1. Please have out your “The Scarlet Ibis” questions out to be stamped, then start on your Bell Ringer.

2. Guess what these words mean based on how they are used in context
Guess what these words mean based on how they are used in context. Once you have made your guess, look the word up to see if you are correct!
1. When the criminal decided to brandish his weapon in front of a police officer, he was immediately tackled to the ground.
Bell Ringer
2. Mark is in a quandary about whether or not he should keep the money he found on the floor at work.
Brandish means to wave or flourish (something) in anger or excitement.
A quandary is a state of uncertainty in a choice between two options.
© Presto Plans

3. Please turn in Bell Ringer to the Turn-In Basket.

4. Review “The Scarlet Ibis” Answers
With a red pen make the corrections to your answers.
Your answers, with corrections, will be collected when we are done.

5. 1. Look at the first paragraph in the story
1. Look at the first paragraph in the story. What mood is created at the beginning of this story? Write down two pieces of text that help set this mood.
Your answers will vary slightly.
The mood is somber or grave.
There’s a lot of dark/gloomy phrasing and imagery, as the narrator talks about “the bleeding tree,” “rotting” and “rank” vegetation, and “an empty cradle.”
These all create a sense of foreboding as we move into the story.

6. 2. How old was Brother, our narrator, when Doodle was born
2. How old was Brother, our narrator, when Doodle was born? At this time, Brother briefly considers killing his infant brother, Doodle. Is this a real threat? Explain the irony of this part of the story now that we know the sad tale’s ending.
He was 6 years old.
Not really. Brother has a child’s view of ending the misery of his little brother, whom he feared “was not all there.”
Children often have irrational/impulsive thoughts and ideas.
The irony is that Brother was planning on ending Doodle’s life when he was young.
At the end of the story, Brother believes he is responsible for pushing Doodle too hard, causing his death.
The plan, it seems, is finally played out in the final scene.

7. 3. We don’t know the narrator’s name and refer to him only as “Brother
3. We don’t know the narrator’s name and refer to him only as “Brother.” Why do you suppose, the author chose to leave his narrator unnamed? How does this impact the reader’s experience?
Your answers will vary.
It’s reasonable to argue that Hurst leaves the narrator unnamed so that all of us can relate more to the story.
We can feel an affection for Doodle and, by not having a named narrator, it makes it easier for the reader to imagine himself/herself in the older brother role.
This technique makes the death of Doodle even more poignant.

8. 4. When Doodle finally walks, Brother waltzes Aunt Nicey around the room for a brief joyful moment. Look at the line. What happens to end their joyful dance? Symbolically, what’s interesting about this supposedly light-hearted moment?
Aunt Nicey accidentally stomps on Brother’s foot, hurting him “so badly [he] thought [he] was crippled for life.”
Even in a moment of joy, there’s a heaviness about this story that weighs down on Brother.
It’s almost as if the universe is sending a message to him that life will stomp on him, quickly ending his brief moments of joy and causing him pain.
As an adult, his remembrance of his little brother evokes the same bittersweet memories of brief love and heavy, tragic loss.

9. 5. Symbolically connect Doodle to the Scarlet Ibis
5. Symbolically connect Doodle to the Scarlet Ibis. First, give three specific similarities that prove the author wanted us to see a connection between the boy and the bird. Then, explain the message of the writer. What larger point was he trying to make to the reader?
Both Doodle and the Ibis don’t really fit into their surroundings.
Both are very fragile.
Both could have easily died, either as a frail infant or during the tropical storm.
When both of them do die, they are in the same broken position; Doodle is even covered in blood, evoking the same red image as the Ibis’ body.
It’s clear that the bird and the boy are connected; one represents the other.
Your themes will vary, but you may say that this connection underscores the idea that rare things are the most beautiful – and the most fragile.
Without proper tender care, those rare and wonderful things cannot last in our harsh world.

10. 6. Hurst doesn’t clearly state the cause of Doodle’s death
6. Hurst doesn’t clearly state the cause of Doodle’s death. Given the events that occur toward the end of the story, what do you suppose actually caused Doodle’s death? What role, if any, do you think Brother played in Doodle’s demise?
Your answers will vary.
Some of you will think that Doodle was struck by lightning or a falling tree branch.
Others will think that he over-exerted himself and organs/tissue ruptured internally.

