Q 01/05

In James Hurst's "The Scarlet Ibis", what formal name do the parents give the baby the narrator later nicknames Doodle?

A) William Armstrong

B) Joseph Pearson

C) Nathaniel Whitfield

D) Henry Calhoun

Answer · why

A) William Armstrong

William Armstrong is what the family calls the baby while he can only lie in bed. The narrator thinks it far too grand, a name that would only suit a ...

Q 02/05

In "The Scarlet Ibis", what odd way of moving reminds the narrator of a doodlebug and earns his brother a nickname?

A) Crawling in circles

B) Crawling on his elbows

C) Crawling backward

D) Crawling sideways

Answer · why

C) Crawling backward

Crawling backward was all Doodle could manage at two, though the doctor had warned that even that strain could kill him. The narrator later says nobod...

Q 03/05

In "The Scarlet Ibis", what is Doodle born in that one of the household links to Jesus's nightgown?

A) A barn

B) A caul

C) A storm

D) A drought

Answer · why

B) A caul

A caul is a birth membrane that sometimes covers a newborn's head. She says such babies deserve special respect, because they may turn out to be saint...

Q 04/05

In "The Scarlet Ibis", how does the narrator plan to kill his baby brother?

A) Drowning him in the creek

B) Losing him deep in the woods

C) Dropping him from the loft

D) Smothering him with a pillow

Answer · why

D) Smothering him with a pillow

Smothering him with a pillow is the six-year-old's secret plan, a shocking start to a story about brotherly love. He drops it the day the baby proves ...

Q 05/05

In "The Scarlet Ibis", where does the narrator secretly teach Doodle to walk, a place so lovely it once made Doodle cry?

A) Old Woman Swamp

B) Great Dismal Swamp

C) Green Swamp

D) Okefenokee Swamp

Answer · why

A) Old Woman Swamp

Old Woman Swamp is the only beauty the narrator knows, and the brothers dream of living there as grown men. Doodle first stands alone there after week...