contents of the dead man’s pocket by jack finneymap+contents...4 part 1 collection 1: plot and...

4 Collection 1: Plot and SettingPart 1

“Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket” is full of suspense, as the main character

faces a series of life-and-death decisions. Stay calm and read the story carefully,

one step at a time, and whatever you do—don’t look down!

LITERARY FOCUS: TIME AND SEQUENCEMost short stories can be read in one sitting, usually in less than an hour.

The events in a short story, however, may span hours, weeks, months, or

years. “Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket” is striking because its events

take place in “real time.” In other words, the time it takes you to read the

story roughly equals the time frame of the story itself.

• As you read, notice how the slowness of the time frame helps create

suspense.

• As events unfold, pay attention to the main character’s internal conflict:

his struggle against fear.

READING SKILLS: UNDERSTANDING CAUSE AND EFFECTA cause is what makes something happen. An effect is the result, or what

happens. Imagine, for example, that a hurricane blows through a seaside

town. The fierce winds overturn boats and destroy houses. The winds are

the cause. The effect, or result, is the damage.

In a well-written story, the events that make up the plot are closely related:

One event causes another event, which leads to another event, and so on.

To find a cause, ask yourself, “Why did this event happen?” To identify an

effect, ask yourself, “What happened as a result of this event?” Keep in

mind that an effect, or result, can stem from several causes, and that one

cause can lead to several effects.

To help you track cause-and-effect relationships as you read, fill in a chart

like the one below. In the left-hand column, list the cause; in the right-hand

column, list the effect. The first one has been done as an example.

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Contents of the Dead Man’sPocket by Jack Finney

Literary SkillsUnderstand

time andsequence.

ReadingSkills

Understandcause and

effect.

VocabularySkills

Understandprefixes.

The apartment door is opened. A sheet of yellow paper is blown

out the window.

Cause Effect

HRW SE_10-01_1stP_Round 2 4/10/03 12:07 PM Page 4 impos06 108:hrhrs10:hrhrs10ch01:hrs10ch01%0:

Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket 5

projection (pr£·jek√◊¥n) n.: something that juts

out from a surface.

Tom’s paper was trapped between the ledge andthe decorative projection sticking out from thewall.

discarding (dis·kärd√i«) v. used as adj.: abandon-

ing; getting rid of.

He rejected one plan after another, discardingall useless ideas.

confirmation (kän≈f¥r·m†√◊¥n) n.: proof.

As confirmation that he could walk on theledge, he made sure that it was wide enough tofit his shoe.

exhalation (eks≈h¥·l†√◊¥n) n.: something

breathed out; breath.

After holding his breath, Tom felt an exhalationof air as he breathed again.

imperceptibly (im≈p¥r·sep√t¥·bl≤) adv.: in such a

slight way as to be almost unnoticeable.

Tom moved along the ledge imperceptibly,taking tiny, cautious steps.

rebounded (ri·b¡nd√id) v.: bounced back.

After he broke the window, Tom’s armrebounded, bouncing backward from the force of the blow.

interminable (in·t∞r√mi·n¥·b¥l) adj.: endless.

Although the time seemed interminable, Tomhad been on the ledge only a few minutes.

irrelevantly (i·rel√¥·v¥nt·l≤) adv.: in a way not

relating to the point or situation.

Tom thought irrelevantly about the apartmentfurnishings, as if the cozy rooms could stop himfrom plunging to his death.

incomprehensible (in·käm≈pr≤·hen√s¥·b¥l) adj.:

not understandable.

The puzzling sheet of paper in his pocket wouldbe incomprehensible to anyone who found hisbody.

unimpeded (un≈im·p≤d√id) adj.: not blocked;

unobstructed.

The yellow paper flew out the window; itsprogress was unimpeded.

PREVIEW SELECTION VOCABULARYPreview the following words from the story before you begin reading.

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PREFIXESJust by adding a few letters up front, you can turn appear into reappear,

likely into unlikely, and freezing into subfreezing. Re–, un–, and sub– are

prefixes, word parts that attach to the front of a word or word root to

change its meaning. Re– means “again”; un– means “not”; sub– means

“below.”

As you read, look for words with these or other prefixes. Use your

knowledge of prefixes to help you figure out the meanings of some

unfamiliar words.


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At the little living-room desk Tom Benecke rolled two sheets

of flimsy1 and a heavier top sheet, carbon paper sandwiched

between them, into his portable. Interoffice Memo, the top sheet

was headed, and he typed tomorrow’s date just below this; then

he glanced at a creased yellow sheet, covered with his own hand-

writing, beside the typewriter. “Hot in here,” he muttered to

himself. Then, from the short hallway at his back, he heard the

muffled clang of wire coat hangers in the bedroom closet, and

at this reminder of what his wife was doing he thought: hot

guilty conscience.

He got up, shoving his hands into the back pockets of his

gray wash slacks, stepped to the living-room window beside the

desk and stood breathing on the glass, watching the expanding

circlet of mist, staring down through the autumn night at

Lexington Avenue,2 eleven stories below. He was a tall, lean,

dark-haired young man in a pullover sweater, who looked as

though he had played not football, probably, but basketball in

college. Now he placed the heels of his hands against the top

edge of the lower window frame and shoved upward. But as

usual the window didn’t budge, and he had to lower his hands

and then shoot them hard upward to jolt the window open a

few inches. He dusted his hands, muttering.

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Jack Finney

Setting is the time and placeof a story. Underline thewords in line 15 that tell how far above the streetTom’s apartment is.

1. flimsy n.: thin paper used for typing carbon copies. Before computersand copying machines, copies of business communications weremade with carbon paper.

2. Lexington Avenue: one of the main streets in New York City.

Portable is usually an adjec-tive, meaning “able to becarried.” Here, in line 3, theword is a noun, naming athing. Read on, and circlewhat portable refers to.

“Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket” by Jack Finney. Copyright © 1956 by Crowell-Collier Company; copyright renewed © 1984 by Jack Finney. Reprinted by permission of Don Congdon Associates, Inc.


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But still he didn’t begin his work. He crossed the room to

the hallway entrance and, leaning against the doorjamb, hands

shoved into his back pockets again, he called, “Clare?” When his

wife answered, he said, “Sure you don’t mind going alone?”

“No.” Her voice was muffled, and he knew her head and

shoulders were in the bedroom closet. Then the tap of her high

heels sounded on the wood floor, and she appeared at the end of

the little hallway, wearing a slip, both hands raised to one ear,30


NotesNotes

© Pete Seaward/Getty Images.


clipping on an earring. She smiled at him—a slender, very pretty

girl with light brown, almost blond, hair—her prettiness empha-

sized by the pleasant nature that showed in her face. “It’s just

that I hate you to miss this movie; you wanted to see it, too.”

“Yeah, I know.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Got to

get this done, though.”

She nodded, accepting this. Then, glancing at the desk

across the living room, she said, “You work too much, though,

Tom—and too hard.”

He smiled. “You won’t mind, though, will you, when the

money comes rolling in and I’m known as the Boy Wizard of

Wholesale Groceries?”

“I guess not.” She smiled and turned back toward the

bedroom.

At his desk again, Tom lighted a cigarette; then a few moments

later, as Clare appeared, dressed and ready to leave, he set it on

the rim of the ashtray. “Just after seven,” she said. “I can make

the beginning of the first feature.”

He walked to the front-door closet to help her on with her

coat. He kissed her then and, for an instant, holding her close,

smelling the perfume she had used, he was tempted to go with

her; it was not actually true that he had to work tonight, though

he very much wanted to. This was his own project, unannounced

as yet in his office, and it could be postponed. But then they

won’t see it till Monday, he thought once again, and if I give it to

the boss tomorrow he might read it over the weekend . . . “Have

a good time,” he said aloud. He gave his wife a little swat and

opened the door for her, feeling the air from the building hall-

way, smelling faintly of floor wax, stream gently past his face.

He watched her walk down the hall, flicked a hand in

response as she waved, and then he started to close the door,

but it resisted for a moment. As the door opening narrowed, the

current of warm air from the hallway, channeled through this

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Circle the words in lines35–36 that tell why Tom isstaying home. What do hiswords tell you about whatTom values most at thebeginning of the story?

Underline the phrase in lines50–53 that tells what Tom istempted to do. Circle thesentence that tells what he “very much wanted” todo. How does Tom resolvethis internal conflict?


smaller opening now, suddenly rushed past him with accelerated

force. Behind him he heard the slap of the window curtains

against the wall and the sound of paper fluttering from his desk,

and he had to push to close the door.

Turning, he saw a sheet of white paper drifting to the floor

in a series of arcs, and another sheet, yellow, moving toward the

window, caught in the dying current flowing through the nar-

row opening. As he watched, the paper struck the bottom edge

of the window and hung there for an instant, plastered against

the glass and wood. Then as the moving air stilled completely,

the curtains swinging back from the wall to hang free again, he

saw the yellow sheet drop to the window ledge and slide over

out of sight.

