Please have out your “The Scarlet Ibis” Symbolism Grid out to be stamped.

“The Scarlet Ibis” Writing Assignment Please get out a pen/pencil. Please get out a sheet of lined paper. Please write your name at the top of the paper. Please keep out your “The Scarlet Ibis” Symbolism Grid.

“The Scarlet Ibis” Writing Assignment Authors often embed symbols in their stories to enhance a theme and/ or a character’s traits. Hurst uses birds, images/references to death, and numerous shades of red as symbols to enrich the meaning of his story, “The Scarlet Ibis.” Follow the steps on the next slides as you create a well- developed paragraph in which you examine how Hurst uses symbolism to support his theme/message to the reader.

“The Scarlet Ibis” Writing Assignment Step 1: Why do you think Hurst wrote this story? What larger message was he trying to convey to us? Write your idea down here, making sure it is a bold and arguable statement. Congratulations! You just wrote the hardest part of your paragraph’s topic sentence.

“The Scarlet Ibis” Writing Assignment Step 2: Looking at the grid you completed yesterday, circle one of the three categories – birds, death/dying, or the color red. This will be the over-arching symbol category that you will discuss in your paragraph.

“The Scarlet Ibis” Writing Assignment Step 3: After you’ve chosen one of the categories, look at all six pieces of concrete detail you found in the story yesterday. Circle the two that would work best as support for the thesis statement you wrote in Step 1.

“The Scarlet Ibis” Writing Assignment Step 4: Step 5: Start writing your paragraph. Begin with your topic sentence from Step 1. Then, build supporting ideas/arguments based on the two pieces of text you selected in Step 3. Include lots of rich, deep analysis of the quoted material. Be sure to convey how Hurst uses symbols to enrich the reader’s understanding of the story and to support his larger theme. Don’t forget to include a closing sentence. Go back and carefully proofread your paragraph, fixing any errors in grammar, punctuation, or flow. Don’t forget to include an original title at the top of your paragraph.

Birds Death/Dying Anything Red/Reddish 1. “… the oriole nest in the elm was untenanted and rocked back and forth like an empty cradle.” 2. “...and now if an oriole sings in the elm, its song seems to die up in the leaves, a silvery dust.” 3. “A screech owl flapped out of the box into our faces, scaring us and covering us with Paris green.” (Paris green is a poisonous powder/ insecticide.) 4. “When Peter was ready to go to sleep, the peacock spread its magnificent tail, enfolding the boy gently like a closing go-to-sleep flower, burying him in the gloriously iridescent, rustling vortex.” 5. “That afternoon [the hurricane] roared back out of the west, blew the fallen oaks around, snapping their roots and tearing them out of the earth like a hawk at the entrails of a chicken.” 6. “Flocks of marsh crows flew by, heading inland to their roosting trees, and two egrets, squawking, arose from the oyster-rock shallows and careened away.” Death/Dying 1. “The last graveyard flowers were blooming, and their smell drifted across the cotton field and through every room of our house, speaking softly the names of our dead.” 2. “They named him William Armstrong, which was like tying a big tail on a small kite. Such a name sounds good only on a tombstone.” 3. “‘Don’t leave me, Brother,’ he cried, and he leaned toward the coffin. His hand, trembling, reached out, and when he touched the casket he screamed.” 4. “‘And bless the Pearsons, whose boy Joe was lost at Belleau Wood.’” (This was a WWI battle site in France.) 5. “Slowly, while singing softly ‘Shall We Gather at the River,’ he carried the bird around to the front yard and dug a hole in the flower garden, next to the petunia bed.” 6. “‘Dead birds is bad luck,’ said Aunt Nicey, poking her head from the kitchen door. ‘Specially red dead birds!’” Anything Red/Reddish 1. “Daddy had Mr. Heath, the carpenter, build a little mahogany coffin for him.” (Mahogany is a reddish-brown wood.) 2. “He seemed all head, with a tiny body which was red and shriveled like an old man’s.” 3. “Hope no longer hid in the dark palmetto thicket but perched like a cardinal in the lacy toothbrush tree, brilliantly visible.” (Cardinals are red birds.) 4. “Wherever we went, I purposefully walked fast, and although he kept up, his face turned red and his eyes became glazed.” 5. “Even death did not mar its grace, for it lay on the earth like a broken vase of red flowers, and we stood around it, awed by its exotic beauty.” 6. “He had been bleeding from the mouth, and his neck and the front of his shirt were stained a brilliant red.”

“The Scarlet Ibis” Writing Assignment z “The Scarlet Ibis” Writing Assignment You have until the end of the period to finish this assignment. Please staple your Symbolism Chart, Paragraph and Rubric together. Turn in all 3 pages to the Turn-In Basket. Short Story Unit Test Tomorrow- Friday, September 29th