Textual Evidence
Find one piece of textual evidence showing the narrator is curious about her mother's past.
“Mom, why did you cut your hair?”
What is the meaning of "petrified" as it is used in the text?
Extremely frightened
“I usually laugh after saying this, because I cannot imagine my mother being afraid of anything. She is so tall, a true Dakota woman; she rises against the sun like a skyscraper...”
What can you infer about how the narrator views her mother?
She believes her mother is strong, brave, and powerful.
"A snake coils in my mother’s dresser drawer; it is thick and black, glossy as sequins.”
What impact does the phrase “glossy as sequins” have on the description of Mom’s braid?
It helps the reader understand how beautiful the braid is.
What figurative language was used to describe the mother's braid?
“sleek black river”
or
“glossy as sequins.”
Find evidence showing that the narrator's mother was once afraid.
She was petrified of all the strange people and new surroundings; she stayed in her seat all the way from McLaughlin, South Dakota, to Chicago, Illinois, and didn’t move once.”
In the text, the narrator says that stating her mother's age seems “integral to my recitation.” What does integra lmean as it is used in the sentence?
Highly Important/Essential
“She was petrified of all the strange people and new surroundings; she stayed in her seat all the way from McLaughlin, South Dakota, to Chicago, Illinois, and didn’t move once.”
What can be inferred about how the narrator describes her mother?
She is afraid/nervous
“I am her small shadow and witness.”
What impact does the phrase “small shadow” have on the reader’s understanding of the narrator's relationship with Mom?
It shows readers that the narrator stays close to her mother, follows her, and observes what she does.
I am a little girl lifting a sleek black river into the light that streams through the kitchen window.”
What does comparing the braid to a “sleek black river” help the reader picture?
It helps the reader picture the braid as long, dark, smooth, and flowing.
Find TWO pieces of evidence showing that the narrator and her mother are different from each other.
he narrator says her mother “left the reservation when she was sixteen years old.” What does reservation mean as it is used in the text?
Land/Fields
She relates anecdotes I will never find in books, never see footnoted in a biography of the master artist. I don’t even bother to check these references because I like my mother’s version best.”
What can you infer about the narrator feels about her mother's stories?
The narrator enjoys, values, and trusts her mother's stories, even though she knows they may not be completely factual.
“My mother keeps her promise and lets my hair grow long, but I am only half of her; my thin brown braids will reach the middle of my back, and in maturity will look like tiny garden snakes.”
What impact does the word maturity have on the parahraph?
It explains to readers how the narrator believes her hair will be when she gets older.
My mother tells me stories every day: while she cleans, while she cooks, on our way to the library, standing in the checkout line at the supermarket. I like to share her stories with other people, and chatter like a monkey when I am able to command adult attention.
What can be inferred about how the narrator feels about her mother's stories?
I can infer she enjoys her mother stories so much because she retells them to other adults.
According to the text, What piece of evidence shows the mother cares about how Native Americans are represented.
She criticizes the museum display as “completely one-sided” and worries that children will think the display represents what Indians are all about.
Mom says the Egyptians thought their lives were of the “utmost significance.” What does utmost mean as it is used in the sentence?
Greatest Importance
Was this her blue period?” I ask my mother. Shehushes me unexpectedly, she will not play the game. I come to understand that this is a solemn call, and we stand before the glass case as we would before a grave.
What can be inferred about the mother from this papragraph?
I can infer that the mother is taking this moment very seriously.
“The clothed figures are disconcerting because they have no heads. I think of them as dead Indians. We reach the traditional outfits of the Sioux in the Plains Indian section, and there is the dress, as magnificent as I remembered.”
What impact does disconcerting have on the paragraph?
It highlights how creepy or disturbing the figures are.
“the stuffed elephants lifting their trunks in a mute trumpet.”
What does the phrase “mute trumpet” help the reader imagine?
It helps the reader picture the elephants with their trunks raised as if they are trumpeting, even though they cannot actually make a sound.
What TWO pieces of textual evidence support the inference that Mom felt strongly about the exhibit and demanded change?
Evidence 1: "Nearly every week we tour the Historical Society, and Mom makes a point of complaining about the statue that depicts an Indian man about to kill a white woman and her children: “This is the only monument to the history of Indians in this area that you have on exhibit."
Evidence 2: "My mother lectures the guides and their bosses, until eventually that statue disappears."
Read the paragraph.
When Mom is down, we go to see the mummies at the Field Museum of Natural History. The Egyptian dead sleep in the basement, most of them still shrouded in their wrappings
What is the meaning of the word "shrouded" as it is used in the text?
Covered
“This is the only monument to the history of Indians in this area that you have on exhibit. It’s a shame because it is completely one-sided. Children who see this will think this is what Indians are all about.”
What can you infer about Mom's beliefs about how Native Americans should be represented?
I can infer the mother feels the exhibit is unfair and they should respect her heritage well.
“I am the timid daughter who can rage only on paper.”
What does the phrase “rage only on paper” mean, and what impact does it have on the reader’s understanding of the narrator?
It means the narrator has strong thoughts and feelings but expresses them through writing rather than speaking or acting out.
Impact: The phrase emphasizes that the narrator is more reserved and less outspoken than her mother, even though she still has powerful feelings and opinions.
Use two descriptions together:
Mom “rises against the sun like a skyscraper...” and “I am her small shadow and witness.”
How do these TWO figurative descriptions help show the difference between Mom and the narrator?
“Like a skyscraper” makes Mom seem large, strong, and powerful, while “small shadow” makes the narrator seem smaller, quieter, and someone who follows and observes her mother.