"The Secret Lion"
By: Alberto Álvaro Ríos
Interpretive Questions
1.) Why do they boys bury the grinding ball?
The boys bury the grinding ball because they don't want their mothers to take it away. When they find something, their mothers would take it away. It is easier to hide it from their mothers and bury it. For example, "If we took it home, my mother, we knew, was going to look at it and say 'throw that dirty thing in the, get rid of it.' Simple like, like that. 'But Ma it's the best thing I' 'Getridofit.' Simple." (Page 121)
2.) After they lose the grinding ball, why do the boys talk about it in “small words,…Kid words”? (p. 122)
They don't know what it is. They are just saying cute, friendly words. For example, "All we used were small words, neat, good. Kid words. What we were really saying, but didn't know the words, was how much that ball was like that place." (Page 122)
3.) Why does the narrator tell the story of finding the gold course years before he and Sergio find the grinding ball?
The men show up to the kids and take their heaven away. It is like that so that they are prepared to hide something they like. They don't want any more adults to take away their fun. For example, "So we went out, and we weren't dumb, we thought with our eyes to each other, ohhoshe'stryingtokeepsomethingfromus. We knew adults." (Page 123)
4.) Why do the narrator and Sergio stop going to the arroyo after they lose the grinding ball?
They stop going to the arroyo after they lose the grinding ball because they are tapped up. They are moving on to their next location. They are outgrowing the arroyo. The narrator and Sergio are moving on. They get bored easily. For example, "The ball was gone, like the first reasons we had come to that arroyo years earlier, like the first time we had seen the arroyo, it was gone like everything else that had been taken away." (Page 122)
5.) Why does the narrator say that he and Sergio buried the grinding ball “because it was perfect”? (p. 126)
They qualify perfection as something that is round. To them, the grinding ball is perfect because it is round. The bury it because it is their treasure. They don't want adults to take away their stuff. For example, "we had perception about nature then, that nature is imperfect and that round things are perfect". (Page 121)
6.) At the end of the story, why does the narrator say that the grinding ball “was the lion”? (p. 126)
The grinding ball is the lion because it makes them feel everything that a lion represents. They feel proud and in control. For example, "We buried it because it was perfect. We didn't tell my mother, but together it was all we talked about, till we forgot. It was the lion." (Page 126)
7.) What is the narrator referring to when he says that “something happened that we didn’t have a name for, but it was there nonetheless like a lion”? (p. 119)
The kids are learning that the guys carrying leather bags and sticks are there playing golf. They learn that the lake is not a lake. It is part of the golf course. They are going through the process of maturing. This is part of life. They are growing up. For example, "We grew up a little bit, and couldn't go backward. We learned. No one had ever told us about golf. They had told us about heaven. And it went away. We got golf in exchange." (Page 126)
8.) What does the narrator mean when he says he and Sergio “solved” junior high school? (p. 120)
They "solve" junior high school by learning the system and work the system. They are growing up and maturing. They are having crushes and having feelings. They are starting to understand junior high school. For example, "At the very very top of our growing lungs, what we would do down there was shout every dirty word we could thing of, in every combination we could come up with, and we would yell about girls, and all the things we wanted to do with them, as loud as we could." (Page 120)
9.) Why does the narrator say, “Nature seemed to keep pushing us around one way or another, teaching us the same thing every place we ended up”? (p. 122)
They are starting to define things differently. Many people have different definition of perfection and heaven. It is how you perceive things. The boys perceive things in nature. For example, "Nature seemed to keep pushing us around one way or another, teaching us the same thing every place we ended up. Nature's gang was tough that way, teaching us stuff." (Page 122)
10.) What does the narrator mean when he says, “We learned to be ready for finding the grinding ball”? (p. 126)
They are learning to be ready for dealing new surprises. They are learning how to prepare for what life will bring them. For example, "We loved it, and when we buried it we knew what would happen." (Page 126)
The boys bury the grinding ball because they don't want their mothers to take it away. When they find something, their mothers would take it away. It is easier to hide it from their mothers and bury it. For example, "If we took it home, my mother, we knew, was going to look at it and say 'throw that dirty thing in the, get rid of it.' Simple like, like that. 'But Ma it's the best thing I' 'Getridofit.' Simple." (Page 121)
2.) After they lose the grinding ball, why do the boys talk about it in “small words,…Kid words”? (p. 122)
They don't know what it is. They are just saying cute, friendly words. For example, "All we used were small words, neat, good. Kid words. What we were really saying, but didn't know the words, was how much that ball was like that place." (Page 122)
3.) Why does the narrator tell the story of finding the gold course years before he and Sergio find the grinding ball?
