Interpretive Questions
Interpretive Questions: Answer all questions in complete sentences. Provide quotes/textual evidence to support your answers.
1.) Why do they boys bury the grinding ball?
They bury the grinding ball because they think that it is wonderful. They hide it because they are afraid that someone might take it away.
2.) After they lose the grinding ball, why do the boys talk about it in “small words,…Kid words”? (p. 122)
They do not know what it is. They cannot describe something that they do not know about. That is why they are using kid friendly words.
3.) Why does the narrator tell the story of finding the gold course years before he and Sergio find the grinding ball?
The men show up and take their "heaven" away. They already lost their heaven, that is why they are prepared to hide it because they do not want to loose it anymore.
4.) Why do the narrator and Sergio stop going to the arroyo after they lose the grinding ball?
The arroyo is a little creek or sewer. They stop going because there are no more treasures hidden there. They are outgrowing it. They have had the fun they've had.
5.) Why does the narrator say that he and Sergio buried the grinding ball “because it was perfect”? (p. 126)
They are amazed because it is round. It was perfect because it is there treasure and they know what the adults are going to do.
6.) At the end of the story, why does the narrator say that the grinding ball “was the lion”? (p. 126)
The kids would be the lions because they are the the kings of the area. When they had the grinding ball it makes them feel proud and confident.
7.) What is the narrator referring to when he says that “something happened that we didn’t have a name for, but it was there nonetheless like a lion”? (p. 119)
They are maturing at their age. They realize that the guys who come are golf players. They start to mature and learn new things. They learn that the arroyo is a sewer. It is part of life, they are growing up.
8.) What does the narrator mean when he says he and Sergio “solved” junior high school? (p. 120)
They learn the system and they work the system. They learn that if they do things, they get in trouble. When they get in trouble, they go and talk about their feelings in the creek.
9.) Why does the narrator say, “Nature seemed to keep pushing us around one way or another, teaching us the same thing every place we ended up”? (p. 122)
Nature is telling them that things are starting to change. When you get older, things become different and that things become to change in meaning based on what you know.
10.) What does the narrator mean when he says, “We learned to be ready for finding the grinding ball”? (p. 126)
The grinding ball is their treasure. And that they are dealing with new surprises when they grow older.
Vocabulary in Context:
1.) Dissect (p. 120)
Quote: "...and we would yell about teachers, and how we loved some of them, like Miss Crevelone, and how we would dissect some of them, making signs of the cross,..."(P.120)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): discover
Synonym: search
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): At the field trip, we had to dissect a cow's eyeball.
2.) Quartz (p. 121)
Quote: "That's the way it works with little kids, like all the polished quartz, the tons of it we had collected piece by piece over the years." (P.121)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): mineral
Synonym: substance
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): We had found quartz hidden in the dirt.
3.) Sewage (p. 122)
Quote: "But every third or fourth or fifth day, the sewage treatment plant that was, we found out, upstream, would release whatever it was that it released..." (P.122)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): waste through sewers
Synonym: excess
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): The sewage treatment did not help contain the garbage
4.) Miscalculated (p. 123)
Quote: "We found a thousand ways to explain what happened on those other days, constructing elaborate stories about the neighborhood dogs, and hand't she, my mother, miscalculated her step before, too?" (P.123)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): calculate incorrectly
Synonym: misguided
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): My dad miscalculated our arrival time to the Philippines.
5.) Treacherous (p. 123)
Quote: "We knew about bridges and castles and wildtreacherousraging alligator mouth rivers." (P.123)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): dangerous
Synonym: hazardous
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): My friends and I were afraid to cross the treacherous bridge.
Thinking Map:
Use textual evidence to show examples of when the boys know something or when the boys do not know something. Include 5 examples and support with page numbers and opinion for each column.
Know:
They know that their mom will get them in trouble for doing what they do.
The kids not to ask questions in school, they will get in trouble.
They know that they are maturing, they are seeing girls differently.
They know that their mom is lying to them.
They know which teachers they like and which teachers they don't
Don't know:
They don't realize that they are on a golf course
They thought that the creek is a sewage
They think that something round is perfect
They don't know where these feelings are coming from
They don't know what a grinding ball is.
