CLOSE READ- Hollywood and the Pits

Open Ended

My sister and I were lucky. We enjoyed singing and dancing, we were natural hams , and our parents never discouraged us. My mother chauffeured us to all our dance lessons. She drove us to interviews, took us to studios, went on location with us, drilled us on our lines, made sure we kept up our school work and didn't sass back the tutors hired by studios to teach us for three hours a day. She never complained about being a stage mother. She said that we made her proud. My father must have felt pride too, because he paid for a choreographer to put together our sister act.

QUESTION: What can you infer about the narrator's parent? What support do they get from their mother? father?

Open Ended

Our sister act worked because of the age and height difference. My sister then was 14 and nearly five foot two. I was seven and very small for my age-people thought we were cute.

QUESTION: Why does the narrator believe their sister act worked so well?

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The owner of the hotel liked us so much, he invited us back to perform in shows for three summers in a row. That was before I grew too tall and the sister act didn't seem so cute anymore.

QUESTION: How does the narrator's tone change when she makes the comment about growing too tall?

Open Ended

When I was younger, I got a lot of roles because I was so small for my age. When I was 9 years old, I could pass 5 or 6. But when I turned 15, it was if my body, which hadn't grown for many years, suddenly made up for lost time.

QUESTIONS: Which words or phrases in the text point out sequence of changes in the narrator's acting opportunities?

Open Ended

Just like the narrator, you, at your age also experienced changes as you grow older and bigger.

QUESTIONS: Can you share some of those changes?

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My sister had always made fun of my head. She said my body was too tiny for my weight. I looked like a walking Tootsie Pop.

QUESTION: What feeling do you think the author wants to convey by this comparison to a Tootsie Pop?

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But when she was sitting silently in all those waiting rooms while I was being turned down for one job after another, I could almost feel her wanting to shout, "Use her. Use her. What's wrong with her? Doesn't she have it anymore. Why was she disappointed?

QUESTION: Why might most parents have mixed feelings about whether a child should be "normal"?