Character study
This is the name of the protagonist
Who is Phoenix Jackson?
This is the specific season in which the story takes place, adding physical difficulty in her journey.
What is December/Winter
Phoenix mistakes this object for a ghost in a field, symbolizing her fading vision.
What is a scarecrow?
Phoenix asks a lady on the street to do this for her because she can't bend down.
What is tie her shoes?
This famous author of the Southern Gothic style first published "A Worn Path" in 1941.
Who is Eudora Welty?
Phoenix’s primary motivation for her journey is to obtain medicine for this family member.
Who is her grandson?
Phoenix’s grandson suffered an injury to this body part after swallowing lye.
What is his throat?
Phoenix wears this color of rag tied around her head, symbolizing her poverty.
What is red?
When she reaches the doctor's office, Phoenix momentarily forgets this.
Why she is there?
This is the year that Eudora Welty’s "A Worn Path" was first published in.
What is 1941?
When Phoenix reaches the doctor’s office, the nurse refers to Phoenix as this type of "case."
What is a charity case?
While the hunter is distracted, Phoenix manages to pick up this item that he dropped.
What is a nickel?
When Phoenix sits to rest, she imagines a boy bringing her this food item on a silver platter.
What is a slice of cake?
is the holiday that explains why the city is decorated with red and green lights.
What is Christmas?
The story is set in this U.S. state, which served as the primary setting for most of the author's work.
What is Mississippi?
This character points a gun at Phoenix and asks if she is scared, to which she calmly replies she is not.
Who is the hunter?
Phoenix experiences this sensory issue, causing her to mistake a scarecrow for a ghost.
What is poor eyesight
At the end of the story, Phoenix buys this toy, which symbolizes the "spirit" of her grandson that "is never used up” and her victory.
What is a paper windmill?
After realizing Phoenix's situation is a "charity case," the nurse gives her this amount of money.
What is a nickel
This specific historical era of the American South is the setting for the story, characterized by racial segregation.
What is the Jim Crow era/Great Depression?
Phoenix uses this object to swish away thickets, shadows, and animals from her path.
What is her cane?
To cross the creek, Phoenix must walk across this, which is described as a "log" with her eyes shut.
What is a bridge?
The "worn path" itself is a symbol of this character trait, which Phoenix shows by never giving up.
What is persistence
This is the specific Mississippi city that serves as Phoenix’s final destination.
What is Natchez
Phoenix’s age is never stated, but she mentions she was too old to go to school after "the Surrender," referring to this war.
What is the Civil War?