Notice & Note

    And then I started thinking about the blackberries, and about how spoiled I was by the blackberries in Bybanks, Kentucky. I had a vision of my mother and me. walking around the rims of the fields and pastures, picking blackberries in the summer, just as we used to. We filled our pockets with blackberries, but we did not pick from the bottom of the vine or from the top. The ones at the bottom were for the rabbits, my mother said, and the ones at the top were for the birds. The ones at people-height were for people.      Lying in bed, remembering those blackberries, made me think of something else too. It was something that happened a couple of years ago, on a morning when my mother slept late. It was that time she was pregnant. My father and I had already eaten breakfast, and he was out in the fields. On the table, my father had left a single flower in each of two juice glasses - a black- eyed susan in front of my place, and a white petunia in front of my mother's. My father must have gone out to the field and picked them as soon as he had awakened.When my mother came into the kitchen that day, she saw the flowers immediately. 'Oh!' she said. 'Glory!' She bent her face toward each flower. She looked out the window and said, 'Let's go find him.'

What questions did you ask when reading this excerpt? Be specific. (Examples: "Why is characters name doing behavior?" "Why does (word/topic/concept)  keep happening/coming up, again and again?")

Based on this excerpt, what predictions did you make about the story? Be specific. (Example: "Because (character's name) ."

Read the excerpt and select the signpost(s) that appear in the excerpt: (There may be more than one. Select all of the signposts that you see.)

• A.

  Contrasts & Contradictions | OMG

• B.

  Aha! Moment

• C.

  Tough Questions

• D.

  Words of the Wiser

• E.

  Again & Again

• F.

  Memory Moment

• G.

  I don't see any signposts

EXTRA CREDIT: What is the definition of patriarch?

• A.

  (n.) - A woman who is the head of her family and sets expectations for the behavior of all family members.

• B.

  (n.) - A curved symmetrical structure spanning an opening.

• C.

  (n.) - A man who is the head of his family and sets expectations for the behavior of all family members.

• D.

  (n). - A person who supports his/her country and is prepared to defend it against enemies.

EXTRA CREDIT: What is the definition of nostalgia?

• A.

  (n.) - A woman who is the head of her family and sets expectations for the behavior of all family members.

• B.

  (n.) - Sitting quietly and reading a great book.

• C.

  (n). - Being disciplined for doing something we were told we should not do.

• D.

  (n.) - Thinking about a time, event or place that was happy or happier than our current situation.