He ran across the room, grasped the bottom of the window

and tugged, staring through the glass. He saw the yellow sheet,

dimly now in the darkness outside, lying on the ornamental

ledge a yard below the window. Even as he watched, it was

moving, scraping slowly along the ledge, pushed by the breeze

that pressed steadily against the building wall. He heaved on the

window with all his strength, and it shot open with a bang, the

window weight rattling in the casing. But the paper was past

his reach and, leaning out into the night, he watched it scud3

steadily along the ledge to the south, half plastered against the

building wall. Above the muffled sound of the street traffic far

below, he could hear the dry scrape of its movement, like a leaf

on the pavement.

The living room of the next apartment to the south

projected a yard or more further out toward the street than this

one; because of this the Beneckes paid seven and a half dollars

less rent than their neighbors. And now the yellow sheet, sliding

along the stone ledge, nearly invisible in the night, was stopped

by the projecting blank wall of the next apartment. It lay

motionless, then, in the corner formed by the two walls—a good

five yards away, pressed firmly against the ornate corner

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Pause at line 76. What hap-pens when the wind rushesthrough the apartment?

Circle the prefix in the wordinvisible (line 94). What doesthe prefix mean? What doesinvisible mean?

3. scud v.: glide or move swiftly.


ornament of the ledge by the breeze that moved past Tom

Benecke’s face.

He knelt at the window and stared at the yellow paper for a

full minute or more, waiting for it to move, to slide off the ledge

and fall, hoping he could follow its course to the street, and then

hurry down in the elevator and retrieve it. But it didn’t move,

and then he saw that the paper was caught firmly between a

projection of the convoluted4 corner ornament and the ledge.

He thought about the poker from the fireplace, then the broom,

then the mop—discarding each thought as it occurred to him.

There was nothing in the apartment long enough to reach

that paper.

It was hard for him to understand that he actually had to

abandon it—it was ridiculous—and he began to curse. Of all the

papers on his desk, why did it have to be this one in particular!

On four long Saturday afternoons he had stood in supermarkets,

counting the people who passed certain displays, and the results

were scribbled on that yellow sheet. From stacks of trade publi-

cations, gone over page by page in snatched half hours at work

and during evenings at home, he had copied facts, quotations,

and figures onto that sheet. And he had carried it with him to

the Public Library on Fifth Avenue, where he’d spent a dozen

lunch hours and early evenings adding more. All were needed to

support and lend authority to his idea for a new grocery-store

display method; without them his idea was a mere opinion. And

there they all lay, in his own improvised shorthand—countless

hours of work—out there on the ledge.

For many seconds he believed he was going to abandon the

yellow sheet, that there was nothing else to do. The work could

be duplicated. But it would take two months, and the time to

present this idea was now, for use in the spring displays. He struck

his fist on the window ledge. Then he shrugged. Even though his

plan was adopted, he told himself, it wouldn’t bring him a raise

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After reading lines 125–141,what do you predict Tom will do?

projection (pr£·jek√◊¥n) n.:something that juts out froma surface.

Pro– is a Latin prefix meaning“forward”; the root –ject–means “throw” or “thrust.”

discarding (dis·kärd√i«) v.used as adj.: abandoning;getting rid of.

Pause at line 124. Why is theyellow paper so important toTom? Underline the detailsthat tell you why.

4. convoluted (kän√v¥·lºt≈id) adj.: intricate; coiled.


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140


in pay—not immediately, anyway, or as a direct result. It won’t

bring me a promotion either, he argued—not of itself.

But just the same—and he couldn’t escape the thought—this

and other independent projects, some already done and others

planned for the future, would gradually mark him out from the

score of other young men in his company. They were the way to

change from a name on the payroll to a name in the minds of

the company officials. They were the beginning of the long, long

climb to where he was determined to be—at the very top. And

he knew he was going out there in the darkness, after the yellow

sheet fifteen feet beyond his reach.

By a kind of instinct, he instantly began making his inten-

tion acceptable to himself by laughing at it. The mental picture

of himself sidling along the ledge outside was absurd—it was

actually comical—and he smiled. He imagined himself describ-

ing it; it would make a good story at the office and, it occurred

NotesNotes

Re-read lines 133–141. Whatcan you infer about Tom byhis thoughts?

© Nat Norman/Getty Images.


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confirmation(kän≈f¥r·m†√◊¥n) n.: proof.

Confirmation comes from theLatin word firmus, meaning“strong.” What other Englishwords are from this root?

Pause at line 176, and consid-er what has happened so far.In your own words, explainwhy Tom decides to go outon the ledge.

Circle the words in lines177–180 that describe thesecond setting in the story.How does the new settingincrease the suspense?

to him, would add a special interest and importance to his

memorandum, which would do it no harm at all.

To simply go out and get his paper was an easy task—he

could be back here with it in less than two minutes—and he

knew he wasn’t deceiving himself. The ledge, he saw, measuring

it with his eye, was about as wide as the length of his shoe, and

perfectly flat. And every fifth row of brick in the face of the

building, he remembered—leaning out, he verified this—was

indented half an inch, enough for the tips of his fingers, enough

to maintain balance easily. It occurred to him that if this ledge

and wall were only a yard aboveground—as he knelt at the

window staring out, this thought was the final confirmation

of his intention—he could move along the ledge indefinitely.

On a sudden impulse, he got to his feet, walked to the front

closet, and took out an old tweed jacket; it would be cold outside.

He put it on and buttoned it as he crossed the room rapidly

toward the open window. In the back of his mind he knew he’d

better hurry and get this over with before he thought too much,

and at the window he didn’t allow himself to hesitate.

He swung a leg over the sill, then felt for and found the

ledge a yard below the window with his foot. Gripping the

bottom of the window frame very tightly and carefully, he slowly

ducked his head under it, feeling on his face the sudden change

from the warm air of the room to the chill outside. With infinite

care he brought out his other leg, his mind concentrating on

what he was doing. Then he slowly stood erect. Most of the

putty, dried out and brittle, had dropped off the bottom edging

of the window frame, he found, and the flat wooden edging

provided a good gripping surface, a half inch or more deep, for

the tips of his fingers.

Now, balanced easily and firmly, he stood on the ledge

outside in the slight, chill breeze, eleven stories above the street,

staring into his own lighted apartment, odd and different-

seeming now.


First his right hand, then his left, he carefully shifted his

fingertip grip from the puttyless window edging to an indented

row of bricks directly to his right. It was hard to take the first

shuffling sideways step then—to make himself move—and the

fear stirred in his stomach, but he did it, again by not allowing

himself time to think. And now—with his chest, stomach, and

the left side of his face pressed against the rough cold brick—his

lighted apartment was suddenly gone, and it was much darker

out here than he had thought.

Without pause he continued—right foot, left foot, right

foot, left—his shoe soles shuffling and scraping along the rough

stone, never lifting from it, fingers sliding along the exposed

edging of brick. He moved on the balls of his feet, heels lifted

slightly; the ledge was not quite as wide as he’d expected. But

leaning slightly inward toward the face of the building and

pressed against it, he could feel his balance firm and secure, and

moving along the ledge was quite as easy as he had thought it

would be. He could hear the buttons of his jacket scraping

steadily along the rough bricks and feel them catch momen-

tarily, tugging a little, at each mortared crack. He simply did

not permit himself to look down, though the compulsion5 to

do so never left him; nor did he allow himself actually to think.

Mechanically—right foot, left foot, over and again—he shuffled

along crabwise, watching the projecting wall ahead loom steadily

closer. . . .

Then he reached it, and at the corner—he’d decided how he was

going to pick up the paper—he lifted his right foot and placed

it carefully on the ledge that ran along the projecting wall at a

right angle to the ledge on which his other foot rested. And now,

facing the building, he stood in the corner formed by the two

walls, one foot on the ledging of each, a hand on the shoulder-

high indentation of each wall. His forehead was pressed directly

into the corner against the cold bricks, and now he carefully

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Pause at line 205. Whydoesn’t Tom permit himselfto look down?

5. compulsion n.: driving force.

In lines 181–189, notice howtime seems to slow down asTom tries to overcome hisfear. Underline details thatshow that time is passingslowly.


lowered first one hand, then the other, perhaps a foot farther

down, to the next indentation in the rows of bricks.

Very slowly, sliding his forehead down the trough of the brick

corner and bending his knees, he lowered his body toward the

paper lying between his outstretched feet. Again he lowered his

fingerholds another foot and bent his knees still more, thigh

muscles taut, his forehead sliding and bumping down the brick

V. Half squatting now, he dropped his left hand to the next

indentation and then slowly reached with his right hand toward

the paper between his feet.

