Scarlet Ibis Smith

In “The Scarlet Ibis,” why is the narrator’s brother three months old before he is named?

• His parents cannot agree on a name.

• It is traditional to wait three months before naming a baby.

• Everybody thinks that the baby will die.

• The baby first has to be baptized in the church

Once Doodle has learned to walk, what motivates the narrator to persist with Doodle’s development program?

• his belief in his own infallibility

• his belief in Doodle’s infallibility

• his sympathy for Doodle

• his defiance for his parents

Which passage from “The Scarlet Ibis” best illustrates a feeling of triumph?

• . . . I put him on his feet at least a hundred times each afternoon.

• “And before I’ll help you down from the loft, you’re going to have to touch it.”

• Finally, I could see I was licked. Doodle was my brother and he was going to cling to me forever.

• There wasn’t a sound as Doodle walked slowly across the room and sat down at his place at the table.

In “The Scarlet Ibis,” with which character is the bird in the story’s title symbolically associated?

• the narrator

• Mama

• Aunt Nicey

• Doodle

In “The Scarlet Ibis,” how does the weather contribute to the atmosphere, or mood?

• The weather creates a mood of confinement.

• The weather seems reliable and reassuring.

• The weather seems threatening and unpredictable.

• The weather creates a feeling of lightheartedness.

Which passage from “The Scarlet Ibis” conveys a feeling of optimism?

• Hope no longer hid in the dark palmetto thicket but perched like a cardinal in the lacy toothbrush tree, brilliantly visible.

• Then when the slanted rays of the sun burned orange in the tops of the pines, we’d drop our jewels into the stream and watch them float away toward the sea.

• But sometimes (like right now), as I sit in the cool, green-draped parlor, the grindstone begins to turn, and time with all its changes is ground away. . . .

• . . . The peacock spread his magnificent tail, enfolding the boy gently like a closing go-to-sleep flower, burying him in the gloriously iridescent, rustling vortex.

If you were convinced of your own infallibility, which of these feelings might you have?

• hesitation

• puzzlement

• regret

• confidence

Which description might apply to an object that was positioned precariously?

• teetering

• centered

• smoldering

• decorated

What prompts the narrator to show Doodle the coffin?

• The narrator thinks that Doodle will find it amusing.

• He intends to shut Doodle up inside the coffin as a joke

• He has a cruel streek that surfaces occasionally.

• He wants to impress on Doodle how surprised they all were that Doodle survived.

In literature what is the correct term for a person, place , a thing, or event that represents both itself and a larger idea or feeling?

• allegory

• epic

• symbol

• simile