The document provides background information on the short story "Marigolds" by Eugenia W. Collier. It discusses that the story is set in a small Maryland town during the Great Depression and will focus on the internal and external conflicts faced by the main character, Lizabeth. It also previews vocabulary words that will be used in the story and provides brief biographical information about the author.

1. Marigolds by Eugenia W. Collier Introducing the Story Literary Focus: Conflict Reading Skills: Making Inferences Feature Menu

2. Marigolds by Eugenia W. Collier

3. Marigolds Introducing the Story “ . . . one cannot have both compassion and innocence.” from “Marigolds” by Eugenia W. Collier

4. Marigolds Introducing the Story The narrator of this story lives in a small town in Maryland during the Great Depression. Because her family has always been poor, Lizabeth is unaware of new family hardships. She cannot explain why her neighbor’s lovely flowers should anger her so. [End of Section]

8. Marigolds Reading Skills: Making Inferences Often writers don’t make direct explanations about a character’s motives. The reader makes inferences, or educated guesses. Clues from the text: What characters say and don’t say. How characters act. Prior knowledge: What you know about people and how they behave. Inference about a character’s motivation. + =

10. Marigolds Background The Great Depression In the 1930s, a terrible economic depression swept the world. The booming stock market had collapsed in 1929, causing businesses to shut down all over the United States and factories to close their doors. Banks failed. People lost their life savings. Life was hard for almost every American during those years.

11. Marigolds Background As the narrator of this story says, however, the Great Depression was nothing new to her family: For the black families of rural Maryland, all times were hard times. [End of Section]

12. Quickwrite

13. Marigolds Quickwrite Make the Connection [End of Section] This story is about the passage from childhood to adulthood, a journey that is often marked by conflict. In fact, negotiating this passage can demand as much courage as a struggle with an outside enemy. Before you read this story, write down your response to the following question: What fears and conflicts do most young people deal with as they move into adult life? Keep your notes for use later on.

14. Vocabulary

15. Marigolds Vocabulary Previewing the Vocabulary arid adj.: lacking enough water for many types of plants to grow; dry. futile adj.: useless; in vain. impoverished v. used as adj.: poor; poverty-stricken. poignantly adv.: with a sharp sadness or pain; movingly. clarity n.: clearness.

16. Marigolds Vocabulary Previewing the Vocabulary placidly adv.: calmly; quietly. inciting v. used as n.: stirring up. malicious adj.: showing a desire to harm another; spiteful. contrition n.: deep feelings of guilt and repentance.

19. Marigolds Vocabulary 1. CARELESSLY : HASTILY :: movingly : __________ 2. EASYGOING : STRICT :: considerate : ___________ 3. DISHONEST : TRUTHFUL :: moist : ___________ 4. FIRMLY : WEAKLY :: nervously : ___________ 5. RUCKUS : COMMOTION :: regret : ___________ Vocabulary Activity: Analogies arid placidly malicious contrition poignantly poignantly malicious contrition placidly arid [End of Section]

20. Meet the Writer

21. Marigolds Meet the Writer Eugenia W. Collier was born in 1928 in Maryland, the state in which “Marigolds” is set. A winner of the Gwendolyn Brooks Prize for Fiction, she has also taught English at Morgan State University, Baltimore Community College, and Howard University. Her poems and stories have appeared in many anthologies. More About the Writer [End of Section]