Analysis & Quotation: Where the Crawdads SIng : Opening scene Flashcards
Written by Delia Owens
What do beginnings and endings represent in this story?
important, defining moments in the telling of any story
When is the novel’s prologue set and what story does it tell?
It is set in 1969 and tells the story of the discovery of Chase Andrew’s decomposing remains, near a fire tower in the marshlands of North Carolina.
The marsh is described as a place of what? (2)
The marsh is described as “A space of light” in the opening line but is also clearly a place of death
“Marsh is not ______. Marsh is a ______ of light”
“Marsh is not swamp. Marsh is a space of light”
“On the morning of _______ __, 1969, the body of Chase Andrews lay in the ________”
“On the morning of October 30, 1969, the body of Chase Andrews lay in the swamp”
“A swamp knows all about ______, and doesn’t necessarily define it as ________, certainly not a ___”
“A swamp knows all about death, and doesn’t necessarily define it as tragedy, certainly not a sin”
“the best __________ this town ever ____”
“the best quarterback this town ever saw”
What does the presence of murder hint at in terms of the society?
The presence of murder hints at a society that is potentially violent, brutal and inhumane and there is a vision od life that is depressing and gloomy
When does the second story take place?
In 1952, on a hot august day
Describe the introduction to Kya’s life story. How does it commmence?
Her story commences with her early life experience of trauma and abandonment in the face of poverty and physical abuse
What was Kya’s mother wearing and carrying when ‘she walked down the sandy lane’?
She was in a ‘long brown skirt, kick pleats nipping at her ankles’, she wore ‘fake alligator skin’ high heels which were also ‘her only going out pair’.
She carried a blue train case.
“But she never wore the ____ heels, never took a ____”
“But she never wore the gator heels, never took a case”
“Ma _______ looked back”, “But today she walked on, unsteady in the ruts”
“Ma always looked back”, “But today she walked on, unsteady in the ruts”
Who abandons Kya after her mother?
all of her siblings, then the last of her siblings, Jodie, leave, the stage is set fro Kya to lead a life of solitude and self-sufficiency
“Ma didn’t _____ back that day. No one _____ of it”
“Ma didn’t come back that day. No one spoke of it”
