Individuality and Conformity; Nature and the Environment — Test
Question 23 • English Language Arts 9
Read the excerpt from “The Scarlet Ibis.” Doodle was frightened of being left. “Don’t go leave me, Brother,” he cried, and he leaned toward the coffin. His hand, trembling, reached out, and when he touched the casket he screamed. A screech owl flapped out of the box into our faces, scaring us and covering us with Paris green. Doodle was paralyzed, so I put him on my shoulder and carried him down the ladder, and even when we were outside in the bright sunshine, he clung to me, crying, “Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me.” What do Doodle’s repeated pleas of “Don’t leave me” foreshadow?
Answer
A
Later in the story, the narrator races ahead and leaves Doodle to struggle behind during a terrible storm.
B
When Doodle struggles to learn to walk, the narrator leaves and Doodle is left sitting alone in Old Woman Swamp.
C
After Doodle refuses to touch the casket, the narrator refuses to help Doodle and leaves him alone in the loft.
D
Once the narrator returns to school, he leaves Doodle at home and forgets all of his plans to help him.
Explanation
Doodle’s frightened plea not to be left foreshadows the story’s ending, when the narrator runs ahead during a storm and leaves Doodle behind. Doodle struggles to follow and is later found dead. This makes choice A correct; the other choices describe events that do not match the final abandonment the repeated plea anticipates.
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