The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst

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Sometimes we act in ways we later regret. Imagine that you could go back in time and change the way you treated someone you love. What would you change_and how? The narrator of “The Scarlet Ibis” remembers a time he was cruel and selfish. He thought he was doing the right thing, but pride clouded his judgment. As you read the story, decide how you would have acted in the narrator’s place.

LITERARY FOCUS: SYMBOLS A symbol is a person, a place, a thing, or an event that stands both for itself and for something beyond itself. For example, you may find that a writer mentions a mirror many times in a story. A mirror is an actual object, but the writer may be using it to stand for vanity or for an unreal world. Writers invent symbols to deepen the meaning of their stories. As you read “The Scarlet Ibis,” you’ll notice that the writer keeps drawing similarities and con- nections between one character and the scarlet ibis. The ibis is a rare water bird with long legs; a long, slender, curved bill; and brilliant orange-red feathers. • As you read, look for clues that suggest that the ibis stands for something more than itself.

READING SKILLS: MAKING INFERENCES ved. An inference is an intelligent guess you make about the meaning of something. You form inferences by putting together several related details and then generalizing about what they might mean. In making inferences about characters, you also draw on your own experiences. For example, if you observe a character who speaks harshly to her dog, slams the door, and won’t speak to her classmates, you can make an inference that this character is upset about something. You make that inference based on story details and on your own experience with people.

To make inferences about the meaning of a symbol, follow these steps: Literary Skills Understand • Pay careful attention to details. Does the writer repeat something, such symbolism. as a color, an animal, or an object, throughout the story? Reading • Think about what the color, animal, or object represents to you. If the Skills

Make inferences object is a ring, for example, it may represent love or faithfulness. Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reser from details. • Then, combine your own experience and the evidence in the story to Vocabulary Skills make an inference about what this object or animal or color might signify. Understand • Be prepared to revise your inferences about symbols. You might have to similes. re-read the story to be sure your inference holds up.

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PREVIEW SELECTION VOCABULARY The following words appear in the story you’re about to read. You may want to become familiar with them before you begin reading.

sullenly (sul√¥n·l≤) adv.: resentfully; gloomily. blighted (bl¢t√id) v. used as adj.: suffering from conditions that destroy or prevent growth. Sullenly, the narrator took Doodle with him, all the while resenting the task. The blighted fields would never produce any corn or cotton. imminent (im√¥·n¥nt) adj.: near; about to happen. doggedness (dôg√id·nis) n.: stubbornness; persistence. When thunder boomed and the sky darkened, they could tell the storm was imminent. Because of his doggedness, Doodle did learn to walk. iridescent (ir≈i·des√¥nt) adj.: rainbowlike; displaying a shifting range of colors. reiterated (r≤·it√¥·r†t≈id) v.: repeated. The bird’s wings glowed with iridescent color. Several times, the narrator reiterated his desire to teach Doodle to swim. serene (s¥·r≤n√) adj.: peaceful; calm. precariously (pri·ker√≤·¥s·l≤) adv.: unsteadily; The serene lake was as smooth and calm as a insecurely. mirror. Doodle balanced precariously on his thin legs. infallibility (in·fal≈¥·bil√¥·t≤) n.: inability to make

ved. a mistake. mar (mär) v.: damage; spoil. Because of his belief in his infallibility, the nar- The storm could mar the cotton and other crops, rator never doubted the success of his project. causing the loss of acres of profits.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE Figurative language helps you see familiar things in new ways. The simplest type of figurative language, the simile, uses comparisons to create fresh, new meaning. A simile is a comparison between two dissimilar things linked by a word such as like, as, or resembles. For example:

The storm was as fierce as an angry lion.

In this simile, a storm is compared to a lion. Comparing a fierce storm to an angry lion helps readers see how violent and dangerous the storm was. Copyright © by Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reser

As you read “The Scarlet Ibis,” look for other similes. Figure out what is being compared. Ask yourself: “What does this simile help me see? How does it help me understand the story more fully?”

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TThehe ScarletScarlet Ibis James Hurst

© Frank Lane Picture Agency/CORBIS. It was in the clove of seasons, summer was dead but autumn A clove (kl£v) is a division or had not yet been born, that the ibis lit in the bleeding tree. The split of some kind. During what time of year does this flower garden was stained with rotting brown magnolia petals, story take place? and ironweeds grew rank1 amid the purple phlox. The five o’clocks by the chimney still marked time, but the oriole nest in the elm was untenanted and rocked back and forth like an empty cradle. The last graveyard flowers were blooming, and ved. their smell drifted across the cotton field and through every room of our house, speaking softly the names of our dead. 10 It’s strange that all this is still so clear to me, now that that summer has long since fled and time has had its way. A grind-

Re-read the narrator’s stone stands where the bleeding tree stood, just outside the description of the garden kitchen door, and now if an oriole sings in the elm, its song (lines 1-9). Underline the words and phrases that bring seems to die up in the leaves, a silvery dust. The flower garden is to mind death or dying. prim, the house a gleaming white, and the pale fence across the yard stands straight and spruce. But sometimes (like right now), Notes as I sit in the cool, green-draped parlor, the grindstone begins to

turn, and time with all its changes is ground away—and I Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reser remember Doodle.

1. rank (ra«k) adj.: thick and wild. Rank also means “smelly.”

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20 Doodle was just about the craziest brother a boy ever had. Of course, he wasn’t a crazy crazy like old Miss Leedie, who was

in love with President Wilson and wrote him a letter every day, Re-read lines 20-23. but was a nice crazy, like someone you meet in your dreams. He Underline the detail that tells you that the story takes was born when I was six and was, from the outset, a disappoint- place in the past. ment. He seemed all head, with a tiny body which was red and shriveled like an old man’s. Everybody thought he was going to — die everybody except Aunt Nicey, who had delivered him. She In lines 32-33, the narrator said he would live because he was born in a caul2 and cauls were compares his brother’s given name to a “big tail on a made from Jesus’ nightgown. Daddy had Mr. Heath, the carpen- small kite.” What does this 30 ter, build a little mahogany coffin for him. But he didn’t die, and simile tell you about the narrator’s opinion of his broth- when he was three months old, Mama and Daddy decided they er’s name? might as well name him. They named him William Armstrong, which was like tying a big tail on a small kite. Such a name sounds good only on a tombstone. I thought myself pretty smart at many things, like holding my breath, running, jumping, or climbing the vines in Old Woman Swamp, and I wanted more than anything else someone to race to Horsehead Landing, someone to box with, and someone to perch with in the top fork of the great pine behind the 40 barn, where across the fields and swamps you could see the sea.

ved. I wanted a brother. But Mama, crying, told me that even if William Armstrong lived, he would never do these things with me. He might not, she sobbed, even be “all there.” He might, as long as he lived, lie on the rubber sheet in the center of the bed in the front bedroom where the white marquisette3 curtains bil- lowed out in the afternoon sea breeze, rustling like palmetto fronds.4 It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there was unbearable, so I began to 50 make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow. Copyright © by Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reser

Re-read lines 35-41. What 2. caul (kôl) n.: membrane (thin, skinlike material) that sometimes does the narrator want? covers a baby’s head at birth. Underline what you find out. 3. marquisette (mär≈ki·zet√) adj.: made of a thin, netlike fabric. 4. palmetto fronds: fanlike leaves of a palm tree.

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However, one afternoon as I watched him, my head poked between the iron posts of the foot of the bed, he looked straight

Why is it so important to the at me and grinned. I skipped through the rooms, down the narrator that his brother is echoing halls, shouting, “Mama, he smiled. He’s all there! He’s “all there” (lines 54-55)? all there!” and he was.

When he was two, if you laid him on his stomach, he began to try to move himself, straining terribly. The doctor said that with his weak heart this strain would probably kill him, but it didn’t. Trembling, he’d push himself up, turning first red, then a soft 60 purple, and finally collapse back onto the bed like an old worn- out doll. I can still see Mama watching him, her hand pressed tight across her mouth, her eyes wide and unblinking. But he What does the description in learned to crawl (it was his third winter), and we brought him - lines 59 61 tell you about out of the front bedroom, putting him on the rug before the Doodle? fireplace. For the first time he became one of us. As long as he lay all the time in bed, we called him William Armstrong, even though it was formal and sounded as if we were referring to one of our ancestors, but with his creeping around on the deerskin rug and beginning to talk, something

Pause at line 79. Why doesn’t 70 had to be done about his name. It was I who renamed him. Aunt Nicey like Doodle’s When he crawled, he crawled backward, as if he were in reverse ved. nickname? and couldn’t change gears. If you called him, he’d turn around as if he were going in the other direction, then he’d back right up to you to be picked up. Crawling backward made him look like a doodlebug5 so I began to call him Doodle, and in time even Mama and Daddy thought it was a better name than William Armstrong. Only Aunt Nicey disagreed. She said caul babies should be treated with special respect since they might turn out to be saints. Renaming my brother was perhaps the 80 kindest thing I ever did for him, because nobody expects much from someone called Doodle. Copyright © by Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reser

5. doodlebug (dºd√´l·bug≈) n.: larva of a type of insect that moves backward.

