The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant Guided Reading Worksheet

Zarnas/Edmonds Name______

English 10 GP Per______Date______

“The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant”

Guided Reading Worksheet

1. Based on the first sentence, what are the main character’s major interests in life? (p. 293)

2. What is Sheila Mant like? What is the narrator’s internal conflict concerning Sheila Mant? (p. 293)

3. What simile does the narrator use to describe his feelings about approaching Sheila Mant? Why is this simile appropriate? (p. 294)

4. As the narrator prepares his canoe for the trip to the dance, he places his fishing rod in the canoe, and later he lowers the rod into the water. Predict how this action might affect the plot of the story. (p. 294)

5. What threatens to ruin the narrator’s dream night? (p. 295)

6. What does Sheila say about fishing? How does it affect the narrator? (p. 295)

7. What internal conflict does the narrator face toward the end of page 295?

8. How does Sheila’s conversation on page 296 characterize her? Write down three details and assess how they develop her personality.

9. What external conflict arises on page 296?

10. How does the first full paragraph on page 297 illustrate the conflict the character feels? Why does he feel “torn apart between longings, split in half”?

11. How does the narrator’s statement, “With a sick, nauseous feeling in my stomach, I saw the rod unbend,” resolve the conflict? Based on his diction, how do you think he feels about what has happened? (p. 297)

12. Why does Sheila Mant say, “You’re a funny kid, you know that?” The narrator says he hears the same thing again later in life: “Funny. Different. Dreamy. Odd.” What accounts for his behavior?

13. How does the narrator’s final statement, “I never made the same mistake again,” connect to the overall theme of the story?