Vocabulary Definitions
unwilling to accept or comply with; to deny
refused
Different, unique, stands out are all synonyms for
outsiderness
When Dahl states that Flight-Lieutenant Pattle, is the ace of aces this means that he is 1.______________________, but Dahl doesn't think the Lieutenant is a good 2. _____________
1. a good pilot
2. Squadron Leader
In paragraph 5, when Amy says “I wanted to disappear.”, after her father offers her the fish cheek, the reader can tell that Amy feels ______________.
Embarrassed
Describe the students that attended the narrator’s school.
They were the sons and daughters of doctors, lawyers, and politicians. They didn’t have money problems and probably never would. (8)
“I was quite literally overwhelmed by the feeling that I had been into the very bowels of the fiery furnace and had managed to claw my way out.” This quote is an example of descriptive language Dahl uses to describe his experience __________ the battle
During
having average or less than average quality: mediocre, reasonable
moderate
Lawful, open, visible are all antonyms for __________.
hacked
Bonus 200 points for naming a synonym
What is the purpose of paragraph 20?
20- Some people do not realize that although a Hurricane had eight guns in its wings, those guns were all immobile. You did not aim the guns, you aimed the plane. The guns themselves were carefully sighted and tested beforehand on the ground so that the bullets from each gun would converge at a point about 150 yards ahead. Thus, using your reflector-sight, you aimed the plane at the target and pressed the button. To aim accurately in this way requires skillful flying, especially as you are usually in a steep turn and going very fast when the moment comes.
Flying a Hurricane in these conditions was a very difficult task.
Think about Amy’s mother’s actions in the story. She serves all of Amy’s favorite Chinese foods at dinner. Later that night she gives Amy a miniskirt. Why does Amy’s mother do those things? What is Amy’s mother trying to show her?
Mother- loves her supports her adopting parts of American Cluture
Wants Amy to be proud of who she is and where she comes from
She can be both Chinese and American
"but I did not look at this as a place of shelter." This quote describes how the narrator feels about ______________________________________.
Living in the projects
“All around me now the sun was shining and wild flowers were blossoming in the grass of the airfield, and I thought how fortunate I was to be seeing the good earth again.”
This quote is an example of descriptive language Dahl uses to describe his experience __________ the battle
after
distinguished or different from others or from the ordinary; noteworthy; marked; unusual:
extremely picky
particular
Evil, illness, sickness are all synonyms for __________
pathologies
Bonus 300 if you can name two antonyms.
What role does the description of the Hurricane in paragraphs 19–20 play in the story?
Paragraphs 19-20 help the reader better understand what Dahl went through in the Battle of Athens.
Does Amy understand her mother’s lesson? Explain your thinking.
Yes, she stated, “Even though I didn’t agree with her then,” implying as an adult she changed her mind.
On a spring afternoon when she was 14, the narrator curiously opened her door to the ________________ wanting to know about her mother.
neighborhood kids
This question has two parts.
Part 1: In paragraph 24, how does Dahl compare himself to the other pilots in the Operations Room?
Part 2- Part 2: What can you infer from this comparison?
Part 1- He saw the other pilots were just as sweaty and nervous as he was.
Part 2- All of the pilots flying in the battle all acted the same as Dahl.
a reckless adventure or wild prank
escapade
Passive, agreeable, easily swayed are all antonyms for __________________
doubled down
Bonus 400 for naming three synonyms.
“I am quite sure that the German planes must have often got in each other’s way because there were so many of them, and that, together with the fact that there were so few of us, probably saved quite a number of our skins.”
What can you infer about the battle from this detail?
The German planes probably crashed into each other.
On Christmas Eve I saw that my mother had outdone herself in creating a strange menu. She was pulling black veins out of the backs of fleshy prawns. The kitchen was littered with appalling mounds of raw food: A slimy rock cod with bulging eyes that pleaded not to be thrown into a pan of hot oil. Tofu, which looked like stacked wedges of rubbery white sponges. A bowl soaking dried fungus back to life. A plate of squid, their backs crisscrossed with knife markings so they resembled bicycle tires. This is an example of Amy ________ _________ her narrative by using _____________ ____________.