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Although Doodle learned to crawl, he showed no signs of walking, but he wasn’t idle. He talked so much that we all quit

listening to what he said. It was about this time that Daddy built What does the narrator him a go-cart, and I had to pull him around. At first I just transport Doodle in (lines 82-90)? Underline the sen- paraded him up and down the piazza,6 but then he started cry- tence where you find out. ing to be taken out into the yard and it ended up by my having to lug him wherever I went. If I so much as picked up my cap,

he’d start crying to go with me, and Mama would call from Re-read lines 91-101. In your 90 wherever she was, “Take Doodle with you.” own words, describe the narrator and his brother as they He was a burden in many ways. The doctor had said that he might look to an observer. mustn’t get too excited, too hot, too cold, or too tired and that he must always be treated gently. A long list of don’ts went with him, all of which I ignored once we got out of the house. To dis- courage his coming with me, I’d run with him across the ends of the cotton rows and careen him around corners on two wheels. Sometimes I accidentally turned him over, but he never told Mama. His skin was very sensitive, and he had to wear a big straw hat whenever he went out. When the going got rough and 100 he had to cling to the sides of the go-cart, the hat slipped all the way down over his ears. He was a sight. Finally, I could see I was licked. Doodle was my brother, and he was going to cling to me

ved. forever, no matter what I did, so I dragged him across the burn- ing cotton field to share with him the only beauty I knew, Old Woman Swamp. I pulled the go-cart through the sawtooth fern, down into the green dimness where the palmetto fronds whispered by the stream. I lifted him out and set him down in the soft rubber grass beside a tall pine. His eyes were round with wonder as he gazed about him, and his little hands began to 110 stroke the rubber grass. Then he began to cry. “For heaven’s sake, what’s the matter?” I asked, annoyed. “It’s so pretty,” he said. “So pretty, pretty, pretty.” Re-read lines 108-112, and After that day Doodle and I often went down into Old circle the details that help

6. piazza (p≤·az√¥) n.: large covered porch.

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honeysuckle, yellow jasmine, snakeflowers, and waterlilies, and with wire grass we’d weave them into necklaces and crowns.

Re-read the long sentence in We’d bedeck ourselves with our handiwork and loll about thus lines 122-125. What is the beautified, beyond the touch of the everyday world. Then when narrator saying about the relationship between love the slanted rays of the sun burned orange in the tops of the and cruelty? 120 pines, we’d drop our jewels into the stream and watch them float away toward the sea. There is within me (and with sadness I have watched it in others) a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love, much as our blood sometimes bears the seed of our destruction, and at times I was mean to Doodle. One day I took him up to the barn loft and showed him his casket, telling him how we all had sullenly (sul√¥n·l≤) adv.: believed he would die. It was covered with a film of Paris green7 resentfully; gloomily. sprinkled to kill the rats, and screech owls had built a nest inside it. 130 Doodle studied the mahogany box for a long time, then Pause at line 144. Why do you think the narrator shows said, “It’s not mine.” Doodle the coffin? What “It is,” I said. “And before I’ll help you down from the loft, might this event foreshadow? you’re going to have to touch it.” “I won’t touch it,” he said sullenly. “Then I’ll leave you here by yourself,” I threatened, and

made as if I were going down. ved. Doodle was frightened of being left. “Don’t go leave me, Brother,” he cried, and he leaned toward the coffin. His hand, trembling, reached out, and when he touched the casket, he 140 screamed. A screech owl flapped out of the box into our faces, scaring us and covering us with Paris green. Doodle was para- lyzed, so I put him on my shoulder and carried him down the ladder, and even when we were outside in the bright sunshine, he clung to me, crying, “Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me.”

When Doodle was five years old, I was embarrassed at having a Copyright © by Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reser brother of that age who couldn’t walk, so I set out to teach him.

7. Paris green n.: poisonous green powder used to kill insects.

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Notes

We were down in Old Woman Swamp and it was spring and the sick-sweet smell of bay flowers hung everywhere like a mournful Re-read lines 147-149. Underline the simile, and song. “I’m going to teach you to walk, Doodle,” I said. explain what two things are ved. 150 He was sitting comfortably on the soft grass, leaning back being compared. against the pine. “Why?” he asked. 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. He collapsed onto the grass like a half-empty flour sack. It was as if he had no bones in his little legs.

Copyright © by Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reser 160 “Don’t hurt me, Brother,” he warned. “Shut up. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m going to teach you to walk.” I heaved him up again, and again he collapsed.

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This time he did not lift his face up out of the rubber grass. “I just can’t do it. Let’s make honeysuckle wreaths.”

Pause at line 171. Underline “Oh yes you can, Doodle,” I said. “All you got to do is try. the two statements the nar- Now come on,” and I hauled him up once more. rator makes about pride. Put his statements in your own It seemed so hopeless from the beginning that it’s a miracle words. I didn’t give up. But all of us must have something or someone to be proud of, and Doodle had become mine. I did not know 170 then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death. Every day that summer we went to the pine beside the stream of Old Woman Swamp, and I put him on his feet at least a hundred times each afternoon. Occasionally I too became discouraged because it didn’t seem as if he was trying, and I would say, “Doodle, don’t you want to learn to walk?” He’d nod his head, and I’d say, “Well, if you don’t keep trying, you’ll never learn.” Then I’d paint for him a picture of us as old men, white-haired, him with a long white beard and me still pulling him around in the go-cart. This never failed to make Underline the simile in lines 180 184-186. What do you think him try again. the narrator means? Finally, one day, after many weeks of practicing, he stood alone for a few seconds. When he fell, I grabbed him in my arms and hugged him, our laughter pealing through the swamp like a

ringing bell. Now we knew it could be done. Hope no longer hid ved. in the dark palmetto thicket but perched like a cardinal in the lacy toothbrush tree, brilliantly visible. “Yes, yes,” I cried, and he cried it too, and the grass beneath us was soft and the smell of the swamp was sweet. With success so imminent, we decided not to tell anyone 190 until he could actually walk. Each day, barring rain, we sneaked into Old Woman Swamp, and by cotton-picking time Doodle was ready to show what he could do. He still wasn’t able to walk far, but we could wait no longer. Keeping a nice secret is very hard to do, like holding your breath. We chose to reveal all on Copyright © by Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reser October eighth, Doodle’s sixth birthday, and for weeks ahead we mooned around the house, promising everybody a most imminent (im√¥·n¥nt) adj.: near; about to happen.

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spectacular surprise. Aunt Nicey said that, after so much talk, if we produced anything less tremendous than the Resurrection,8

she was going to be disappointed. Re-read lines 215-218. Is the 200 At breakfast on our chosen day, when Mama, Daddy, and narrator describing pride that brings something won- Aunt Nicey were in the dining room, I brought Doodle to the derful or something terrible? door in the go-cart just as usual and had them turn their backs, making them cross their hearts and hope to die if they peeked. I helped Doodle up, and when he was standing alone I let them look. There wasn’t a sound as Doodle walked slowly across the room and sat down at his place at the table. Then Mama began to cry and ran over to him, hugging him and kissing him. Daddy hugged him too, so I went to Aunt Nicey, who was thanks-pray- ing in the doorway, and began to waltz her around. We danced 210 together quite well until she came down on my big toe with her brogans,9 hurting me so badly I thought I was crippled for life. Doodle told them it was I who had taught him to walk, so everyone wanted to hug me, and I began to cry. “What are you crying for?” asked Daddy, but I couldn’t answer. They did not know that I did it for myself; that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices; and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a

ved. crippled brother. Within a few months Doodle had learned to walk well and Re-read lines 225-226. Dix 220 his go-cart was put up in the barn loft (it’s still there) beside his Hill is a state mental hospital little mahogany coffin. Now, when we roamed off together, rest- in Raleigh, North Carolina. What does the narrator ing often, we never turned back until our destination had been mean by this statement? reached, and to help pass the time, we took up lying. From the beginning Doodle was a terrible liar, and he got me in the habit. Had anyone stopped to listen to us, we would have been sent off to Dix Hill. My lies were scary, involved, and usually pointless, but Doodle’s were twice as crazy. People in his stories all had wings Copyright © by Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reser and flew wherever they wanted to go. His favorite lie was about a

8. Resurrection: reference to the Christian belief in the rising of Jesus from the dead after his burial. 9. brogans (br£√g¥nz) n.: heavy, ankle-high shoes.

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230 boy named Peter who had a pet peacock with a ten-foot tail. Peter wore a golden robe that glittered so brightly that when he

Re-read lines 231-236. walked through the sunflowers they turned away from the sun Underline the details that to face him. When Peter was ready to go to sleep, the peacock help you visualize Doodle’s lie. Why is the peacock spread his magnificent tail, enfolding the boy gently like a clos- important in his lie? ing go-to-sleep flower, burying him in the gloriously iridescent, rustling vortex.10 Yes, I must admit it. Doodle could beat me lying. Doodle and I spent lots of time thinking about our future. We decided that when we were grown, we’d live in Old Woman 240 Swamp and pick dog’s-tongue11 for a living. Beside the stream, he planned, we’d build us a house of whispering leaves and the swamp birds would be our chickens. All day long (when we weren’t gathering dog’s-tongue) we’d swing through the cy- presses on the rope vines, and if it rained we’d huddle beneath an umbrella tree and play stickfrog. Mama and Daddy could come and live with us if they wanted to. He even came up with iridescent (ir≈i·des√¥nt) adj.: rainbowlike; displaying a the idea that he could marry Mama and I could marry Daddy. shifting range of colors. Of course, I was old enough to know this wouldn’t work out, serene (s¥·r≤n√) adj.: peace- but the picture he painted was so beautiful and serene that all I ful; calm. infallibility (in·fal≈¥·bil√¥·t≤) 250 could do was whisper yes, yes.

n.: inability to make a ved. mistake. Once I had succeeded in teaching Doodle to walk, I began to believe in my own infallibility and I prepared a terrific develop- ment program for him, unknown to Mama and Daddy, of Pause at line 260. Do you think the narrator’s “devel- course. I would teach him to run, to swim, to climb trees, and to opment program” is a good fight. He, too, now believed in my infallibility, so we set the idea? Briefly explain. deadline for these accomplishments less than a year away, when, it had been decided, Doodle could start to school. That winter we didn’t make much progress, for I was in school and Doodle suffered from one bad cold after another. But 260 when spring came, rich and warm, we raised our sights again. Copyright © by Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reser Success lay at the end of summer like a pot of gold, and our

10. vortex (vôr√teks≈) n.: something resembling a whirlpool. 11. dog’s-tongue n.: wild vanilla.