11. Hurst is saying that we are often cruel to the people we love most.
7. In the story, Brother tells us, “There is within me (and with sadness I have watched it in others) a know of cruelty borne by the stream of love, much as our blood sometimes bears the seed of our destruction, and at times I was mean to Doodle.” In your own words, explain what Hurst means by this. Then, describe a time when you didn’t treat a family member as well as you should have. Why do we sometimes treat strangers better than we treat our own loved ones? Explain.
Hurst is saying that we are often cruel to the people we love most.
The line about the blood could also refer to damaging thoughts or even physical cells, like cancer, that poison us from the inside-out.
Your stories could be about mistreating your siblings and/or parents.
We tend to take our family members for granted because we believe they will always love us, no matter how horrible we behave.
There’s also some truth to the old adage, familiarity breeds contempt.
It’s the people we know best that also get on our nerves the most.
Siblings have the added drama of competing for their parents’ attention/affection.
This competition (sibling rivalry) can turn quite sour.

12. “The Scarlet Ibis” Symbolism Grid
For each of the three categories on the next slide, dig back into the text of the short story and find at least six objects, items, or descriptions that contain that subject matter.
Write down the applicable line (or segment of the line) in the space provided.
The first one has been done for you. Feel free to use the back of the paper, if you need more room.

13. Birds Death/Dying Anything Red/Reddish
1. “… the oriole nest in the elm was untenanted and rocked back and forth like an empty cradle.”
2. “...and now if an oriole sings in the elm, its song seems to die up in the leaves, a silvery dust.”
3. “A screech owl flapped out of the box into our faces, scaring us and covering us with Paris green.” (Paris green is a poisonous powder/ insecticide.)
4. “When Peter was ready to go to sleep, the peacock spread its magnificent tail, enfolding the boy gently like a closing go-to-sleep flower, burying him in the gloriously iridescent, rustling vortex.”
5. “That afternoon [the hurricane] roared back out of the west, blew the fallen oaks around, snapping their roots and tearing them out of the earth like a hawk at the entrails of a chicken.”
6. “Flocks of marsh crows flew by, heading inland to their roosting trees, and two egrets, squawking, arose from the oyster-rock shallows and careened away.”
Death/Dying
1. “The last graveyard flowers were blooming, and their smell drifted across the cotton field and through every room of our house, speaking softly the names of our dead.”
2. “They named him William Armstrong, which was like tying a big tail on a small kite. Such a name sounds good only on a tombstone.”
3. “‘Don’t leave me, Brother,’ he cried, and he leaned toward the coffin. His hand, trembling, reached out, and when he touched the casket he screamed.”
4. “‘And bless the Pearsons, whose boy Joe was lost at Belleau Wood.’” (This was a WWI battle site in France.)
5. “Slowly, while singing softly ‘Shall We Gather at the River,’ he carried the bird around to the front yard and dug a hole in the flower garden, next to the petunia bed.”
6. “‘Dead birds is bad luck,’ said Aunt Nicey, poking her head from the kitchen door. ‘Specially red dead birds!’”
Anything Red/Reddish
1. “Daddy had Mr. Heath, the carpenter, build a little mahogany coffin for him.” (Mahogany is a reddish-brown wood.)
2. “He seemed all head, with a tiny body which was red and shriveled like an old man’s.”
3. “Hope no longer hid in the dark palmetto thicket but perched like a cardinal in the lacy toothbrush tree, brilliantly visible.” (Cardinals are red birds.)
4. “Wherever we went, I purposefully walked fast, and although he kept up, his face turned red and his eyes became glazed.”
5. “Even death did not mar its grace, for it lay on the earth like a broken vase of red flowers, and we stood around it, awed by its exotic beauty.”
6. “He had been bleeding from the mouth, and his neck and the front of his shirt were stained a brilliant red.”

14. Homework Due, Thursday, September 28th Short Story Unit Test
“The Scarlet Ibis” Symbolism Grid
Short Story Unit Test
Friday, September 29th