1.) Why do they boys bury the grinding ball?
They bury the grinding ball because they think that it is wonderful. They hide it because they are afraid that someone might take it away.
2.) After they lose the grinding ball, why do the boys talk about it in “small words,…Kid words”? (p. 122)
They do not know what it is. They cannot describe something that they do not know about. That is why they are using kid friendly words.
3.) Why does the narrator tell the story of finding the gold course years before he and Sergio find the grinding ball?
The men show up and take their "heaven" away. They already lost their heaven, that is why they are prepared to hide it because they do not want to loose it anymore.
4.) Why do the narrator and Sergio stop going to the arroyo after they lose the grinding ball?
The arroyo is a little creek or sewer. They stop going because there are no more treasures hidden there. They are outgrowing it. They have had the fun they've had.
5.) Why does the narrator say that he and Sergio buried the grinding ball “because it was perfect”? (p. 126)
They are amazed because it is round. It was perfect because it is there treasure and they know what the adults are going to do.
6.) At the end of the story, why does the narrator say that the grinding ball “was the lion”? (p. 126)
The kids would be the lions because they are the the kings of the area. When they had the grinding ball it makes them feel proud and confident.
7.) What is the narrator referring to when he says that “something happened that we didn’t have a name for, but it was there nonetheless like a lion”? (p. 119)
They are maturing at their age. They realize that the guys who come are golf players. They start to mature and learn new things. They learn that the arroyo is a sewer. It is part of life, they are growing up.
8.) What does the narrator mean when he says he and Sergio “solved” junior high school? (p. 120)
They learn the system and they work the system. They learn that if they do things, they get in trouble. When they get in trouble, they go and talk about their feelings in the creek.
9.) Why does the narrator say, “Nature seemed to keep pushing us around one way or another, teaching us the same thing every place we ended up”? (p. 122)
Nature is telling them that things are starting to change. When you get older, things become different and that things become to change in meaning based on what you know.
10.) What does the narrator mean when he says, “We learned to be ready for finding the grinding ball”? (p. 126)
The grinding ball is their treasure. And that they are dealing with new surprises when they grow older.
Vocabulary in Context:
1.) Dissect (p. 120)
Quote: "...and we would yell about teachers, and how we loved some of them, like Miss Crevelone, and how we would dissect some of them, making signs of the cross,..."(P.120)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): discover
Synonym: search
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): At the field trip, we had to dissect a cow's eyeball.
2.) Quartz (p. 121)
Quote: "That's the way it works with little kids, like all the polished quartz, the tons of it we had collected piece by piece over the years." (P.121)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): mineral
Synonym: substance
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): We had found quartz hidden in the dirt.
3.) Sewage (p. 122)
Quote: "But every third or fourth or fifth day, the sewage treatment plant that was, we found out, upstream, would release whatever it was that it released..." (P.122)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): waste through sewers
Synonym: excess
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): The sewage treatment did not help contain the garbage
4.) Miscalculated (p. 123)
Quote: "We found a thousand ways to explain what happened on those other days, constructing elaborate stories about the neighborhood dogs, and hand't she, my mother, miscalculated her step before, too?" (P.123)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): calculate incorrectly
Synonym: misguided
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): My dad miscalculated our arrival time to the Philippines.
5.) Treacherous (p. 123)
Quote: "We knew about bridges and castles and wildtreacherousraging alligator mouth rivers." (P.123)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): dangerous
Synonym: hazardous
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): My friends and I were afraid to cross the treacherous bridge.
Thinking Map:
Use textual evidence to show examples of when the boys know something or when the boys do not know something. Include 5 examples and support with page numbers and opinion for each column.
Know:
They know that their mom will get them in trouble for doing what they do.
The kids not to ask questions in school, they will get in trouble.
They know that they are maturing, they are seeing girls differently.
They know that their mom is lying to them.
They know which teachers they like and which teachers they don't
Don't know:
They don't realize that they are on a golf course
They thought that the creek is a sewage
They think that something round is perfect
They don't know where these feelings are coming from
They don't know what a grinding ball is.