1a. Of what is old Dikran the guardian? Who does Dikran love?
2a. What two obstacles at first make it hard for old Dikran to know what he is holding? How does he find out what it is?
3a. What do Dikran and the narrator do with the hummingbird?
4a. What does the narrator ask old Dikran at the end of the story? What does old Dikran say about the hummingbirds they see that summer and the bird they found the winter before?
5a. What evidence do you find that old Dikran values nature and its creatures?
6a. How well does William Saroyan's story create a strong image of a hummingbird? Why do you think Saroyan made Dikran blind? How does that detail impact the story? In what way does this story relate to Saroyan's comment that his "real work is being"?
1b. In what ways might old Dikran get pleasure from his garden?
2b. How does the narrator's role change at this point?
3b. How does the narrator feel as the hummingbird begins to show signs of energy?
4b. What might old Dikran mean when he says, "Each of them is our bird"?
5b. How does old Dikran think the hummingbird he helped relates to the hummingbirds he sees the following spring? What does this say about Dikran's attitude toward life?
6b. Compare the hummingbird in the short story with the descriptions of hummingbirds shared in the essay by Diane Ackerman. How do the details from the story differ from those of the essay? Does any information appear in both? Review Felice Holman's poem "Humming Bird." What about hummingbirds does this poem capture? How does the information each author chooses to share signal his or her purposes for writing? How do the purposes of each author differ? How are they the same?
Setting. Review the chart you created on setting as you read the story. Why is setting, especially the season, so important in this story? What details of the setting remain the same throughout the story?
Point of View. Look back to the story to find an example of the narrator directly addressing the reader. Locate one or more instances in the story when the narrator provides information for old Dikran.
1. Write a letter to a local plant nursery asking for information about plants and flowers that will attract hummingbirds to your yard.
2. Write a short poem about your favorite animal or bird. Send the poem to a friend or family member who appreciates wildlife.
3. Use dialogue to write the conversation that old Dikran might have with his wife when she returns home about finding, helping, and releasing the hummingbird. Focus Dikran's dialogue on details that describe sound, smell, touch, and the way the experience might have made him feel.
Transformation, one of the Words for Everyday Use in this selection, is a noun that means "a change." Transform is a verb that means "to change." For each of the verbs given below, write a corresponding noun. Use a dictionary if you need help.
1. modify
2. restore
3. apply
4. admire
5. describe
6. explain
7. migrate
8. clarify
9. expire
10. frustrate
Hummingbird Myths and Legends. Diane Ackerman's nonfiction essay "Mute Dancers: How to Watch a Hummingbird" says that hummingbirds were depicted in various ways in American Indian myths and legends. The Hopi, the Cherokee, and the Aztec are just a few Native American groups that have included hummingbirds in their myths and legends. Form small groups to research this subject. Use the library, the Internet, or both to find a myth or legend that depicts hummingbirds. With your group members, decide on a way to retell the myth or legend. You may want to rewrite the story in your own words and read it to the class, or you may choose to act out the myth or legend. Use this log to keep track of the resources you use and to take notes about your subject.
1. Resource Notes:
2. Resource Notes:
3. Resource Notes:
Using Quotation Marks. Review the following rules for using quotation marks. Then read the sentences below and indicate the letter of the rule that applies to it.
Rules A. Enclose the words of a direct quotation in quotation marks. When you use a person's exact words in your writing, you are using a direct quotation. B. Use quotation marks to enclose the titles of short works such as short stories, poems, songs, articles, and parts of books. C. Use quotation marks or parentheses to enclose the definition of a foreign word or phrase.
1. I was fascinated by what I learn about hummingbirds from reading Diane Ackerman's nonfiction essay "Mute Dancers: How to Watch a Hummingbird."
2. The Aztec god of war was named Huizilopochtli, a compound word meaning "shining one with weapon like cactus thorn," and "sorcerer that spits fire."
3. According to Ackerman, "there are 16 species of hummingbirds in North America, and many dozens in South America."
4. "Each of them is our bird," the old man said.
5. In Portuguese, the word for hummingbird (Beija flor) means "flower kisser."
6. Saroyan said, "My work is writing, but my real work is being."
7. This story is in the unit called "Taking Flight."
8. "Humming Bird," the poem by Felice Holman, captures the rapid, whirring movement of a humming bird.
9. Ackerman quoted Jeanne Mackin as saying the humming bird "miscarried a little pearl."
10. Are you ready to read Maya Angelou's poem "Caged Bird"?
Write a public service announcement Wildlife Rehabilitation Centers. If you find a wild animal in need of care, you should contact a professional who knows how to handle the animal and knows what kind of care it needs. You can contact your stateÕs Department of Natural Resources (DNR) or Game, Fish and Parks Department to find the wildlife rehabilitation center closest to you. Collect some basic information on the rehabilitation center from the Internet, from printed literature offered by the center, or by talking to an employee at the center. Then write an informational advertisement to educate people in your community about the rehabilitation center and the services it provides. Think about your likely audience and which medium will best reach them: radio, TV, the Internet, or print. Think about which facts will most likely persuade people to contact the organization if they do find an injured animal. For more information on writing a public service announcement, see the Language Arts Survey 6.10, "Writing a Public Service Announcement."
Date:
Subject:
Announcement:
Contact:
Phone number:
Times contact can be reached:
