The Sunstone Apples - Symbolism in literary texts (Grade 7)

What did Clara first suggest doing with the Sunstone apples?

• Sell them at the market for a high price.

• Make sure every family in town gets one.

• Give them all to Jonah since he watched the tree.

• Keep them on the tree so everyone could look at them.

Answer explanation

The passage states, "We can make sure every family in town gets one Sunstone apple." This shows Clara's desire to share the apples with the community.

What does the golden shine of the apples most likely symbolize in the story?

• The apples' monetary value.

• A warning that the apples are not safe to eat.

• The joy and special value that comes from sharing.

• The tree's old age and health.

Answer explanation

The shine disappears when Jonah greedily takes the apples for himself, but it brightens when Clara shares one. This shows the shine represents the magic of community and sharing, not money or a warning.

What happened to the apples' shine as Jonah put them in his sack?

• They started to glow even brighter.

• They turned from gold to a bright red color.

• They seemed to lose their brilliant shine.

• They became heavier, as if they were real gold.

Answer explanation

The text directly states, "The apples in his sack seemed to lose their brilliant shine. They looked less like gold and more like plain, yellow fruit."

Why did the apples in Jonah's sack become "bruised, dull, ordinary apples"?

• He handled them too roughly when he picked them.

• The apples were never really golden in the first place.

• They were not ripe enough to be picked from the tree.

• Because his selfish act of taking them all removed their special, shared quality.

Answer explanation

The story contrasts Jonah's dull apples with Clara's single, glowing apple that was shared. This implies that the 'magic' of the apples was tied to the idea of community, and Jonah's greed destroyed that magic.

Categorize the following items and actions from the story based on the ideas they symbolize.

Groups:

(a) Symbol of Greed & Selfishness

,

(b) Symbol of Sharing & Community

• The pile of bruised, dull apples

• Jonah's statement, "Finders keepers."

• Splitting one apple into three pieces

• Jonah's large, empty sack

• The single glowing apple Clara found

• Clara's plan for a harvest

Answer explanation

The items in 'Greed & Selfishness' all relate to Jonah's desire to take everything for himself and the negative outcome of that choice. The items in 'Sharing & Community' relate to Clara's actions and the positive, magical results of sharing.

The final sentence, "Jonah, alone with his pile of worthless fruit, had everything and nothing at all," means that Jonah:

• had all the apples, but they had lost the value that made them special.

• lost all the apples on his way home from the park.

• realized he didn't actually like the taste of apples.

• decided to give the apples away the next day.

Answer explanation

This phrase is a paradox. Jonah physically possessed all the apples ('everything'), but because his greed drained them of their symbolic worth (the golden shine), they were meaningless ('nothing').

Match each element from the story to what it symbolizes.

• The worthless result of selfishness

• The golden shine on the apples

• The idea that a little, when shared, is worth a lot

• Clara sharing one apple

• The magic and value of community joy

• The bruised, dull apples

• The desire to hoard and possess

• Jonah's sack

Answer explanation

The golden shine represents the shared joy that disappears with greed. The dull apples are the worthless result of that greed. Jonah's sack is a tool for hoarding. Clara's act of sharing shows how a small amount can become valuable when given freely.

The story uses the golden apples to teach a lesson about greed. Think about a situation at school, like sharing art supplies for a group project. How could the lesson from "The Sunstone Apples" apply to that real-world situation? Explain what might happen to the "golden shine" (the fun or success of the activity) if one person acts like Jonah. Use details from the passage to support your answer.

Answer explanation