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Unit 1, Part 2
The Force of Luck
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2. Before You Read Reading the Selection After You Read Unit 1, Part 2
(pages 90–103)
Before You Read
Reading the Selection
After You Read
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3. For pages 90–103
7.6.B Analyze the development of the plot through the internal and external responses of the characters, including their motivations and conflicts.
Before You Read

4. Click the picture to learn about the author.
Meet Rudolfo A. Anaya
Click the picture to learn about the author.
Before You Read

5. Connect to the Folktale
Think about a time when you won a game, a contest, or a prize. Was your success the result of hard work, or was it luck?
Partner Talk With a partner, talk about whether success comes from a person’s efforts or from luck. Can a person have control over his or her fate?
Before You Read

6. Build Background
Folktales are stories that have been passed down orally from one generation to another by storytellers. Almost every culture has its own folktales. These tales help reinforce and preserve a culture’s values and traditions. “The Force of Luck” is part of the oral tradition of the Hispanic people who lived in the American Southwest. This story shares common elements with other folktales.
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7. Build Background The story is about ordinary people.
The story takes place in a small village sometime in the past.
The story features three main events.
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8. Click a vocabulary term to listen to the definition.
prosperous adj. having wealth or good fortune; successful. The prosperous actor lived in a mansion high in the hills.
provisions n. food or supplies. The backpackers carried enough provisions for two weeks in the wilderness.
Click a vocabulary term to listen to the definition.
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9. Click a vocabulary term to listen to the definition.
novelty n. something new and unusual. For people living in hot climates, snow is a novelty.
benefactors n. people who help, especially by giving money or gifts. With support from several benefactors, the library was able to buy new computers.
Click a vocabulary term to listen to the definition.
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10. Set Purposes for Reading
As you read, ask yourself, what does this folktale suggest about luck and about relying on oneself?
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11. Set Purposes for Reading
Character
A character is a person in a literary work. If a character is an animal, it displays human traits. A main character is the most important character in a work. A minor character is part of the story but is not the focus of the action. Flat characters reveal only one personality trait. Round characters show varied, and sometimes contradictory, traits.
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12. Set Purposes for Reading
Character
As you read, pay attention to what the characters think about the events in the story. Notice what they say and how they act. Look for changes in the main character.
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13. Click the image to view the animation.
Set Purposes for Reading
Character
Click the image to view the animation.
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14. Set Purposes for Reading
Analyze Plot
When you analyze, you look at the separate parts of something to understand the whole. When you analyze plot, you look at how the parts of the plot work together as a whole. Recall that a plot has five main parts: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
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15. Set Purposes for Reading
Analyze Plot
To analyze plot, answer these questions:
Who are the characters, and what is the conflict in the story?
How do events in the story combine to advance the plot?
Before You Read

16. Set Purposes for Reading
Analyze Plot
What part of the story is most interesting or suspenseful?
What happens at the end of the story? How was the reader prepared for the ending by what came before?
Before You Read

17. Set Purposes for Reading
Analyze Plot
As you read, fill in a graphic organizer like the one below.
Before You Read

18. Set Purposes for Reading
Analyze Plot
Analyze Every story has a plot—including the stories in movies, books, or television programs. Analyze the plot of your favorite movie, book, or television program. With a partner, discuss which events make up the story’s rising action, climax, and resolution.
Before You Read

19. Unit 1, Part 2
Before You Read

20. Character What does the miller’s statement tell you about his character?
Answer: The miller accepts his situation. He is responsible with money and is humble.
Reading the Selection

21. This depiction of agricultural workers provides visual clues about their lives. What kind of clothes do the workers wear? What do the workers’ clothes say about their lives?
Answer: The workers wear oversized hats and faded clothes with pant legs and sleeves rolled up. The clothes show that the workers do a great deal of physical labor outside in the heat.
Reading the Selection

22. Analyze Plot What conflict does the miller face?
Answer: The conflict is that the miller does not know what to do with so much money.
Reading the Selection

23. Diego Rivera is one of Mexico’s most famous artists
Diego Rivera is one of Mexico’s most famous artists. His subject matter often deals with life in Mexico, Mexican history, or social problems. Because Rivera believed that art should not be hidden away, he often painted large murals on the walls of public buildings. Which character in the story does the woman in the mural come closest to illustrating?
Reading the Selection

24. Answer: Possible response: The woman in the mural is similar to the miller’s wife.
Reading the Selection

25. A hawk is a bird of prey.
Reading the Selection

26. Character Describe the miller’s wife.
Answer: The miller’s wife accepts their situation. She has faith that their situation will change someday.
Reading the Selection