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campaign got off to a good start. On hot days, Doodle and I went down to Horsehead Landing, and I gave him swimming

lessons or showed him how to row a boat. Sometimes we blighted (bl¢t√id) v. used as descended into the cool greenness of Old Woman Swamp and adj.: suffering from conditions that destroy or prevent climbed the rope vines or boxed scientifically beneath the pine growth. where he had learned to walk. Promise hung about us like leaves, and wherever we looked, ferns unfurled and birds broke into song. Re-read lines 274-277. Underline the simile the nar- 270 That summer, the summer of 1918, was blighted. In May rator uses to describe the and June there was no rain and the crops withered, curled up, destruction of the oak trees. Why do you think the writer then died under the thirsty sun. One morning in July a hurri- chose this comparison? cane came out of the east, tipping over the oaks in the yard and splitting the limbs of the elm trees. That afternoon it roared back out of the west, blew the fallen oaks around, snapping their roots and tearing them out of the earth like a hawk at the entrails12 of a chicken. Cotton bolls were wrenched from the stalks and lay like green walnuts in the valleys between the rows, while the cornfield leaned over uniformly so that the tassels 280 touched the ground. Doodle and I followed Daddy out into the cotton field, where he stood, shoulders sagging, surveying the Pause at line 288. If the ruin. When his chin sank down onto his chest, we were fright- “blighted” summer, includ- ing the violent hurricane, is a ved. ened, and Doodle slipped his hand into mine. Suddenly Daddy symbol of what is to come, straightened his shoulders, raised a giant knuckly fist, and with a what might lie in Doodle’s voice that seemed to rumble out of the earth itself began cursing future? heaven, hell, the weather, and the Republican party.13 Doodle and I, prodding each other and giggling, went back to the house, knowing that everything would be all right. And during that summer, strange names were heard 290 through the house: Château-Thierry, Amiens, Soissons, and in her blessing at the supper table, Mama once said, “And bless the Pearsons, whose boy Joe was lost in Belleau Wood.”14 Copyright © by Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reser

12. entrails (en√tr†lz) n.: inner organs; guts. 13. Republican party: At this time most southern farmers were loyal Democrats. 14. Château-Thierry (sha√t£’ t≤·er√·≤), Amiens (ß·mya‰√), Soissons (swä·sô‰√), Belleau (be·lô√) Wood: World War I battle sites in France.

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So we came to that clove of seasons. School was only a few

Underline the details in lines weeks away, and Doodle was far behind schedule. He could 309-313 that suggest Doodle barely clear the ground when climbing up the rope vines, and is becoming increasingly ill and weak. Based on these his swimming was certainly not passable. We decided to double details, what do you predict our efforts, to make that last drive and reach our pot of gold. I will happen to Doodle? made him swim until he turned blue and row until he couldn’t

lift an oar. Wherever we went, I purposely walked fast, and ved. 300 although he kept up, his face turned red and his eyes became glazed. Once, he could go no further, so he collapsed on the ground and began to cry. “Aw, come on, Doodle,” I urged. “You can do it. Do you want to be different from everybody else when you start school?” “Does it make any difference?” “It certainly does,” I said. “Now, come on,” and I helped him up. As we slipped through the dog days,15 Doodle began to Copyright © by Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reser 310 look feverish, and Mama felt his forehead, asking him if he felt

15. dog days n.: hot days in July and August, named after the Dog Star (Sirius), which rises and sets with the sun during this period.

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ill. At night he didn’t sleep well, and sometimes he had night- mares, crying out until I touched him and said, “Wake up,

Doodle. Wake up.” doggedness (dôg√id·nis) n.: It was Saturday noon, just a few days before school was to stubbornness; persistence. start. I should have already admitted defeat, but my pride reiterated (r≤·it√¥·r†t≈id) v.: repeated. wouldn’t let me. The excitement of our program had now been gone for weeks, but still we kept on with a tired doggedness. It was too late to turn back, for we had both wandered too far into In your own words, explain a net of expectations and had left no crumbs behind. what the narrator means in 320 Daddy, Mama, Doodle, and I were seated at the dining- lines 316-319. room table having lunch. It was a hot day, with all the windows and doors open in case a breeze should come. In the kitchen Aunt Nicey was humming softly. After a long silence, Daddy spoke. “It’s so calm, I wouldn’t be surprised if we had a storm this afternoon.” “I haven’t heard a rain frog,” said Mama, who believed in signs, as she served the bread around the table. “I did,” declared Doodle. “Down in the swamp.” “He didn’t,” I said contrarily. 330 “You did, eh?” said Daddy, ignoring my denial. “I certainly did,” Doodle reiterated, scowling at me over

ved. the top of his iced-tea glass, and we were quiet again. Suddenly, from out in the yard came a strange croaking noise. Doodle stopped eating, with a piece of bread poised ready for his mouth, his eyes popped round like two blue buttons. “What’s that?” he whispered. I jumped up, knocking over my chair, and had reached the door when Mama called, “Pick up the chair, sit down again, and say excuse me.” 340 By the time I had done this, Doodle had excused himself and had slipped out into the yard. He was looking up into the bleeding tree. “It’s a great big red bird!” he called. Copyright © by Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reser The bird croaked loudly again, and Mama and Daddy came out into the yard. We shaded our eyes with our hands against the hazy glare of the sun and peered up through the still leaves.

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On the topmost branch a bird the size of a chicken, with scarlet feathers and long legs, was perched precariously. Its wings hung

precariously (pri·ker√≤·¥s·l≤) down loosely, and as we watched, a feather dropped away and adv.: unsteadily; insecurely. floated slowly down through the green leaves. mar (mär) v.: damage; spoil. 350 “It’s not even frightened of us,” Mama said. “It looks tired,” Daddy added. “Or maybe sick.” Doodle’s hands were clasped at his throat, and I had never Re-read lines 346-351. In what ways does the bird seen him stand still so long. “What is it?” he asked. remind you of Doodle? Daddy shook his head. “I don’t know, maybe it’s—” At that moment the bird began to flutter, but the wings were uncoordinated, and amid much flapping and a spray of fly- ing feathers, it tumbled down, bumping through the limbs of the bleeding tree and landing at our feet with a thud. Its long, graceful neck jerked twice into an S, then straightened out, and Pause at line 364. Like 360 the bird was still. A white veil came over the eyes, and the long Doodle, the scarlet ibis is described as being uncoordi- white beak unhinged. Its legs were crossed and its clawlike feet nated, delicate, and unique. How might the death of the were delicately curved at rest. Even death did not mar its grace, ibis foreshadow the story’s for it lay on the earth like a broken vase of red flowers, and we ending? stood around it, awed by its exotic beauty. “It’s dead,” Mama said. “What is it?” Doodle repeated.

“Go bring me the bird book,” said Daddy. ved. I ran into the house and brought back the bird book. As we watched, Daddy thumbed through its pages. “It’s a scarlet ibis,” 370 he said, pointing to a picture. “It lives in the tropics—South America to Florida. A storm must have brought it here.” Sadly, we all looked back at the bird. A scarlet ibis! How many miles it had traveled to die like this, in our yard,beneath the bleeding tree. “Let’s finish lunch,” Mama said, nudging us back toward the dining room. “I’m not hungry,” said Doodle, and he knelt down beside Copyright © by Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reser the ibis. “We’ve got peach cobbler for dessert,” Mama tempted from 380 the doorway.

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Doodle remained kneeling. “I’m going to bury him.” “Don’t you dare touch him,” Mama warned. “There’s no

telling what disease he might have had.” Pause at line 395. Why is “All right,” said Doodle. “I won’t.” Doodle so fascinated by the scarlet ibis? Why does he Daddy, Mama, and I went back to the dining-room table, take such pains to bury it? but we watched Doodle through the open door. He took out a piece of string from his pocket and, without touching the ibis, looped one end around its neck. Slowly, while singing softly “Shall We Gather at the River,” he carried the bird around to the 390 front yard and dug a hole in the flower garden, next to the petu- nia bed. Now we were watching him through the front window, but he didn’t know it. His awkwardness at digging the hole with a shovel whose handle was twice as long as he was made us laugh, and we covered our mouths with our hands so he wouldn’t hear. When Doodle came into the dining room, he found us seri- ously eating our cobbler. He was pale and lingered just inside the screen door. “Did you get the scarlet ibis buried?” asked Daddy. Doodle didn’t speak but nodded his head. 400 “Go wash your hands, and then you can have some peach cobbler,” said Mama. The description of Doodle’s burial of the scarlet ibis in

ved. “I’m not hungry,” he said. lines 385-399 is a very mov- ing passage. Read the boxed “Dead birds is bad luck,” said Aunt Nicey, poking her head passage aloud twice. Focus from the kitchen door. “Specially red dead birds!” on conveying meaning the first time you read. The sec- As soon as I had finished eating, Doodle and I hurried off ond time you read, try to to Horsehead Landing. Time was short, and Doodle still had a convey the passage’s emotional overtones. long way to go if he was going to keep up with the other boys when he started school. The sun, gilded with the yellow cast of Notes autumn, still burned fiercely, but the dark green woods through 410 which we passed were shady and cool. When we reached the landing, Doodle said he was too tired to swim, so we got into a skiff and floated down the creek with the tide. Far off in the Copyright © by Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reser marsh a rail was scolding, and over on the beach locusts were singing in the myrtle trees. Doodle did not speak and kept his head turned away, letting one hand trail limply in the water.

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After we had drifted a long way, I put the oars in place and made Doodle row back against the tide. Black clouds began to

Re-read lines 416-425. Circle gather in the southwest, and he kept watching them, trying to the details describing the pull the oars a little faster. When we reached Horsehead approaching storm. What do you think the storm fore- 420 Landing, lightning was playing across half the sky and thunder shadows? roared out, hiding even the sound of the sea. The sun disappeared and darkness descended, almost like night. Flocks of marsh crows flew by, heading inland to their roosting trees, and two egrets, squawking, arose from the oyster-rock shallows and careened away. Doodle was both tired and frightened, and when he stepped from the skiff he collapsed onto the mud, sending an Underline line 441. Then, armada16 of fiddler crabs rustling off into the marsh grass. I underline the parts of the story where you have heard helped him up, and as he wiped the mud off his trousers, he this before_Doodle’s beg- ging his brother not to leave 430 smiled at me ashamedly. He had failed and we both knew it, so him or not to hurt him. we started back home, racing the storm. We never spoke (what What could these words 17 foreshadow? are the words that can solder cracked pride?), but I knew he was watching me, watching for a sign of mercy. The lightning was near now, and from fear he walked so close behind me he kept stepping on my heels. The faster I walked, the faster he walked, so I began to run. The rain was coming, roaring through

the pines, and then, like a bursting Roman candle, a gum tree ved. ahead of us was shattered by a bolt of lightning. When the deaf- ening peal of thunder had died, and in the moment before the 440 rain arrived, I heard Doodle, who had fallen behind, cry out, “Brother, Brother, don’t leave me! Don’t leave me!” Pause at line 447. Why does the narrator leave Doodle The knowledge that Doodle’s and my plans had come to behind? naught was bitter, and that streak of cruelty within me awak- ened. I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind with a wall of rain dividing us. The drops stung my face like nettles, and the wind flared the wet, glistening leaves of the bordering trees. Soon I could hear his voice no more. Copyright © by Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reser

16. armada (är·mä√d¥) n.: group. Armada is generally used to mean “fleet, or group, of warships.” 17. solder (säd√¥r) v.: patch or repair. Solder is a mixture of metals melt- ed and used to repair metal parts.

