Page 24 - Point 5 Literature Program Option 1 Teachers Guide (2) (1)

Answers to these four questions might include:
1. Differences:
George: young, tall, bony, single, unemployed, sober, no money, not very social
Mr. Cattanzara: middle-aged, stocky, married, worked as a change maker, got drunk, had money to give,
talked to the neighbors, gave up on his own education (George, don’t do what I did.)
Similarities:
Both read newspapers and understood the importance of education, both were from immigrant families and lived
in the same poor neighborhood of New York.

Students should present their work in a Venn diagram.
2. George goes to the park in the evening and thinks about the future he would like.
From time to time Mr. Cattanzara gets drunk.
3. Literary Term Description in the story

Plot Real world problems that youth face every day
Characters People with real problems who sometimes fail
(Note: students are free to define the literary terms in their own words as they apply to
the story.)

4. a. Sophie: She was softer to George and showed she was proud of him. She gave him a dollar a week.
b. George’s father: His father was too shy to say anything about it.
c. The neighborhood people: The shoemaker told George he was a good boy. People smiled at him.
d. George himself: George cleaned house for Sophie. He enjoyed the ball games more. He had some money
and was in a good mood. He felt a little better round the neighborhood. He walked erect and could feel the
approval. He didn’t go to the park every evening any more.
An appropriate thinking skill for this question would be Distinguishing different perspectives. Accept
all logical choices and explanations.

Let’s Think – Inferring

The first HOTS taught in this story is Inferring, since much of Mr. Cattanzara’s role is
inferred rather than stated explicitly. students should discuss the activities.

Let students continue to work in pairs to think of other applications of the skill and then have them
share their ideas with the class before they answer question 5.
Answers might include:
5. a. In Part II, Mr. Cattanzara told the neighbors that George was reading a hundred books over the summer.
b. In Part III, Mr. Cattanzara realized that George was not reading but did not tell anyone.
c. In Part IV, Mr. Cattanzara told people that George had finished reading the books.

6. We can infer that George thought about everything that happened in the summer and decided it would be
better for his future to read the books and improve his education.
Questions 7 and 8 relate to Mr. Cattanzara’s motives for the inferred actions mentioned in the
previous question.

Answers to questions 7–9 might include:
7. a. Mr. Cattanzara knew that reading was important for George’s education and wanted to encourage him to do it.
b. Mr. Cattanzara had known George since he was a boy. He probably felt quite fatherly towards George (Mr.

24 A summer’s reAding