27. Character Are both the miller and his wife resigned to poverty? Explain.
Answer: Possible answer: The miller copes with poverty by living modestly. His wife seems to hold out hope for change.
Reading the Selection

28. Analyze Plot In what way does the man’s action advance the plot
Analyze Plot In what way does the man’s action advance the plot? What do you think will happen to the money?
Answer: The additional money advances the plot because the reader wants to know what will happen to the miller and his money. The miller may lose the money again or may become prosperous.
Reading the Selection

29. Character What did the miller learn from his last experience with the money?
Answer: The miller learned to be more careful with money by protecting it.
Reading the Selection

30. Earthenware is made from clay that is heated until it is hard.
Reading the Selection

31. Answer: An item of no worth may prove valuable later in the story.
Analyze Plot In what way might the lead affect the events in the story?
Answer: An item of no worth may prove valuable later in the story.
Reading the Selection

32. Cultural History
Hispanic Legends Rudolfo Anaya writes about a culture that is rich in legends. The tale of La Llorona, the Weeping Woman, for example, is a well-known ghost story. According to legend, La Llorona haunts rivers and lakes searching for her children. Why do people pass legends down from one generation to another?
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33. Cultural History
Answer: Possible answer: Passing down legends is a way of keeping a culture and its traditions alive from one generation to the next.
Before You Read

34. Analyze Plot What are some clues that the glass may prove important to the plot?
Answer: The passage mentions that the miller knows nothing about jewels, which suggests that the “glass” is actually a diamond. The glass is so bright and shiny that it must be valuable.
Reading the Selection

35. Analyze Plot The miller’s lack of knowledge could lead to more “bad” luck. How would the miller know that the “glass” was actually valuable?
Answer: Possible answers: He could judge from other people’s responses. He could ask a knowledgeable person.
Reading the Selection

36. Character What does the jeweler’s wife’s statement tell you about her character?
Answer: The jeweler’s wife knows that the glass is a valuable jewel, and she probably wants to keep it.
Reading the Selection

37. Character Does the author find fault with the behavior of the jeweler’s wife, or does the author see her as a good businessperson?
Answer: Possible response: The author indicates that the jeweler’s wife is greedy.
Reading the Selection

38. Analyze Plot Why might this event be part of the story’s climax?
Answer: By selling the glass, the miller may find that his life will change dramatically. This is part of the climax because it is the most interesting and suspenseful part of the story.
Reading the Selection

39. Language History
Etymology The word mill comes from the Latin root word molere, which means “to grind.” The word meal, which means “coarsely ground seeds,” shares the same Latin root. Why have the words mill and meal developed from the same Latin root?
Answer: They have similar meanings: to mill something is to grind it, and meal is coarsely ground seeds.
Before You Read

40. Whom does the miller count on?
Answer: The miller is cautious and counts on himself to continue to work hard in case he somehow loses the money.
Reading the Selection

41. Analyze Plot How can you tell that the plot has now reached the falling action?
Answer: This part of the story occurs after the climax. These details lead to the story’s resolution.
Reading the Selection

42. Character Why would the man not believe the miller?
Answer: The man who had given money to the miller believes that money makes a man successful. He does not believe in luck.
Reading the Selection

43. The eagle image is part of a huge series of murals painted by Diego Rivera, beginning in Rivera painted the murals on the walls of the Ministry of Public Education building in Mexico City. Rivera’s murals depicted not only Mexico’s agriculture and industry, but also the art and culture of the Mexican people. Why is an eagle an appropriate image for a building devoted to education?
Reading the Selection

44. Analyze Plot How does the man’s doubt provide a clue to what will happen in the story’s resolution?
Answer: The man’s doubt provides a clue that the miller will show that he is an honest man by discovering the lost money.
Reading the Selection

45. Character How do you think the miller feels about finding the money?
Answer: The miller probably feels happy to have finally proven his honesty.
Reading the Selection

46. Unit 1, Part 2
Reading the Selection

47. Respond and Think Critically
1. What are the two wealthy men trying to prove? Explain. [Recall]
Answer: They want to prove whether luck or money makes a man prosper.
After You Read

48. Respond and Think Critically
2. Explain how the miller loses his first gift. [Summarize]
Answer: A hawk grabs the miller’s first $200.
After You Read

