Daughter of Invention

Daughter of Invention

by Julia Alvarez

"What ees wrrrong with her eh-speech?" Carlos wagged his head at her. His anger was always more frightening in his broken English. As if he had mutilated the language in his fury—and now there was nothing to stand between them and his raw, dumb anger. "What is wrong? I will tell you what is wrong. It show no gratitude. It is boastful. I celebrate myself? The best student learns to destroy the teacher?" He mocked Yoyo's plagiarized words. "That is insubordinate. It is improper. It is disrespecting of her teachers—" In his anger he had forgotten his fear of lurking spies: each wrong he voiced was a decibel higher than the last outrage. Finally, he shouted at Yoyo, "As your father, I forbid you to make that eh-speech!"

Multiple Choice

What does Carlos’ language reveal about his character?

• His accent gets stronger when he is angry.

• His English vocabulary is somewhat limited.

• He doesn’t understand what his daughter wrote.

• He has trouble speaking clearly in English.

"Ay, Cuquita." That was her communal pet name for whoever was in her favor. "Cuquita, when I make a million, buy you your very own typewriter." (Yoyo had been nagging her mother for one just like the one her father had bought to do his order forms at home.) "Gravy on the turkey" was what she called it when someone was buttering her up. She buttered and poured. "I'll hire you your very own typist."

Multiple Choice

Based on this excerpt, what can be concluded about Laura?

• She speaks better English than her daughter.

• She only speaks English to her daughter.

• She does not know the grammar rules in English.

• She is not comfortable communicating in English.

Multiple Choice

Which excerpt from "Daughter of Invention" contains language that best reveals that Carlos is still tied to his Dominican origin?

• He sat bolt upright, reaching for his glasses which in his haste, he knocked across the room. "iQue pasa? iQue pasa?"

• “...It is boastful. I celebrate myself? The best student learns to destroy the teacher?" He mocked Yoyo's plagiarized words.

• "Have you gone mad?" He shook her away. "You were going to let her read that . . . that insult to her teachers?"

• He called down curses on her head, ordered her on his authority as her father to open that door!

Multiple Choice

Which excerpt from "Daughter of Invention" reveals Laura’s Dominican origin through unique pronunciation?

• "You girls are going to drive me crazy!" she threatened, if they kept nagging. "When I end up in Bellevue, you'll be safely sorry!"

• "Remember that time we took the car to Bear Mountain, and we re-ah-lized that we had forgotten to pack an opener with our pick-a-nick?"

• "Maybe not. Maybe, just maybe, there's something they've missed that's important. With patience and calm, even a burro can climb a palm."

• "Ay, Cuco. Remember how I showed you that suitcase with little wheels so we should not have to carry those heavy bags when we traveled? Someone stole my idea and made a million!"

But Laura's inventing days were over just as Yoyo's were starting up with her school-wide success. Rather than the rolling suitcase everyone else in the family remembers, Yoyo thinks of the speech her mother wrote as her last invention. It was as if, after that, her mother had passed on to Yoyo her pencil and pad and said, "Okay, Cuquita, here's the buck. You give it a shot."

Multiple Choice

Which context clue provides the best hint for the meaning of the underlined idiom in this excerpt?

• But Laura’s inventing days were over

• the rolling suitcase everyone else in the family remembers

• Yoyo thinks of the speech her mother wrote as her last invention

• after that, her mother had passed on to Yoyo her pencil and pad

"Maybe not. Maybe, just maybe, there's something they've missed that's important. With patience and calm, even a burro can climb a palm." This last was one of her many Dominican sayings she had imported into her scrambled English.

Multiple Choice

Which English idiom has the same meaning as the one underlined in this excerpt?

• We’re all in the same boat.

• You are barking up the wrong tree.

• Let sleeping dogs lie.

• Slow and steady wins the race.

"Maybe not. Maybe, just maybe, there's something they've missed that's important. With patience and calm, even a burro can climb a palm." This last was one of her many Dominican sayings she had imported into her scrambled English.

Multiple Choice

What is the meaning of the idiom underlined in the excerpt?

• Anything can be accomplished.

• Anyone can make money.

• A little encouragement goes a long way.

• Every story needs to have a point.

Multiple Choice

"iYa, ya!" She waved them out of her room at last. "There is no use trying to drink spilt milk, that's for sure."

What does Laura mean to express to her daughters?

• She wants her daughters to learn from her mistakes.

• She does not want to dwell on something that cannot be changed.

• She intends to invent many more useful things she can patent.

• She wishes that she had been the one to patent the suitcase with wheels.

Yoyo didn't need much encouragement. She put her nose to the fire, as her mother would have said, and read from start to finish without looking up. When she concluded, she was a little embarrassed at the pride she took in her own words. She pretended to quibble with a phrase or two, then looked questioningly to her mother. Laura's face was radiant. Yoyo turned to share her pride with her father.

Multiple Choice

What does the underlined idiom tell the reader about Yoyo?

• She was cold as she wrote her speech, so she sat by the fire.

• She worked hard to finish her speech for the assembly.

• She was proud of the speech once she finished it.

• She finished the speech in a very short amount of time.

Multiple Choice

Which of Laura’s misquoted idioms from "Daughter of Invention" is intended to mean that it makes no difference to her?

• "green behind the ears,"

• "When in Rome, do unto the Romans."

• "It's half of one or two dozen of another."

• “...one of these days my ship would pass me by in the night!"

Multiple Choice

The house fell silent a moment, before Yoyo heard, far off, the gun blasts and explosions, the serious, self-important voices of newscasters reporting their TV war.

What type of conflict is presented in this excerpt?

• A conflict with other characters.

• A conflict within one character.

• A conflict with nature.

• A conflict within society.

Multiple Choice

"iYa, ya!" She waved them out of her room at last. "There is no use trying to drink spilt milk, that's for sure."

What does Laura’s attempt at trying to use an English idiom reveal about her character?

• She is very careful about the way she uses the English language.

• She is hesitant to speak English most of the time.

• She is eager to try English phrases and expressions.

• She prefers to speak in Spanish, rather than English.