The Secret Lion
Vocabulary
1.) Dissect (p. 120)
Quote: "and we would yell about teachers, and how we loved some of them, like Miss Crevelone, and how we wanted to dissect some of them," (Page 120)
Definition (based on context/in your own words):to analyze the interior part of the body by cutting the body open
Synonym: disembody
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word):In biology class, we had to identify the insides of a frog by dissecting it.
2.) Quartz (p. 121)
Quote: "That's the way it works with little kids, like all the polished quartz, the tons of it we had collected piece by piece over the years." (Page 121)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): type of sedimentary, white colored mineral
Synonym: sedimentary rock
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): The scientist researches more possible opportunities to use the natural resource, quartz.
3.) Sewage (p. 122)
Quote: "But every third or fourth or fifth day, the sewage treatment plant that was, we found out, upstream, would release whatever it was that it released," (Page 122)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): filth found in sewers
Synonym: disposal of waste
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): The sewage pipeline that would flow filthy water out to the ocean is harming marine life.
4.) Miscalculated (p. 123)
Quote: "We found a thousand ways to explain what happened on those other days, constructing elaborate stories about neighborhood dogs, and hadn't she, my mother, miscalculated her step before, too?" (Page 123)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): make incorrect or false calculation
Synonym: misinterpret
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): The student has miscalculated the equation by forgetting multiple variables and making careless mistakes.
5.) Treacherous (p. 123)
Quote: "We had read the books, after all; we knew about bridges and castles and wild treacherous-raging alligator mouth rivers." (Page 123)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): involved with danger
Synonym: perilous
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): The quest to climbing Mt. Everest was treacherous, but with hard-work and effort anything can be accomplished.
Quote: "and we would yell about teachers, and how we loved some of them, like Miss Crevelone, and how we wanted to dissect some of them," (Page 120)
Definition (based on context/in your own words):to analyze the interior part of the body by cutting the body open
Synonym: disembody
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word):In biology class, we had to identify the insides of a frog by dissecting it.
2.) Quartz (p. 121)
Quote: "That's the way it works with little kids, like all the polished quartz, the tons of it we had collected piece by piece over the years." (Page 121)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): type of sedimentary, white colored mineral
Synonym: sedimentary rock
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): The scientist researches more possible opportunities to use the natural resource, quartz.
3.) Sewage (p. 122)
Quote: "But every third or fourth or fifth day, the sewage treatment plant that was, we found out, upstream, would release whatever it was that it released," (Page 122)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): filth found in sewers
Synonym: disposal of waste
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): The sewage pipeline that would flow filthy water out to the ocean is harming marine life.
4.) Miscalculated (p. 123)
Quote: "We found a thousand ways to explain what happened on those other days, constructing elaborate stories about neighborhood dogs, and hadn't she, my mother, miscalculated her step before, too?" (Page 123)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): make incorrect or false calculation
Synonym: misinterpret
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): The student has miscalculated the equation by forgetting multiple variables and making careless mistakes.
5.) Treacherous (p. 123)
Quote: "We had read the books, after all; we knew about bridges and castles and wild treacherous-raging alligator mouth rivers." (Page 123)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): involved with danger
Synonym: perilous
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): The quest to climbing Mt. Everest was treacherous, but with hard-work and effort anything can be accomplished.
Thinking Map
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Interpretive Questions
1.) Why do they boys bury the grinding ball?
The boys bury the grinding ball because they don't want their mothers to confiscate it. Also, It is easier to hide it from their mothers and bury it. For example, "If we took it home, my mother, we knew, was going to look at it and say 'throw that dirty thing in the, get rid of it.'" (Page 121)
2.) After they lose the grinding ball, why do the boys talk about it in “small words,…Kid words”? (p. 122)
They don't have an intetional full known understanding what the grinding ball is. For instance, "All we used were small words, neat, good. Kid words. What we were really saying, but didn't know the words, was how much that ball was like that place." (Page 122)
3.) Why does the narrator tell the story of finding the golf course years before he and Sergio find the grinding ball?
The men show up to the kids and take the golf course away.The boys are prepared to hide something they like. They don't want any more adults to take away their fun.
4.) Why do the narrator and Sergio stop going to the arroyo after they lose the grinding ball?