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I hadn’t run too far before I became tired, and the flood of childish spite evanesced18 as well. I stopped and waited for

450 Doodle. The sound of rain was everywhere, but the wind had What do the details in the died and it fell straight down in parallel paths like ropes hanging description of Doodle in the last two paragraphs remind from the sky. As I waited, I peered through the downpour, but you of? Why do you think the writer makes this no one came. Finally I went back and found him huddled association? beneath a red nightshade bush beside the road. He was sitting on the ground, his face buried in his arms, which were resting on his drawn-up knees. “Let’s go, Doodle,” I said. He didn’t answer, so I placed my hand on his forehead and lifted his head. Limply, he fell backward onto the earth. He had been bleeding from the mouth, and his neck and the front of his 460 shirt were stained a brilliant red. “Doodle! Doodle!” I cried, shaking him, but there was no answer but the ropy rain. He lay very awkwardly, with his head thrown far back, making his vermilion19 neck appear unusually long and slim. His little legs, bent sharply at the knees, had never before seemed so fragile, so thin. I began to weep, and the tear-blurred vision in red before me looked very familiar. “Doodle!” I screamed above the pound- ing storm, and threw my body to the earth above his. For a long,

ved. long time, it seemed forever, I lay there crying, sheltering my 470 fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy20 of rain.

18. evanesced (ev≈¥·nest√) v.: faded away; disappeared. In lines 468-470, what does 19. vermilion (v¥r·mil√y¥n) adj.: bright red. the narrator call his dead 20. heresy (her√¥·s≤) n.: here, mockery. Heresy generally means “denial brother? of what is commonly believed to be true” or “rejection of a church’s teaching.” Copyright © by Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reser

Corel.

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The Scarlet Ibis

Symbol Chart In “The Scarlet Ibis,” some of the people, places, things, and events stand both for themselves and for something beyond themselves. Fill out the symbol chart below to see how symbols convey meaning in the story. In the first column are passages from the story. Locate a symbol from each passage, and write it in the second column. Then, write the meaning of the symbol in the third column. The first row is done for you. Fill in the bottom row with a symbolic story passage that you find on your own.

Story Passage Symbol Meaning

That winter we didn’t make spring new start; rebirth much progress, for I was in school and Doodle suffered from one bad cold after another. But when spring came, rich and warm, we raised our sights again (lines 258-260).

When Peter was ready to go to sleep, the peacock spread his magnificent tail, enfolding the boy gently like a closing go-to- sleep flower, burying him in the gloriously iridescent, rustling ved. vortex (lines 233-236).

Sadly, we all looked back at the bird. A scarlet ibis! How many miles it had traveled to die like this, in our yard, beneath the bleeding tree (lines 372-374). Copyright © by Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reser

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Skills Review

The Scarlet Ibis

Complete the sample test item below. Then, read the explanation at the right.

Sample Test Question Explanation of the Correct Answer

Which of the following are recurring The correct answer is A; the writer uses symbols in “The Scarlet Ibis”? birds as symbols all through the story. A birds B and D are not correct because they are used only once. C is not correct B flowers because bees aren’t mentioned in the C bees story. D tombstones

DIRECTIONS: Circle the letter of each correct answer.

1. The description of Doodle’s last sum- 3. The setting of the story as presented mer as “blighted” foreshadows _ in the opening paragraph could best _ A Doodle’s birth be described as B Doodle’s coming death A sad and suggestive of death C the scarlet ibis B cheerful and suggestive of life

ved. D life in the South C peaceful and suggestive of heaven D haunted and suggestive of danger 2. The scarlet ibis symbolizes Doodle in that both the child and bird are _ 4. Which of these details is not an exam- F able to move very quickly ple of foreshadowing in the story? G trying to learn to fly F “‘Don’t hurt me, Brother,’ he warned.” H rare, beautiful, and fragile G “The oriole nest . . . rocked back J very fond of being outside and forth like an empty cradle.” H “One day I took him up to the barn loft and showed him his casket. . . .”

Literary Skills Analyze symbolism.

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Skills Review

The Scarlet Ibis

Similes DIRECTIONS: Circle the letter of the correct response.

1. What does this simile indicate? G For the first time he became one They named him William Armstrong, of us. which was like tying a big tail on a H He was a burden in many ways. small kite. Vocabulary J Finally, I could see I was licked. Skills A The baby’s abilities are amazing. Identify and interpret similes. B Babies do not need decoration. 3. Which of the following sentences Use words in context. C The baby’s name is too grand. contains a simile? D Coming up with names is tricky. A The flower garden was brown. B A grindstone stands where the 2. Which of the following sentences bleeding tree stood. contains a simile? C The oriole nest rocked back and F He collapsed onto the grass like a forth like an empty cradle. half-empty flour sack. D The pale fence across the yard stands straight.

Vocabulary in Context ved. DIRECTIONS: Complete the paragraph below by writing words from the box in the correct blanks. Not all words from the box will be used.

WordWord BB ox ox Tony stared (1) out the window. He was sullenly unhappy about the weather. The vacation brochure had showed a (2) imminent lake, calm and blue. Another photograph fea- iridescent tured a waterfall that sparkled, (3) and colorful. serene Here, however, Tony saw nothing but a (4) land- infallibility scape, brown, bare, and damp. He said to the empty room, “Nothing is blighted

going to (5) my vacation! I’m going to enjoy Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reser doggedness myself, rain or shine.” reiterated precariously mar

186 Part 1 Collection 6: Symbolism and Allegory Collection 6 Student pages 166–167 167 his desire unsteadily; suffering from suffering on his thin legs. iterated Doodle did learn to re The Scarlet Ibis adv.: stubbornness; repeated. adj.: ) n.: v.: the cotton and other crops, ) ) used as precariously mar v. doggedness, fields would never any produce ) pri·ker√≤·¥s·l≤ dôg√id·nis damage; spoil. ( ( ? How r≤·it√¥·r†t≈id ( v.: bl¢t√id ) ( see blighted mär ( ecause of his conditions that destroy or prevent growth. insecurely. The persistence. B walk. Several times, the narrator Doodle balanced The storm could causing the loss of acres of profits. corn or cotton. to teach Doodle swim. eiterated blighted doggedness r precariously mar color. For example: the nar- uses comparisons to create fresh, simile, inability to make iridescent imminent. resembles. infallibility, n.: rainbowlike; display- near; about to ) or resentfully; gloomily. resentfully; gloomily. adj.: adj.: ) peaceful; calm. helps you see familiar things in new ways. The simplest ) adv.: like, as, ) adj.: ) lake was as smooth and calm a lake in·fal≈¥·bil√¥·t≤ the narrator took Doodle withthe narrator him, all ( ir≈i·des√¥nt im√¥·n¥nt ( ( sul√¥n·l≤ ( s¥·r≤n√ The storm was as fierce an angry lion. ( serene ecause of his belief in his ator never doubted the success of his project. ing a shifting range of colors. Sullenly, the while resenting the task. happen. When thunder boomed and the sky darkened, they could tell the storm was wings glowed withThe bird’s The mirror. a mistake. B r

does it help me understand the story more fully?” new meaning. A simile is a comparison between two dissimilar things linked by a word such as In this simile, a storm is compared to lion. Comparing fierce an angry lion helps readers see how violent and dangerous the storm was. As you read “The Scarlet Ibis,” look for other similes. Figure out what is being compared. Ask yourself: “What does this simile help me PREVIEW SELECTION VOCABULARY may The following words appear in the story you’re about to read. You want to become familiar with them before you begin reading. sullenly imminent iridescent serene infallibility LANGUAGE FIGURATIVE Figurative language type of figurative language, the

Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright . If the you by James Hurst by James is an intelligent guess you make about the meaning of some- is a person, place, thing, or an event that stands both for itself and how? The narrator of “The Scarlet Ibis” remembers a time he _ inference make inferences about the meaning of a symbol, follow these steps: object is a ring, for example, it may represent love or faithfulness. Then, combine your own experience and the evidence in story to make an inference about what this object or animal color might signify. might have to Be prepared to revise your inferences about symbols. You re-read the story to be sure your inference holds up. Pay careful attention to details. Does the writer repeat something, such an animal, or object, throughout the story? as a color, animal, or object represents to Think about what the color, As you read, look for clues that suggest the ibis stands something more than itself.

symbol • • A An form inferences by putting together several related details and thing. You then generalizing about what they might mean. In making inferences characters, you also draw on your own experiences. For example, if and observe a character who speaks harshly to her dog, slams the door, speak to her classmates, you can make an inference that this charac- won’t make that inference based on story ter is upset about something. You details and on your own experience with people. To • • and for something beyond itself. For example, you may find that a writer A mirror is an actual object, but mentions a mirror many times in story. the writer may be using it to stand for vanity or an unreal world. Writers invent symbols to deepen the meaning of their stories. As you read “The Scarlet Ibis,” you’ll notice that the writer keeps drawing similarities and con- nections between one character and the scarlet ibis. The ibis is a rare water curved bill; and brilliant orange-red bird with long legs; a long, slender, feathers. • The Scarlet Ibis Sometimes we act in ways later regret. Imagine that you could go back time and change the way you treated someone love. What would change was cruel and selfish. He thought he doing the right thing, but pride decide how you would have clouded his judgment. As you read the story, place. acted in the narrator’s FOCUS: SYMBOLS LITERARY READING SKILLS: MAKING INFERENCES Collection 6: Symbolism and Allegory Part 1 Skills Skills similes. Reading symbolism. ocabulary Understand Understand from details. V Make inferences Literary Skills 166