49. Respond and Think Critically
3. What values do you think are promoted by this folktale? Explain. [Infer]
Answer: The miller’s story reinforces the values of hard work, honesty, and kindness to neighbors.
After You Read

50. Respond and Think Critically
TIP: Inferring
When you infer, you combine clues and details from the text with your own background knowledge. Think about what details and events in the story suggest about the best way to live.
After You Read

51. Respond and Think Critically
What kind of person is the miller?
What does he do with the gifts of money? How does he act after the money is lost?
What happens as a result of the miller giving the lead to the fisherman’s wife? What lesson about life is the folktale suggesting?
After You Read

52. Respond and Think Critically
4. Character Is the miller a realistic character? Is he a round or flat character? Use details from the story to support your answer. [Evaluate]
After You Read

53. Respond and Think Critically
Answer: The miller is realistic because he is poor and hardworking. You may say that his response to losing the money for the second time is unrealistic because he does not get as upset as a real person probably would. The miller is a round character because he has different characteristics. He is generous and hardworking, but he gets angry when he loses the money and becomes suspicious of some of his neighbors.
After You Read

54. Respond and Think Critically
5. Analyze Plot Review the plot diagram you created as you read. List at least two events that make up the story’s rising action. Then provide at least two events that make up the story’s falling action. [Analyze]
After You Read

55. Respond and Think Critically
Answer: The rising action includes the first and second gifts of money, its loss, the gift of lead, and the discovery of the piece of glass. The falling action includes the miller’s decision to start his own business, his success, and his discovery of the lost money.
After You Read

56. Respond and Think Critically
6. Think about events and details from the folktale. Whom or what does the miller count on? [Conclude]
After You Read

57. Respond and Think Critically
Answer: Possible responses: You might say that the miller can count on luck. He was lucky to meet the two wealthy men. to receive the piece of lead, and to find the diamond. Others may say that the miller counts on himself. He wisely used the money from the diamond to establish a business.
After You Read

58. On a separate sheet of paper, write the vocabulary word that correctly completes each sentence. If none of the words fits the sentence, write none.
After You Read

59. prosperous novelty provisions benefactors
1. We filled our cupboards with the necessary ___________ to prepare for the coming storm.
2. My neighbor ___________ reality television shows.
provisions
none
After You Read

60. prosperous novelty provisions benefactors
3. The animal shelter’s ___________ gave money, purchased supplies, and helped find homes for pets.
4. Amy was determined to be ___________, so she worked hard and saved her earnings.
5. Within a few days, Juan’s new unicycle was no longer a __________.
benefactors
prosperous
novelty
After You Read

61. Write a Summary Writing a summary involves retelling the main ideas and most important details. Use your plot diagram and review the story to recall key events in “The Force of Luck.” Then write a brief summary of the folktale.
After You Read

62. Unit 1, Part 2
After You Read

63. Think about an ordinary penny
Think about an ordinary penny. What makes an item, such as a penny, lucky?
Bellringer

64. Bellringer Transparency
Unit 1, Part 2
Mike entered the Harrison Community Center for his first 4-H Club meeting.
In a noisy meeting room, he found club members from all over Boone County.
Everyone was busily filling out entry forms for the Iowa State Fair.
Bellringer Transparency

65. Bellringer Transparency
Unit 1, Part 2
Between two houses on our street, broken glass and litter covered an empty lot.
With a couple of free hours, I started to clean it up.
Before too long and without being asked, six other people joined me.
Bellringer Transparency

66. Bellringer Transparency
Unit 1, Part 2
Nathan and I traded papers when the teacher told him and me to check each other’s sentence variety.
We students have to do that kind of thing often, but we don’t mind.
Bellringer Transparency

67. What did the miller do with the first two hundred dollars that the men give to him?
He bought a piece of meat and some supplies.
He gave it to a hawk.
He gambled with it.
He hid it in a jar of bran.

68. Where did the miller hide the second two hundred dollars that the men give to him?
in a pouch that is later stolen by a hawk
in a jar of bran
in the sea
under a table

69. How much money did the jeweler give the miller for his diamond?
two hundred dollars
four hundred dollars
fifty dollars
one hundred thousand dollars

70. What did the miller do with the money he receives for the diamond?
He built his own mill and a vacation home for his family.
He repaid the two men who gave him money to settle their argument.
He treated the jeweler and his wife to a grand feast.
He gave it to the poor.

71. Where did the miller and his friends find the money stolen by the hawk?
in a jar of bran
in the stables of the miller’s vacation home
in the stomach of a giant fish
in a nest at the top of a tall pine tree

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