"Train Time" Short Story by D'Arcy McNickel

"Train Time"

by​ D'Arcy McNickel

By Craig Fahey

​Mood

​A story's mood is the feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader. Descriptive words,

imagery, and dialogue can all help to establish

the mood.

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CITE TEXT EVIDENCE: Reread lines 1–16 and describe the mood the author establishes

at the beginning of the story. Cite supporting evidence in the text.

​Characterization

​Authors make characters seem real through characterization, methods of revealing the

characters’ traits, or qualities. Two key methods of characterization are through the narrator’s comments and through the character’s own words, actions, and thoughts.

​

CITE TEXT EVIDENCE: Reread lines 28–36 and cite what the narrator tells us directly about the Major. Then, ask what we can infer about the Major from his own actions and thoughts.

​Vocabulary

​Exasperate: In line 20, the author tells us that the Major was exasperated. Why do you suppose the Major feels that way?

​Vocabulary

​Conscience: Major Miles is described in line 28 as being a “man of conscience.” What would you expect from a person of conscience. What would you expect him to be like?

​Flashback

​The author interrupts the scene at the depot with a flashback, a description of events that took place at an earlier time. A flashback can give the reader insight into the characters’ current situation.

​

Reread lines 47–57. What time period does the flashback refer to and why does the author include it?

​Vocabulary

​Ponderous: In lines 71-73, the author describes the old woman’s body as being “ponderous.” Why he might have chosen this word instead of heavy or huge?

​Vocabulary

​Sustenance: In lines 85-86, the Major felt that he could not provide sustenance for the Lamartine family. Why it might not have been wise for the Major to provide sustenance.

​Characterization

​Authors often provide clues to a character’s traits through the character’s own words and actions.

​

CITE TEXT EVIDENCE: Reread lines 99–118. What do we learn about the Major from this portion of the text and why the Major acted “against his own principles” in helping the family.

​Flashback

​The author interrupts the scene at the depot with a flashback to the previous winter. While the flashback scene continues, in line 124 the action flashes forward in time.

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CITE TEXT EVIDENCE: Reread lines 124 –133 and to identify the evidence that signals the shift in time. What has happened to the Major during that time?

​Vocabulary

​Inexplicable: In line 110, the Major inexplicably changes his mind about helping Eneas’s family. What might cause a person to behave inexplicably?

​Flashback

O​nce again the action of the story flashes

forward in time. Although we are still in the flashback scene, lines 146–153 bring us closer to the opening scene at the depot.

​

Reread lines 146–153. Identify the time shift and summarize what has occurred during that period.

​Characterization

​In lines 149–151 the Major thinks, “Whether the boy understood what was good for him or not, he meant to see to it that the right thing

was done.”

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CITE TEXT EVIDENCE: What can be inferred about the Major’s character from this statement?

​Flashback

​Almost at the end of the story, the author ends the flashback and brings us back to the

depot.

​

CITE TEXT EVIDENCE: Reread lines 166–170 and cite evidence that shows the end of the flashback.

​Vocabulary

​Ignorance: In line 170, the Major believes that he was freeing the children from ignorance by sending them away. Why might he believe that?

​Characterization, Page 333

​Review the term characterization and the four

methods on page 333. Then reread lines 53–118 of “Train Time” and identify examples of each method and what the examples reveal about Eneas.