Reading Check
a. Draw a picture of Jacobs’s hiding place as you see it. Show its dimensions. Where is it?
b. Why is she hiding there?
c. Why is the gimlet a lucky find?
d. Who is Dr. Flint, and what news of him does Aunt Nancy bring?
e. Where do people imagine that Jacobs has gone?
First Thoughts
1. Jot down some words and phrases that describe your feelings as you read this selection from Jacobs’s autobiography.
Shaping Interpretations
2. In a short story a writer sometimes chooses details of setting to create a mood or atmosphere. How would you describe the mood of this selection? Which details of the setting contribute to that mood?
3. Think of some words and phrases you’d use to describe the narrator’s character. Find details in the text that show us the sort of person she is.
4.The title of this chapter from Jacobs’s autobiography comes from these lines by the English poet William Cowper:
’Tis pleasant, through the
loopholes of retreat,
To peep at such a world; to see
the stir
Of the great Babel, and not feel
the crowd.
Compare Jacobs’s “loophole of retreat” with William Cowper’s “loopholes”
What do you think of Jacobs’s title? What other titles would you suggest?
5. What main idea do you think this selection reveals? Is the main idea directly stated, or is it implied? What details support your interpretation of the main idea?
Extending the Text
6. Jacobs faces great hardship but doesn’t give up. What do you think keeps some people going in the face of great hardship? Why do others give up?
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