Plot Details I
How does the scarlet ibis end up in the narrator's backyard?
It ends up there trying to outrun a storm.
Which of the following is an example of imagery:
A) I stopped and waited for Doodle.
B) The drops stung my face like nettles, and the wind flared the wet glistening leaves of the bordering trees.
C) It was Saturday noon, just a few days before school was to start.
B) The drops stung my face like nettles, and the wind flared the wet glistening leaves of the bordering trees.
Which of the following is NOT an important motif in the story:
A) depression
B) nature imagery
C) brotherhood/family relationships
D) death
A) depression
The narrator states at the beginning that, "but (Doodle) was a nice crazy, like someone you meet in your dreams." What can we infer about his feelings for his brother?
that he loved his brother
What does the narrator teach Doodle how to do?
Walk. And later tries to teach him to run, climb, fight, etc.
What prompts the narrator to show Doodle the coffin?
He occasionally plays cruel pranks on his brother.
Throughout the story, the author uses a certain color to connect ideas and foreshadow the ending. Tell me which color and give at least THREE images that help set up this pattern!
Red- bleeding tree, scarlet ibis, Doodle's vermilion neck, snakeflowers, myrtle trees, magnolia trees, Doodle's face whenever he strains
Most of the nature imagery in the story creates what kind of mood? Give at least TWO images from the text to support your answer.
Mood: depressing, sad, "bleeding tree", oriole nest rocking "like an empty cradle", "crops withered, curled up, died", corn leaned over so "tassels touched the ground"
In the story, the narrator's Aunt Nicey said, "he would live because he was born in a caul, and cauls were made from Jesus’ nightgown." What can we infer about Aunt Nicey's values?
She is religious/Christian
What does Doodle find in his yard and bury?
A scarlet ibis (type of bird)
Why does the narrator rename his little brother Doodle and what makes him think it is an act of "kindness"?
Doodle crawls backwards like a doodle-bug/he thinks its kinder for people not to have high expectations of Doodle
What is the author trying to say in the sentence below: "The rain was coming, roaring through the pines, and then, like a bursting Roman candle, a gum tree ahead of us was shattered by a bolt of lightning" (Hurst 563).
The lightning struck a tree and the tree shattered.
After leaving his brother behind in the storm, the narrator says "I hadn’t run too far before I became tired, and the flood of childish spite evanesced as well." What motif does this relate to?
Brotherhood
The narrator relates that Doodle "was a burden in many ways...A long list of don’ts went with him, all of which I ignored once we got out of the house", but when he can't get rid of Doodle he takes him to Old Woman Swamp, "the only beauty I knew". Based on these contradictory ideas, what can we infer about the narrator's personality or motivations?
2. he is not sensitive to his brother's condition, but probably only because he doesn't realize he's being selfish
What happens to Doodle at the end of the story? (Be specific!)
Doodle dies of exhaustion trying to catch up to his brother.
Why does the narrator leave Doodle behind in the storm?
to punish him for not being able to run, climb, fight, etc.
What is the metaphor in the sentence below? "His eyes were round with wonder as he gazed about him, and his little hands began to stroke the rubber grass".
The grass is not really rubber but is being compared to it because of its texture.
The narrator describes Doodle as being very affected by the death of the ibis. Name THREE ways Doodle is like the ibis. Only ONE can be a detail about how he looks when he dies.
1. they are both "exotic" for their settings
2. they are both exhausted by outrunning a storm
3. they both die alone
4. they both look red, graceful and awkward at death
When his parents hug him for teaching Doodle to walk, the narrator says, "I began to cry. 'What are you crying for?' asked Daddy, but I couldn’t answer. They did not know that I did it for myself; that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices, and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother." What can we infer about what motivated the narrator to cry?
He does realize that he is being selfish with his brother (even though this doesn't stop him from being selfish again).
Why does the narrator teach Doodle how to walk?
The narrator is ashamed/embarrassed of having a brother who cannot walk.
The story “The Scarlet Ibis” begins with the narrator as an adult but he tells a story of when he was a child. What is this literary device called?
A flashback
What metaphor does the author use for Doodle at the end? Explain why.
Doodle is compared to a scarlet ibis because at the end of the story Doodle dies just like the scarlet ibis died.
Throughout the story, Doodle learns to do many things that doctors believe will kill him, such as crawling, walking and being able to go to school. Based on these actions, what can we infer about Doodle's personality, values, or motivations?
2. Doodle does not allow what the doctors tell him stop him from trying to achieve more.
3. Doodle has more faith in what his brother says than what the doctor says.