Question

Evaluate Ideas: Reread the next-to-last paragraph (lines 292–300). Do you agree with what the narrator says about innocence and compassion? Use evidence from the story as well as your own experiences to explore your answer. Text Criticism

Answer 1

Answer: Lizabeth believes that innocence is looking at the things and people as they are on the surface, while compassion is an ability to look beneath the surface and understand others. Her point of view is completely logical.

Explanation:

"Marigolds" is a short story written by Eugenia Collier. The narrator of the story is a girl named Lizabeth, who describes her life with her family at the time of the Great Depression.

For Lizabeth, innocence is looking at the things and people as they are on the surface. Compassion, however, is to be able to look beneath the surface, and understand other people's emotions. When Lizabeth sees that she hurt Miss Lottie with her actions, she starts to look at things from a different perspective. She matures and shows compassion. What we learn about childhood and innocence in this story is that children, innocent as they are, can do both good and bad things. They are sometimes unable to take other people's feelings into consideration, which is why they make mistakes.