He couldn’t quite touch it, and his knees now were pressed

against the wall; he could bend them no farther. But by ducking

his head another inch lower, the top of his head now pressed

against the bricks, he lowered his right shoulder and his fingers

had the paper by a corner, pulling it loose. At the same instant

he saw, between his legs and far below, Lexington Avenue

stretched out for miles ahead.

He saw, in that instant, the Loew’s theater sign, blocks

ahead past Fiftieth Street; the miles of traffic signals, all green

now; the lights of cars and street lamps; countless neon signs;

and the moving black dots of people. And a violent, instanta-

neous explosion of absolute terror roared through him. For a

motionless instant he saw himself externally—bent practically

double, balanced on this narrow ledge, nearly half his body

projecting out above the street far below—and he began to

tremble violently, panic flaring through his mind and muscles,

and he felt the blood rush from the surface of his skin.

In the fractional moment before horror paralyzed him, as

he stared between his legs at that terrible length of street far

beneath him, a fragment of his mind raised his body in a spas-

modic jerk to an upright position again, but so violently that

his head scraped hard against the wall, bouncing off it, and his

body swayed outward to the knife-edge of balance, and he very

nearly plunged backward and fell. Then he was leaning far into

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Lines 241–247 tell aboutthree events—one is a cause;the others are effects. Circlethe cause, and underline theeffects.

In lines 224–230, underlinethe words that tell why Tom’sfear suddenly increases.

You may know the termtrough (trôf), meaning “along, open container forpigs’ food.” In this context,however, trough (line 216)means “groove” or “longindentation.”


the corner again, squeezing and pushing into it, not only his face

but his chest and stomach, his back arching; and his fingertips

clung with all the pressure of his pulling arms to the shoulder-

high half-inch indentation in the bricks.

He was more than trembling now; his whole body was

racked with a violent shuddering beyond control, his eyes

squeezed so tightly shut it was painful, though he was past

awareness of that. His teeth were exposed in a frozen grimace,

the strength draining like water from his knees and calves. It

was extremely likely, he knew, that he would faint, slump down

along the wall, his face scraping, and then drop backward, a limp

weight, out into nothing. And to save his life he concentrated on

holding on to consciousness, drawing deliberate deep breaths of

cold air into his lungs, fighting to keep his senses aware.

Then he knew that he would not faint, but he could not

stop shaking nor open his eyes. He stood where he was, breath-

ing deeply, trying to hold back the terror of the glimpse he had

had of what lay below him; and he knew he had made a mistake

in not making himself stare down at the street, getting used to it

and accepting it, when he had first stepped out onto the ledge.

It was impossible to walk back. He simply could not do it.

He couldn’t bring himself to make the slightest movement. The

strength was gone from his legs; his shivering hands—numb, cold,

and desperately rigid—had lost all deftness;6 his easy ability to

move and balance was gone. Within a step or two, if he tried to

move, he knew that he would stumble clumsily and fall.

Seconds passed, with the chill faint wind pressing the side

of his face, and he could hear the toned-down volume of the

street traffic far beneath him. Again and again it slowed and

then stopped, almost to silence; then presently, even this high, he

would hear the click of the traffic signals and the subdued roar

of the cars starting up again. During a lull in the street sounds,

he called out. Then he was shouting “Help!” so loudly it rasped

his throat. But he felt the steady pressure of the wind, moving

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Circle the prefix in impossible(line 268). What word is theprefix attached to? How doesthe prefix change the word’smeaning?

Pause at line 273. Do youpredict that Tom will make itto safety? Why or why not?

6. deftness n.: skillfulness; coordination.


between his face and the blank wall, snatch up his cries as he

uttered them, and he knew they must sound directionless and

distant. And he remembered how habitually, here in New York,

he himself heard and ignored shouts in the night. If anyone

heard him, there was no sign of it, and presently Tom Benecke

knew he had to try moving; there was nothing else he could do.

Eyes squeezed shut, he watched scenes in his mind like

scraps of motion-picture film—he could not stop them. He saw

himself stumbling suddenly sideways as he crept along the ledge

and saw his upper body arc outward, arms flailing. He saw a

dangling shoestring caught between the ledge and the sole of his

other shoe, saw a foot start to move, to be stopped with a jerk,

and felt his balance leaving him. He saw himself falling with a

terrible speed as his body revolved in the air, knees clutched

tight to his chest, eyes squeezed shut, moaning softly.

Out of utter necessity, knowing that any of these thoughts

might be reality in the very next seconds, he was slowly able to

shut his mind against every thought but what he now began to

do. With fear-soaked slowness, he slid his left foot an inch or

two toward his own impossibly distant window. Then he slid the

fingers of his shivering left hand a corresponding distance. For a

moment he could not bring himself to lift his right foot from

one ledge to the other; then he did it, and became aware of the

harsh exhalation of air from his throat and realized that he was

panting. As his right hand, then, began to slide along the brick

edging, he was astonished to feel the yellow paper pressed to the

bricks underneath his stiff fingers, and he uttered a terrible,

abrupt bark that might have been a laugh or a moan. He opened

his mouth and took the paper in his teeth, pulling it out from

under his fingers.

By a kind of trick—by concentrating his entire mind on

first his left foot, then his left hand, then the other foot, then

the other hand—he was able to move, almost imperceptibly,

trembling steadily, very nearly without thought. But he could

feel the terrible strength of the pent-up horror on just the other

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exhalation (eks≈h¥·l†√◊¥n) n.:something breathed out;breath.

Change exhalation to itsopposite by changing theprefix.

imperceptibly(im≈p¥r·sep√t¥·bl≤) adv.: insuch a slight way as to bealmost unnoticeable.

Change imperceptibly to itsopposite by dropping theprefix.

NotesNotes


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side of the flimsy barrier he had erected in his mind; and he

knew that if it broke through he would lose this thin, artificial

control of his body.

During one slow step he tried keeping his eyes closed; it

made him feel safer, shutting him off a little from the fearful

reality of where he was. Then a sudden rush of giddiness swept

over him and he had to open his eyes wide, staring sideways at

the cold rough brick and angled lines of mortar, his cheek tight

against the building. He kept his eyes open then, knowing that

if he once let them flick outward, to stare for an instant at the

lighted windows across the street, he would be past help.

He didn’t know how many dozens of tiny sidling steps he

had taken, his chest, belly, and face pressed to the wall; but he

knew the slender hold he was keeping on his mind and body

was going to break. He had a sudden mental picture of his

apartment on just the other side of this wall—warm, cheerful,

incredibly spacious. And he saw himself striding through it,

lying down on the floor on his back, arms spread wide, reveling7

in its unbelievable security. The impossible remoteness of this

7. reveling (rev√¥l·i«) v. used as adj.: taking great pleasure or delight.

Re-read lines 320–325. Circlewhat Tom tries to do as hewalks the ledge. Then,underline two immediateeffects of that action.

NotesNotes

Pause at line 319. What sortof conflict is Tom facing? Is it an internal or externalconflict?

© Lawrence Thornton/Getty Images.


utter safety, the contrast between it and where he now stood,

was more than he could bear. And the barrier broke then, and

the fear of the awful height he stood on coursed through his

nerves and muscles.

A fraction of his mind knew he was going to fall, and he began

taking rapid blind steps with no feeling of what he was doing,

sidling with a clumsy desperate swiftness, fingers scrabbling

along the brick, almost hopelessly resigned to the sudden

backward pull and swift motion outward and down. Then

his moving left hand slid onto not brick but sheer emptiness,

an impossible gap in the face of the wall, and he stumbled.

His right foot smashed into his left anklebone; he staggered

sideways, began falling, and the claw of his hand cracked against

glass and wood, slid down it, and his fingertips were pressed

hard on the puttyless edging of his window. His right hand

smacked gropingly beside it as he fell to his knees; and, under

the full weight and direct downward pull of his sagging body,

the open window dropped shudderingly in its frame till it closed

and his wrists struck the sill and were jarred off.

For a single moment he knelt, knee bones against stone on

the very edge of the ledge, body swaying and touching nowhere

else, fighting for balance. Then he lost it, his shoulders plunging

backward, and he flung his arms forward, his hands smashing

against the window casing on either side; and—his body moving

backward—his fingers clutched the narrow wood stripping of

the upper pane.

For an instant he hung suspended between balance and

falling, his fingertips pressed onto the quarter-inch wood strips.

Then, with utmost delicacy, with a focused concentration of all

his senses, he increased even further the strain on his fingertips

hooked to these slim edgings of wood. Elbows slowly bending,

he began to draw the full weight of his upper body forward,

knowing that the instant his fingers slipped off these quarter-

inch strips he’d plunge backward and be falling. Elbows

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Re-read lines 340–354. Whatis the “sheer emptiness” Tomencounters? Explain whathappens next.

What causes the “barrier” tobreak (lines 337–339)?

