Characters
Who was the narrator of the story?
Lizabeth
This metaphor compares what two things, "I suppose that futile waiting was the sorrowful background music of our impoverished little community when I was young."?
Sad background music and the poor community
What is "malicious"?
a spiteful desire to harm another person
What is the exact nature of Lizbeth's internal struggle?
Having feelings like a child and feeling like an adult
What is the setting of the short story?
Maryland during the Great Depression.
Who is John Burke?
Miss Lottie's son
What do Miss Lottie's marigolds symbolize to the narrator?
They symbolize the love, beauty, and joy, along with hope and innocence.
In paragraph 35, what word helps readers understand the definition of pallet?
doze
What does Lizabeth most likely mean in the following excerpt, "For the most part, those days are ill-defined in my memory, running together and combining like a fresh watercolor painting left out in the rain."?
She is not sure if she remembers the exact details of the event, but she can recall the way she felt growing up.
What type of story is "Marigolds"?
A coming of age
Who is Joey?
Lizabeth's younger brother
What is the author alluding to in the following quote: "And I remember, that year, a strange restlessness of body and of spirit, a feeling that something old and familiar was ending, and something unknown and therefore terrifying was beginning."
Lizabeth was about to lose her innocence.
Meaning of amorphous used in the line, "Perhaps we waited for a miracle, amorphous in concept but necessary..."?
Formless
What does Lizabeth’s parents’ interaction in the middle of the night reveal about Lizabeth’s father?
He's a proud man who doesn't want to accept help from other people.
What is the main theme?
Poverty creates strong, resilient, self-reliant people who find ways to overcome difficult circumstances.
Who is the protagonist?
What two things are being compared in the following line, "Poverty was the cage in which we all were trapped..."?
lives of Black Americans to economic deprivation
What is the meaning of inexplicable as used in the line, "...perhaps because it was the beginning of the experience that in some inexplicable way marked the end of innocence"?
Mysterious
What do the following lines from the passage mainly reveal about Lizabeth, "Suddenly I was ashamed, and I did not like being ashamed. The child in me sulked and said it was all in fun, but the woman in me flinched at the thought of the malicious attack that I had led"?
Lizabeth knows she is maturing because she is aware of the consequences of her actions.
What is the climax of the story?
When Lizabeth destroys Miss Lottie's marigolds, and then realizes from Miss Lottie's reaction the disproportionate impact this has had.
Who is the antagonist?
Miss Lottie, poverty
This simile compares that two things, "The boards themselves seemed to remain upright not from being nailed together but rather from learning together, like a house that a child might have constructed from cards."?
Which of the following words best replaces perverse in the following excerpt, "For some perverse reason, we children hated those marigolds. They interfered with the perfect ugliness of the place; they were too beautiful; they said too much that we could not understand; they did not make sense."
abnormal
What did Lizabeth learn at the end of the story?
That being compassionate and innocent do not exist together.
What is the resolution of the story?
Lizabeth plants her own marigolds.