)

18. What do you think Lizabeth will do after the story ended? (inference)

19. What do you think the narrator means at the end of the story when she says that she too has planted marigold? (inference)

Activities and Assignments

All students must do the following:

Write two paragraphs about something you regret doing in your childhood or adolescence. What did you learn from the experience? In one paragraph, select a quote from the story and write about what it means to you.

Choose one of the following:

1. Essay: o Write an analytical paragraph in which you explain what Lizabeth has learned

about herself and what caused her to come to her realization. After asserting the theme, you must provide at least two concrete examples/evidence from “Marigolds” that Collier employs to support her theme. Be sure to explain the effect it had on her attitude towards herself and her society. Your goal is to present a strong interpretation of the Short Story’s theme through evidence.

2. Role play:

o In groups of four, choose a section of the story and act it out in front of the class.o Must use props and costumes. o Use as many characters from the story as possible.

3. Interview: o With a partner, choose one character from the story to interview. o You must have at least 15 questions to ask the character. o The person playing the character must have answers based on the facts and details

found in the story.

4. Movie: Make a film adaption of the story.

o Use props, costumes, dialogue from the story, and a setting similar to the story. Film must be no more than twenty minutes long.

o You may delete some scenes or morph together other scenes; however the major events must be filmed.

5. Song lyrics: o Choose a song that relates to one of the characters in the story or the story as a

whole.o In one paragraph, explain why you chose the song.o In another paragraph, explain how it relates to the story/ character.