Raymond's Run - Homework
Making Meanings
1. Complete one of the following statements:
• If I were Squeaky, I would/would not have . . .
• I was surprised when . . .
• I didn’t understand . . .
2. What do you think is the most important conflict in this story? Why? Try answering in this form:
The conflict between . . . and . . . about . . . is important because . . .
3. How do Squeaky’s opinions of people change in the course of the story? Use a chart like this one to organize your thoughts.
| What Squeaky thinks of | |||
| Gretchen | Raymond | Herself | |
| Beginning | |||
| End | |||
4. Squeaky and Gretchen almost get into a fight before the race. Why, then, do they smile at each other after the race?
5. Who “leans on” whom in this story? (More than one answer is possible.) Support your response with evidence from the text.
6. Explain why you would or wouldn’t want to be friends with Squeaky. (Consider: Did you like her better at the beginning or at the end of the story?)
7. Is it ever necessary to fight or use threats to defend someone? Explain.
8. Would you have called this story “Raymond’s Run”? Defend Bambara’s choice, or invent a new title and explain why you think it’s better.
Choices: Building Your Portfolio
1. Collecting Ideas for an Autobiographical Incident
Write briefly about an incident (something that happened) in your life in which a first impression turned out to be wrong or someone you thought you knew well did something that surprised you.
• What happened during this incident?
• Why was this incident important to you? What did you learn from it?
• What details of the incident (sights, feelings, things people said) do you remember?
2. Life Stories
If the writing prompt above doesn’t spark your interest, freewrite about one of these topics:
• a time when you made a sacrifice or stood up for a friend, a brother, or a sister, or when someone stood up for
you
• how participating in a sport or being good at something gave you a sense of self-confidence
• a conflict you had with a friend or an acquaintance and how it was resolved
3. Meeting the Challenge
Find out about the achievements of people in your community or in the country who are physically or mentally challenged. For example, you might want to do research about athletes in the Special Olympics
Start your search in the library, on the Internet, or in local newspapers. You could also ask your teacher or librarian to help you locate published sources or people to contact.
Write a brief report on your findings, and display it in the classroom for other students to read.
Grammar Link: Mini-Lesson
Three Common Usage Errors
Can you spot three errors somewhere in this dialogue?
“Congratulations!” Gretchen said, smiling.
“Thanks alot,” Squeaky replied. “I wish you could of won, too.”
“That’s alright. You deserved it.”
Many beginning writers have trouble with the phrases a lot, all right, and could have—and should have, would have, might have, and must have—because they’ve heard them more often than they’ve seen them in print. (When speaking, people often shorten could have to could’ve, which sounds as though it might be spelled could of.)
Note to computer users. If you write using a computer, your word processing program’s spelling checker will catch misspellings of a lot and all right. Run the spelling checker just before printing out a final draft. It won’t catch could of .
Try It Out
Write three sentences of your own in response to “Raymond’s Run.” Use the phrases
a lot, all right, and could have (or should have, would have, might
have, or must have) at least once each.
Click here to navigate through the story: page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4 and Homework.
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