Read the boxed passagealoud twice. On your secondread, focus on your pacingand delivery.


imperceptibly bending, body shaking with the strain, the sweat

starting from his forehead in great sudden drops, he pulled, his

entire being and thought concentrated in his fingertips. Then,

suddenly, the strain slackened and ended, his chest touching

the windowsill, and he was kneeling on the ledge, his forehead

pressed to the glass of the closed window.

Dropping his palms to the sill, he stared into his living

room—at the red-brown davenport8 across the room, and a

magazine he had left there; at the pictures on the walls and the

gray rug; the entrance to the hallway; and at his papers, type-

writer, and desk, not two feet from his nose. A movement from

his desk caught his eye and he saw that it was a thin curl of

blue smoke; his cigarette, the ash long, was still burning in the

ashtray where he’d left it—this was past all belief—only a few

minutes before.

His head moved, and in faint reflection from the glass

before him, he saw the yellow paper clenched in his front teeth.

Lifting a hand from the sill he took it from his mouth; the

moistened corner parted from the paper, and he spat it out.

For a moment, in the light from the living room, he stared

wonderingly at the yellow sheet in his hand and then crushed

it into the side pocket of his jacket.

He couldn’t open the window. It had been pulled not

completely closed, but its lower edge was below the level of the

outside sill; there was no room to get his fingers underneath it.

Between the upper sash and the lower was a gap not wide

enough—reaching up, he tried—to get his fingers into; he

couldn’t push it open. The upper window panel, he knew from

long experience, was impossible to move, frozen tight with

dried paint.

Very carefully observing his balance, the fingertips of his

left hand again hooked to the narrow stripping of the window

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The many details, or compli-cations, of Tom’s dangerousexperience make it seem as if Tom had been on the ledgefor a long time. Circle thewords in lines 380–384 thattell how long he has reallybeen on the ledge.

8. davenport (dav√¥n·pôrt≈) n.: large sofa or couch.

Pause at line 399. What mightTom do now?


casing, he drew back his right hand, palm facing the glass, and

then struck the glass with the heel of his hand.

His arm rebounded from the pane, his body tottering, and

he knew he didn’t dare strike a harder blow.

But in the security and relief of his new position, he simply

smiled; with only a sheet of glass between him and the room

just before him, it was not possible that there wasn’t a way past

it. Eyes narrowing, he thought for a few moments about what

to do. Then his eyes widened, for nothing occurred to him. But

still he felt calm; the trembling, he realized, had stopped. At the

back of his mind there still lay the thought that once he was

again in his home, he could give release to his feelings. He

actually would lie on the floor, rolling, clenching tufts of the rug

in his hands. He would literally run across the room, free to

move as he liked, jumping on the floor, testing and reveling

in its absolute security, letting the relief flood through him,

draining the fear from his mind and body. His yearning for this

was astonishingly intense, and somehow he understood that he

had better keep this feeling at bay.

He took a half dollar from his pocket and struck it against

the pane, but without any hope that the glass would break and

with very little disappointment when it did not. After a few

moments of thought he drew his leg up onto the ledge and

picked loose the knot of his shoelace. He slipped off the shoe

and, holding it across the instep, drew back his arm as far as he

dared and struck the leather heel against the glass. The pane

rattled, but he knew he’d been a long way from breaking it. His

foot was cold and he slipped the shoe back on. He shouted

again, experimentally, and then once more, but there was

no answer.

The realization suddenly struck him that he might have to

wait here till Clare came home, and for a moment the thought

was funny. He could see Clare opening the front door, with-

drawing her key from the lock, closing the door behind her, and

then glancing up to see him crouched on the other side of the

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Why does Tom have to keephis desire for security andrelief “at bay,” or in thebackground (lines 418–420)?

Tom is so close to safety, yetso far away. In lines 421–431,circle the three ways Tomtries to get into the room.

rebounded (ri·b¡nd√id) v.:bounced back.

Circle the prefix in rebounded.What does the prefix mean?


window. He could see her rush across the room, face astounded

and frightened, and hear himself shouting instructions: “Never

mind how I got here! Just open the wind—” She couldn’t open

it, he remembered, she’d never been able to; she’d always had

to call him. She’d have to get the building superintendent or a

neighbor, and he pictured himself smiling and answering their

questions as he climbed in. “I just wanted to get a breath of fresh

air, so—”

He couldn’t possibly wait here till Clare came home. It was

the second feature she’d wanted to see, and she’d left in time to

see the first. She’d be another three hours or— He glanced at his

watch; Clare had been gone eight minutes. It wasn’t possible,

but only eight minutes ago he had kissed his wife goodbye. She

wasn’t even at the theater yet!

It would be four hours before she could possibly be home,

and he tried to picture himself kneeling out here, fingertips

hooked to these narrow strippings, while first one movie,

preceded by a slow listing of credits, began, developed, reached

its climax, and then finally ended. There’d be a newsreel next,

maybe, and then an animated cartoon, and then interminable

scenes from coming pictures. And then, once more, the begin-

ning of a full-length picture—while all the time he hung out

here in the night.

He might possibly get to his feet, but he was afraid to try.

Already his legs were cramped, his thigh muscles tired; his knees

hurt, his feet felt numb, and his hands were stiff. He couldn’t

possibly stay out here for four hours or anywhere near it. Long

before that his legs and arms would give out; he would be forced

to try changing his position often—stiffly, clumsily, his coordi-

nation and strength gone—and he would fall. Quite realistically,

he knew that he would fall; no one could stay out here on this

ledge for four hours.

A dozen windows in the apartment building across the

street were lighted. Looking over his shoulder, he could see the

top of a man’s head behind the newspaper he was reading; in

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Circle the words in lines445–450 that tell how longClare has been gone. Under-line the words in lines451–455 that tell how long it will be before Clare getshome.

interminable(in·t∞r√mi·n¥·b¥l) adj.:endless.


another window he saw the blue-gray flicker of a television

screen. No more than twenty-odd yards from his back were

scores of people, and if just one of them would walk idly to his

window and glance out. . . . For some moments he stared over

his shoulder at the lighted rectangles, waiting. But no one

appeared. The man reading his paper turned a page and then

continued his reading. A figure passed another of the windows

and was immediately gone.

In the inside pocket of his jacket he found a little sheaf of

papers, and he pulled one out and looked at it in the light from

the living room. It was an old letter, an advertisement of some

sort; his name and address, in purple ink, were on a label pasted

to the envelope. Gripping one end of the envelope in his teeth,

he twisted it into a tight curl. From his shirt pocket he brought

out a book of matches. He didn’t dare let go the casing with

both hands but, with the twist of paper in his teeth, he opened

the matchbook with his free hand; then he bent one of the

matches in two without tearing it from the folder, its red-tipped

end now touching the striking surface. With his thumb, he

rubbed the red tip across the striking area.

He did it again, then again, and still again, pressing harder

each time, and the match suddenly flared, burning his thumb.

But he kept it alight, cupping the matchbook in his hand and

shielding it with his body. He held the flame to the paper in his

mouth till it caught. Then he snuffed out the match flame with

his thumb and forefinger, careless of the burn, and replaced the

book in his pocket. Taking the paper twist in his hand, he held it

flame down, watching the flame crawl up the paper, till it flared

bright. Then he held it behind him over the street, moving it

from side to side, watching it over his shoulder, the flame flick-

ering and guttering in the wind.

There were three letters in his pocket and he lighted each

of them, holding each till the flame touched his hand and then

dropping it to the street below. At one point, watching over his

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Pause at line 502. How is Tomtrying to solve his problem?

NotesNotes


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shoulder while the last of the letters burned, he saw the man

across the street put down his paper and stand—even seeming,

to Tom, to glance toward his window. But when he moved, it

was only to walk across the room and disappear from sight.

There were a dozen coins in Tom Benecke’s pocket and he

dropped them, three or four at a time. But if they struck anyone,

or if anyone noticed their falling, no one connected them with

their source, and no one glanced upward.

His arms had begun to tremble from the steady strain of

clinging to this narrow perch, and he did not know what to do

now and was terribly frightened. Clinging to the window strip-

ping with one hand, he again searched his pockets. But now—

he had left his wallet on his dresser when he’d changed clothes—

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Pause at line 509. At this pointin the story, what eventscould happen next?

© Euan Myles/Getty Images.


there was nothing left but the yellow sheet. It occurred to him

irrelevantly that his death on the sidewalk below would be an

eternal mystery; the window closed—why, how, and from where

could he have fallen? No one would be able to identify his body

for a time, either—the thought was somehow unbearable and

increased his fear. All they’d find in his pockets would be the

yellow sheet. Contents of the dead man’s pockets, he thought, one

sheet of paper bearing penciled notations—incomprehensible.

