How an author reshapes an older story
Grade 9 Reading Worksheet
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
The Whistle, and The Stadium Cap (pair: a retold true story and a new story)
Text A: The Whistle (our retelling of a letter by Benjamin Franklin)
[1] In a letter he wrote in 1779, Benjamin Franklin recalled a holiday from when he was seven years old, when friends had filled his pocket with small copper coins. [2] He went straight to a shop that sold toys, but on the way he heard another boy blowing a whistle, and he was so charmed by its sound that he wanted nothing else. [3] At the shop he offered all of his coins for a whistle of his own, and the shopkeeper took every one of them. [4] He came home and whistled all over the house, pleased with his bargain, though the noise disturbed the whole family. [5] His brothers, sisters and cousins, hearing what he had paid, told him that he had given four times what the whistle was worth, and they laughed at him. [6] He cried with frustration, and he later wrote that thinking about the wasted money gave him more pain than the whistle had ever given him pleasure. [7] The memory became a rule for him, and whenever he was tempted to buy something he did not need, he told himself not to give too much for the whistle. [8] As a grown man, he wrote, he saw many adults who had paid too much for their whistles, giving up their time, their friends or their peace of mind for things worth far less.
Text B: The Stadium Cap
[9] At the first home game of the season, Milo carried thirty dollars, earned by walking a neighbor's dog for a month, folded inside a phone case. [10] In the concourse, a vendor was selling a gold limited-edition team cap, and Milo, who had just seen a friend wearing one, handed over all thirty dollars without asking a single question. [11] Milo wore the cap through all four quarters and cheered louder than anyone else in the section. [12] On the bus home, Noah searched the team's online store and showed Milo the same gold cap on sale for twelve dollars, with free shipping. [13] Noah did not laugh, but Milo stared at the screen for a long time and pulled the cap down low over both eyes. [14] That night, Milo worked out that the extra eighteen dollars had cost more than two weeks of walks, many of them in the rain. [15] The cap still felt good to wear, but the thought of those walks took most of the pleasure out of it. [16] Before going to sleep, Milo wrote a rule on an index card and taped it inside the closet door: wait one day and check the price before paying. [17] Two weeks later, in a bookstore, Milo picked up a sketchbook, remembered the card, put the sketchbook back and went home to look up the price first. [18] The cap now hangs on a hook beside the card, and Milo still wears it to every game.
Jun fills the chart's reason row. Which statement names a change the later author made and gives a reason that the two texts support?
- Franklin's family laughs at the bargain, but Noah only shows the price, so that Milo's regret comes from Milo's own sums.
- Milo's friends laugh at the bargain, but Franklin's family only shows the price, so Franklin works it out alone.
- Franklin's family laughs at the bargain, but Noah does not, because Noah is too shy to tease a friend.
- Franklin spends every coin, but Milo spends only part of the dog-walking money, so the loss in Text B is smaller than in Text A.
Claim: both texts keep the idea that the regret outweighed the pleasure. Pia needs one sentence from each text. Which pair proves the claim?
- [5] the family said the whistle cost four times its worth; [12] Noah showed the same cap for twelve dollars
- [6] the wasted money hurt more than the whistle pleased; [11] Milo wore the cap through the game and cheered loudly
- [14] Milo worked out the cost in walks in the rain; [15] the walks took most of the pleasure out of the cap
- [6] the wasted money hurt more than the whistle pleased; [15] the walks took most of the pleasure out of the cap
Text A ends with [8], about grown-ups. Text B ends with [18], the cap on its hook. How does this change alter what the story means?
- The change just moves the story to a stadium and a phone, and both endings make the same point in the same way.
- Text B reverses the lesson by showing that paying too much for something is fine as long as you enjoy it.
- Text A widens the lesson to how adults spend their time and friendships, but Text B keeps it to one buying habit.
- Text B widens the lesson to how adults spend their time and friendships, but Text A keeps it to one buying habit.
Tala fills another reason row. Which statement names a change in the rule each child keeps, with a reason that the two texts support?
- Franklin keeps a saying in mind, but Milo writes a step to follow, because a price can be checked online, as [12] and [17] show.
- Franklin keeps a saying in mind, but Milo writes a step on a card, because Milo's parents ask for written rules.
- Milo keeps a short saying in mind, but Franklin writes a step to follow on a card taped inside a door.
- Franklin learns nothing from the whistle, but Milo writes a rule on a card, so the lesson belongs to Text B.
Text A is a grown man's memory in a letter; Text B is told as it happens. How does this change alter what the reader sees?
- Telling it as it happens changes only the tense, so the feelings the reader sees are the same in both texts from start to finish.
- Because Text B is told as it happens, Milo never reaches a lesson at all, unlike Franklin, who sums one up.
- Text A looks back calmly from many years later, while Text B shows the sting first, in [13], and the rule only later.
- Text B looks back calmly from many years later, while Text A shows the sting first and the rule only later.
