The Cow-Tail Switch & Parables

The Cow-Tail Switch & Parables

Read the story first!

It is linked on Google Classroom.

Open another tab, and have the story open.

Re-read the first page to find:

• Setting: Where does this story take place? What do you know about that place?

• Setting: What is life like there? Notice some details of the lives of the people. What do different people do?

• Character: Who is Ogaloussa? What did he do one day?

• Plot: What happened next?

• Character & Plot: How did people react to these events?

• What vocabulary word is in bold print? What do you think it means?

Match

Match the following

• Setting

• Plot

• Conflict

• Theme

• Genre

Where and When the story takes place

The events that happen in the story

a problem faced by a character

What the author seems to believe

The category of story, like fantasy

• Where and When the story takes place

• The events that happen in the story

• a problem faced by a character

• What the author seems to believe

• The category of story, like fantasy

Match

Match the following

• Setting

• Genre

• Theme

• Conflict

• Character Traits

On a stormy night in the jungle

Fairy Tale, or Science Fiction

Clever children can conquer giants.

Jack vs. the Giant

Jack is very clever.

• On a stormy night in the jungle

• Fairy Tale, or Science Fiction

• Clever children can conquer giants.

• Jack vs. the Giant

• Jack is very clever.

Multiple Choice

What is the SETTING of this folktale?

• In Liberia, Africa. In or near a rain forest.

• Ogloussa, a husband, hunter, and father of many children

• Ogaloussa disappeared.

Multiple Choice

Ogaloussa is this page's

• plot

• setting

• main character

• vocabulary

Multiple Choice

Which is the BEST summary of this page's plot?

(Hint: THIS page, the first page, only.)

• Cattle grazed in the grassland. Men and boys fished. Women pounded grain.

• Ogaloussa went hunting and didn't return. Even after a month, his sons sometimes mentioned his absence.

• Ogaloussa was a hunter near the edge of the rain forests of Liberia. He provided for his family by hunting. The family also had cattle and fields.

Multiple Choice

When Ogaloussa didn't return home, at first his family wondered what had detained him.

The word detained means...

• delayed

• tricked

• protected

When you read this story the first time,

what did you think about his son's reactions to his absence?

"Sometimes, Ogaloussa's sons mentioned that he hadn't come home."

​​

Why didn't the author say,

"Every day, Ogaloussa's sons worried about their father. The smaller children cried, and the older ones searched for their father every day.

Now, Re-read the second page to find:

• Who finally asked about the missing man?

​

• How did that question cause other people to discuss the matter? What did they say? How much concern are they expressing?

Multiple Choice

After Ogaloussa had been gone a long time, his sons

• asked about him every day

• no longer talked about him

• asked their friends and neighbors to look for him

• cried every day

Multiple Choice

Who was the first to express anything about the absence of the father?

• the oldest son

• the youngest son, Puli, who hadn't even been born yet when the father disappeared

• the friends and neighbors from the town, who discussed daily what to do, but didn't act

• all of the sons

Multiple Choice

When did Ogaloussa's sons begin to discuss the disappearance of their father?

• When the sons needed to ask their father how to fix the palm leaf roofs.

• After the baby was born, grew old enough to talk, and asked where his father was.

• When their father didn't return the next day.

• Every day at dinner, when their father wasn't there to share the meal.

Multiple Choice

We might infer that Ogaloussa's sons had

• forgotten about their father until Puli asked about him

• worked hard to honor their father's memory

Now, Re-read the third page to find:

• What did the sons do about their father's disappearance?

• What did they find? What did they infer about their findings?

• What did they do next? Who did what?

• What were the results of their actions?

Multiple Choice

What did the sons find in the forest?

• Their father, barely alive.

• Their father's body.

• Their father's bones and weapons.

• The lion that their father had killed.

Multiple Choice

After finding their father's bones and his rusted weapons, what did the sons infer?

• Their father had been killed in the hunt.

• They were deep among the great trees and vines of the forest.

• They brought their father back to life.

• Their father had been a poor hunter.