He understood fully that he might actually be going to die;

his arms, maintaining his balance on the ledge, were trembling

steadily now. And it occurred to him then with all the force of a

revelation that, if he fell, all he was ever going to have out of life

he would then, abruptly, have had. Nothing, then, could ever be

changed; and nothing more—no least experience or pleasure—

could ever be added to his life. He wished, then, that he had not

allowed his wife to go off by herself tonight—and on similar

nights. He thought of all the evenings he had spent away from

her, working; and he regretted them. He thought wonderingly

of his fierce ambition and of the direction his life had taken; he

thought of the hours he’d spent by himself, filling the yellow

sheet that had brought him out here. Contents of the dead man’s

pockets, he thought with sudden fierce anger, a wasted life.

He was simply not going to cling here till he slipped and

fell; he told himself that now. There was one last thing he could

try; he had been aware of it for some moments, refusing to think

about it, but now he faced it. Kneeling here on the ledge, the

fingertips of one hand pressed to the narrow strip of wood, he

could, he knew, draw his other hand back a yard perhaps, fist

clenched tight, doing it very slowly till he sensed the outer limit

of balance, then, as hard as he was able from the distance, he

could drive his fist forward against the glass. If it broke, his fist

smashing through, he was safe; he might cut himself badly, and

probably would, but with his arm inside the room, he would be

secure. But if the glass did not break, the rebound, flinging his

arm back, would topple him off the ledge. He was certain of that.

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d.Pause at line 553. What arethe possible effects of Tom’splan?

irrelevantly (i·rel√¥·v¥nt·l≤)adv.: in a way not related tothe point or situation.

incomprehensible(in·käm≈pr≤·hen√s¥·b¥l) adj.:not understandable.

Pause at line 526. Why doesit matter to Tom that no onewould understand the yellowsheet of paper?


He tested his plan. The fingers of his left hand clawlike on

the little stripping, he drew back his other fist until his body

began teetering backward. But he had no leverage now—he

could feel that there would be no force to his swing—and he

moved his fist slowly forward till he rocked forward on his knees

again and could sense that his swing would carry its greatest

force. Glancing down, however, measuring the distance from

his fist to the glass, he saw that it was less than two feet.

It occurred to him that he could raise his arm over his head,

to bring it down against the glass. But, experimentally in slow

motion, he knew it would be an awkward blow without the force

of a driving punch, and not nearly enough to break the glass.

Facing the window, he had to drive a blow from the shoulder,

he knew now, at a distance of less than two feet; and he did not

know whether it would break through the heavy glass. It might;

he could picture it happening, he could feel it in the nerves of

his arm. And it might not; he could feel that too—feel his fist

striking this glass and being instantaneously flung back by the

unbreaking pane, feel the fingers of his other hand breaking

loose, nails scraping along the casing as he fell.

He waited, arm drawn back, fist balled, but in no hurry

to strike; this pause, he knew, might be an extension of his life.

And to live even a few seconds longer, he felt, even out here

on this ledge in the night, was infinitely better than to die a

moment earlier than he had to. His arm grew tired, and he

brought it down and rested it.

Then he knew that it was time to make the attempt. He

could not kneel here hesitating indefinitely till he lost all

courage to act, waiting till he slipped off the ledge. Again he

drew back his arm, knowing this time that he would not bring

it down till he struck. His elbow protruding over Lexington

Avenue far below, the fingers of his other hand pressed down

bloodlessly tight against the narrow stripping, he waited, feeling

the sick tenseness and terrible excitement building. It grew and

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Underline the sentence inlines 574–579 that explainswhy Tom hesitates.

Examine the word instanta-neously (line 571). Circle thesmaller word within it that is familiar to you. Then,underline its suffix, or word ending. What doesinstantaneously mean?

Pause at line 565. Will Tombe able to break the glass?Explain.


swelled toward the moment of action, his nerves tautening. He

thought of Clare—just a wordless, yearning thought—and then

drew his arm back just a bit more, fist so tight his fingers pained

him, and knowing he was going to do it. Then with full power,

with every last scrap of strength he could bring to bear, he shot

his arm forward toward the glass, and he said “Clare!”

He heard the sound, felt the blow, felt himself falling

forward, and his hand closed on the living-room curtains, the

shards and fragments of glass showering onto the floor. And

then, kneeling there on the ledge, an arm thrust into the room up

to the shoulder, he began picking away the protruding slivers and

great wedges of glass from the window frame, tossing them in

onto the rug. And, as he grasped the edges of the empty window

frame and climbed into his home, he was grinning in triumph.

He did not lie down on the floor or run through the apartment,

as he had promised himself; even in the first few moments it

seemed to him natural and normal that he should be where he

was. He simply turned to his desk, pulled the crumpled yellow

sheet from his pocket, and laid it down where it had been,

smoothing it out; then he absently laid a pencil across it to

weight it down. He shook his head wonderingly, and turned

to walk toward the closet.

There he got out his topcoat and hat and, without waiting

to put them on, opened the front door and stepped out, to go

find his wife. He turned to pull the door closed and warm air

from the hall rushed through the narrow opening again. As he

saw the yellow paper, the pencil flying, scooped off the desk and,

unimpeded by the glassless window, sail out into the night and

out of his life, Tom Benecke burst into laughter and then closed

the door behind him.

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unimpeded (un≈im·p≤d√id)adj.: not blocked; unobstructed.

Unimpeded has the prefixun–, meaning “not.” If youremove the prefix, you havethe word impeded, meaning“blocked; obstructed.” TheLatin root –pede– means“foot.” Impede comes direct-ly from a Latin word meaning“to hold someone by thefoot.”

At the end of the story, whydoes Tom laugh when hesees the yellow sheet ofpaper fly out the window?

The climax is the most excit-ing part of a story. Underlinethe sentence in lines 588–593that is the climax.


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Story Map Review the sequence of events in “Contents of the Dead Man’s

Pocket.” Then, fill in the Story Map below.

Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket

Title

Setting

Characters

Problem

Event 1

Event 2

Event 3

Event 4

Event 5 (Climax)

Resolution


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Complete the sample test item below. The box at the right explains why three of these

choices are not correct.


Skills ReviewSkills Review


Explanation of the Correct Answer

The correct answer is B.

A is incorrect because Tom’s boss is not

mentioned in the story. C is incorrect be-

cause Tom and his wife haven’t argued.

D is also incorrect; Tom has trouble

lighting the matches, but the matches

present only a minor difficulty.

Sample Test Item

One conflict of the story takes place

between—

A Tom and his boss

B Tom and his own ambition

C Tom and his wife

D Tom and a book of matches

4. The author slows down time by—

F using flashback and foreshadowing

G describing the events moment by

moment

H setting the story on the eleventh-

floor ledge

J focusing on one character

5. At the resolution of “Contents of

the Dead Man’s Pocket” Tom realizes

that—

A work is less important

B work is more important

C family and work are of equal

importance

D family is less important

1. The setting of “Contents of the Dead

Man’s Pocket” provides—

A beauty C suspense

B humor D romance

2. All of the following describe Tom’s

internal conflicts except—

F deciding between work and the

movies

G overcoming his fear

H fighting the temptation to look

down

J rescuing the paper from the ledge

3. In the story’s sequence of events,

which event happens last?

A Tom breaks the window.

B Tom lights the matches.

C Clare goes to the movies.

D Tom steps out onto the ledge.

DIRECTIONS: Answer the following questions by circling the letter of the best response.

Literary SkillsAnalyze time

and sequence.


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Skills ReviewSkills Review

1. _____ re– a. no; not

2. _____ un– b. forward

3. _____ sub– c. again

4. _____ pro– d. below

Prefixes

DIRECTIONS: Match each prefix with its definition by writing

the correct letter on the line.


Vocabulary in Context

DIRECTIONS: Complete the paragraph by writing a word from the word box

to fit in each sentence below. Not all words will be used.

projection

discarding

confirmation

exhalation

incomprehensible

rebounded

unimpeded

irrelevantly

interminable

imperceptibly

Word BoxWord Box Tom crept on the ledge, holding his breath, then let out a great

(1) of air. So (2) did

he move that Tom felt as if he were standing still. He had been on the

ledge, he thought, an (3) length of time.

However, his burning cigarette was (4) that he

had actually been there only a few minutes. Staring at his unreadable,

(5) scrawl on the sheet of paper, he wondered

why the work had seemed so important.

VocabularySkillsUnderstandprefixes. Usewords incontext.


Student Pages with Answers 3

Co

nte

nts

of

the

Dea

d M

an’s

Po

cket

5

pro

ject

ion

(pr£

·jek√

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om

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’s pa

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and

the

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roje

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icki

ng o

ut fr

om t

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all.

dis

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ing

(dis

·kär

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)v.

use

d a

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j.:ab

and

on

-

ing

; get

tin

g r

id o

f.

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con

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ledg

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ide

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exh

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(eks

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n.:

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bre

ath

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bre

ath

.

