“The Scarlet Ibis” pp 333-344

1. “The Scarlet Ibis” pp 333-344

2. “The Scarlet Ibis” pp 333-344 • Summary: The narrator has to care for his younger brother Doodle, who is physically disabled. The narrator is frustrated by this burden, but succeeds in teaching Doodle to walk. After the narrator leaves Doodle in the middle of a storm, Doodle dies trying to meet the narrator’s expectations. • Setting: Southern America, ~1918 (WWI) • Characters: Doodle and Brother (narrator); Mama, Daddy, Aunt Nicey, Bleeding tree, Scarlet Ibis, Mr. Heath

3. “The Scarlet Ibis” Information (cont) • Conflicts: • Doodle’s disabilities • Brother wanting a brother to play with—Doodle is more of a burden (p. 335) • Brother and Doodle trying to overcome disabilities and walk, run, paddle, etc. • Scarlet Ibis dies in yard • Thunderstorm—must get back to the house, but Doodle falls behind • Resolution: • Doodle does learn to walk, and the boys become closer than they’d probably ever imagine. While trying to teach Doodle to run (and being somewhat mean-spirited), Brother leaves him behind in a storm. When he goes back to get him, Doodle is dead and has blood on the front of his shirt. His figure resembles that of the dead Scarlet Ibis from the yard earlier that afternoon. Brother sounds serious and nostalgic in his tone while portraying this event from earlier in his life, from which he most likely felt significant guilt, sorrow, and helplessness.

4. Symbolism • Definition: A symbol is a person, a place, an activity, or an object that stands for something beyond itself. • Examples:

5. Symbolism in “The Scarlet Ibis” • Red • Scarlet Ibis • Casket • “Blighted” summer • Rain

6. Dialogue Some vocabulary to know… • Dialogue= character conversation • An essential part of most short stories and novels. It is always better to show or have happen than to explain or to describe, and dialogue is one way to “show” and not “tell.” • Dialogue Tags= identify who is speaking • Examples of common dialogue tags include: I said Sallie yelled She said muttered Janice Fred said said Max Mark commented asked William

7. Dialogue Rule 1 All talking needs to be surrounded by quotation marks ("). "Go to your cupboard - I mean, your bedroom," he wheezed at Harry. The first (") is used just before the first word that the person says, and the second (") is used just after the last word. The comma has to go inside the quotation marks.

8. Dialogue Rule 2 Instead of using a period at the end of the speech, use a comma, if you are going to tell who is talking. "Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mum's eyes.“ After the word “baby,” Rowling used a comma because she was letting the readers know it was the giant speaking. But after the word “eyes,” she could use a period to finish the sentence.

9. Dialogue Rule 3 If you use a question mark, you don't need to change to a comma. "What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" said Ron finally. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does.“ After the word “school,” Rowling used a question mark. Usually, we use a comma before telling the readers who the speaker is - but not with a question. The question mark goes inside the quotation marks.

10. Dialogue Rule 4 If you use an exclamation mark, you don't need to change to a comma. "A stone that makes gold and stops you ever dying!" said Harry. "No wonder Snape's after it! Anyone would want it.” After the word “dying,” Rowling used an exclamation mark. Again, it needs to be inside the quotation marks, and there is no need for a comma.

11. Dialogue Rule 5 If you have interrupted speech, to let the reader know who is speaking, a comma is needed before the break, and after the speaker's name. "Professor," Harry gasped, "your bird - I couldn't do anything - he just caught fire -“ After the word “Professor,” Rowling used a comma inside the quotation marks to let the reader know that Harry was speaking. When she wanted to start his talking again, she used a comma after “gasped” to let the reader know about the change. The second (") just before “your” let the readers know that the talking started again.

12. Dialogue Rule 6 If someone is thinking about something, but doesn't say it out loud, you can either use quotation marks or not. Either way is acceptable. Of course, he thought bitterly, Uncle Vernon was talking about the stupid dinner party. Rowling chose not to use quotations around Harry's thoughts. She could just have easily used them like this... "Of course," he thought bitterly, "Uncle Vernon was talking about the stupid dinner party.”

13. Dialogue in “The Scarlet Ibis” • I skipped through the rooms, down the echoing halls, shouting, “Mama, he smiled. He’s all there! He’s all there!” and he was. • I hadn’t expected such an answer. “So I won’t have to haul you around all the time.” “I can’t walk, Brother,” he said. “Who says so?” I demanded. “Mama, the doctor—everybody.” “Oh, you can walk,” I said, and I took him by the arms and stood him up.