“The Great Rat Hunt”
By Laurence Yep (p. 107)
VOCABULARY WORDS
barricade- blockade
brusquely- abruptly; sharply
fumigate- exterminate
improvise- to act without a plan
ineptitude- clumsiness
mug- the face
perpetual- long lasting
rationalize- justify; excuse
ravage- destruction
reserve- unfriendliness
MEMOIR
Definition: A first-person recollection of an experience or event
3 Characteristics
1. told from 1st person point of view using the pronouns I, me, we
2. are accounts of actual events
3. include the writer’s feelings and beliefs about his/her family and community
Theme
Definition: The message about life or human nature communicated by a literary work
· Apply lessons learned by the main characters to ALL of us
◦ Themes of Rat Hunt
We don’t have to be good at everything
Sometimes it’s smart to be scared
Don’t underestimate love
Acceptance
It’s okay to be you
It’s important to try
“The Great Rat Hunt”
By Laurence Yep
(Pages 107-114)
ANALYSIS QUESTIONS
Directions: On your paper, answer each question in a complete sentence.
1. Identify this literary genre.
2. Describe Laurence’s conflict.
3. Do you think Laurence’s father resents him for not being able to keep up? Why or why not?
4. On page 108 in the top paragraph of column B, how does Yep use personification in describing the rat?
5. What situations in Father’s past might explain his brusqueness and reserve? (Hint: see page 111)
6. Do you see any relationship between Laurence’s feeling of being an outsider in his own family and his father’s experience as an immigrant? Explain.
7. Why was it so important to Father that Eddy and Laurence learn to play American sports? (See page 112, col. A)
8. Yep uses hyperboles on page 113, bottom of column A to describe the rat. Write one of them on your paper.
9. In your opinion, which is worse, being a failure or being a coward? Why?
10. Why is it significant to Laurence that his father called it “our” trophy?
11. What do you think is the theme of this memoir? (Hint: look in column A on page 114)