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oldi

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is b

reat

h,To

m fe

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n ex

hala

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imp

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≈p¥r

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)ad

v.:i

n s

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ceab

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taki

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iny,

caut

ious

ste

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reb

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v.:b

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ack.

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e br

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the

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,Tom

’s ar

mre

bou

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b¥l

)ad

j.:en

dle

ss.

Alt

houg

h th

e ti

me

seem

ed i

nte

rmin

able

,Tom

had

been

on

the

ledg

e on

ly a

few

min

utes

.

irre

leva

ntl

y(i

·rel

√¥·v

¥nt·

l≤)

adv.

:in

a w

ay n

ot

rela

tin

g t

o t

he

po

int

or

situ

atio

n.

Tom

tho

ught

irr

elev

antl

yab

out

the

apar

tmen

tfu

rnis

hing

s,as

ifth

e co

zy r

oom

s co

uld

stop

him

from

plu

ngin

g to

his

dea

th.

inco

mp

reh

ensi

ble

(in

·käm

≈pr≤

·hen

√s¥·

b¥l

)ad

j.:

no

t u

nd

erst

and

able

.

The

puz

zlin

g sh

eet

ofpa

per

in h

is p

ocke

t w

ould

be i

nco

mpr

ehen

sibl

eto

any

one

who

foun

d hi

sbo

dy.

un

imp

eded

(un

≈im·p

≤d√id

)ad

j.:n

ot

blo

cked

;

un

ob

stru

cted

.

The

yel

low

pap

er fl

ew o

ut t

he w

indo

w; i

tspr

ogre

ss w

as u

nim

pede

d.

PREV

IEW

SEL

ECTI

ON

VOCA

BULA

RYPr

evie

w t

he

follo

win

g w

ord

s fr

om

th

e st

ory

bef

ore

yo

u b

egin

rea

din

g.

Copyright © by Holt,Rinehart and Winston.All rights reserved.

PREF

IXES

Just

by

add

ing

a f

ew le

tter

s u

p f

ron

t, y

ou

can

tu

rn a

pp

ear

into

rea

pp

ear,

likel

y in

to u

nlik

ely,

and

fre

ezin

gin

to s

ub

free

zin

g. R

e–, u

n–,

and

su

b–

are

pre

fixe

s,w

ord

par

ts t

hat

att

ach

to

th

e fr

on

t o

f a

wo

rd o

r w

ord

ro

ot

to

chan

ge

its

mea

nin

g. R

e–m

ean

s “a

gai

n”;

un

–m

ean

s “n

ot”

; su

b–

mea

ns

“bel

ow

.”

As

you

rea

d, l

oo

k fo

r w

ord

s w

ith

th

ese

or

oth

er p

refi

xes.

Use

yo

ur

kno

wle

dg

e o

f p

refi

xes

to h

elp

yo

u f

igu

re o

ut

the

mea

nin

gs

of

som

e

un

fam

iliar

wo

rds.

4C

olle

ctio

n 1

:Pl

ot

and

Set

tin

gPa

rt 1

“Co

nte

nts

of

the

Dea

d M

an’s

Po

cket

” is

fu

ll o

f su

spen

se, a

s th

e m

ain

ch

arac

ter

face

s a

seri

es o

f lif

e-an

d-d

eath

dec

isio

ns.

Sta

y ca

lm a

nd

rea

d t

he

sto

ry c

aref

ully

,

on

e st

ep a

t a

tim

e, a

nd

wh

atev

er y

ou

do

—d

on

’t lo

ok

do

wn

!

LITE

RARY

FO

CUS:

TIM

E AN

D SE

QUE

NCE

Mo

st s

ho

rt s

tori

es c

an b

e re

ad in

on

e si

ttin

g, u

sual

ly in

less

th

an a

n h

ou

r.

The

even

ts in

a s

ho

rt s

tory

, ho

wev

er, m

ay s

pan

ho

urs

, wee

ks, m

on

ths,

or

year

s. “

Co

nte

nts

of

the

Dea

d M

an’s

Po

cket

” is

str

ikin

g b

ecau

se it

s ev

ents

take

pla

ce in

“re

al t

ime.

” In

oth

er w

ord

s, t

he

tim

e it

tak

es y

ou

to

rea

d t

he

sto

ry r

ou

gh

ly e

qu

als

the

tim

e fr

ame

of

the

sto

ry it

self

.

•A

s yo

u r

ead

, no

tice

ho

w t

he

slo

wn

ess

of

the

tim

e fr

ame

hel

ps

crea

te

susp

ense

.

•A

s ev

ents

un

fold

, pay

att

enti

on

to

th

e m

ain

ch

arac

ter’

s in

tern

al c

on

flic

t:

his

str

ug

gle

ag

ain

st f

ear.

READ

ING

SKIL

LS:

UNDE

RSTA

NDIN

G CA

USE

AND

EFFE

CTA

cau

seis

wh

at m

akes

so

met

hin

g h

app

en. A

n e

ffec

tis

th

e re

sult

, or

wh

at

hap

pen

s. Im

agin

e, f

or

exam

ple

, th

at a

hu

rric

ane

blo

ws

thro

ug

h a

sea

sid

e

tow

n. T

he

fier

ce w

ind

s o

vert

urn

bo

ats

and

des

tro

y h

ou

ses.

Th

e w

ind

s ar

e

the

cau

se. T

he

effe

ct, o

r re

sult

, is

the

dam

age.

In a

wel

l-w

ritt

en s

tory

, th

e ev

ents

th

at m

ake

up

th

e p

lot

are

clo

sely

rel

ated

:

On

e ev

ent

cau

ses

ano

ther

eve

nt,

wh

ich

lead

s to

an

oth

er e

ven

t, a

nd

so

on

.

To f

ind

a c

ause

, ask

yo

urs

elf,

“W

hy

did

th

is e

ven

t h

app

en?”

To

iden

tify

an

effe

ct, a

sk y

ou

rsel

f, “

Wh

at h

app

ened

as

a re

sult

of

this

eve

nt?

” K

eep

in

min

d t

hat

an

eff

ect,

or

resu

lt, c

an s

tem

fro

m s

ever

al c

ause

s, a

nd

th

at o

ne

cau

se c

an le

ad t

o s

ever

al e

ffec

ts.

To h

elp

yo

u t

rack

cau

se-a

nd

-eff

ect

rela

tio

nsh

ips

as y

ou

rea

d, f

ill in

a c

har

t

like

the

on

e b

elo

w. I

n t

he

left

-han

d c

olu

mn

, lis

t th

e ca

use

; in

th

e ri

gh

t-h

and

colu

mn

, lis

t th

e ef

fect

. Th

e fi

rst

on

e h

as b

een

do

ne

as a

n e

xam

ple

.


Cont

ents

of

the

Dead

Man

’sPo

cket

by

Jack

Fin

ney

Lit

era

ry S

kills

Und

erst

and

tim

e an

dse

quen

ce.

Readin

gSkills

Und

erst

and

caus

e an

def

fect

.

Voca

bula

rySkills

Und

erst

and

pref

ixes

.

The

apar

tmen

t d

oo

r is

op

ened

.A

sh

eet

of

yello

w p

aper

is b

low

n

ou

t th

e w

ind

ow

.

Ca

use

Eff

ect

Collection 1Student Pages 4–5

4 The Holt Reader: Teacher’s Manual


Bu

t st

ill h

e di

dn’t

beg

in h

is w

ork.

He

cros

sed

the

room

to

the

hal

lway

en

tran

ce a

nd,

lean

ing

agai

nst

th

e do

orja

mb,

han

ds

shov

ed in

to h

is b

ack

pock

ets

agai

n,h

e ca

lled,

“Cla

re?”

Wh

en h

is

wif

e an

swer

ed,h

e sa

id,“

Sure

you

don

’t m

ind

goin

g al

one?

”

“No.

”H

er v

oice

was

mu

ffle

d,an

d h

e kn

ew h

er h

ead

and

shou

lder

s w

ere

in t

he

bedr

oom

clo

set.

Th

en t

he

tap

ofh

er h

igh

hee

ls s

oun

ded

on t

he

woo

d fl

oor,

and

she

appe

ared

at

the

end

of

the

littl

e h

allw

ay,w

eari

ng

a sl

ip,b

oth

han

ds r

aise

d to

on

e ea

r,30

Co

nte

nts

of

the

Dea

d M

an’s

Po

cket

7

Notes

Notes

© P

ete

Seaw

ard

/Get

ty Im

ages

.


