רב תחומי רמות – מקיף ז' באר שבע

2 רב תחומי רמות – מקיף ז' באר שבע

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Part II: Reading

THANK YOU, MA'AM

BY LANGSTON HUGHES

She was a large woman with a large purse that had everything in it but hammer and

nails. It had a long strap, and she carried it slung across her shoulder. It was about eleven

o’clock at night, and she was walking alone, when a boy ran up behind her and tried to

snatch her purse. The strap broke with the single tug the boy gave it from behind. But the

boy’s weight and the weight of the purse combined caused him to lose his balance so,

instead of taking off full blast as he had hoped, the boy fell on his back on the sidewalk,

and his legs flew up. The large woman simply turned around and kicked him right square

in his blue-jeaned sitter. Then she reached down, picked the boy up by his shirt front, and

shook him until his teeth rattled.

After that the woman said, “Pick up my pocketbook, boy, and give it here.”

She still held him. But she bent down enough to permit him to stoop and pick up her

purse. Then she said, “Now ain’t you ashamed of yourself?”

Firmly gripped by his shirt front, the boy said, “Yes’m.”

The woman said, “What did you want to do it for?”

The boy said, “I didn’t aim to.”

She said, “You a lie!”

By that time two or three people passed, stopped, turned to look, and some stood

watching.

“If I turn you loose, will you run?” asked the woman.

“Yes’m,” said the boy.

“Then I won’t turn you loose,” said the woman. She did not release him.

“I’m very sorry, lady, I’m sorry,” whispered the boy.

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“Um-hum! And your face is dirty. I got a great mind to wash your face for you. Ain’t

you got nobody home to tell you to wash your face?”

“No’m,” said the boy.

“Then it will get washed this evening,” said the large woman starting up the street,

dragging the frightened boy behind her.

He looked as if he were fourteen or fifteen, frail and willow-wild, in tennis shoes and

blue jeans.

The woman said, “You ought to be my son. I would teach you right from wrong. Least

I can do right now is to wash your face. Are you hungry?”

“No’m,” said the being dragged boy. “I just want you to turn me loose.”

“Was I bothering you when I turned that corner?” asked the woman.

“No’m.”

“But you put yourself in contact with me,” said the woman. “If you think that that

contact is not going to last awhile, you got another thought coming. When I get through

with you, sir, you are going to remember Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones.”

Sweat popped out on the boy’s face and he began to struggle. Mrs. Jones stopped,

jerked him around in front of her, put a half-nelson about his neck, and continued to drag

him up the street. When she got to her door, she dragged the boy inside, down a hall, and

into a large kitchenette furnished room at the rear of the house. She switched on the light

and left the door open. The boy could hear other roomers laughing and talking in the

large house. Some of their doors were open, too, so he knew he and the woman were not

alone. The woman still had him by the neck in the middle of her room.

She said, “What is your name?”

“Roger,” answered the boy.

“Then, Roger, you go to that sink and wash your face,” said the woman, whereupon

she turned him loose-at last. Roger looked at the door-looked at the woman-looked at the

door-and went to the sink.

“Let the water run until it gets warm,” she said. “Here’s a clean towel.”

“You gonna take me to jail?” asked the boy, bending over the sink.

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“Not with that face, I would not take you nowhere,” said the woman. “Here I am

trying to get home to cook me a bite to eat and you snatch my pocketbook! Maybe, you

ain’t been to your supper either, late as it be. Have you?”

“There’s nobody home at my house,” said the boy.

“Then we’ll eat,” said the woman, “I believe you’re hungry-or been hungry-to try to

snatch my pockekbook.”

“I wanted a pair of blue suede shoes,” said the boy.

“Well, you didn’t have to snatch my pocketbook to get some suede shoes,” said Mrs.

Luella Bates Washington Jones. “You could of asked me.”

“M’am?”

The water dripping from his face, the boy looked at her. There was a long pause. A

very long pause. After he had dried his face and not knowing what else to do dried it

again, the boy turned around, wondering what next. The door was open. He could make a

dash for it down the hall. He could run, run, run, run, run!

The woman was sitting on the day-bed. After a while she said, “I were young once and

I wanted things I could not get.” There was another long pause. The boy’s mouth opened.

Then he frowned, but not knowing he frowned.