Tom Sawyer's Fence, and The Garden Fence (pair: a retold novel scene and a new story)
Text A: The Fence (our retelling of a scene from Mark Twain's 1876 novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer)
[1] In Mark Twain's novel, Aunt Polly orders Tom to whitewash a long board fence on a bright Saturday morning, when every other boy in town is free to play. [2] Tom looks at the endless boards, dips his brush, and sinks into gloom at the thought of all the fun he is missing. [3] Then Ben Rogers comes down the street eating an apple and pretending to be a steamboat, and Tom gets an idea. [4] Instead of complaining, Tom works on with great care, stepping back to admire each stroke as if painting a fence were a fine art. [5] When Ben teases him about having to work, Tom asks why anyone would call it work, since a boy does not get the chance to whitewash a fence every day. [6] Ben soon begs for a turn, and Tom refuses at first, saying that Aunt Polly is very particular about this fence, until Ben offers his apple. [7] All afternoon, boy after boy arrives to mock and stays to paint, paying Tom with a kite, marbles and other treasures for the privilege. [8] By the end of the day the fence has been coated again and again, and Tom, who has hardly lifted the brush, sits beside a pile of prizes. [9] The narrator remarks that Tom has discovered a great law of human action: to make people want something, one need only make it seem hard to get.
Text B: The Garden Fence
[10] On the first Saturday of spring, Ms. Haddad, who ran the Elm Street community garden, handed Pia a gallon of green paint and a long, peeling picket fence to cover before the plant sale. [11] Pia counted the pickets, all one hundred and twelve of them, and sat down on the paint can, sure that the whole weekend was lost. [12] When Ari and Luz came by with a soccer ball, Pia stood up, picked up the brush, and began painting slowly, stopping now and then to study a picket from different angles. [13] Ari asked why anyone would spend a Saturday painting, and Pia answered that each painter could sign the bottom of a picket, so that the fence would carry the names of everyone who made the garden. [14] Luz wanted to paint at once, and instead of asking for anything in return, Pia handed over the second brush and went to the shed to find more. [15] By noon, nine neighbors and friends were painting, and each one stopped after the last stroke to sign a small name in white at the foot of a picket. [16] Ms. Haddad came out at four o'clock, found the whole fence green and dry, and asked whose idea the signatures had been. [17] Pia handed Ms. Haddad a list of every painter's name, with Pia's own name written last, and Ms. Haddad read each one aloud at the plant sale the next morning.
Claim: both texts keep the moment when the stuck painter stops sulking and starts to put on a show of the work. Which pair, one from each text, proves it?
- [2] Tom sinks into gloom over the fun he is missing; [11] Pia sits on the paint can, sure the weekend is lost
- [4] Tom steps back to admire each stroke; [11] Pia sits down on the paint can, sure the weekend is lost
- [12] Pia paints slowly and studies a picket; [14] Pia hands over the second brush and goes for more
- [4] Tom steps back to admire each stroke; [12] Pia paints slowly and studies a picket from different angles
Text A ends with the narrator's law in [9]. Text B ends with the names read aloud in [17]. How does this change alter what the story means?
- The garden and the paint color are new, but both endings make the same point about getting friends to do the work.
- Text A becomes a lesson about how people can be led to want work; Text B becomes one about sharing credit for it.
- Text A becomes a lesson about sharing credit for work; Text B becomes one about how people can be led to want it.
- Text B argues that Tom was cruel and that making work look like fun is a kind of lying.
Kira fills another reason row. Which statement names a change in what makes the work seem worth doing, with a reason the texts support?
- Tom makes painting seem a rare chance, but Pia offers a signed picket, because Pia wants to be famous on Elm Street someday.
- Tom's chore falls on a free Saturday, but Pia's chore falls on a school day, so Pia misses less fun.
- Pia makes painting seem a rare chance, but Tom offers each painter a board to sign with a name.
- Tom makes painting seem a rare chance, but Pia offers a signed picket, because the fence will carry the helpers' names.
Claim: the later author changed who gets the credit once the fence is finished. Which pair of sentences, one from each text, proves the claim?
- [15] each painter signs a small name on a picket; [17] Pia lists every painter's name, with Pia's last
- [7] the boys pay Tom with a kite and marbles; [14] Pia hands over a brush and asks for nothing
- [8] Tom hardly lifts the brush and ends beside a pile of prizes; [16] Ms. Haddad finds the fence green and dry
- [8] Tom hardly lifts the brush and ends beside a pile of prizes; [17] Pia lists every painter's name, with Pia's last
Tom refuses Ben a turn at first in [6]; Pia hands Luz a brush at once in [14]. How does this change alter why the helpers want to paint?
- Because Pia gives a brush at once, Text B shows that the friends would have painted anyway, with or without a reason.
- Tom makes a turn seem hard to get, but Pia gives one at once, so in Text B the pull is the signed picket, not scarcity.
- Pia hands over the brush faster, but that just speeds up the story; the reason the friends want to paint stays the same.
- Pia makes a turn seem hard to get, but Tom gives one at once, so in Text A the pull is the work itself.