Reading Check
In three or four sentences, summarize Rylant’s problem and explain what the best gift of her life was.
First Thoughts
1. Jot down some phrases that describe your impression of the narrator of “The Best Gift of My Life.”
Shaping Interpretations
2. In this very subjective excerpt from her autobiography, Rylant is not afraid to let her feelings show. Find some passages that reveal personal details no one else could know.
3. Rylant tells a story to show us how she came to be a writer. Why was the concert a peak experience for her?
4. Identify the details Rylant mentions in the first five paragraphs to compare her home with Christy’s. How are their homes alike? How are they different? What do the details reveal about Rylant’s attitude toward her home and herself?
5. Express Rylant’s main idea (or ideas, if you think she makes more than one main point) in your own words. What details support your statement of her main idea? (Be sure to use the story’s title in your statement.)
Extending the Text
6. What advice would you give to a young person who is not happy with where he or she lives or who wishes to be someone else?
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