Page 41 - SpringBoard_ELD_Grade6_Flipbook

Short Story
stoop: bend forward and down ashame: feeling shame or guilt
aCtiVitY 2.3
My notes
interpret the text Using Close reading
Learning Target
• Apply understanding of how short stories are structured to comprehending the text.
Read and Annotate
Read “Thank You, M’am” and annotate the text as you read.
■ Use the My Notes area to write questions or ideas you have about the story. ■ Underline words and phrases that tell about the characters and setting.
■ Put a star next to the climax, or turning point, of the story.
■ Put exclamation marks next to the resolution of the story.
■ Circle any words or phrases that you do not understand.
Thank You, M’am
by Langston Hughes
1 She was a large woman with a large purse that had everything in it but hammer and nails. It had a long strap, and she carried it slung across her shoulder. It was about eleven o’clock at night, and she was walking alone, when a boy ran up behind her and tried to snatch her purse.* The strap broke with the single tug the boy gave
it from behind. But the boy’s weight and the weight of the purse combined caused him to lose his balance so, instead of taking off full blast as he had hoped, the boy fell on his back on the sidewalk, and his legs flew up. The large woman simply turned around and kicked him right square in his blue-jeaned sitter. Then she reached down, picked the boy up by his shirt front, and shook him until his teeth rattled.
2 After that the woman said, “Pick up my pocketbook, boy, and give it here.”
3 She still held him. But she bent down enough to permit him to stoop and pick
up her purse. Then she said, “Now ain’t you ashamed of yourself?”
4 Firmly gripped by his shirt front, the boy said, “Yes’m.”
5 The woman said, “What did you want to do it for?”
6 The boy said, “I didn’t aim to.”
7 She said, “You a lie!”
8 By that time two or three people passed, stopped, turned to look, and some
stood watching.
9 “If I turn you loose, will you run?” asked the woman.
10 “Yes’m,” said the boy.
11 “Then I won’t turn you loose,” said the woman. She did not release him.
12 “I’m very sorry, lady, I’m sorry,” whispered the boy.
13 “Um-hum! And your face is dirty. I got a great mind to wash your face for you.
Ain’t you got nobody home to tell you to wash your face?”
18 SpringBoard® English Language Development grade 6
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