IAR: Theme (The Bread Winner)
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Last updated 7 months ago
2 Nsɛmmisa
Today you will read a passage from The Bread Winner. As you read, pay close attention to the point of view of the characters as you answer the questions.
Today you will read a passage from The Bread Winner. As you read, pay close attention to the point of view of the characters as you answer the questions.
from The Bread Winner
by Arvella Whitmore
1 “Ma’am,” he said, “I have a big table in my truck here. I thought since you folks were in the baking business, you might want it. It’s been in our basement a long time and we don’t need it.”
2 “That’s ever so nice of you,” said Mama. “I’d be happy to take it, but I’ll have to ask my husband and daughter what they think.” Sarah followed the man outside while Mama went to get Daddy, who was kneading dough in the back. The table was lying on its side, and it was huge. It must be seven or eight feet long and at least four feet wide, thought Sarah. Strong looking, too, with its thick, swirled oak legs. They’d have to keep it in the front of the store since there wouldn’t be room in back. But it would be just right for kneading dough. The tables they owned were too small.
3 Sarah smiled as Daddy came out, wiping his hands on his apron. A week ago you couldn’t have paid him to step out on Main Street in an apron. Sarah guessed he’d been so busy he forgot.
4 “What do you think?” asked Sarah. “It would be perfect for kneading dough and shaping loaves.”
5 “It looks good to me,” said Mama.
6 Daddy shook his head. “I don’t know. We don’t have room for it in the back.”
7 “But we could put it in front,” said Sarah. “Those tables in back are too small.”
8 Daddy frowned. “In front o’ the big windows?”
9 “Why not?” Mama said. “I don’t care if people watch me make bread.” She winked at Sarah behind Daddy’s back. Though Daddy had never said a word about it, they both knew that he would rather people didn’t see him work with dough. It was silly, thought Sarah, and the sooner he got over it, the better.
10 “Please, Daddy,” Sarah cried, “let’s take the table. Besides, the front of the store looks bare, and when the shop is open we can use the table as a counter.”
11 Daddy nodded to the man and grinned. “Seems I’m outnumbered. Guess we’ll take it. Mighty thoughtful of you. Here, let me give you a hand.”
12 The two men placed the big dusty table in the front part of the store, in full view of the large show windows. With brushes and soapy water, Sarah and Mama scrubbed it down to its pale oak finish. Then they spread flour on top. Sarah took some of Daddy’s dough from the back, brought it out to the big table, and started kneading it.
13 Soon a small crowd gathered in the street outside the window to watch her. When Daddy came out from behind the privacy curtain, Sarah expected him to duck behind it, but he didn’t. When he saw all the people out there, he grinned and waved. Leaning over the table, he scrawled a message on a brown paper sack: OPEN AT NOON. He clipped it to the red-checked window curtain with a clothespin, then disappeared into the back of the store. A few seconds later he came out again with a big pan and set it down on the table between himself and Sarah. He grabbed some dough and started kneading it. Sarah couldn’t believe her eyes!
14 “You were right,” Daddy said. “We needed this table.” Once in a while he looked up and waved at the crowd on the street. “Pretty good advertising, wouldn’t you say?” he asked.
15 “The best,” said Sarah.
16 “Yep,” said Daddy, “nobody’s gonna say our bread isn’t homemade. No sirree.”
17 Mama looked on and smiled. A minute later she brought out a pan of dough and started making cinnamon rolls. “When we get settled in,” she said. “I might try my hand at cakes and pies. Just a few at first, to see how they go. I used to be good at it.”
18 “That would be wonderful,” said Sarah.
19 “What do you think we oughta call our bakery?” asked Daddy. “Every business oughta have a name”.
20 “Gee, I don’t know,” said Sarah. “I never thought about it.”
21 “I have an idea,” he said. “After all, Sarah, you won that blue ribbon at the fair a while back.” He glanced across the table at Mama. “If it wasn’t for our champ here, we might have ended up in the poorhouse. I think we oughta call it the Blue Ribbon Bakery.”
22 Sarah grinned. Daddy must be proud of her to suggest that name. But to her, it didn’t seem quite right.
23 “That’s nice, Daddy,” she said. “But I think we ought to call it Pucketts’ Blue Ribbon Bakery. It’s a family business now.”
What is a theme of the passage?
Which paragraph from the passage supports this theme?