The Scarlet Ibis - Social Circle City School District · The Scarlet Ibis Author: Curriculum...

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The Scarlet Ibis

FICTION SELECTIONUnit 4, Part 1, Grade 9


Preparing to Read

Connect to Your Life

• Expectations are ideas about what a person is capable of doing or becoming.

• The narrator of this story has high expectations of his younger brother.


Preparing to Read


Think about the expectations that others have of you.

– Do some people expect great things of you?

– Do you expect great things of yourself?


Preparing to Read


• For each of the following groups of people, assign a number from one to five, with five being the highest, to indicate the level of expectation they have for you.– parents– siblings– friends– teachers and coaches– yourself

• Who’s expectations are the highest?


Preparing to Read

Build Background

“The Scarlet Ibis” is set on a cotton farm in the South around the time of World War I –a setting much like the one in which the author, James Hurst, grew up.


Preparing to Read

Build Background

Hurst refers to a number of trees and flowers by the local names that he learned as a boy.

– The “bleeding tree” is a type of pine from which white sap runs like blood when the bark is cut.

– “Graveyard flowers” are sweet smelling gardenias, which, because they bloom year after year, are often planted in cemeteries.

– The frayed twigs of the “toothbrush tree” were once used by people to clean their teeth after eating.


Preparing to Read

Words to Know

• careen

• doggedness

• exotic

• heresy

• imminent

• infallibility

• invalid

• iridescent

• precariously

• reiterate


Preparing to Read

Focus Your Reading

A theme is central idea or message in a work of fiction.

– It is a perception about life or human nature that the writer shares with the reader.


Preparing to Read

Focus Your Reading

• Remember, a theme is not the same as the subject of a story.

• Theme is insight about the subject – a statement you might make, such as:– “Jealousy can be very

destructive.”


Preparing to Read

Focus Your Reading

• A story may have more than one theme.

• A good way to find a theme is to pay attention to the main character of a story.– Does the person go through some sort of change?

– What does he or she learn?

• This might be an insight that the writer wants to share with the reader.


Preparing to Read

Focus Your Reading

• When you look at a number of details and make a logical guess about what they mean, you are making an inference.

• You might also combine inferences with what you already know and draw a conclusion.


Preparing to Read

Focus Your Reading

• As an active reader of fiction, you constantly make inferences and conclusions about what the characters are doing or thinking and about what motivates them.

• As you read, jot down two or three things you can infer about its narrator, as well as any conclusions you come to about him.


Reading and Analyzing

Active Reading

Drawing Conclusions about the Narrator

– The narrator tells what he is “smart” at, what he wants in a brother, and how he feels about having an invalid brother.

– What conclusion can you draw about the narrator and what he values?



Literary Analysis

Theme– You are expected to

recognize themes within a text and that themes are general observations about life or human nature.

– What change do you see in the narrator after the baby smiles and crawls?



Reading Skills and Strategies

Recognizing Main Idea– Analyze the text structure

to identify the main idea and supporting details in this paragraph.



Active Reading


– Why is the narrator willing to gather flowers for his brother?

– What conclusions can you draw about the narrator’s feeling?



Active Reading

• Predict– What are some predictions you can make

based on what you have read so far?

• Drawing Conclusions– Why did the narrator say

he taught his brother to walk?

– Why did he cry and what does that show about the character?



Literary Analysis

Theme– How have the narrator’s

feelings changed since the story began?

– What has the narrator learned?



Active Reading


– Do you think the narrator is being cruel or helpful to his brother?

– What are examples of acts that are both cruel and helpful?



Active Reading

Clarify– What might a “net of

expectations” be and how might it trap someone?

» Remember that Hansel and Gretel, two characters in a fairy tale, left a trail of crumbs behind whenthey went into the forest.

» The trail was supposed to lead them out again.




Predicting– What clues suggest that

the appearance of the bird might be important?



Literary Analysis

Symbol– It is important to

recognize and interpret an important symbol.

– In what ways is the bird like doodle?




Make Inferences– Why might have

the bird arrived and then died in this family’s yard?



Literary Analysis

Foreshadowing– What bad luck

might possibly result from the dead bird?



Literary Analysis

• Understand a Short Story– The crisis of a story is a

turning point – the place where the conflict is resolved.

– Why might a violent storm be a good signal for a story’s crisis?



Active Reading

Drawing Conclusions About the Narrator

– Why did the narrator first run away and then wait for his brother?



Literary Analysis

Theme– What lessons about life

did the narrator learn?

– How might these lessons be expressed as a theme?

The Scarlet Ibis - Social Circle City School District · The Scarlet Ibis Author: Curriculum...

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