The Homecoming Flashcards
Why do the villagers laugh at the woodcutter?
A. They know he is a big liar.
B. He gets angry easily.
C. His wife bosses him around.
D. He minds everybody’s business.
D. He minds everybody’s business.
To predict what will happen in this story, what do you combine?
A. what you like about reading folk tales with what you want to know
B. what you know with what is important to learn
C. what you already know with story clues
D. what the author believes with what you believe
C. what you already know with story clues
In “The Homecoming,” the woodcutter meets two strangers in the mountains. What game are the strangers playing?
A. checkers
B. chess
C. backgammon
D. ping-pong
B. chess
Which one of the following story clues tells you that the two strangers are not what they seem?
A. They play the game skillfully, even though they wear blindfolds.
B. They pay no attention to the woodcutter’s advice.
C. Their robes change color as they play the game.
D. They play the game, night and day, for seven days.
D. They play the game, night and day, for seven days.
In the plot of a story, events that increase tension happen in the rising action. At the climax, the story’s outcome becomes clear. The events that follow the climax are called the falling action. Finally, you have the resolution or conclusion. In “The Homecoming,” the woodcutter tries to advise the game players in the
A. rising action.
B. climax.
C. falling action.
D. resolution.
A. rising action.
What action causes the woodcutter to lose everything?
A. He lights a lantern covered with stars.
B. He moves a golden disk to a new place on the game board.
C. He sucks on a peach stone.
D. He tears a page from the clan book.
C. He sucks on a peach stone.
The fat man says to the woodcutter, “It may already be too late.” What does he mean?
A. The woodcutter may always be an annoying person.
B. The woodcutter must warn his village that a landslide is about to happen.
C. If the woodcutter doesn’t get home before nightfall, his wife will be upset.
D. A great deal of time has already passed.
D. A great deal of time has already passed.
As the woodcutter goes home, what is one sign that something strange has happened?
A. The river has changed course.
B. The woodcutter walks like a very old man.
C. The trees are in different places.
D. The fields look as if a fire has burned them.
C. The trees are in different places.
At the end of the story, the woodcutter remembers, too late, his wife’s warning. What warning did she give him as he left the village?
A. Don’t talk to anyone.
B. Remember your starving children.
C. Stay away from other villages.
D. Don’t go beyond the ridgetop.
A. Don’t talk to anyone.
Which of the following events occurs during the resolution of the story?
A. The woodcutter realizes that thousands of years passed while he was away.
B. The funny old man and the fat man share the peach.
C. The funny old man and the fat man follow the woodcutter’s advice.
D. The woodcutter’s wife dies.
A. The woodcutter realizes that thousands of years passed while he was away.
To predict what happens at the end of the story, what prior knowledge would you find most useful?
A. knowing how people change magically in the myths of many countries
B. knowing what kinds of tricks are played on humans in Chinese folk tales
C. understanding other science fiction stories about creatures with artificial
intelligence
D. knowing about sword fighting in Japanese ghost stories
B. knowing what kinds of tricks are played on humans in Chinese folk tales
The woodcutter gets _____________________ by others and doesn’t finish his work.
A. surprised
B. tired
C. sad
D. distracted
D. distracted
Two important elements of a story’s plot are the climax and the resolution. The climax is the high point of a story, when the story’s outcome becomes clear. The resolution, or conclusion, is the final outcome of the story.
Describe either the climax or the resolution of “The Homecoming” and give examples from the story to support the plot element.
The climax of the story occurs shortly after the woodcutter sucks on the peach stone. The peach juices fill him with energy, so he doesn’t realize all the time that has passed. When the chess games finishes, the two men tell the woodcutter that he must go home quickly.
In the resolution of the story, the woodcutter returns to his village and finds that it has changed quite a bit. He discovers that thousands of years have passed since he left the vil- lage. He realizes that he should have listened to his wife’s warning, but it is too late now.
“The Homecoming” is a story that teaches several lessons. Here are some of them: Don’t talk to strangers. Concentrate on your own work. Mind your own business. Don’t hang around people who ignore you. Don’t eat the remains of food that others have thrown away.
Which lesson in the story do you think is most important? Choose one of the lessons, tell what it is, and explain how the woodcutter learned it. Finally, tell why you think that is the most important lesson.
Example: the lesson that people should not hang around those who ignore them.
The two strangers ignored the woodcutter. He should have gone on looking for wood. By staying with the strangers and trying to give them advice, he was giving in to his old bad habit. The woodcutter had responsibilities back at the village. The strangers were never going to accept any advice from him, and he should have realized that.
Self-respect is very important. Hanging around people that ignore you shows lack of respect for yourself.
The villagers laugh at the woodcutter because he
A. talks constantly and boasts about how much he knows.
B. is impatient and gets angry when his neighbors do things wrong.
C. has a wife who always tells him what to do and when to do it.
D. is easily distracted and gives unsolicited advice.
D. is easily distracted and gives unsolicited advice.
