Comprehension
Where do the events of the text take place? What impact does the setting have on the characters’ ability to interact with each other?
The setting is a hospital. I know because the main character says “they stick needles in me and give me medicine.” The characters can talk but not see each other. The nurse is strict and they get in trouble for talking.
What can readers mainly infer from the exchange between Patricia and Francis in paragraphs 23-29?
Patricia wants to know more than superficial details about Frank. Patricia wants to know things about Frank that make him a unique person to her. When he describes his stitches, she wants to know more.
What does it mean that Patricia “will never know a gray hair”?
See paragraphs 48–50: Patricia will never grow old; she’s going to die from her illness
Use context clues to determine the meaning of the word blight as it is used in the text. Write your definition of blight here and tell how you determined its meaning.
The text says there is a blight on the potato, and that children tried to eat grass because they were hungry. So blight must mean a disease or something that killed the potato plants and took away their source of food.
What is bittersweet about Frank’s friendship with Patricia? Refer to paragraph 50.
Frank learns that Patricia is going to die. Even at his age he is old enough to realize what the nurse means when she says Patricia “will never know a gray hair.”
When Sister Rita says, “You could be saying the rosary. You could be reading The Little Messenger of the Sacred Heart that’s beside your beds.”, what inference can be made about her?
She is very religious
Why does Frank get in trouble with Sister Rita?
See paragraphs 41 and 42: Frank and Patricia are talking as Patricia reads him a poem.
The Latin word confiteri means “to admit” or “to acknowledge.” Using this information and your knowledge of word patterns and relationships, write your best definition of the word confession here.
I think confession must mean “admitting your misbehavior to a priest” because the nun says that Frank should admit reading a bad poem to the priest.
Write a summary exploring the relationship between the Irish and English, as depicted in paragraph 47 of the text.
The English must have treated the Irish cruelly because the nurse says “t’would break your heart to think of what the English did to us.” The English must be in power because they had the money to feast while the Irish starved.
Which inference about Patricia Madigan is best supported by paragraphs 6-15?
She is curious. She repeatedly asks Frank questions.
The following passage (paragraph 41) mainly shows that .
Frank is isolated. Frank explains that it is “very unlikely” that another “soul” would be on the same floor
What can the reader mainly infer from paragraph 40?
Frank is excited about the poem and his budding friendship with Patricia. Frank states he “love[s] the poem” and wants, just like the highwayman, to “come to [Patricia] by moonlight.”
Who said, "Tis only a bit of poetry.".
Seamus