MERMAIDS’LAGOONANSWERS
1. Canyouexplaintheterm‘onthecontrary’?Itmeans‘ontheotherhand’or‘quitetheopposite’.
2. HowdoesWendyfeelaboutthemermaids?Useevidencefromthetexttosupportyouranswer.Wendyfeelsconflictedaboutthemermaids.Ontheonehand,sheiseagertoknowwhattheygetuptowhenthechildrenaren’tatthelagoonandsheenjoyswatchingthemplaywithbubbles.However,ontheotherhand,theyirritateherandsheisjealousoftheirrelationshipwithPeter.
3. Doyouthinkthatthechoiceofdescriptivelanguageinchapter2givesthereaderaclueaboutwhatwillhappennextinthestory?Why?Wearetoldthatthenextpartofthestorydetailsaparticulareveningatthelagoon.Theuseofthephrase‘thelagoonisdangerousformortals’attheturnofthemoonsuggeststhatsomethingscarymightbeonthehorizon.
4. Explain,usingevidencefromthetext,whysomereadersmaythinkthatWendyisjealousofthemermaids.
5. Identify3thingsthatWendydislikedaboutthemermaidsa) Thewaytheycombedtheirhairb) Howtheydeliberatelysplashedherwiththeirtailswhenshegottoo
closec) TheircloserelationshipwithPeter
6. Whatistheroleofthisparagraph?Doyouthinkthatitdealswith
thiseffectively?TheparagraphclearlytellsusthatthereisaconflictedrelationshipbetweenWendyandthemermaids.Sherespectsandloathestheminequalparts,yetisintriguedbytheiractionsinthelagoon.Theparagraphiseffectiveintellingusthatrelationshipsarenotalwaysstraightforwardandthattheycanbecomplicatedandconfusing.