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Ajarry Chapter One Worksheet

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Ajarry Chapter One Worksheet

Read the original passage below, then answer the questions using evidence from it. The passage is a standalone classroom text; it is not an extract from a published novel.

Reading passage: What a name can hold

Ajarry kept her name folded inside her, as carefully as a scrap of cloth hidden in a seam. On the plantation, people were renamed, counted and sent wherever an owner decided. A name was one of the few things she could carry without anyone seeing it. She had been taken from her home as a child. The crossing of the ocean blurred into fragments: the press of bodies, salt in the air, a voice calling in a language she did not know. Later, she learned the plantation’s routines. Work began before daylight. The rows seemed to run beyond the horizon, and the overseer’s calls broke the quiet. Rest was brief; the rules were not hers to make. Ajarry watched closely. She learned which paths were muddy after rain, which workers would share a warning, and when a moment of silence might be safe. These were not freedoms. They were small acts of attention in a life controlled by others. She understood that survival could depend on noticing what people with power preferred not to explain. At night, she sometimes remembered the sound of her mother’s voice. Memory did not bring her family back, and it did not make the next day easier. Still, it gave her a measure of herself that the plantation could not record. When she spoke her own name quietly, she was not asking permission. She was keeping hold of a history that others had tried to take from her. The next morning, the bell called everyone to work again. Ajarry stood, listened, and looked once towards the tree line. She did not know what the future would bring. For now, she carried her name into another day.

Close reading

Use details from the passage to support your ideas. Where a question asks for an explanation, develop your answer rather than giving a single word.

1.At the beginning, what does Ajarry’s name represent to her? Select the strongest answer.

A reminder of an authority figure’s rules
A private connection to her identity and history
A way to avoid plantation work
A memory of the journey across the ocean

2.Find two details that show how the plantation controls Ajarry’s daily life. Quote or closely paraphrase each detail.

3.The passage says that Ajarry’s memories arrive as “fragments”. What does this word suggest about her recollection of the crossing?

4.How does the writer contrast Ajarry’s lack of freedom with her ability to act? Use one detail from the passage in your answer.

5.Which interpretation of “small acts of attention” is best supported by the passage?

Ajarry is secretly in charge of the plantation.
Ajarry’s careful observations help her respond to a dangerous, controlled environment.
Ajarry is uninterested in what happens around her.
Ajarry believes that the plantation’s rules are fair.

6.Explain the effect of the comparison in “Ajarry kept her name folded inside her, as carefully as a scrap of cloth hidden in a seam.”

7.Match each passage detail to the idea it most strongly supports.

The bell calls everyone to work again.
Ajarry remembers her mother’s voice.
She looks towards the tree line.

A continuing connection to family and personal history
Uncertainty and possibility
Routine and imposed control

8.Is the statement true or false? The passage presents memory as something that immediately changes Ajarry’s circumstances. Explain your choice.

9.Complete the sentence with a word from the passage: Ajarry’s ability to notice details shows her to her surroundings.

10.The ending says Ajarry “did not know what the future would bring”. Why might the writer end on this uncertainty rather than explain what happens next?

Evidence of control or harm

Evidence of persistence or identity