The men show up to the kids and take their heaven away. It is like that so that they are prepared to hide something they like. They don't want any more adults to take away their fun. For example, "So we went out, and we weren't dumb, we thought with our eyes to each other, ohhoshe'stryingtokeepsomethingfromus. We knew adults." (Page 123)
4.) Why do the narrator and Sergio stop going to the arroyo after they lose the grinding ball?
They stop going to the arroyo after they lose the grinding ball because they are tapped up. They are moving on to their next location. They are outgrowing the arroyo. The narrator and Sergio are moving on. They get bored easily. For example, "The ball was gone, like the first reasons we had come to that arroyo years earlier, like the first time we had seen the arroyo, it was gone like everything else that had been taken away." (Page 122)
5.) Why does the narrator say that he and Sergio buried the grinding ball “because it was perfect”? (p. 126)
They qualify perfection as something that is round. To them, the grinding ball is perfect because it is round. The bury it because it is their treasure. They don't want adults to take away their stuff. For example, "we had perception about nature then, that nature is imperfect and that round things are perfect". (Page 121)
6.) At the end of the story, why does the narrator say that the grinding ball “was the lion”? (p. 126)
The grinding ball is the lion because it makes them feel everything that a lion represents. They feel proud and in control. For example, "We buried it because it was perfect. We didn't tell my mother, but together it was all we talked about, till we forgot. It was the lion." (Page 126)
7.) What is the narrator referring to when he says that “something happened that we didn’t have a name for, but it was there nonetheless like a lion”? (p. 119)
The kids are learning that the guys carrying leather bags and sticks are there playing golf. They learn that the lake is not a lake. It is part of the golf course. They are going through the process of maturing. This is part of life. They are growing up. For example, "We grew up a little bit, and couldn't go backward. We learned. No one had ever told us about golf. They had told us about heaven. And it went away. We got golf in exchange." (Page 126)
8.) What does the narrator mean when he says he and Sergio “solved” junior high school? (p. 120)
They "solve" junior high school by learning the system and work the system. They are growing up and maturing. They are having crushes and having feelings. They are starting to understand junior high school. For example, "At the very very top of our growing lungs, what we would do down there was shout every dirty word we could thing of, in every combination we could come up with, and we would yell about girls, and all the things we wanted to do with them, as loud as we could." (Page 120)
9.) Why does the narrator say, “Nature seemed to keep pushing us around one way or another, teaching us the same thing every place we ended up”? (p. 122)
They are starting to define things differently. Many people have different definition of perfection and heaven. It is how you perceive things. The boys perceive things in nature. For example, "Nature seemed to keep pushing us around one way or another, teaching us the same thing every place we ended up. Nature's gang was tough that way, teaching us stuff." (Page 122)
10.) What does the narrator mean when he says, “We learned to be ready for finding the grinding ball”? (p. 126)
They are learning to be ready for dealing new surprises. They are learning how to prepare for what life will bring them. For example, "We loved it, and when we buried it we knew what would happen." (Page 126)
Vocabulary In Context
1.) Dissect (p. 120)
Quote: "and we would yell about teachers, and how we loved some of them, like Miss Crevelone, and how we wanted to dissect some of them," (Page 120)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): to cut up a living thing in order to study its internal parts; to analyze something
Synonym: dismember
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): In our field trip about science, my class and I had the opportunity to dissect a cow's eye.
2.) Quartz (p. 121)
Quote: "That's the way it works with little kids, like all the polished quartz, the tons of it we had collected piece by piece over the years." (Page 121)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): a white-colored mineral
Synonym: rock
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): Quartz can be found in mines.
3.) Sewage (p. 122)
Quote: "But every third or fourth or fifth day, the sewage treatment plant that was, we found out, upstream, would release whatever it was that it released," (Page 122)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): garbage, trash
Synonym: waste
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): Sewage would flow out from the pipes and out onto the ocean.
4.) Miscalculated (p. 123)
Quote: "We found a thousand ways to explain what happened on those other days, constructing elaborate stories about neighborhood dogs, and hadn't she, my mother, miscalculated her step before, too?" (Page 123)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): calculate wrongly
Synonym: misinterpret
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): The math student miscalculated the math problem.
5.) Treacherous (p. 123)
Quote: "We had read the books, after all; we knew about bridges and castles and wildtreacherousraging alligatormouth rivers." (Page 123)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): dangerous
Synonym: hazardous
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): The treacherous tidal waves in the ocean rocked the ship back and forth dangerously.
