The Covered Canvas - Summarizing and Paraphrasing Literary Texts (Grade 6)

The passage states, 'Nell jumped and quickly draped a cloth over her easel' and 'When Nell saw her, she quickly covered the painting again.' This shows her immediate action was to hide the canvas.

The central conflict is that Nell's secretiveness about her painting makes Louisa feel untrusted and hurt, which creates a problem in their friendship. The story resolves when the secret is revealed and the misunderstanding is cleared up.

The passage explicitly states this when Nell reveals the painting. She says, 'This is my grandmother... She passed away last month.'

In the middle, Louisa feels a 'knot of hurt' and her 'voice trembled' with frustration. After Nell's revelation, her 'anger vanished, replaced by a wave of sympathy' and she says, 'I'm so sorry.'

Nell directly tells Louisa, 'I just… I was afraid I’d start crying if I tried to talk about it.' This is the specific reason she gives for her behavior.

The items are sorted based on the actions and feelings described for each character in the passage. Louisa is the one who feels hurt and confronts Nell, while Nell is the one dealing with loss and the fear of showing her sadness.

Nell's excuse that the painting 'is not ready' is a way to avoid talking about her grandmother. Louisa's question directly expresses her feeling of being shut out. Nell's revelation is the moment she shares her vulnerable secret. Louisa's final words show she understands and feels sympathy for her friend's pain.