1. Why are the boys so upset at the idea of the girls carrying the water bucket?
The boys are upset at the idea of the girls carrying the water bucket because the boys knew that as their thing, which proves the other people that they are manly.
2. What strategies do the boys used to pressure the girls to give in? How did the girls react?
The boys pressured the girls by throwing paper notes that read threatening messages at them, targeting them, beating them up, etc.
3. Who is telling the story? What do you think of Ms. Ralston in the conflicts over the water? From what point of view of the story told?
The narrator of the story is the one telling the story. I think that Ms. Ralston was 40 percent on the boys side and 60 percent on the girls side, since she is also a female. Also, i would consider this as a first person or third person perspective.
4. What is the setting (provide evidence). What kind of conflict is it? Provide evidence for each conflict.
The physical setting is in a school that is located in the cold area. The emotional setting of the story would be intense and tension. The evidence for the physical setting is that the classroom seemed to have a furnace/stove in their class which tells us that the school is located in a cold area. The setting intensifies the conflict, for it is in a school and it is with students, but if it was with adults (for example), the story would have been a bit different. The conflict that I consider for this story is character vs society because Alma Niles, the character, is trying to make the society be more equal with genders. The evidence is that the boys carry the water bucket because people assume that boys would be more stronger than girls.
5. Who is the protagonist? How do you know?
In this story, Alma would be the protagonist because she is the one who first asked the question, why girls cant carry the water bucket, and she never gave up on carrying the water bucket. She went through a lot, starting from boys targeting her to boys beating her up. She technically is the hero of the story and she fixed the inequality of her school.
6. In what way has everything changed on that Friday? What is the significance of Ms. Ralston’s actions in the last paragraph? what is the message (theme) the author is exploring?
On Friday, the teacher changed the inequality of the class/school which was that the boys would only carry the water bucket and miss 30 minutes of school, and the girls weren’t allowed because they were too “weak.” The significance of Ms. Ralston’s actions in the last paragraph is that in the story, it says, “She swept her hand over the top of her desk and tiny dust motes danced in the slanting sun.” and that represents to us that the past (dust) and have a fresh new start by treating every gender equally. The theme of this story is that every gender should have equal rights, opportunities, and be treated the same.