Student Pages with Answers 85 Collection 6 Student pages 168–169 169 23. 41. What - - 33, the narrator - The Scarlet Ibis tell you about the nar- Re-read lines 20 Underline the detail that tells you that the story takes place in the past. In lines 32 name? er’s The simile suggests that the narrator thinks the name is “William Armstrong” too weighty and important-sounding for a child as physically weak as his brother. Re-read lines 35 does the narrator want? Underline what you find out. compares his brother’s given compares his brother’s name to a “big tail on small kite.” What does this simile opinion of his broth- rator’s curtains bil- 3 and cauls were 2 made of a thin, netlike fabric. adj.: ) fanlike leaves of a palm tree. mär≈ki·zet√ membrane (thin, skinlike material) that sometimes ( rsehead Landing, with, box someone to and some- n.: ) Ho

kôl erybody except Aunt Nicey,Aunt erybody him. except who had delivered She ( to was bad enough having an invalid brother,was bad enough an invalid having but having 4

ev Doodle was just about the craziest brother a boy ever had. ever a boy Doodle was just about the craziest brother It I thought myself things, pretty smart at many holding like ce breath, running, jumping, climbing the vines or in Old covers a baby’s head at birth. covers a baby’s build a little mahogany coffin for him. coffin build a little mahogany die, he didn’t But and man Swamp, else someone than anything more and I wanted

— lliam Armstrong lived,Armstrong lliam do these things with never he would ra

r, 4. palmetto fronds: said he would live because he was born in a caul live said he would was unbearable,one who possibly was not all there so I began to smothering him with kill him by plans to a pillow. make Of course, Leedie, old Miss a crazy crazy like he wasn’t who was every him a letter and wrote day, Wilson with President in love crazy,but was a nice dreams. meet in your someone you like He was born when I was six and was, the outset, from a disappoint- ment. seemed all head, He and was red which body with a tiny an old man’s. like shriveled thought he was going to Everybody die 2. caul 3. marquisette lowed out in the afternoon sea breeze, out in the afternoon lowed palmetto rustling like fronds. made from Jesus’made from nightgown. had Mr. Daddy Heath, the carpen- te Wo to with fork of in the top perch one to pine behind the the great barn, see the sea. could the fields and swamps you across where a brother.I wanted Mama, But crying, if me that even told Wi when he was three months old,when he was three decided they and Daddy Mama might name him. as well Armstrong, William They named him tying was like which a big tail on small kite. a name Such sounds good only on a tombstone. my me. might not, He she sobbed, there.”“all might, He be even as long as he lived, of lie on the rubber sheet in the center the bed marquisette the white where bedroom in the front

20 30 40 50

Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright and I — © Frank Lane Picture Agency/CORBIS. Ibis July 1960. Copyright © 1960 by The Atlantic also means “smelly.” Rank amid the purple phlox. The five 1 The Atlantic Monthly, from thick and wild. adj.: ) James R. Hurst ra«k strange me, that all this is still so clear to that now (

’s stands straight and spruce. right sometimes (like But now), It

was in the clove ofwas in the clove seasons, summer was dead but autumn rd om of our house, speaking softly the names of our dead. member Doodle. clocks by the chimney still marked time, the chimney still marked clocks by but the oriole nest in

1. rank o’ an back and forth like and rocked the elm was untenanted empty cradle. blooming, were flowers The last graveyard and every field and through the cotton their smell drifted across ro Monthly. Reprinted by permission of the author. Monthly. It been born,had not yet that the ibis lit in bleeding tree. The magnolia petals, was stained with brown garden rotting flower rank grew and ironweeds “The Scarlet Ibis” by as I sit in the cool, green-draped parlor, the grindstone begins to turn, and time with away is ground all its changes re summer has long since fled and time has had its way.summer has long since A grind- stood, the bleeding tree stands where stone just outside the door,kitchen if and now an oriole sings in the elm, its song die up in the leaves,seems to dust. a silvery is garden The flower prim, the house a gleaming white, the across and the pale fence ya 10 Collection 6: Symbolism and Allegory ) is a division or Part 1 he Scarlet he Scarlet kl£v he Scarlet he Scarlet 9). Underline the ( - James Hurst clove T Notes T Notes A story take place? It takes place during the time when summer turns into autumn. Re-read the narrator’s description of the garden (lines 1 168 split of some kind. During what time of year does this words and phrases that bring to mind death or dying.

86 The Holt Reader: Teacher’s Manual Collection 6 Student pages 170–171 171 112, and - 101. In your - The Scarlet Ibis 90)? Underline the sen- - esponsive to beauty. What does the narrator transport Doodle in (lines 82 Re-read lines 91 might look to an observer. The Possible response: narrator is a normal- but Doodle sized boy, even for his is tiny, age. The narrator is pulling Doodle behind him in a homemade cart. He is going very fast, and Doodle is grasping the sides of the cart. Doodle is wearing a big hat that has slipped down over his ears. Re-read lines 108 circle the details that help character you infer Doodle’s traits. What are they? He is emotional and r tence where you find out. own words, describe the narrator and his brother as they but then he started cry- 6 large covered porch. n.: ) p≤·az√¥ ( r that day Doodle and I often went down into Old down into went Doodle and I often r that day was a burden in many ways. in many was a burden had said that he The doctor

te Although crawl, Doodle learned to no signs of he showed He “For heaven’s sake, heaven’s the matter?”“For what’s I asked, annoyed. so pretty,” he said.“It’s pretty, “So pretty, pretty.” Af man Swamp. I pulled the go-cart fern, the sawtooth through man Swamp. gather wildflowers, I would wild violets, ma. skin was very sensitive, His a big wear and he had to nder as he gazed about him,nder as he gazed and his little hands began to lug him wherever I went.lug him wherever If cap, up my as picked I so much ustn’t get too excited, get too ustn’t hot, too cold, too and that tired or too

ourage his coming withourage his coming me, run with the ends of him across I’d walking, idle. he wasn’t but all quit that we so much talked He what he said. to listening built was about this time that Daddy It him a go-cart, pull him around. and I had to first I just At paraded him up and down the piazza, 6. piazza ing to be taken out into the yard and it ended up by my having my and it ended up by the yard out into be taken ing to to he’d start crying go with to me,he’d call from would and Mama she was,wherever Doodle with you.” “Take m gently. be treated always he must A long list of with went don’ts him, all of got out of we once I ignored which the house. dis- To c wheels. on two corners him around and careen rows the cotton turnedSometimes I accidentally him over, told he never but Ma out. he went hat whenever straw and the going got rough When the sides of cling to he had to the go-cart, the hat slipped all his ears. down over way was a sight. He Finally, see I was I could licked. brother, Doodle was my me cling to and he was going to forever, what I did, no matter the burn- so I dragged him across with share him the only beauty field to I knew,ing cotton Old Wo whis- fronds the palmetto dimness where the green down into the stream. by pered him out and set down in the lifted I soft rubber grass beside a tall pine. with round were eyes His wo the rubber grass.stroke cry. Then he began to Wo

100 110

Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright larva of a type insect that moves n.: ) so I began to call him Doodle,so I began to and in time 5 dºd√´l·bug≈ ( one afternoon as I watched him, as I watched one afternoon head poked my long as he lay all the time in bed,long as he lay William called him we r,

ferring one of to our ancestors, but with his creeping ve re As

backward. en he was two, if laid him on his stomach, you he began to en he crawled, backward, he crawled as if in reverse he were we lliam Armstrong.lliam disagreed. Nicey Aunt Only She said caul re mstrong, though even it was formal and sounded as if we en Mama and Daddy thought name than and Daddy it was a better en Mama embling, push himself he’d up, turning first red, then a soft y to move himself, move y to straining terribly. said that with The doctor babies should be treated with special respect since they might with since special respect babies should be treated be saints.turn out to was perhaps the brother my Renaming did for him,kindest thing I ever much expects because nobody someone called Doodle. from ev Wi Ho 5. doodlebug between the iron posts of the iron between the foot of the bed, straight he looked at me and grinned. the rooms, I skipped through down the halls,echoing shouting, “Mama, he smiled. He’s all there! He’s all there!” and he was. Wh tr hearthis weak kill him, this strain probably would but it didn’t. Tr purple, an old worn- the bed like back onto and finally collapse out doll. him, watching I can still see Mama her hand pressed her mouth,tight across wide her eyes and unblinking. he But winter), (it was his third crawl learned to him brought and we out of bedroom, the front the putting him on the rug before fireplace. the first time he became one of For us. Ar we around on the deerskin rug and beginning talk,around to something be done about his name.had to him. was I who renamed It Wh gears. change and couldn’t If called him, you turn around he’d as if going in the other direction, he were back right then he’d up. be picked to you up to made him look backward Crawling a doodlebug like 60 70 80 55)? Collection 6: Symbolism and Allegory - Part 1 61 tell you about - Why is it so important to the narrator that his brother is “all there” (lines 54 The Possible response: narrator wants Doodle to develop normally physically so they can play together. What does the description in lines 59 Doodle? Doodle is not physically strong. Pause at line 79. Why doesn’t Aunt Nicey like Doodle’s nickname? She says that the name does not show for enough respect babies like Doodle, often blessed who are or gifted in some way. 170

Student Pages with Answers 87 Collection 6 Student pages 172–173 173 and 149. - simile, The Scarlet Ibis Notes Notes Re-read lines 147 Underline the being compared. The Possible response: scent of the flowers is to a “mourn-compared ful song.” The simile suggests the hymns sung at funerals. explain what two things are everybody.” — t up. hurt not going to you. I’m you teach going to I’m down in Old Woman Swamp and it was spring and the Swamp Woman down in Old was sitting comfortably on the soft grass, leaning back

ho says so?”ho says I demanded.

hu re Oh, can walk,” you I said, the arms and him by and I took He I hadn’t expected such an answer. “So I won’t have to haul to an answer. such have expected I hadn’t I won’t “So walk,“I can’t Brother,” he said. “W “Mama, the doctor “ hurt me,“Don’t Brother,” he warned. “S we

walk.” him up again, heaved I and again he collapsed.

ou around all the time.” ou around We to sick-sweet smell ofsick-sweet a mournful everywhere hung like flowers bay song. walk, to you teach going to “I’m Doodle,” said. I against the pine. “Why?” he asked. y him up.stood the grass a half-empty onto like collapsed He flour sack. was as if It he had no bones in his little legs.