The woman said, “Um-hum! You thought I was going to say but, didn’t you? You

thought I was going to say, but I didn’t snatch people’s pocketbooks. Well, I wasn’t

going to say that.” Pause. Silence. “I have done things, too, which I would not tell you,

son-neither tell God, if he didn’t already know. So you set down while I fix us something

to eat. 055 You might run that comb through your hair so you will look presentable.”

In another corner of the room behind a screen was a gas plate and an icebox. Mrs.

Jones got up and went behind the screen. The woman did not watch the boy to see if he

was going to run now, nor did she watch her purse which she left behind her on the day-

bed. But the boy took care to sit on the far side of the room where he thought she could

easily see him out of the corner of her eye, if she wanted to. He did not trust the woman

not to trust him. And he did not want to be mistrusted now.

“Do you need somebody to go to the store,” asked the boy, “maybe to get some milk

or something?”

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“Don’t believe I do,” said the woman, “unless you just want sweet milk yourself. I was

going to make cocoa out of this canned milk I got here.”

“That will be fine,” said the boy.

She heated some lima beans and ham she had in the icebox, made the cocoa, and set

the table. The woman did not ask the boy anything about where he lived, or his folks, or

anything else that would embarrass him. Instead, as they ate, she told him about her job in

a hotel beauty-shop that stayed open late, what the work was like, and how all kinds of

women came in and out, blondes, red-heads, and Spanish. Then she cut him a half of her

ten-cent cake.

“Eat some more, son,” she said.

When they were finished eating she got up and said, “Now, here, take this ten dollars

and buy yourself some blue suede shoes. And next time, do not make the mistake of

latching onto my pocketbook nor nobody else’s-because shoes come by devilish like that

will burn your feet. I got to get my rest now. But I wish you would behave yourself, son,

from here on in.”

She led him down the hall to the front door and opened it. “Good-night! Behave

yourself, boy!” she said, looking out into the street. The boy wanted to say something

else other than “Thank you, m’am” to Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, but he

couldn’t do so as he turned at the barren stoop and looked back at the large woman in the

door.

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Part III: Basic Understanding

Vocabulary Practice

Exercise A

Fill in the missing translation according to the story.

English Hebrew

Ashamed תביישה

Drag לגרור

Embarrass להביך

Frail שברירי

Frown מבואס

Make a dash for it להסתלק/החוצהלהתגנב

Make a mistake לטעות

Release לשחרר

Shake לנער

Snatch (תיק)לחטוף

Struggle מאבק

Trust אמון

Exercise B

Write the words and phrases from exercise A above that relate to Mrs. Jones, Roger

and both of them.

Drag

Release

Shake

Ashamed

Embarrass

Frail

Frown

Make a dash for it

Snatch

Struggle

Make a mistake

Trust

Mrs. Jones

Roger

Both

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Exercise C

Add a word from the list below that goes with each group.

Release • snatch • permit • frail • bother • ashamed • combined • trust • drag

1. grab • seize • snatch

2. allow • let • permit

3. free • turn loose • release

4. worry • disturb • bother

5. fragile • disturb • frail

6. blended • put together • combined

7. guilty • embarrassed • ashamed

8. pull • haul • drag

9. hope • believe • trust

Exercise D

Choose the correct answer.

1. Roger tries to pass by / snatch Mrs. Jones’s purse so he can buy blue suede

shoes.

2. Mrs. Jones drags / releases Roger to her house so she can teach him right

from wrong.

3. Roger washes his face and combs his hair so he will look ashamed /

presentable.

4. Roger thinks of running out of Mrs. Jones’s house and making a dash for it /

making a mistake.

5. Roger wants Mrs. Jones to trust / permit him.

6. Roger struggles / walks away to think of something to say to Mrs. Jones

besides “thank you”.

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Basic Understanding

Answer the questions

1. Who are the people in “Thank You, M’am”?

Roger and Mrs. Jones

2. At what time does the story take place?

At about 11 o'clock at night

3. How old is the boy?

Fourteen or fifteen

4. What is the boy wearing?

Tennis shoes and blue jeans

5. What must Roger do before they eat supper?

He must wash his face / comb his hair.

6. Where has Mrs. Jones come from? Where is she going?

She has come from work. She is going home.

7. What does Mrs. Jones tell Roger about her life?

She tells him that she works in a hotel beauty shop and what the work is like.

8. What is Mrs. Jones’s advice to Roger?

Not to steal / take anyone's purse / pocketbook because shoes got by devilish means will

burn his feet / to behave himself

9. What does Roger say when he leave?

Nothing. (He wanted to thank her for giving him another chance but no words came to

him.)

