Story Elements
Mae killed the man in the yellow suit; Winnie helped the Tucks escape.
Resolution
“That's just what I mean. It's like that every minute. If I had a sister or a brother, there would be someone else for them to watch. But, as it it, there's only me. I'm tired of being looked at all the time. I want to be by myself for a change." (p.4)
Winnie
They're rough country people, the ones that took her. There's just no telling what illiterates like that might do.The root literate is a verb meaning able to read and write. What does adding the prefix -il change the word literate?
Adding prefix il- changes the part of speech to an adjective meaning to not able to read and write.
Winnie stood up, embarrassed and, because of that, resentful. "I didn't mean to watch you," she protested as she stepped into the clearing. "I didn't know anyone would be here." The root resent is a verb meaning to feel bitterness about something. How does adding the suffix -ful change the word resent.
Adding the suffix -ful changes the part of speech to an adjective meaning full of resent.
Memory Moment
Jesse goes back to Treegap and remembers Winnie.
Define and identify the protagonist and the antagonist.
Protagonist-main character; Winnie
Antagonist-against the protagonist-Man in the Yellow Suit
".....well, listen, how'd it be if you was to wait till you're seventeen, same age as me-heck, that's only six years off-and hten you could go and drink some, and then you could go away with me! We could get married, even.' (p.24)
Jesse Tuck
So she was unprepared for the homely little house beside the pond, unprepared for the gentle eddies of dust, the silver cobwebs, the mouse who lived—and welcome to him!—in a table drawer. The root prepare is a verb meaning to make ready for use. How does addinfg the prexix -un change the word prepared.
Adding the prefix un- does not change the part of speech and means not prepared.
The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn, but the first week of August is motionless, and hot.The root motion is a noun meaning the process of moving. How does adding the suffix -less change the word motion?
Adding the suffix -less changes the part of speech to an adjective meaning without motion.
Words of the Wiser
Tuck is explaining why eternal life is undesirable.
The reader learns about the village of Treegap, Winnie is frustrated and thinking about running away, and Mae Tuck is about to set out on horseback to see her two sons, Jesse and Miles for the first time in ten years.
Exposition
"Life. Moving, growing, changing, never the same two minutes together. This water, you look out at it every morning, and it looks the same, but it ain't. All night long it's been moving, coming in through the stream back there to the west, slipping out through the stream down east here, always quiet, always new, moving on. You can't hardly see the current,can you? And sometimes the wind makes it look like it's going the other way. But it's always there, the water's always moving on, and someday, after a long while, it comes to the ocean."(p. 20)
Angus Tuck
At midnight she would make a difference in the world. The root word night is a noun meaning the time between sunset and sunrise. How does adding the prefix mid- change the word night?
Adding prefix mid- does not change the part of speech meaning the middle of the night.
He snored gently, and for a moment the corners of his mouth turned upward in a smile. Tuck almost never smiled except in sleep. The root gentle is an adjective meaning having a kind temperment. How does adding the suffix -ly change the word gentle?
Adding the suffix -ly changes the part of speech to an adverb meaning in a gentle way.
Again and Again
The Man in the Yellow Suit keeps showing up in sneaky ways.
The man in the yellow suit tries to take Winnie, but Mae hits him on the head with bottom of the gun.
Climax
.... "all right, if you're in such a ding-danged hurry. But don't do nothing till I get there. Those folks are likely dangerous. I'll try to keep up, but this horse of mine, she's none too strong.
Don't see as how I could get her to a gallop, even if I tried."(p.26)
The constable.
"But you drank some," Winnie reminded him. The root mind is a verb meaning to remember. How does adding the prefix re- change the word mind?
Adding prefix re- changes the verb to past tense meaning to remember again.
But the explanation, once they had stumbled to the banks of the stream, came hard. The root explain is a verb meaning to make clear by describing in more detail. How does adding the suffix -ation change the word explain?
Adding the suffix -ation changes the part of speech to a noun meaning the process of explaining.
Tough Question
Why are they taking Winnie?
Why do they HAVE to take her?
Where are they taking her?
What will they do with her?
Winnie went out to explore the woods and meets Jesse.
Inciting Incident
"I was married. I had two children. But, from the look of me, I was still twenty-two." (p. 27)
Miles Tuck
Then he turned and disappeared down the shadowy road, and as he went he whistled, very softly, the tinkling little melody from the wood. The root word appear is a verb and means to become visible. How does adding the prefix dis- change the word appeared?
Adding the prefix -dis does not change the part of speech and means to no longer appear.
"Done and done," he said. "I knew right away, I said to myself, 'Now here is a group of intelligent, reasonable people!' I'm seldom wrong as a judge of character. The root word reason is a noun meaning a cause, explanation, or justification for an action or event. How does adding the suffix -able change the word reason?
Adding the suffix -able changes the part of speech to an adjective meaning able to be reasoned.
Contrasts and Contradictions
The reader thought Winnie would go with the Tucks.
The reader thought Jesse would find a way to stay with Winnie.