Multiple Choice

The first son said that he knew how to

• give the dead man the power of speech

• give the dead man the power of movement

• give the dead man a proper burial

• put blood back into the dead body

• put a dead person's bones back together

Multiple Choice

Several of the sons contributed to

• making a proper funeral ceremony for their father

• putting their father's body back together and giving it life

• working the fields to feed the family

Multiple Choice

What is the first thing Ogaloussa said

when he had been rebuilt and brought back to life?

• What took you so long to find me?

• How is my youngest son?

• How did you learn these powers?

• Where are my weapons?

Now, Re-read the fourth page (the one with the drawing of a cow-tail switch) to find:

• What did Ogaloussa do upon his return home? What did his wife do?

• Describe the cow-tail switch. Where did the cow-tail switch come from? What was it used for? What did people think of it?

• What mood was in the village after Ogaloussa's return? What evidence is in the text for that mood?

• What decision did Ogaloussa make at the bottom of the page? How did other people react to that decision?

Multiple Choice

After Ogaloussa was brought back to life,

returned home, and rested,

then he killed a cow . . .

• to make a cow-tail switch

• for a feast

• because he was in a bad mood

• because his family had been hungry while he was dead

Multiple Choice

The people of the village thought that the cow-tail switch was . . .

• ugly, with dried blood and guts.

• beautiful, decorated with beads, shells, and metal.

• an omen of bad things to come

Multiple Choice

What did Ogaloussa do with the cow-tail switch?

• He carried it with him whenever he went to any important events, such as dances and ceremonies.

• He hung it on his wall to remind him of his adventures.

Multiple Choice

At the big celebration for Ogaloussa's return, after a great amount of dancing, recounted (told) of his adventure.

And he decided to . . .

• award his cow-tail switch to one of his sons who had done the most to rescue him

• never go hunting for leopards again without his brave sons at his side.

Multiple Choice

There was a clamor and much confusion

as many people asked for the cow-tail switch.

The word clamor means...

• a moment of silence to honor a hero

• loud, confusing noise

• a full, healthy, meal

Now, Re-read the last page to find:

• What did each son say regarding who should be awarded the prize?

• What did Ogaloussa decide? Why? Do you agree with his choice?

Multiple Choice

Which is true?

• Each of the sons who had gone on the rescue mission argued that HE had contributed the most to the rescue.

• Ogaloussa had been killed by a lion.

• The son who had covered the dead man's bones with flesh said to give the prize to Puli.

• Ogaloussa gave the prize to the son who had given him breath.

Multiple Choice

Each of the sons argued his right to possess

the wonderful cow-tail switch.

Possess means...

• touch

• sell

• own

• look at

Multiple Choice

Ogaloussa gave the prize to the son who

• had found the trail

• put his bones back together

• put blood in his veins

• had asked where his father was

• was the oldest

Multiple Choice

After Ogaloussa told the people his reason for his decision, everyone

• wondered if he had made the right choice

• thought he had acted foolishly

• understood and agreed

Multiple Choice

A theme is a message about life

that can be taken from the story, and put into our own lives.

A theme of this story involves the importance of ...

(hint: Which son was rewarded?)

• safety while hunting

• raising your children to have useful skills

• remembering your loved ones

Multiple Choice

Which statement best tells the THEME of this folk tale?

• If you act selfishly, you will never receive a beautiful gift

• It is difficult to follow a trail in the forest when it is dark.

• A person is not dead until that person is forgotten.

• If you have a beautiful treasure, everyone will want it.

Multiple Choice

When you treasure the memory of a person, that person never really dies.

This sentence could be called a _____ of the story you just read.

• TOPIC

• SUMMARY

• THEME

• PLOT

• SETTING

Match

Match the following

• An ancient village in Liberia

• Ogaloussa

• Puli valued his father

• We should value our family.

• The sons argued about who had saved the father.

Setting

Main Character

Character Trait

Theme

Conflict

• Setting

• Main Character

• Character Trait

• Theme

• Conflict

Match

Match the following

• African Folktale

• Ogaloussa

• Puli valued his father

• We should value our family.

• The sons argued about who had saved the father.

Genre

Main Character

Character Trait

Theme

Conflict

• Genre

• Main Character

• Character Trait

• Theme

• Conflict