S3 Exercise 4: Bridge to Teribithea

Bridge to Teribithea

By Katherine Paterson

Ba-room, ba-room, ba-room, baripity, baripity, baripity, baripity — Good. His dad had the pick-up going. He could get up now. Jess slid out of bed and into his overalls. He didn't worry about a shirt because once he began running he would be hot as popping grease even if the morning air was chill, or shoes because the bottoms of his feet were by now as tough as his worn out sneakers.

‘Where you going, Jess?' May Belle lifted herself up sleepily from the double bed where she and Joyce Ann slept.

'Sh.' He warned. The walls were thin. Momma would be mad as flies in a fruit jar if they woke her up this time of day. He patted May Belle's hair and yanked the twisted sheet up to her small chin. 'Just over the cow field,' he whispered. May Belle smiled and snuggled down under the sheet.

'Gonna run?'

 'Maybe.'

Of course he was going to run. He had gotten up early every day all summer to run. He figured if he worked at it — and Lord, had he worked — he could be the fastest runner in the fifth grade when school opened up. He had to be the fastest — not one of the fastest or next to the fastest, but the fastest. The very best.

He tiptoed out of the house. The place was so rattly that it screeched whenever you put your foot down, but Jess had found that if you tiptoed, it gave only a low moan, and he could usually get outdoors without waking Momma or Ellie or Brenda or Joyce Ann. May Belle was another matter. She was going on seven, and she worshipped him, which was OK sometimes. When you were the only boy smashed between four sisters, and the older two had despised you ever since you stopped letting them dress you up and wheel you around in their rusty old doll carriage, and the littlest one cried if you looked at her cross—eyed, it was nice to have somebody who worshipped you. Even if it got unhandy sometimes.

Questions 

1) According to paragraph 1, give a reason why Jess didn’t worry about his shirt.

2) What technique does the writer use in the opening line to imitate dad’s pick-up?

3) Why do you think the writer uses this technique?

4) What technique does the writer use in the phrase “as hot as popping grease” Why do you think this is effective?

5) Look at paragraph 3. Write down the phrase the writer uses to show how momma would react to being woken up.

6) Look at paragraph 6. What reason does Jess give for practising his running?

7) Throughout this paragraph the writer adopts two special techniques to show Jess’s determination at running. Write down the two techniques.

8) Look at paragraph 7. Write down two examples of personification from this paragraph which are used to describe the house.

9) Read the final paragraph again. In your own words   describe Jess’s relationship with May Belle.

10) In your own words describe Jess’s relationship with the two older sisters.