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Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright 7 sullenly. poisonous green powder used to kill insects. n.: hen I’ll leave you here by yourself,” by here you I threatened,hen I’ll leave and ward the sea. ward going to have to touch it.” touch to have going to

bedeck ourselves with and loll about thus our handiwork bedeck ourselves to Doodle studied the mahogany box for a long time, box Doodle studied the mahogany then is,”“It I said. the loft, down from I’ll help you before “And There is within me (and with sadness I have watched it in watched is withinThere me (and with sadness I have “T Doodle was frightened of being left. me, go leave “Don’t “I won’t touch it,” touch he said “I won’t

re en Doodle was five years old, years en Doodle was five I was embarrassed a at having ’d ay u’ other,” he cried, the coffin. and he leaned toward hand, His ith wire grass we’d weave them into necklaces and crowns. necklaces them into weave ith wire grass we’d embling, out, reached the casket, and when he touched he honeysuckle, jasmine, yellow snakeflowers, and waterlilies, and w We sprinkled kill the rats, to had built a nest owls and screech inside it. said, not mine.” “It’s yo 7. Paris green others) a knot of cruelty of the stream borne by love, as much our blood sometimes bears the seed of our destruction, and at Doodle.times I was mean to the barn him up to I took One day him his casket,loft and showed all had we him how telling die. he would believed with a film of was covered It green Paris made as if going down. I were Br tr screamed. flapped out of owl A screech our faces, into the box green. us with Paris scaring us and covering Doodle was para- lyzed, shoulder and carried so I put him on my him down the ladder, outside in the bright when were sunshine, we and even me,he clung to crying, me. leave “Don’t me.” leave Don’t Wh ofbrother walk, that age who couldn’t him. teach so I set out to beautified, of the touch beyond world. the everyday Then when of rays the slanted the sun burned of orange in the tops the pines, them float and watch the stream into our jewels drop we’d aw 120 130 140 ? Collection 6: Symbolism and Allegory adv.: ) foreshadow Part 1 125. What is the sul√¥n·l≤ - ( resentfully; gloomily. Re-read the long sentence in lines 122 narrator saying about the relationship between love and cruelty? The narrator is saying that cruelty can spring love. from sullenly Pause at line 144. Why do you think the narrator shows What Doodle the coffin? might this event Possible answer: The narrator is being mean to Doodle. Perhaps he is trying to scare Doodle so that will do what the narrator wants him to do. At some point in the narrator the story, or Doodle will die. 172

88 The Holt Reader: Teacher’s Manual Collection 6 Student pages 174–175 175 218. Is the 226. Dix - - The Scarlet Ibis Re-read lines 215 narrator describing pride that brings something wonderful or something terrible? Possible answer: It has both, as the brought The narrator predicted. narrator taught Doodle to walk, but for a selfish reason. The narrator calls himself a “slave” to his pride, which suggests may be unhappy there consequences. Re-read lines 225 Hill is a state mental hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina. What does the narrator mean by this statement? He means that people them who heard would have thought insane. they were 8 heavy, ankle-high shoes. heavy, n.: ) reference to the Christian belief in rising of Jesus ing me so badly I thought I was crippled for life. rt br£√g¥nz ( hu lies were scary,lies were involved, and usually pointless, but 9 hat are you crying you hat are for?” Daddy, asked but I couldn’t

breakfast on our chosen day, on our chosen breakfast when Mama, Daddy, and

ithin a few months Doodle had learned to walk well and walk well ithin a few months Doodle had learned to At Doodle told them it was I who had taught walk,Doodle told him to so “W W My ix Hill. from the dead after his burial. produced anything less tremendous than the Resurrection, less tremendous anything produced d anyone stopped to listen to us, to listen to stopped d anyone been sent off have would we

cry and ran over to him,cry to and ran over hugging him and kissing him. Daddy gged him too, Nicey,Aunt to so I went who was thanks-pray- om and sat down at his place at the table.om and sat down at his place began Then Mama eryone wanted to hug me, hug to eryone wanted cry. and I began to gether quite well until she came down on my big toe with big toe her until she came down on my well gether quite

ached, help pass the time, and to up lying. took we the From unt Nicey were in the dining room, were unt Nicey the Doodle to brought I A door in the go-cart just as usual and had them turn their backs, their hearts die ifmaking them cross and hope to they peeked. I helped Doodle up, and when he was standing alone I let them look. the across slowly a sound as Doodle walked wasn’t There ro to hu ing in the doorway, waltz her around. and began to danced We to brogans, spectacular surprise. said that, Nicey Aunt talk, so much after if we be disappointed. she was going to 8. Resurrection: 9. brogans ev answer. that I did it for myself; They did not know that pride, I was,whose slave me louder than all their voices; to spoke and only because I was ashamed ofthat Doodle walked a having crippled brother. beside his still there) his go-cart was put up in the barn loft (it’s coffin.little mahogany Now, off roamed when we together, resting often, turned back until our destination had been never we re beginning Doodle was a terrible liar, and he got me in the habit. Ha to D twice as crazy. were Doodle’s in his stories all had wings People go. to they wanted and flew wherever lie was about a favorite His

200 210 220

to want decided not to tell anyone tell decided not to

we imminent, d nod his head, say, and I’d “Well, if try- keep don’t you ith success so ith success seemed so hopeless from the beginning that it’s a miracle the beginning that it’s seemed so hopeless from

Oh yes you can, you Oh yes Doodle,” said. I do is try. got to you “All He’ Finally, day, one of weeks many after practicing, he stood W This time he did not lift his face up out ofThis time he did not lift his face the rubber grass. “ It w come on,”w come more. and I hauled him up once be proud of,be proud mine. and Doodle had become I did not know o became discouraged because it didn’t seem as if because it didn’t o became discouraged he was try-

inging bell. be done. knew it could we Now no longer hid Hope ing, learn.” never of paint for him a picture you’ll Then I’d us as old men, white-haired, and me still him with beard a long white in the go-cart.pulling him around make failed to This never him try again. alone for a few seconds. he fell, When I grabbed arms him in my him,and hugged a our laughter the swamp like pealing through r in the a cardinal like but perched thicket in the dark palmetto lacy toothbrush tree, brilliantly visible. “Yes, yes,” I cried, and he cried it too, and the grass beneath us was soft and the smell of the swamp was sweet. until he could actually walk.until he could day, Each barring rain, sneaked we Swamp,Woman Old into time Doodle cotton-picking by and do. what he could show to was ready walk able to still wasn’t He far, wait no longer. could we but is very secret a nice Keeping do, to hard breath. holding your like all on reveal to chose We eighth,October sixth birthday, Doodle’s ahead we and for weeks the house,mooned around everybody a most promising “I just can’t do it.“I just can’t honeysuckle wreaths.” make Let’s No up. give I didn’t all of But something or someone have us must to then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears vines,two life and death. the to went that summer we day Every ofpine beside the stream Swamp,Woman Old and I put him on afternoon. times each his feet at least a hundred I Occasionally to ing, say, and I would “Doodle, you don’t 170 180 190 adj.: in lines Collection 6: Symbolism and Allegory ) simile im√¥·n¥nt ( Part 1 186. What do you think - Pause at line 171. Underline the two statements narrator makes about pride. Put his statements in your own words. He says that everyone of wants to be proud something or someone. He also says that pride brings both good things and bad things. Underline the the narrator means? The simile is comparing hope to a cardinal whose brilliant red color suggests a powerful life force. imminent 174 184 near; about to happen.

Student Pages with Answers 89 Collection 6 Student pages 176–177 177 the nar- used as 277. - v. ) simile bl¢t√id ( of what is to come, The Scarlet Ibis suffering from condi- suffering esent other things in adj.: tions that destroy or prevent growth. blighted Re-read lines 274 Underline the rator uses to describe the destruction of the oak trees. Why do you think the writer chose this comparison? The writer is using a in the simile as he bird to rep- has used birds r the story. Pause at line 288. If the includ- “blighted” summer, ing the violent hurricane, is a symbol what might lie in Doodle’s future? If the weather is symbolic, then Doodle is in for a very bad time, and may even die. In May Doodle 13 14 Soissons ), blighted. ß·mya‰√ ( orld War I battle sites in France. orld War W Amiens ), ood: W ) inner organs; guts. be·lô√ ( At this time most southern farmers were loyal n.: sha√t£’ t≤·er√·≤ ( ) Belleau ), en√tr†lz ( of a chicken. the from wrenched bolls were Cotton 12 nd during that summer, heard strange names were A That summer, the summer of 1918, was swä·sô‰√ ( Democrats. nt down to Horsehead Landing, Horsehead nt down to him swimming and I gave ice that seemed to rumble out of that seemed to ice the earth itself began cursing ots and tearing them out of at the a hawk the earth like earsons,Wood.” was lost in Belleau Joe whose boy otton field,otton he stood, where shoulders sagging, surveying the uin. his chest, sank down onto his chin When fright- were we ouched the ground.ouched the out into Daddy Doodle and I followed 13. Republican party: 14. Château-Thierry and I, other and giggling, each prodding the house, back to went knowing that everything be all right. would the house:through Château-Thierry, Amiens, Soissons, and in her blessing at the supper table, said, once Mama bless the “And P campaign got off a good start. to On hot days, Doodle and I we a boat. row to him how lessons or showed Sometimes we of greenness the cool into descended and Swamp Woman Old scientifically beneath the pine vines or boxed climbed the rope walk. he had learned to where about us like hung Promise leaves, looked, we and wherever broke ferns unfurled and birds song.into in the valleys the rows, walnuts green between like stalks and lay uniformly so that the tassels leaned over while the cornfield t c r ened, mine. and Doodle slipped his hand into Daddy Suddenly straightened his shoulders, raised a giant fist, knuckly and with a vo heaven, hell, the weather, party. and the Republican 12. entrails and June there was no rain and the crops withered, was no rain and the crops there and June curled up, then died under the thirsty sun. a hurri- One morning in July cane came out of the east, and the oaks in the yard tipping over splitting the limbs of the elm trees. it roared That afternoon back out of the west, blew the fallen oaks around, snapping their ro entrails

