Question

section ii: highlighting & annotation
weight: 20 points
instructions: highlight and annotate the paragraphs provided. focus on marking character traits, major plot shifts, and important details. use the margins to briefly explain the significance of these moments to demonstrate your analytical process.
part a: excerpt from \marigolds\ by eugenia collier
miss lotties marigolds were perhaps the strangest part of the picture. certainly they did not fit in with the crumbling decay of the rest of her yard. beyond the dusty brown yard, in front of the sorry gray house, rose suddenly and shockingly a dazzling strip of bright blossoms, clumped together in enormous mounds, warm and passionate and sun - golden. the old black witch - woman worked on them all summer, every summer, down on her creaky knees, weeding and cultivating and arranging, while the house crumbled and john burke rocked.
for some perverse reason, we children hated those marigolds. they interfered with the perfect ugliness of the place; they were too beautiful; they said too much that we could not understand; they did not make sense. there was something in the vigor with which the old woman destroyed the weeds that intimidated us. it should have been a comical sight—the old woman with the mans hat on her cropped white head, leaning over the bright mounds, her big backside in the air—but it wasnt comical, it was something we could not name. we had to annoy her by whizzing a pebble into her flowers or by yelling a dirty word, then dancing away from her rage, reveling in our youth and mocking her age. actually, i think it was the flowers we wanted to destroy, but nobody had the nerve to try it, not even joey, who was usually fool enough to try anything.

Explanation:

1. "dazzling strip of bright blossoms, clumped together in enormous mounds, warm and passionate and sun-golden": Highlights the stark, vivid beauty of the marigolds that contrasts with the decaying setting. This contrast emphasizes the flowers as an anomaly and a symbol of stubborn hope.
2. "while the house crumbled and John Burke rocked": Draws attention to the neglect of all else in Miss Lottie's life, framing her intense focus on the marigolds as a deliberate choice to nurture beauty amid decay.
3. "we children hated those marigolds. They interfered with the perfect ugliness of the place; they were too beautiful; they said too much that we could not understand; they did not make sense.": Marks the children's confused, hostile reaction to the flowers. Their hatred stems from the flowers disrupting their understanding of their bleak, ugly world, and their inability to grasp the meaning behind Miss Lottie's care for them.
4. "vigor with which the old woman destroyed the weeds that intimidated us": Highlights the children's fear of Miss Lottie's fierce, unyielding commitment to protecting the marigolds, which makes her feel unapproachable and threatening to their childish mischief.
5. "I think it was the flowers we wanted to destroy, but nobody had the nerve to try it": Reveals that the children's anger is targeted at the marigolds themselves, as they represent an unspoken, uncomfortable truth about beauty and resilience that they cannot confront.

Answer:

1. Highlight: "dazzling strip of bright blossoms, clumped together in enormous mounds, warm and passionate and sun-golden"

Annotation: Vivid imagery sets up the marigolds as a stark, beautiful contrast to the decaying yard.

1. Highlight: "while the house crumbled and John Burke rocked"

Annotation: Shows Miss Lottie prioritizes the flowers over all other care, framing them as her sole focus.

1. Highlight: "we children hated those marigolds. They interfered with the perfect ugliness of the place; they were too beautiful; they said too much that we could not understand; they did not make sense."

Annotation: Explains the children's hatred comes from the flowers disrupting their bleak, familiar world.

1. Highlight: "vigor with which the old woman destroyed the weeds that intimidated us"

Annotation: Miss Lottie's fierce protection of the flowers unsettles and scares the children.

1. Highlight: "I think it was the flowers we wanted to destroy, but nobody had the nerve to try it"

Annotation: The children resent the marigolds' unspoken meaning, but fear acting on it.