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Part IV: Analysis and Interpretation

A. Literary Terms: Plot / Hero / Heroine / Characters

Use the graphic organizer below to help you put the sentences in the order in which

they happen in the story.

Mrs. Jones drags Roger to her house.

1.

Roger wants blue suede shoes.

2.

Mrs. Jones and Roger eat a meal together.

3.

Roger goes home.

4.

Roger sits far away from the purse.

5.

Roger tries to steal a purse.

6.

The plot is the pattern or sequence of events in a story.

Roger wants blue suede shoes.

Roger tries to steal a purse.

Mrs. Jones drags Roger to her

house.

Roger sits far away from the

purse.

Mrs. Jones and Roger eat a meal

together.

Roger goes home.

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1. Mrs. Jones is the heroine – the central character of the story. Do you think she is rich?

Why or why not?

No, because she works long hours / is a working woman, she lives in a boardinghouse

(where other people also rent rooms), she has a gas plate (not an oven) and eats a simple

meal.

2. How might Roger’s life have been different if Mrs. Jones had called the police?

He might have been arrested by the police / had a criminal record / become a criminal. /

He might not have learned that there are kind people in the world.

3. What does Mrs. Jones mean when she says “shoes got by devilish ways will burn your

feet”?

She means that shoes bought with stolen money won't be comfortable. / She means that

Roger won't enjoy wearing shoes that he bought with stolen money.

4. What is the message of the story? Choose the correct answer.

a. Money is the root of all evil.

b. You can’t have everything you want.

c. An act of kindness can change a person’s life.

The characters are the people in the story.

The hero / heroine is the central character of the story.

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B. HOTS: Uncovering Motives

1. What are your motives for studying Literature this year?

to appreciate culture.

2. What are your teacher's motives for teaching Literature this year?

to learn new things.

Read (and listen to) the following story:

3. What do you think is the driver's motive for his behavior?

He killed his wife.

Motive – noun

1. something that causes a person to act in a certain way, do a certain thing, etc.;

incentive.

2. the goal or object of a person's actions: Her motive was revenge.

Jack, a middle-aged man, is driving down a dark, deserted country road. Suddenly he

sees in his rear view mirror the colored lights of a police car and hears the siren. He

drives faster. He keeps looking worriedly in the mirrors to see if the police car is still

there. He looks at his wedding ring. He begins to sweat.

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4. Now, what do you think is the driver's motive for his behavior?

He wants to hide the evidence.

5. After reading the end of the joke, what do you think was the man true motive for

running away from the policeman?

He did not want to get his wife back.

6. Can you always know the true motive of someone's actions? Explain:

No, we cannot know the true motive of someone's actions. For example, my sister is

baking a cake because she has a birthday, or her friend has a birthday, or she wants to

surprise our mom. We can never know. It can be anything.

7. Figuring out someone's motives for an action is called:

a) Sequencing

b) Perspectives

c) Uncovering motives

He continues looking behind him and is getting more and more nervous. He drives

even faster. He can only think about not stopping the car. He begins to panic. He

takes a sharp left turn and tries to lose the policeman. Suddenly up in front of him the

road is under construction and he brakes hard and stops the car. He is really sweating

now. He reaches to put something in his bag.

The policeman comes up to his window and says "Do you know you were speeding?

Didn't you see me? Why didn't you stop?" The man, panicking answers: "Last week

my wife left me for a policeman and I was sure you were trying to give her back."

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1. Why doesn’t Mrs. Jones call the police?

a. She wants Roger to keep her company.

b. She wants to punish Roger herself.

c. She wants to teach Roger right from wrong.

2. Why does Roger want Mrs. Jones to trust him?

He wants to …

a. steal her pocketbook later.

b. prove he has changed.

c. eat dinner at her house.

3. Mrs. Jones says, “I have done things too.” Why does she tell Roger this?

She wants to show Roger that she…

a. is angry.

b. understands him.

c. likes him.

4. Which thinking skill did you use to answer the questions 1-3? Explain.

Uncovering Motives

I had to think about Mrs. Jones's / Roger's reasons for his / her behavior, so I used the

thinking skill of Uncovering Motives.

5. If you were Mrs. Jones, would you take Roger home? Explain why or why not.

Yes, I would because it is important to teach Roger that some people show kindness when

it is unexpected. Sometimes people should get a second chance. Everyone has done

something wrong.

Uncovering Motives is discovering the reasons for the character's behavior.