At

the

littl

e liv

ing-

room

des

k To

m B

enec

ke r

olle

d tw

o sh

eets

offl

imsy

1an

d a

hea

vier

top

sh

eet,

carb

on p

aper

san

dwic

hed

betw

een

th

em,i

nto

his

por

tabl

e.In

tero

ffic

e M

emo,

the

top

shee

t

was

hea

ded,

and

he

type

d to

mor

row

’s d

ate

just

bel

ow t

his

;th

en

he

glan

ced

at a

cre

ased

yel

low

sh

eet,

cove

red

wit

h h

is o

wn

han

d-

wri

tin

g,be

side

th

e ty

pew

rite

r.“H

ot in

her

e,”

he

mu

tter

ed t

o

him

self

.Th

en,f

rom

th

e sh

ort

hal

lway

at

his

bac

k,h

e h

eard

th

e

mu

ffle

d cl

ang

ofw

ire

coat

han

gers

in t

he

bedr

oom

clo

set,

and

at t

his

rem

inde

r of

wh

at h

is w

ife

was

doi

ng

he

thou

ght:

hot

guilt

y co

nsc

ien

ce.

He

got

up,

shov

ing

his

han

ds in

to t

he

back

poc

kets

of

his

gray

was

h s

lack

s,st

eppe

d to

th

e liv

ing-

room

win

dow

bes

ide

the

desk

an

d st

ood

brea

thin

g on

th

e gl

ass,

wat

chin

g th

e ex

pan

din

g

circ

let

ofm

ist,

star

ing

dow

n t

hro

ugh

th

e au

tum

n n

igh

t at

Lexi

ngt

on A

ven

ue,

2el

even

sto

ries

bel

ow.H

e w

as a

tal

l,le

an,

dark

-hai

red

you

ng

man

in a

pu

llove

r sw

eate

r,w

ho

look

ed a

s

thou

gh h

e h

ad p

laye

d n

ot f

ootb

all,

prob

ably

,bu

t ba

sket

ball

in

colle

ge.N

ow h

e pl

aced

th

e h

eels

of

his

han

ds a

gain

st t

he

top

edge

of

the

low

er w

indo

w f

ram

e an

d sh

oved

upw

ard.

Bu

t as

usu

al t

he

win

dow

did

n’t

budg

e,an

d h

e h

ad t

o lo

wer

his

han

ds

and

then

sh

oot

them

har

d u

pwar

d to

jolt

th

e w

indo

w o

pen

a

few

inch

es.H

e du

sted

his

han

ds,m

utt

erin

g.

10 20

6C

olle

ctio

n 1

:Pl

ot

and

Set

tin

gPa

rt 1

Jack

Fin

ney

Sett

ing

is t

he

tim

e an

d p

lace

of

a st

ory

. Un

der

line

the

wo

rds

in li

ne

15 t

hat

tel

l h

ow

far

ab

ove

th

e st

reet

Tom

’s a

par

tmen

t is

.

1.fl

imsy

n.:

thin

pap

er u

sed

fo

r ty

pin

g c

arb

on

co

pie

s. B

efo

re c

om

pu

ters

and

co

pyi

ng

mac

hin

es, c

op

ies

of

bu

sin

ess

com

mu

nic

atio

ns

wer

em

ade

wit

h c

arb

on

pap

er.

2.Le

xin

gto

n A

ven

ue:

on

e o

f th

e m

ain

str

eets

in N

ew Y

ork

Cit

y.

Port

able

is u

sual

ly a

n a

dje

c-ti

ve, m

ean

ing

“ab

le t

o b

eca

rrie

d.”

Her

e, in

lin

e 3,

th

ew

ord

is a

no

un

, nam

ing

ath

ing

. Rea

d o

n, a

nd

cir

cle

wh

at p

ort

able

refe

rs t

o.

“Co

nte

nts

of

the

Dea

d M

an’s

Po

cket

” b

y Ja

ck F

inn

ey. C

op

yrig

ht

© 1

956

by

Cro

wel

l-C

olli

er C

om

pan

y;

cop

yrig

ht

ren

ewed

© 1

984

by

Jack

Fin

ney

. Rep

rin

ted

by

per

mis

sio

n o

f D

on

Co

ng

do

n A

sso

ciat

es, I

nc.



smal

ler

open

ing

now

,su

dden

ly r

ush

ed p

ast

him

wit

h a

ccel

erat

ed

forc

e.B

ehin

d h

im h

e h

eard

th

e sl

ap o

fth

e w

indo

w c

urt

ain

s

agai

nst

th

e w

all a

nd

the

sou

nd

ofpa

per

flu

tter

ing

from

his

des

k,

and

he

had

to

push

to

clos

e th

e do

or.

Turn

ing,

he

saw

a s

hee

t of

wh

ite

pap

er d

rift

ing

to t

he

floo

r

in a

ser

ies

ofar

cs,a

nd

anot

her

sh

eet,

yello

w,m

ovin

g to

war

d th

e

win

dow

,cau

ght

in t

he

dyin

g cu

rren

t fl

owin

g th

rou

gh t

he

nar

-

row

ope

nin

g.A

s h

e w

atch

ed,t

he

pap

er s

tru

ck t

he

bott

om e

dge

ofth

e w

indo

w a

nd

hun

g th

ere

for

an in

stan

t,pl

aste

red

agai

nst

the

glas

s an

d w

ood.

Th

en a

s th

e m

ovin

g ai

r st

illed

com

plet

ely,

the

curt

ain

s sw

ingi

ng

back

fro

m t

he

wal

l to

han

g fr

ee a

gain

,he

saw

th

e ye

llow

sh

eet

drop

to

the

win

dow

ledg

e an

d sl

ide

over

out

ofsi

ght.

He

ran

acr

oss

the

room

,gra

sped

th

e bo

ttom

of

the

win

dow

and

tugg

ed,s

tari

ng

thro

ugh

th

e gl

ass.

He

saw

th

e ye

llow

sh

eet,

dim

ly n

ow in

th

e da

rkn

ess

outs

ide,

lyin

g on

th

e or

nam

enta

l

ledg

e a

yard

bel

ow t

he

win

dow

.Eve

n a

s h

e w

atch

ed,i

t w

as

mov

ing,

scra

pin

g sl

owly

alo

ng

the

ledg

e,pu

shed

by

the

bree

ze

that

pre

ssed

ste

adily

aga

inst

th

e bu

ildin

g w

all.

He

hea

ved

on t

he

win

dow

wit

h a

ll h

is s

tren

gth

,an

d it

sh

ot o

pen

wit

h a

ban

g,th

e

win

dow

wei

ght

ratt

ling

in t

he

casi

ng.

Bu

t th

e pa

per

was

pas

t

his

rea

ch a

nd,

lean

ing

out

into

th

e n

igh

t,h

e w

atch

ed it

scu

d3

stea

dily

alo

ng

the

ledg

e to

th

e so

uth

,hal

fpl

aste

red

agai

nst

th

e

build

ing

wal

l.A

bove

th

e m

uff

led

sou

nd

ofth

e st

reet

tra

ffic

far

belo

w,h

e co

uld

hea

r th

e dr

y sc

rape

of

its

mov

emen

t,lik

e a

leaf

on t

he

pave

men

t.

Th

e liv

ing

room

of

the

nex

t ap

artm

ent

to t

he

sou

th

proj

ecte

d a

yard

or

mor

e fu

rth

er o

ut

tow

ard

the

stre

et t

han

th

is

one;

beca

use

of

this

th

e B

enec

kes

paid

sev

en a

nd

a h

alf

dolla

rs

less

ren

t th

an t

hei

r n

eigh

bors

.An

d n

ow t

he

yello

w s

hee

t,sl

idin

g

alon

g th

e st

one

ledg

e,n

earl

y in

visi

ble

in t

he

nig

ht,

was

sto

pped

by t

he

proj

ecti

ng

blan

k w

all o

fth

e n

ext

apar

tmen

t.It

lay

mot

ion

less

,th

en,i

n t

he

corn

er f

orm

ed b

y th

e tw

o w

alls

—a

good

five

yar

ds a

way

,pre

ssed

fir

mly

aga

inst

th

e or

nat

e co

rner

70 80 90

Co

nte

nts

of

the

Dea

d M

an’s

Po

cket

9


Pau

se a

t lin

e 76

. Wh

at h

ap-

pen

s w

hen

th

e w

ind

ru

shes

thro

ug

h t

he

apar

tmen

t?

A y

ello

w s

hee

t o

f

pap

er b

low

s o

ut

the

win

do

w a

nd

ou

t o

f

sig

ht.

Cir

cle

the

pre

fix

in t

he

wo

rdin

visi

ble

(lin

e 94

). W

hat

do

esth

e p

refi

x m

ean

? W

hat

do

esin

visi

ble

mea

n?

Pref

ix in

–m

ean

s “n

ot”

;

invi

sib

lem

ean

s “n

ot

able

to

be

seen

.”

