1a. With what words does the author begin the story?
2a. How does Pierre feel when Jacques suggests he retire? How does Pierre respond?
3a. What was the secret between Pierre and Joseph?
4a. Look back to the story and gather words and phrases that refer to time passing and routines being repeated.
5a. How successful is the author at creating a believable friendship between Pierre and Joseph? Does the relationship between Pierre and Joseph need to be believable for the story to be effective? Why, or why not? When the author reveals Pierre's secret at the end of the story, how does the reader gain more insight into the relationship between Pierre and Joseph? How does the reader learn more about Pierre's character? How does this detail create a forceful ending to the story?
1b. What is the effect of this first sentence? Why might the author have begun the story this way?
2b. What does this response tell you about Pierre?
3b. How was Pierre able to keep it a secret for so long?
4b. Based on the details you collected, explain in a few sentences how these references add to the impact of the story.
5b. Imagine that Pierre had to depend on a person in the same ways that he depended on Joseph. How might things have turned out differently? Why do you think the author chose Joseph, a horse as Pierre's companion? How does this choice add to or take away from the story?
Foreshadowing. How did you react when you discovered Pierre's secret at the end of the story? Did you guess what it was before the story revealed it? Why do you think the author might have chosen to use foreshadowing in this story? Reread the story and collect as many details as you can find that hint at the secret disclosed at the end of the story.
Theme. Thinking about theme as it relates to the topics of friendship and familiarity, reread the story to examine closely the setting, characters, and events that took place. How do these elements contribute to ideas about friendship? about familiarity? Write down your thoughts and impressions as you reread the story. Although themes are linked closely to the ideas the reader takes away from the story, different readers of the same story will express themes differently. Your interpretation of theme must always be supported by evidence from the work. Use a graphic organizer like the one below to develop your statements of theme. After you have written some possible themes, compare your notes with those of your classmates.
Use this graphic organizer as a guide for compiling details and recording your ideas about the topic of familiarity and about theme or themes in "A Secret for Two." Some items are given. Fill in others as you work through the activity. Then go back and do the same work on the topic of friendship.
1. A proverb is a traditional saying. Examples of proverbs include "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink," or "A friend in need is a friend indeed." Write your own proverb based on the story "A Secret for Two."
2. A diary is a day-to-day record of a person's doings, thoughts, and feelings. Use your imagination to write two diary entries for Pierre: one for the day he meets Joseph and one on the day he is told he can retire. Keep in mind the amount of time between the two events.
3. A eulogy is a speech or writing in praise of someone, often given upon a person's death. Write a short eulogy for Pierre to be read at his funeral.
Research and Writing: Use various resources to conduct research on animals that perform specific tasks in the human world. You may want to focus on animals in entertainment, guide dogs, rescue dogs, police horses, or working elephants. Based on your research, write a short essay about the type of working animal you researched. Research Log. Use this log to keep track of the sources you use, the information you find, and your reactions to what you learn.
Book and print sources:
Internet sources:
Reactions:
Business Memo. Use the format below to help you write your memo.
TO:
FR:
RE:
DT:
Creating Compound Words. The word henceforth, which appears in "A Secret for Two," is a compound word meaning "from this time on." Compound words are made of two or more words that are joined together, as in lighthouse, middle-class, and foster child. Some compounds are spelled as two words, as in life belt and nursing home. Some, such as fishbowl, are spelled as one word. Other compound words, such as jack-in-the-box, are spelled with hyphens. Create compound words by adding words to the following.
Example: square dance
1. folk
2. clear
3. black
4. nut
5. two
6. walk
7. paper
8. hard
9. foot
10. light
Editing for Capitalization Errors. Read the Language Arts Survey 3.88, "Editing for Capitalization Errors." Then rewrite the following sentences, changing lowercase letters to capital letters wherever necessary.
Example: Canada's southern border is the united states. Canada's southern border is the United States.
1. Pierre lived in montreal, canada.
2. Montreal is the largest city in the canadian province of quebec.
3. Montreal was settled by the french, but eventually came under british rule.
4. About 80 percent of the population of quebec is french canadian.
5. Pierre named his horse after st. joseph.
6. Pierre and Joseph worked for the provincale milk company.
7. Every morning, Pierre and Joseph headed east to make their deliveries on prince edward street.
8. Pierre reported that the paquins and the lemoines ordered extra milk and cream.
9. Pierre begged jacques to let him and joseph continue to work.
10. Pierre was hit by a truck while crossing st. catherine street.