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Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright that all I iridescent, serene for a living. Beside the stream, and I prepared a terrific develop- and I prepared 11 something resembling a whirlpool. s, admit it. I must beat me Doodle could n.: infallibility wild vanilla. ) Ye n.: 10 vôr√teks≈ ( t gathering dog’s-tongue) we’d swing the cy- through we’d t gathering dog’s-tongue) Doodle and I spent lots of time thinking about our future. That winter we didn’t make much progress, much make That winter didn’t we for I was in n’ ess lay at the end ofess lay a pot of summer like gold, and our r wore a golden robe that glittered so brightly that glittered a golden robe that when he r wore decided that when we were grown, were decided that when we Woman in Old live we’d

re face him.face sleep, go to to was ready Peter When the peacock cc te me and live with us ifme and live to. they wanted came up with even He

wamp and pick dog’s-tongue ould do was whisper yes, yes. ourse. run, him to teach I would swim, to climb trees, to and to ustling vortex. S 11. dog’s-tongue boy named Peter who had a pet peacock with tail. who had a pet peacock a ten-foot named Peter boy Pe lying. We 10. vortex c walk, Doodle to in teaching I had succeeded Once I began to own in my believe ment program for him, and Daddy, Mama unknown to of c fight. He, too, infallibility, in my believed now set the so we away, less than a year deadline for these accomplishments when, it had been decided, start school. Doodle could to another. after one bad cold from and Doodle suffered school But when spring came, rich and warm, raised we our sights again. Su presses on the rope vines, on the rope presses and if beneath huddle it rained we’d stickfrog. and play tree an umbrella could and Daddy Mama co marry marrythe idea that he could and I could Mama Daddy. Of course, out, work this wouldn’t I was old enough know to was so beautiful and he painted but the picture he planned, build us a house of we’d and the whispering leaves be our chickens. would swamp birds long (when we All day we walked through the sunflowers they turned away from the sun from they turned away the sunflowers through walked to r spread his magnificent tail,spread a clos- gently like enfolding the boy flower,ing go-to-sleep burying him in the gloriously 230 240 250 260 ) adj.: ) Collection 6: Symbolism and Allegory peace- 236. - adj.: ) in·fal≈¥·bil√¥·t≤ ( ir≈i·des√¥nt ( Part 1 s¥·r≤n√ ( inability to make a ful; calm. infallibility n.: mistake. rainbowlike; displaying a shifting range of colors. serene Underline the details that help you visualize Doodle’s lie. Why is the peacock Re-read lines 231 important in his lie? The Possible response: peacock is important because it protects him. Perhaps he is thinking of being with someone who is kinder than his brother. iridescent Pause at line 260. Do you “devel- think the narrator’s opment program” is a good idea? Briefly explain. The Possible response: “develop- narrator’s is too ment program” for Doodle. difficult colds suggest Doodle’s that he is weaker than the narrator realizes. 176

90 The Holt Reader: Teacher’s Manual Collection 6 Student pages 178–179 179 n.: v.: ) ) dôg√id·nis ( r≤·it√¥·r†t≈id ( 319. - The Scarlet Ibis eiterated repeated. doggedness stubbornness; persistence. r In your own words, explain what the narrator means in lines 316 to get Their desire Doodle to succeed physically is blinding them to the danger health. “Left Doodle’s no crumbs behind” means that they left no path behind them—no way out of their predicament. It doggedness. scowling at me over scowling reiterated, the time I had done this, himself Doodle had excused

ou did, eh?” said Daddy, ignoring denial. my was Saturday noon,was Saturday was to school before just a few days

uddenly, came a strange croaking out in the yard from Daddy, Mama, Doodle, at the dining- seated and I were a rain frog,” heard said Mama,“I haven’t in who believed “I did,” Doodle. declared “Down in the swamp.” didn’t,”“He I said contrarily. “Y “I certainly did,” Doodle It S I jumped up, chair, my knocking over the had reached and By loudly again, croaked The bird came and Daddy and Mama hat’s that?”hat’s he whispered. om table having lunch.om table having was a hot day, It with all the windows ouldn’t let me.ouldn’t of The excitement been our program had now unt Nicey was humming softly. was humming unt Nicey a long silence, After Daddy start. defeat, admitted already I should have pride but my w gone for weeks, on with a tired kept but still we turn back, to late was too far into too had both wandered for we a net of and had left no crumbs behind. expectations ro should come.and doors open in case a breeze the kitchen In A spoke. so calm, “It’s be surprised if I wouldn’t had a storm we this afternoon.” signs, the table. around as she served the bread ill. sleep well, night he didn’t At and sometimes he had night- mares, crying him and said, out until I touched up, “Wake Doodle. up.” Wake ofthe top glass, his iced-tea quiet again. were and we noise. eating, Doodle stopped with of a piece poised ready bread for his mouth, blue buttons. two like popped round his eyes “W called,door when Mama “Pick up the chair, sit down again, and me.” excuse say the yard.and had slipped out into the was looking up into He bleeding tree. bird!” big red a great “It’s he called. the yard.out into with shaded our eyes our hands against We the hazy glare of the still leaves. up through the sun and peered

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Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright © PhotoDisc, Inc./Getty Images. Doodle began to 15 hot days in July and August, named after the Dog Star n.: me on, Doodle,” urged. I can do it. “You Do you slipped through the dog days, slipped through

co we

w, “Does it make any difference?” any “Does it make certainly does,”“It I said. “Now, on,” come and I helped As So we came to that clove of that clove came to So we seasons. was only a few School “A (Sirius), which rises and sets with the sun during this period. eks away, and Doodle was far behind schedule. could He ound and began to cry. ound and began to lazed. Once, go no further, he could on the so he collapsed want to be different from everybody else when you start everybody else when you from be different want to school?” him up. we vines, when climbing up the rope clear the ground barely and his swimming was certainly not passable. double decided to We our efforts, our pot of and reach that last drive make to gold. I until he couldn’t made him swim until he turned blue and row lift an oar. went, we Wherever fast, I purposely walked and up,although he kept became and his eyes turned red his face g gr 15. dog days look feverish, felt his forehead, and Mama asking him if he felt 300 310 Collection 6: Symbolism and Allegory Part 1 313 that suggest Doodle - Underline the details in lines 309 will happen to Doodle? Doodle is failing and might collapse—or perhaps even die— soon. 178 is becoming increasingly ill and weak. Based on these details, what do you predict

Student Pages with Answers 91 Collection 6 Student pages 180–181 181 399 is a very mov- - The Scarlet Ibis Notes Notes Pause at line 395. Why is Doodle so fascinated by the scarlet ibis? Why does he take such pains to bury it? Doodle is fascinated because the ibis is strange and beautiful that —unlike any bird Doodle has ever seen. He takes pains to bury it because he feels kinship with the bird. The description of Doodle’s burial of the scarlet ibis in lines 385 ing passage. Read the boxed passage aloud twice. Focus on conveying meaning the first time you read. The second time you read, try to emo- convey the passage’s tional overtones. dead birds!” red en Doodle came into the dining room,en Doodle came into he found us seri- soon as I had finished eating, Doodle and I hurried off

ll right,” said Doodle. “I won’t.” Go wash your hands,Go wash your some peach can have and then you rsehead Landing. was short, Time and Doodle still had a As Doodle remained kneeling.Doodle remained bury going to him.” “I’m him,” touch dare you warned. Mama “Don’t no “There’s “A Daddy, Mama, table, the dining-room back to and I went Wh speak but nodded his head. Doodle didn’t “ not hungry,”“I’m he said. is bad luck,”“Dead birds Nicey,Aunt said poking her head Ho bbler,” said Mama.

lling what disease he might have had.” lling what disease he might have ith a shovel whose handle was twice as long he was made ith a shovel ouldn’t hear. ouldn’t Shall We Gather at the River,” he carried the bird around to the to Gather at the River,” he carried around the bird We Shall te the open door. Doodle through watched but we out a took He ofpiece and, string his pocket from without the ibis, touching its neck.looped one end around Slowly, while singing softly “ garden, and dug a hole in the flower yard front the petu- to next nia bed. window, the front him through watching were we Now it. know but he didn’t at digging the hole awkwardness His w us laugh, our mouths with our hands so he covered and we w ously eating our cobbler. just inside the was pale and lingered He door.screen get the scarlet ibis buried?” you “Did Daddy. asked co door. the kitchen from “Specially to long way to go if to long way up with keep the other boys he was going to when he started school. The sun, gilded cast of with the yellow autumn, still burned fiercely, through but the dark woods green and cool. shady passed were we which the reached we When landing, swim, to tired Doodle said he was too a got into so we skiff with down the creek the tide. and floated off Far in the marsh a rail was scolding, locusts were on the beach and over singing in the myrtle trees. his Doodle did not speak and kept head turned away, letting one hand trail limply in the water.

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Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright ” eneath its grace, South ,b — — rd ts wings hung I mar ya our precariously. got peach cobbler for dessert,” cobbler got peach from tempted Mama

ve hat is it?” Doodle repeated. e’ that moment the bird began to flutter, began to that moment the bird but the wings

Go bring me the bird book,”Go bring me the bird said Daddy. uncoordinated, of flapping and a spray and amid much fly- delicately curved at rest.delicately death did not Even At “It’s not even frightened not even of“It’s us,” said. Mama looks tired,”“It added. Daddy sick.” maybe “Or clasped at his throat, hands were Doodle’s and I had never shook his head.Daddy know, “I don’t it’s maybe “It’s dead,” said. “It’s Mama “W “ book. back the bird the house and brought I ran into we As Sadly, back at the bird. all looked we A scarlet ibis! How “Let’s finish lunch,” said,“Let’s Mama nudging us back toward not hungry,”“I’m said Doodle, and he knelt down beside “W

erica Florida. to it here.” brought have must A storm re re aceful neck jerked twice into an S, twice into neck jerked aceful then straightened out, and we ing feathers, it tumbled down, the limbs of through bumping and landing at our feet withthe bleeding tree a thud. long, Its gr was still.the bird the eyes, came over veil A white and the long beak unhinged.white feet and its clawlike crossed legs were Its we On the topmost branch a bird the size of the size branch a bird On the topmost a chicken, with scarlet feathers and long legs, was perched down loosely, watched, and as we and away a feather dropped leaves. the green down through slowly floated seen him stand still so long. is it?” “What he asked. the doorway. for it lay on the earth like a broken vase of on the eartha broken for it lay like flowers, red and we it, around stood beauty. its exotic by awed watched, its pages. through thumbed Daddy a scarlet ibis,” “It’s he said, a picture. pointing to in the tropics lives “It Am this, die like to miles it had traveled many in the bleeding tree. the dining room. the ibis. 350 360 370 380 ) Collection 6: Symbolism and Allegory 351. In - the story’s pri·ker√≤·¥s·l≤ damage; spoil. ( v.: Part 1 ) mär unsteadily; insecurely. ( foreshadow Both are tired and sick. tired Both are what ways does the bird precariously adv.: mar Re-read lines 346 remind you of Doodle? Pause at line 364. Like Doodle, the scarlet ibis is described as being uncoordinated, delicate, and unique. How might the death of ibis ending? 180 The death of the scarlet ibis may fore- of shadow the failure plan, the narrator’s and perhaps an even such tragedy, greater death. as Doodle’s

92 The Holt Reader: Teacher’s Manual Collection 6 Student pages 182–183 183 470, what does - The Scarlet Ibis Most students will see the similarity between the scarlet ibis and dead body. Doodle’s The writer makes this association to rein- the symbolic link force between Doodle and the scarlet ibis. “my fallen scarlet ibis” What do the details in description of Doodle in the last two paragraphs remind you of? Why do think the writer makes this association? In lines 468 the narrator call his dead brother? generally means “denial neck appear unusually 19 of rain. Heresy 20 bright red. as well. for and waited I stopped faded away; disappeared. adj.: 18 v.: ) ) here, mockery. here, mockery. n.: ) ev≈¥·nest√ ( v¥r·mil√y¥n ( her√¥·s≤ ( didn’t answer,didn’t and hand on his forehead my so I placed

I hadn’t run too far before I became tired, far before run too I hadn’t and the flood of I began to weep,I began to vision before in red and the tear-blurred He “Doodle! Doodle!” I cried, shaking him, was no but there of what is commonly believed to be true” or “rejection a church’s teaching.” hildish spite evanesced hildish spite c 18. evanesced Corel. 19. vermilion 20. heresy long and slim. little legs, His bent sharply at the knees, had never seemed so fragile,before so thin. very familiar.me looked “Doodle!” the pound- above I screamed ing storm, his. the earth to body above my and threw a long, For long time, it seemed forever, crying, there I lay sheltering my the heresy fallen scarlet ibis from Doodle. The sound of rain was everywhere, but the wind had hangingdied and it fell straight ropes down in parallel paths like the sky.from I waited, As the downpour, through I peered but no one came. back and found him huddled Finally I went nightshadebeneath a red bush beside the road. was sitting He on the ground, buried his face in arms, resting were which on his drawn-up knees. go, “Let’s Doodle,” said. I his head.lifted Limply, the earth. onto he fell backward had He the mouth,been bleeding from of and his neck the front his stained a brilliantshirt red. were rain. but the ropy answer very awkwardly, lay He with his head far back,thrown making his vermilion

450 460 470

Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright is generally used to mean cracked pride?),cracked but I knew he Armada 17 group. n.: ) patch or repair. Solder is a mixture of metals melt- patch or repair. v.: ) är·mä√d¥ ( säd√¥r of fiddler crabs rustling off the marsh grass. into I ( r we had drifted a long way,r we and I put the oars in place 16 te Doodle was both tired and frightened,Doodle was both tired and when he Af The knowledge that Doodle’s and my plans had come to plans had come and my that Doodle’s The knowledge “fleet, or group, of warships.” ed and used to repair metal parts. started back home, racing the storm. (what spoke never We

pt stepping on my heels. on my pt stepping I walked, The faster he the faster ared out,ared the sound of hiding even the sea. The sun disap- ind flared the wet,ind flared of glistening leaves trees. the bordering ain arrived, Doodle, I heard who had fallen behind, cry out, made Doodle row back against the tide.made Doodle row Black clouds began to gather in the southwest, them, watching and he kept trying to pull the oars a little faster. Horsehead reached we When Landing, lightning half across was playing the sky and thunder ro and darkness descended,peared night. almost like Flocks of flew by,marsh crows trees, their roosting heading inland to and egrets,two squawking, and shallows the oyster-rock from arose away. careened the skiff from stepped the mud, onto he collapsed sending an armada 16. armada 17. solder was watching me,was watching for a sign of watching mercy. The lightning was near now, so close behind me he fear he walked and from ke walked, run. so I began to The rain was coming, through roaring the pines, and then, candle, a bursting Roman like a gum tree ahead of a bolt of by us was shattered lightning. the deaf- When ening peal of had died, thunder the and in the moment before r “Brother, me!” leave Brother, me! Don’t leave don’t naught was bitter, of and that streak cruelty within me awak- ened. I ran as fast I could, him far behind with leaving a wall of rain dividing us. nettles, like face stung my The drops and the w no more. hear his voice Soon I could helped him up, and as he wiped off the mud his trousers, he smiled at me ashamedly. both knew it, had failed and we He so we that can solder the words are 420 430 440 Collection 6: Symbolism and Allegory fore- 425. Circle - Doodle’s beg- Doodle’s ? _ Part 1 ? Pause at line 447. Why does the narrator leave Doodle behind? He is angry because he feels Doodle has failed him. ging his brother not to leave him or not to hurt him. What could these words the details describing approaching storm. What do you think the storm Re-read lines 416 shadows Most students will say the storm foreshadows danger. Underline line 441. Then, underline the parts of story where you have heard this before foreshadow See pages 172 and could 173. The words a time foreshadow does when the brother leave Doodle. 182

Student Pages with Answers 93 Collection 6 Student pages 184–185 185 Literary Skills Analyze symbolism. The Scarlet Ibis . an exam- not in the story? the writer uses is not correct A; C _ of the story as presented foreshadowing are not correct because they setting sad and suggestive of death cheerful and suggestive of life peaceful and suggestive of heaven haunted and suggestive of danger “‘Don’t hurt me, Brother,’ he hurt me, Brother,’ “‘Don’t warned.” “The oriole nest . rocked back and forth like an empty cradle.” “One day I took him up to the barn loft and showed him his casket. . .” “Keeping a nice secret is very hard to do. . .” D The in the opening paragraph could best be described as A B C D Which of these details is ple of F G H J and 3. 4. because bees aren’t mentioned in the because bees aren’t story. are used only once. The correct answer is birds as symbols all through the story B Explanation of the Correct Answer Explanation of the Correct _ _ Doodle in The Scarlet Ibis foreshadows symbolizes Circle the letter of each correct answer. in “The Scarlet Ibis”? Sample Test Question Sample Test Doodle’s birth Doodle’s coming death Doodle’s the scarlet ibis life in the South able to move very quickly trying to learn fly rare, beautiful, and fragile very fond of being outside birds flowers bees tombstones The description of Doodle’s last sum- The description of Doodle’s mer as “blighted” A B C D The scarlet ibis that both the child and bird are F G H J Which of the following are recurring symbols A B C D

Skills Review Skills Review Then, read the explanation at right. Complete the sample test item below. DIRECTIONS: 1. 2.

Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright love and protection; a love and protection; kinder world happier, Doodle, who is also and living frail and rare in a hostile world he does not belong in new start; rebirth scarlet ibis peacock spring The Scarlet Ibis he Scarlet Ibis,” of some the people, places, things, and events “T

374). In - 236). 260). - Collection 6: Symbolism and Allegory - yard, beneath the lumn are passages from the story. passages from lumn are passage, a symbol each Locate from and write lumn. is done for you. The first row with a symbolic row Fill in the bottom stand both for themselves and for something beyond themselves. and for something beyond stand both for themselves Fill out the meaning in the story. symbols convey see how symbol to chart below the first In co column.it in the second Then, write the meaning of the symbol in the third co own. story find on your passage that you Symbol Chart Story Passage Symbol Meaning our Part 1 When Peter was ready to go sleep, the peacock spread his magnificent tail, enfolding the boy gently like a closing go-to- burying him in the sleep flower, gloriously iridescent, rustling vortex (lines 233 That winter we didn’t make That winter we didn’t much progress, for I was in school and Doodle suffered from one bad cold after anoth- But when spring came, rich er. and warm, we raised our sights again (lines 258 Sadly, we all looked back at the Sadly, bird. A scarlet ibis! How many miles it had traveled to die like this, in bleeding tree (lines 372 Any attempt the student makes to identify a passage with a symbol and to make guess at its meaning, should be given credit. 184

94 The Holt Reader: Teacher’s Manual Name Date

Selection Title

Symbol Chart

A symbol is an object, person, or event that stands for something more than itself. Think about a symbol in the story you just read. Write the symbol at the center of the chart below. In the surrounding lines, describe the different possible meanings of the symbol. (The number of meanings will vary with the selection.)

214 Graphic Organizers