Question

Plz help! questions & story are below! :D

Answer 1

How would you characterize Sam’s & Peter’s Mom, Explain

In the book, Sam and Peter had lovely memories about their mom and her talents. During many parts, there were sprinkled clues about Sam’s and Peter’s mom: The title, quotes and Inferences about her life. Let’s start with the Title.  

The Title “A good Dancer” is a very big clue about the character: Mom and her traits. If we read deeper into the story, we see many clues why the title is named that. Part of the second sentence: “When mom and uncle Albert danced the twist”, we can already infer that their mom is pretty good at dancing.  

The 3rd sentence gives us something that we can add to what we inferred about ~ That their mom is pretty good at dancing. “Uncle Al threw his back out and was in bed for weeks”. That fact, we can infer that Uncle Al (Albret)was tired and could not handle what he did (the twist). As you see, the story did not say anything about Sam’s and Peter’s mom laying in bed for days, which means we can say that their mom is very strong, tough and talented at dancing  

Now, we know that the title told us a little about their mom, she’s a very good dancer followed by tough, determined, strong.  

One part of finding the characteristics of a person is digging deeper into the story and finding quotes. Part 7 to the last bits of the story, tells a memory about their mother and the landlord. The memory tells us that the landlord refuses to fix the plumbing system. Followed by their mom not giving up, she did a bunch of stuff trying to get just one thing fixed. This part is a very important part of the characteristics of their mom and a part adding to our inference saying that she’s strong and tough

In conclusion, I would characterize Sam’s and Peter’s mom as:  

Her personality~ Strong, Tough, the person that does not give up  

Her Outer Personality~ Very good at dancing  

Answer 2

Answer:

1. How would you characterize Sam and Peter's mother? Explain.

I would characterize and compare Sam and Peter's mother to a good dancer— active, flexible, strong, determined, and motivated woman. The story made us realize that you don't need to be literally a good dancer to be renown as one. You can be like a good dancer with small dance skills but with an independent big work.

2. As the boys remember the past and think of their mother, what did Sam and Peter learn from her? (This is a theme question) Explain.

Sam and Peter learned "dancing with life" from their mother. With all their reminiscing, they've realized how their mother managed to gracefully dance with life— that although it's tough for their mother to raise them alone, they've never felt any kind of inadequacy growing up.

Reference Statements:

"Dance with life" means moving on from bad (single parent/widower, plumbing problem, etc.) to good (dancing twist, fixed plumbing, etc.) days, no matter what struggles you might have encountered in life.

• "It must have been tough for her, raising the two of us alone," said Sam. = This means that their mother is either a single parent or a widower who raises both alone— with her own capabilities and resources.

• "Yup," said Peter. "She had to do a lot of fancy footwork to keep things going, but we were always OK. = This statement highly supported the story title "Good Dancer"— fancy footwork. In here, fancy footwork might mean life actions and coordination to give or provide both a good life.

• Sam took his glasses off and wiped his eyes. "Yeah. We should have guessed she would be one heck of a good dancer," he said. = In here, we can say that Sam is sad while reminiscing. The phrase "We should have guessed" concludes that their mother is not a dancer by profession. It is like more on the figurative language side, yet their mother has skills in twist dance. They figuratively compared their mother to a good dancer, overall. But why to a "dancer"? First, for you to be called a "good dancer," you need to be flexible and active with your moves, actions, or even in mobility. Second, you need to have strength and coordination. Third, you have the determination. And lastly, you have the motivation.

• Flexible and active = "She was never a person who just stood around, was she?" said Peter.

• Strength and coordination = "No, it's true. Somehow, she always knew the right thing to do and then did it," agreed Sam. "She was a powerhouse. Strength under pressure, as the saying goes."

• Determination = The brothers were thoughtful now. "Remember that time when our property owner refused to fix the plumbing senility? And he would not fix it and we had no water? ... And he said he would call the police officers and have her arrested. And she said if he did, she would go to the newspapers... And the next thing we knew," continued Peter, "she had contacted a reporter and there you and I were, in a big newspaper photo, looking sad and sorry." "And the day after that, the plumbing was fixed and paid for." = This also shows breaking gender norms, although the property owner is a male/man, their mother still managed to get that male/man did what needed to do.

• Motivation = "It must have been tough for her, raising the two of us alone," said Sam. "Yup," said Peter. "She had to do a lot of fancy footwork to keep things going, but we were always OK."