Passage A "Reverdy"

Text Lines 3 - 5

"I never say her name—not to anyone. When people ask about her, as they do

occasionally even now, I say “she” and “her.” “She is still gone.” “We do not hear from her.”

“Yes, she was very beautiful,” I say. But not her name. ...

• (1) feels humiliated by her sister's actions

• (2) is pained by the memory of her sister

• (3) feels resentful about her sister's choices

• (4) is secretive about the life of her sister

Text - Figurative Language - Lines 14 - 15

"Her face was always quiet, but her eyes were so alive they glowed. Oh, she was the most beautiful, most alive, and most loving girl in the world, and she was my sister.

• (1) Reverdy's mischievousness

• (2) Reverdy's appreciation of attention

• (3) Clare's admiration of Reverdy

• (4) Clare's aggressiveness toward Reverdy

Text - Lines 19 - 33

"One evening in October, when it was almost dark, I was coming home from the library, coasting across lots in the hot dry Santa Ana that had been blowing all day. Cool weather had already come, and then three days of this hot wind. Dust everywhere. Under your

eyelids, between your fingers, in your mouth. When we went to school in the morning the first thing we’d do would be to write our names in the dust on our desks. I had on a skirt full of pleats that evening, and I pulled the pleats out wide so the skirt made a sort of sail and the wind almost pushed me along. I watched the tumble weeds blowing, and listened to the wind in the clump of eucalyptus by the barn, and felt miserable and gritty. Then I saw Reverdy walking up and down the driveway by the house and I felt suddenly glad. Reverdy loved the wind, even Santa Ana’s, and she was always out walking or running when the wind blew, if she didn’t have any work to do. She liked to carry a scarf in her hand and hold it up in the wind so she could feel it tug and snap. When I saw Reverdy I forgot how dusty and hot the wind was and remembered only how alive it was and how Reverdy loved it. I ran toward her but she didn’t wave or say a word, and when she reached the end of the driveway she turned her back on me and started walking toward the barn.

• (1) demonstrate a contrast between the sisters

• (2) foreshadow a conflict between the sisters

• (3) emphasize the sisters' appreciation of nature

• (4) illustrate the sisters' competitive relationship

Text - Lines 44 - 45

"It made me feel sick to see her walking

up and down there in the dusty dark like a homeless dog, while we were snug inside."

• (1) ashamed of Reverdy's attitude

• (2) concerned about Reverdy's reputation

• (3) envious of Reverdy's strength

• (4) distressed by Reverdy's situation

Text - Lines 49 - 54

"That wasn’t true. Mother had plenty of fault to find with me usually ... but it was sweet to have her speak lovingly to me, to be cherished and appreciated. Maybe you can’t understand that, maybe your family was always loving, maybe you were always dear little daughter, or maybe, a big golden wonder-boy. But not me and not my mother. So try to understand how it was with me, then, and how happy it made me to have Mother put her arms about me. Yes, I thought, I’m Mother’s comfort."

• (1) rejection of tenderness

• (2) acceptance of her mistake

• (3) justification for her behavior

• (4) reluctance to change

Text - Line 56

"Oh, I battened on

Reverdy’s downfall all right. ..."

• (1) questioned

• (2) benefited from

• (3) learned from

• (4) imagined

Text - Lines 62 - 65

"Usually we kicked and howled at having to play, so, I thought, if we play now it will show Mother how thoughtful and reliable we are. It will cheer her up while she’s out there in the wind talking to that bad Reverdy. Yes, she will think, I have one fine, dependable daughter, anyway. ..."

• (1) Clare wants to be her family's mediator

• (2) Clare wants to distract her brother

• (3) Clare wants to console her sister

• (4) Clare wants to be her mother's favorite

Use the whole text - think about the family's interaction and what influenced them to interact the way they do

• (1) Reverdy's love for her mother

• (2) Mother's reliance upon Clare

• (3) Reverdy's behavior toward Clare

• (4) Mother's attitude toward Reverdy

Text - Find examples of second person point of view in the text

• (1) optimism

• (2) sympathy

• (3) curiosity

• (4) suspicion

Text - Central Idea

• (1) Lines 6 - 8

• (2) Lines 25 - 26

• (3) Lines 54 - 56

• (4) Lines 62 - 63