through the tunnel - mr. nunziato's 6th grade reading ... · title: through the tunnel author:...

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Through the Tunnel

FICTION SELECTIONUnit 2, Part 2, Grade 9


Preparing to Read

Connect to Your LifeUndoubtedly there have been times in your life when you took a risk in order to prove something to yourself and to others.

– Perhaps you risked getting hurt or into trouble in order to accept a dare.


Preparing to Read

Connect to Your LifeCreate a balance chart modeled on the one shown on the next slide.

– Write down what you did in the triangle, what you risked in one of the boxes, and what you hoped to prove in the other.

– Then, evaluate whether the risk was worth it.


Preparing to Read

Connect to Your Life

Download this graphic organizer at www.curriculumcompanion.org


Preparing to Read

Build Background

This story takes place on a European or North African seacoast, perhaps along the Mediterranean Sea at one of the resorts where the British often go on vacation.


Preparing to Read

Build BackgroundThe coastal setting consists of adjacent but contrasting areas.

– One is a crowded beach where the swimming is safe.

– The other is a wild and rocky bay where the swimming is unguarded and involves obvious risk.


Preparing to Read

Words to Know• beseech

• contrition

• defiant

• incredulous

• supplication


Preparing to Read

Focus Your Reading• A symbol is a thing that stands for

something beyond itself.

• Anything can become a symbol by taking on special meaning for a person.– In this story, Jerry, the main character, becomes

fascinated with a “wild and rocky bay” next to the crowded beach where he is vacationing with his mother.

• Look for clues that tell you what the bay and the events that take place there symbolize to Jerry.


Preparing to Read

Focus Your Reading• In “Brothers are the Same,” Temas has

no doubts about what his rite of passage is or what his culture expects of him.

• In this story, things are not so clear cut.– No one tells Jerry what is expected of him.

– He is strongly influenced by his own British culture, by the older boys from a different culture he encounters on vacation, and by his personal ideas.


Preparing to Read

Focus Your ReadingReader’s Notebook

– As you read, make note of Jerry’s important actions and decide which of the three influences is affecting him most strongly.

Download this graphic organizer at www.curriculumcompanion.org


Reading and Analyzing

Literary Analysis• Symbol

– A symbol can be an object, a place, or even an experience.

– What are the symbols in the story?

• Conflict– Is the conflict here internal

(within the character) or external (against an outside force)?



Active ReadingRecognizing Cultural Influences

– Do you think Jerry’s mother’s level of concern seems similar to that of parents in your own community?

– There is an element of British culture that expects children to be on their own a fair amount.

» Children may go to boarding school but even those living at home often have very separate lives from their parents.

» Also, children are expected to be brave and not show their fears.



Literary AnalysisSymbol

– Why does Jerry refer to the other beach as “her beach?”

– What does that beach symbolize for Jerry?




– The narrator emphasizes that Jerry is an outsider to this setting by calling him an “English” boy, noting that he cannot understand the local language, and contrasting his skin color with that of the local boys.

– What does acceptance into the setting of this community mean to Jerry?



Reading Skills and StrategiesMaking Inferences

– Look at a map of the Mediterranean Sea.

– Which country do you think his mother and he are visiting?



Reading Skills and StrategiesPredicting

– What will Jerry do now?

– Will he try to follow the older boys?



Literary Analysis

Imagery– With the goggles Jerry

sees a dancing, silvery world underwater.

– How do the images used to describe the rock create a contrast with this silvery world?



Reading Skills and StrategiesMaking Judgments

– Do you think Jerry ought to be taking these risks?



Literary AnalysisForeshadowing

– How did you react to the details about Jerry’s bloody nose?

– What might the author be suggesting about future events?




– Why might a British mother wait through at least two days of nosebleeds before intervening?




– How does Jerry feel about the other beach?» Compare and contrast what the beach

and the rocky bay each represent to him.

– Why do you think Jerry is so determined to swim through the tunnel?

» What does success or failure at this challenge symbolize for him?



Reading Skills and StrategiesMaking Inferences

– Why is Jerry scared not to swim through the passage?



Literary ConflictConflict

– What unspoken concerns, besides the fear of death, might Jerry be struggling with as he decides whether to risk swimming through the underwater passage?

– Think about this sentence, “He was at the end of what he could do.”

» Does this seem more a part of his internal or external conflict?

» Explain your thinking.



Literary Conflict• Character

– Compare the words Jerry and his mother say to what each is actually feeling.

• Symbol– What does Jerry’s new skill at holding

his breath symbolize for him?

– Why has it been so important to keep his efforts a secret until now?




– What effect has being in a foreign country had on Jerry?

» If the group of boys had spoken his language, would he still have felt the need to prove himself?




– If he weren’t British, and especially hesitant to admit his fear, would proving he could get through the tunnel have been so important to him?

through the tunnel - mr. nunziato's 6th grade reading ... · title: through the tunnel author:...

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