Transcript A Christmas Memory Page 62 by

A Christmas Memory
by Truman Capote
Page 62
CCRS– RL.9-10.1; RL.9-10.2; RL.9-10.3; RL.9-10.4; RL.9-10.5; Rl.9-10.10;
W.9-10.4; W.9-10.10; SL.9-10.1; L.9-10.1; L.9-10.2; L.9-10.3; L.9-10.4; L.9-10.6
Literary Skills – Understand setting and how it affects mood.
Reading Skills – Identify sensory details.
A Christmas Memory
Introducing the Story
This semi-autobiographical story recalls the
homemade traditions of two unlikely friends,
distant cousins who are decades apart in age. In
hard times they cook up rich and lasting cheer.
Hard Times
What was the economy
like in the 1930s?
A Christmas Memory
Literary Focus
Setting is so crucial in some narratives that the
story could not take place anywhere else. Setting
can include details about
• time and place
• season and weather
• customs—how people
eat, dress, and live
and what they believe
A Christmas Memory
Literary Focus
In this story Truman Capote asks us to imagine
the rich details of a particular place and season.
He portrays the mood of
• a late November morning
• a small town in the 1930s
• an old house
• a roaring fire in the kitchen
A Christmas Memory
Vocabulary Page 62
Previewing the Vocabulary
inaugurating v.: formally beginning.
exhilarates v.: gladdens; excites.
dilapidated adj.: shabby; falling apart.
paraphernalia n.: equipment; gear.
sacrilegious adj.: disrespectful toward religion.
A Christmas Memory
Vocabulary Page 62
Previewing the Vocabulary
carnage n.: widespread killing; slaughter.
prosaic adj.: ordinary.
disposition n.: usual frame of mind;
temperament.
suffuse v.: spread over or through.
noncommittal adj.: not admitting or committing
to any particular purpose or point of view.
A Christmas Memory
Vocabulary
Vocabulary Activity
Fill in the blanks with words from the Word Bank.
paraphernalia
disposition prosaic
noncommittal
carnage
noncommittal about giving me a raise.
1. My boss was ____________
carnage
2. Older veterans spoke about the __________
of war.
paraphernalia were needed.
3. Bottles and other baby ____________
disposition
4. Auntie’s cheerful ____________
comforts us.
prosaic
5. The task was boring and ____________.
A Christmas Memory
Meet the Writer
Truman Capote (1924–1984) was
born in New Orleans but grew up with
elderly relatives in “dirt-road”
Alabama.” Deserted by his father, he
was moved from place to place while
his mother lived in New York. Capote
attended military schools, which he
hated. When he was seventeen, he
abandoned formal schooling for good
and moved to New York City to learn
to write.
His most famous novel, Breakfast at
Tiffany’s, was made into a movie.
A Christmas Memory
Quickwrite
Make the Connection
“A Christmas Memory” is a story about two
unlikely friends. The story reveals something
about the nature of friendship and the enduring
power of love—even when, to the rest of the
world, the friendship seems odd, and the love is
not noticed at all.
What do friends give each other? Think about
your oldest friendship—why do some friendships
last while others don’t? Jot down your ideas on
friendship, and save your notes.
While Reading
“A Christmas Memory”
1-5 Answer the questions in the Reading for Details boxes
scattered throughout the story.
6. How does the setting affect the mood of the story?
7. What is a possible theme for this story?
8. How do the characters of Buddy and his friend contribute
to the theme?
9. The author covers the events of several years in the story.
How does this contribute to the overall mood of the story?
Activity
• Page 75 Writing –
There’s No Place Like Home
• People’s homes reveal a great deal about their characters. We learn, for
example, that Buddy’s friend “sleeps in a scrap-quilt-covered iron bed
painted rose pink,” which may suggest her simplicity, her desire for beauty,
or her own rosy, childlike personality. Write a description of the home of
someone you know. Use sensory details to make the setting vivid and to
create a mood. Be sure to convey the person’s character through your
description of his or her home.
Minimum ½ page
• Page 75 Questions 8 & 9
On #8 you must cite correctly at least one direct reference to
the story. To cite a story, after the sentence that refers to
the story, place the page number inside parentheses. The
period for the sentence goes after the closing parentheses.