Quote: "and we would yell about teachers, and how we loved some of them, like Miss Crevelone, and how we wanted to dissect some of them," (Page 120)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): to cut up a living thing in order to study its internal parts; to analyze something
Synonym: dismember
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): In our field trip about science, my class and I had the opportunity to dissect a cow's eye.
2.) Quartz (p. 121)
Quote: "That's the way it works with little kids, like all the polished quartz, the tons of it we had collected piece by piece over the years." (Page 121)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): a white-colored mineral
Synonym: rock
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): Quartz can be found in mines.
3.) Sewage (p. 122)
Quote: "But every third or fourth or fifth day, the sewage treatment plant that was, we found out, upstream, would release whatever it was that it released," (Page 122)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): garbage, trash
Synonym: waste
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): Sewage would flow out from the pipes and out onto the ocean.
4.) Miscalculated (p. 123)
Quote: "We found a thousand ways to explain what happened on those other days, constructing elaborate stories about neighborhood dogs, and hadn't she, my mother, miscalculated her step before, too?" (Page 123)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): calculate wrongly
Synonym: misinterpret
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): The math student miscalculated the math problem.
5.) Treacherous (p. 123)
Quote: "We had read the books, after all; we knew about bridges and castles and wildtreacherousraging alligatormouth rivers." (Page 123)
Definition (based on context/in your own words): dangerous
Synonym: hazardous
Sentence (underline the vocabulary word): The treacherous tidal waves in the ocean rocked the ship back and forth dangerously.
Thinking Map
Examples of when the boys know something:
1. The boys know that the narrator's mother is will get them in trouble for their actions. More specifically, for finding the grinding ball and taking it home. For example, "If we took it home, my mother, we knew, was going to look at it and say 'throw that dirty thing in the, get rid of it.' Simple like, like that. 'But ma it's the best thing I' "Getridofit.' Simple." (Page 121) Children should always know what their mother will do if they do something bad. They would get in trouble. I think it is normal for children to think what their mothers will do if they perform bad actions. 2. The boys know not to ask questions in junior high school because, if they do, their teachers will yell at them. For example, "If you went up to a teacher and said the word to try and find out what it meant you got in trouble for saying it. So we didn't." (Page 120) You should know what things that can get you trouble. You would always try to avoid doing things that would get you in trouble. 3. The boys know that they are being more mature. For example, "And we saw girls now, but they weren't the same girls we used to know because we couldn't talk to them anymore, not the same way we used to." (Page 119) All kids go through the process of being more mature. I think it is normal for kids to have crushes in an early age in life when they are becoming more mature. 4. The boys know that the narrator's mother is lying. For example, "We went running in one summer Thursday morning, my friend Sergio and I, into my mother's kitchen, and said, well, what'zin, what'zin those hills over there–we used her word so she'd understand us–and she said nothingdon'tworryaboutit. So we went out, and we weren't dumb, we thought with our eyes to each other, ohhoshe'stryingtokeepsomethingfromus." (Page 123) It is not right for a mother to keep something from her children, in my opinion. 5. The boys know what teachers they like and what teachers they don't like in junior high school. The boys know that they have opinions. For example, "and we would yell about teachers, and how we loved some of them, like Miss Crevelone, and how we wanted to dissect some of them." (Page 120) I think it is normal for people to have their own opinions about different things. |
Examples of when the boys don't know something:
1. The boys don't know about golf. For example, "No one had ever told us about golf. They had told us about heaven. And it went away. We got golf in exchange." (Page 126) The boys equate heaven to being a golf course. I think it is alright for people to have their own opinions about heaven. But, maybe, people who don't know about golf is kind of strange. 2. The boys don't know that everything that are round are not the only things that are perfect. For example, "we had this perception about nature then, that nature is imperfect and that round things are perfect." (Page 121) I believe that there other things that are considered perfect. 3. The boys don't know that the arroyo, or creek, is a sewage area. For example, "But every third or fourth or fifth day, the sewage treatment was, we found out, upstream, would release whatever it was that it released, and we would never know exactly what day that was." (Pages 122-123) It is kind of strange for someone to not know what a sewage area is. It is disgusting and dirty. The boys considered it as a creek. 4. The boys don't know what the grinding ball is. For example, "'it'sit's the best thing we'veeverseen. Whatisit?' We didn't know We just knew it was great." (Page 121) 5. The boys don't know where the feelings or maturity comes from when they enter junior high school. For example, "we would yell this stuff over and over because it felt good, we couldn't explain why, it just felt good and for the first time in our lives there was nobody to tell us we couldn't. So we did." (Page 120) Kids go through the age where they gain maturity. I think it is normal for kids not to know where they get the feelings of maturity from. |