They stop going to the arroyo after they lose the grinding ball because they are tired out of their minds moving on to their next location. They are simply getting bored of the arroyo. The narrator and Sergio are outgrowing that location. For example, "The ball was gone, like the first reasons we had come to that arroyo years earlier, like the first time we had seen the arroyo, it was gone like everything else that had been taken away." (Page 122)
5.) Why does the narrator say that he and Sergio buried the grinding ball “because it was perfect”? (p. 126)
Narrator and sergio believe that they qualify perfection as something round. To them, the grinding ball is perfect because it is round in which they find its booty and bury it. For example, "we had perception about nature then, that nature is imperfect and that round things are perfect". (Page 121)
6.) At the end of the story, why does the narrator say that the grinding ball “was the lion”? (p. 126)
The grinding ball is the lion because they think it makes them feel as that what a lion symbolizeof feeling proud and in control. For example, "We buried it because it was perfect. We didn't tell my mother, but together it was all we talked about, till we forgot. It was the lion." (Page 126)
7.) What is the narrator referring to when he says that “something happened that we didn’t have a name for, but it was there nonetheless like a lion”? (p. 119)
The kids are learning that the guys carrying leather bags and sticks are understanding the sport golf more Now knowing that the lake is actually a section of the golf course. For example, "We grew up a little bit, and couldn't go backward. We learned. No one had ever told us about golf. They had told us about heaven. And it went away. We got golf in exchange." (Page 126)
8.) What does the narrator mean when he says he and Sergio “solved” junior high school? (p. 120)
They "solve" junior high school by understanding the system and how the system works which they are having crushes and having feelings that they are starting to understand junior high school. For example, "At the very very top of our growing lungs, what we would do down there was shout every dirty word we could thing of, in every combination we could come up with, and we would yell about girls, and all the things we wanted to do with them, as loud as we could." (Page 120)
9.) Why does the narrator say, “Nature seemed to keep pushing us around one way or another, teaching us the same thing every place we ended up”? (p. 122)
They are starting to identify things differently which many people have different opinion on how you perceive perfection and heaven. For example, "Nature seemed to keep pushing us around one way or another, teaching us the same thing every place we ended up. Nature's gang was tough that way, teaching us stuff." (Page 122)
10.) What does the narrator mean when he says, “We learned to be ready for finding the grinding ball”? (p. 126)
They are learning to be ready for dealing with new circumstances; henceforth, what the future brings. For example, "We loved it, and when we buried it we knew what would happen." (Page 126)
The boys bury the grinding ball because they don't want their mothers to confiscate it. Also, It is easier to hide it from their mothers and bury it. For example, "If we took it home, my mother, we knew, was going to look at it and say 'throw that dirty thing in the, get rid of it.'" (Page 121)
2.) After they lose the grinding ball, why do the boys talk about it in “small words,…Kid words”? (p. 122)
They don't have an intetional full known understanding what the grinding ball is. For instance, "All we used were small words, neat, good. Kid words. What we were really saying, but didn't know the words, was how much that ball was like that place." (Page 122)
3.) Why does the narrator tell the story of finding the golf course years before he and Sergio find the grinding ball?
The men show up to the kids and take the golf course away.The boys are prepared to hide something they like. They don't want any more adults to take away their fun.
4.) Why do the narrator and Sergio stop going to the arroyo after they lose the grinding ball?
They stop going to the arroyo after they lose the grinding ball because they are tired out of their minds moving on to their next location. They are simply getting bored of the arroyo. The narrator and Sergio are outgrowing that location. For example, "The ball was gone, like the first reasons we had come to that arroyo years earlier, like the first time we had seen the arroyo, it was gone like everything else that had been taken away." (Page 122)
5.) Why does the narrator say that he and Sergio buried the grinding ball “because it was perfect”? (p. 126)
Narrator and sergio believe that they qualify perfection as something round. To them, the grinding ball is perfect because it is round in which they find its booty and bury it. For example, "we had perception about nature then, that nature is imperfect and that round things are perfect". (Page 121)
6.) At the end of the story, why does the narrator say that the grinding ball “was the lion”? (p. 126)
The grinding ball is the lion because they think it makes them feel as that what a lion symbolizeof feeling proud and in control. For example, "We buried it because it was perfect. We didn't tell my mother, but together it was all we talked about, till we forgot. It was the lion." (Page 126)
7.) What is the narrator referring to when he says that “something happened that we didn’t have a name for, but it was there nonetheless like a lion”? (p. 119)
The kids are learning that the guys carrying leather bags and sticks are understanding the sport golf more Now knowing that the lake is actually a section of the golf course. For example, "We grew up a little bit, and couldn't go backward. We learned. No one had ever told us about golf. They had told us about heaven. And it went away. We got golf in exchange." (Page 126)
8.) What does the narrator mean when he says he and Sergio “solved” junior high school? (p. 120)
They "solve" junior high school by understanding the system and how the system works which they are having crushes and having feelings that they are starting to understand junior high school. For example, "At the very very top of our growing lungs, what we would do down there was shout every dirty word we could thing of, in every combination we could come up with, and we would yell about girls, and all the things we wanted to do with them, as loud as we could." (Page 120)
9.) Why does the narrator say, “Nature seemed to keep pushing us around one way or another, teaching us the same thing every place we ended up”? (p. 122)
They are starting to identify things differently which many people have different opinion on how you perceive perfection and heaven. For example, "Nature seemed to keep pushing us around one way or another, teaching us the same thing every place we ended up. Nature's gang was tough that way, teaching us stuff." (Page 122)
10.) What does the narrator mean when he says, “We learned to be ready for finding the grinding ball”? (p. 126)
They are learning to be ready for dealing with new circumstances; henceforth, what the future brings. For example, "We loved it, and when we buried it we knew what would happen." (Page 126)