Questions:
1. The reason that the guys were upset at the idea of girls carrying the water bucket was because getting the chance to carry the bucket was like a right of passage for them and that it was a rare opportunity and when the girls are included, it lowers those chances even more.
2. Some of the strategies that boys use to pressure the girls include various sorts of bullying and teasing, they forced the girls off the softball field and even locked some in the outhouse.
3. The person who is telling the story is probably a former student because the narrator uses words like we. The narrator thinks Ms. Ralston is a very brave person due to the superhero like characterization that she is given. The narrator considers the conflict for the water very important and you can tell this by the way the idea of carrying the water was, the narrator tells it in a way that makes it appears it is a passage into adulthood. The point of view the story is being told in must be limited Omniscient because like I stated before, the person who is telling the story is most likely a former student.
4. The setting of the story must be in Rural Ontario and around WW2, this is because of the statement that German planes might fly over and drop on them and when the girls joke about joining the Toronto maple leafs to convince Ms. Ralston to let them carry the bucket. The setting intensifies the situation because the fact that this is around WW2 means that this is a time in which women don’t have the same rights and opportunities as men. The conflict in this story is person vs person because of the constant battle between the boys and the girls and person vs society because the girls are trying to attain their rights and freedom.
5. The protagonist of the story is Alma because she is the one who kicks the conflict into motion.
6. The reason that “everything” has changed on Friday is because that in a sense it symbolizes women attaining their rights because at the time, women were considered inferior. Ms. Ralston’s last action was a symbol of how girls can be equal to the boys. The main theme that the author explores it the theme of equality and standing up for each other.
Vocabulary:
1. Galvanized: Coated in metal to prevent rust
2. Remotest: Very slight chance
3. Intoxicated: Overwhelmed
4. Ominous: Suspicious
5. Supplementary: Enhancing something
6. Forlornly: Sad, miserable
7. Earnestly: sincerely
8. Gloating: arrogant, bragging
9. Transfixed: shocked
10. Pirouetting: Motion of the pitcher