Slowing Down
Descriptive details
Full-time Job
School
Writing papers
Feeding and caring for her children
Working in the garden morning and night
This list is _____________________________
what the narrators mother did almost every day.
In paragraph 22, Dahl uses figurative language when he writes: The controls were very soggy and there was no response at all to the rudder.”
What does he mean by this?
The plane was hard to control.
having or showing sound judgment
sensible
Synonyms- creating , producing, making
Antonyms- destroying, decaying, dying
birthing
What purpose does paragraph 23 serve in the passage?
I undid my straps and eased myself upright in the cockpit. “Do your best with it,’ I said. I’ll be needing it again very soon.”
This paragraph helps move the scene from the plane to the ops room.
Dinner threw me deeper into despair. My relatives licked the ends of their chopsticks and reached across the table, dipping them into the dozen or so plates of food. Robert and his family waited patiently for platters to be passed to them. My relatives murmured with pleasure when my mother brought out the whole steamed fish. Robert grimaced. Then my father poked his chopsticks just below the fish eye and plucked out the soft meat. “Amy, your favorite,” he said, offering me the tender fish cheek. I wanted to disappear. This is an example of Amy Tan ___________ ___ her narrative by using short sequences of___________ one after the other.
Speeding up
actions
How are all these things related?
No computer- uses too much electricity even though is saved time and money for her mom
No garden- income/kicked out
No scholarship income- raise rent
Take from people trying to help themselves without further education her mom could not get a better paying job and they would have to stay in the projects.
They are all things about living in the projects that are unfair and stop people in poverty from bettering their lives.
When does Dahl slow his narrative down?
He describes what it is like to be in the cockpit of the plane
a mixture
medley
Synonyms- aloof, reserved, nonchalant
Antonyms- excited, involved, emotional
dispassionate
Based on the text, Dahl could be considered a brave pilot because he
He stayed in the fight until he was out of bullets.
Read the following passage from “Fish Cheeks.”
“After everyone had gone, my mother said to me, ‘You want to be the same as American girls on the outside.’ She handed me an early gift. It was a miniskirt in beige tweed. ‘But inside you must always be Chinese. You must be proud you are different. Your only shame is to have shame.’ " (7)
Amy’s mother believed that Amy was, or felt, different from her peers. Is this true? Use evidence from the text to compare and contrast how Amy portrayed (showed) herself and her family with how she portrayed Robert and his family. Add evidence from any passage in the text.
Yes
Chinese manners and family in the wrong (5)
Chinese food not “Christmas Food” (3)
Robert’s family as polite and shocked by Chinese tradition and cultures (5)
Wanted to impress Robert.
What message is the narrator trying to send when she destroys the school flowers?
She feels her mother, who works hard every day is being punished by having something she loves taken away just because she is poor. It angers her that her wealthy school gets to have a garden when her mother can’t.
Over Athens on that morning, I can remember seeing our tight little formation of Hurricanes all peeling away and disappearing among the swarms of enemy aircraft, and from then on, wherever I looked I saw an endless blur of enemy fighters whizzing towards me from every side. They came from above and they came from behind and they made frontal attacks from dead ahead, and I threw my Hurricane around as best I could and whenever a Hun came into my sights, I pressed the button. It was truly the most breathless and in a way the most exhilarating time I have ever had in my life. I caught glimpses of planes with black smoke pouring from their engines. I saw planes with pieces of metal flying off their fuselages. I saw the bright-red flashes coming from the wings of the Messerschmitts as they fired their guns, and once I saw a man whose Hurricane was in flames climb calmly out on to a wing and jump off. I stayed with them until I had no ammunition left in my guns. I had done a lot of shooting, but whether I had shot anyone down or had even hit any of them I could not say. I did not dare to pause for even a fraction of a second to observe results. The sky was so full of aircraft that half my time was spent in actually avoiding collisions. I am quite sure that the German planes must have often got in each other’s way because there were so many of them, and that, together with the fact that there were so few of us, probably saved quite a number of our skins. This is an example of Dahl using ___________ _________ ________ to ___________ ______ the narrative.
Strong action verbs to speed up the narrative.