1. Journal
Has anyone ever acted courageously to help you? Maybe you yourself have acted bravely to help someone else. Why do you think people take risks to do what they think is the right thing? What is the reward?

2. The Leap By Louise Edrich
Let’s meet her! Page 39
Short Stories Unit

3. Literary Focuses
Flashback & foreshadowing

4. What purpose does a flashback serve?
Page 31- let’s read
While reading, write where the author uses flashback

5. Foreshadowing
Let’s read pg 31
Using the graphic organizer provided please keep track of any foreshadowing instances.

6. Reading Skills
Making predictions

7. Prediction
How does predicting while reading a story help the reader understand the story better?
What predictions can you make by the title of the story?
Where there are prediction questions, please answer them on your sheet!

8. Extending and Evaluating
Read and then compare the disaster in the story with the true-life disaster described in “The Day the Clowns Cried” on page 40. Do you think the real-life event would make a good topic for a story? Why or why not?

9. In a small group of 3 (with 2 of 4)…
Go over the story using your handouts as a discussion guide. On the back of your handout, under the clowns…
Next, determine the theme. When thinking about the theme, consider in particular the character of the mother, the daughter-mother relationship, and the meaning of the title.
Finally, look on pg 36 and analyze the metaphor the narrator uses to compare the trapeze act and the acts of reading and flying. Remember: the story title is “The Leap” so how does the metaphor connect to the title and suggest a theme?