3.sc

ud

v.:g

lide

or

mo

ve s

wif

tly.

clip

pin

g on

an

ear

rin

g.Sh

e sm

iled

at h

im—

a sl

ende

r,ve

ry p

rett

y

girl

wit

h li

ght

brow

n,a

lmos

t bl

ond,

hai

r—h

er p

rett

ines

s em

pha-

size

d by

th

e pl

easa

nt

nat

ure

th

at s

how

ed in

her

fac

e.“I

t’s ju

st

that

I h

ate

you

to

mis

s th

is m

ovie

;you

wan

ted

to s

ee it

,too

.”

“Yea

h,I

kn

ow.”

He

ran

his

fin

gers

th

rou

gh h

is h

air.

“Got

to

get

this

don

e,th

ough

.”

She

nod

ded,

acce

ptin

g th

is.T

hen

,gla

nci

ng

at t

he

desk

acro

ss t

he

livin

g ro

om,s

he

said

,“Yo

u w

ork

too

mu

ch,t

hou

gh,

Tom

—an

d to

o h

ard.

”

He

smile

d.“Y

ou w

on’t

min

d,th

ough

,will

you

,wh

en t

he

mon

ey c

omes

rol

ling

in a

nd

I’m

kn

own

as

the

Boy

Wiz

ard

of

Wh

oles

ale

Gro

ceri

es?”

“I g

ues

s n

ot.”

She

smile

d an

d tu

rned

bac

k to

war

d th

e

bedr

oom

.

At

his

des

k ag

ain

,Tom

ligh

ted

a ci

gare

tte;

then

a f

ew m

omen

ts

late

r,as

Cla

re a

ppea

red,

dres

sed

and

read

y to

leav

e,h

e se

t it

on

the

rim

of

the

ash

tray

.“Ju

st a

fter

sev

en,”

she

said

.“I

can

mak

e

the

begi

nn

ing

ofth

e fi

rst

feat

ure

.”

He

wal

ked

to t

he

fron

t-do

or c

lose

t to

hel

p h

er o

n w

ith

her

coat

.He

kiss

ed h

er t

hen

an

d,fo

r an

inst

ant,

hol

din

g h

er c

lose

,

smel

ling

the

perf

um

e sh

e h

ad u

sed,

he

was

tem

pted

to

go w

ith

her

;it

was

not

act

ual

ly t

rue

that

he

had

to

wor

k to

nig

ht,

thou

gh

he v

ery

mu

ch w

ante

d to

.Thi

s w

as h

is o

wn

pro

ject

,un

ann

oun

ced

as y

et in

his

off

ice,

and

it c

ould

be

post

pon

ed.B

ut

then

th

ey

won

’t s

ee it

till

Mon

day,

he

thou

ght

once

aga

in,a

nd

ifI

give

it t

o

the

boss

tom

orro

w h

e m

igh

t re

ad it

ove

r th

e w

eeke

nd

...“

Hav

e

a go

od t

ime,

”h

e sa

id a

lou

d.H

e ga

ve h

is w

ife

a lit

tle

swat

an

d

open

ed t

he

door

for

her

,fee

ling

the

air

from

th

e bu

ildin

g h

all-

way

,sm

ellin

g fa

intl

y of

floo

r w

ax,s

trea

m g

entl

y pa

st h

is f

ace.

He

wat

ched

her

wal

k do

wn

th

e h

all,

flic

ked

a h

and

in

resp

onse

as

she

wav

ed,a

nd

then

he

star

ted

to c

lose

th

e do

or,

but

it r

esis

ted

for

a m

omen

t.A

s th

e do

or o

pen

ing

nar

row

ed,t

he

curr

ent

ofw

arm

air

fro

m t

he

hal

lway

,ch

ann

eled

th

rou

gh t

his

40 50 60

8C

olle

ctio

n 1

:Pl

ot

and

Set

tin

gPa

rt 1


Cir

cle

the

wo

rds

in li

nes

35–3

6 th

at t

ell w

hy

Tom

isst

ayin

g h

om

e. W

hat

do

his

wo

rds

tell

you

ab

ou

t w

hat

Tom

val

ues

mo

st a

t th

eb

egin

nin

g o

f th

e st

ory

?

He

valu

es s

ucc

ess

and

mo

ney

.

Un

der

line

the

ph

rase

in li

nes

50–5

3 th

at t

ells

wh

at T

om

iste

mp

ted

to d

o. C

ircl

e th

ese

nte

nce

th

at t

ells

wh

at

he

“ver

y m

uch

wan

ted

” to

do

. Ho

w d

oes

To

m r

eso

lve

this

inte

rnal

co

nfl

ict?

Tom

dec

ides

to

sta

y

ho

me

and

wo

rk

inst

ead

of

go

ing

to

th

e

mo

vies

wit

h h

is w

ife.




140

Co

nte

nts

of

the

Dea

d M

an’s

Po

cket

11

in p

ay—

not

imm

edia

tely

,any

way

,or

as a

dir

ect

resu

lt.I

t w

on’t

brin

g m

e a

prom

otio

n e

ith

er,h

e ar

gued

—n

ot o

fit

self

.

Bu

t ju

st t

he

sam

e—an

d h

e co

uld

n’t

esca

pe

the

thou

ght—

this

and

oth

er in

depe

nde

nt

proj

ects

,som

e al

read

y do

ne

and

oth

ers

plan

ned

for

th

e fu

ture

,wou

ld g

radu

ally

mar

k h

im o

ut

from

th

e

scor

e of

oth

er y

oun

g m

en in

his

com

pany

.Th

ey w

ere

the

way

to

chan

ge f

rom

a n

ame

on t

he

payr

oll t

o a

nam

e in

th

e m

inds

of

the

com

pany

off

icia

ls.T

hey

wer

e th

e be

gin

nin

g of

the

lon

g,lo

ng

clim

b to

wh

ere

he

was

det

erm

ined

to

be—

at t

he

very

top

.An

d

he

knew

he

was

goi

ng

out

ther

e in

th

e da

rkn

ess,

afte

r th

e ye

llow

shee

t fi

ftee

n f

eet

beyo

nd

his

rea

ch.

By

a ki

nd

ofin

stin

ct,h

e in

stan

tly

bega

n m

akin

g h

is in

ten

-

tion

acc

epta

ble

to h

imse

lfby

lau

ghin

g at

it.T

he

men

tal p

ictu

re

ofh

imse

lfsi

dlin

g al

ong

the

ledg

e ou

tsid

e w

as a

bsu

rd—

it w

as

actu

ally

com

ical

—an

d h

e sm

iled.

He

imag

ined

him

self

desc

rib-

ing

it;i

t w

ould

mak

e a

good

sto

ry a

t th

e of

fice

an

d,it

occ

urr

ed

Notes

Notes

Re-

read

lin

es 1

33–1

41. W

hat

can

yo

u in

fer

abo

ut

Tom

by

his

th

ou

gh

ts?

He

is a

mb

itio

us.

© N

at N

orm

an/G

etty

Imag

es.

orn

amen

t of

the

ledg

e by

th

e br

eeze

th

at m

oved

pas

t To

m

Ben

ecke

’s f

ace.

He

knel

t at

th

e w

indo

w a

nd

star

ed a

t th

e ye

llow

pap

er f

or a

full

min

ute

or

mor

e,w

aiti

ng

for

it t

o m

ove,

to s

lide

off

the

ledg

e

and

fall,

hop

ing

he

cou

ld f

ollo

w it

s co

urs

e to

th

e st

reet

,an

d th

en

hurr

y do

wn

in t

he

elev

ator

an

d re

trie

ve it

.Bu

t it

did

n’t

mov

e,

and

then

he

saw

th

at t

he

pape

r w

as c

augh

t fi

rmly

bet

wee

n a

pro

ject

ion

ofth

e co

nvol

ute

d4co

rner

orn

amen

t an

d th

e le

dge.

He

thou

ght

abou

t th

e po

ker

from

th

e fi

repl

ace,

then

th

e br

oom

,

then

th

e m

op—

dis

card

ing

each

th

ough

t as

it o

ccu

rred

to

him

.

Th

ere

was

not

hin

g in

th

e ap

artm

ent

lon

g en

ough

to

reac

h

that

pap

er.

It w

as h

ard

for

him

to

un

ders

tan

d th

at h

e ac

tual

ly h

ad t

o

aban

don

it—

it w

as r

idic

ulo

us—

and

he

bega

n t

o cu

rse.

Of

all t

he

pape

rs o

n h

is d

esk,

why

did

it h

ave

to b

e th

is o

ne

in p

arti

cula

r!

On

fou

r lo

ng

Satu

rday

aft

ern

oon

s h

e h

ad s

tood

in s

upe

rmar

kets

,

cou

nti

ng

the

peo

ple

wh

o pa

ssed

cer

tain

dis

play

s,an

d th

e re

sult

s

wer

e sc

ribb

led

on t

hat

yel

low

sh

eet.

From

sta

cks

oftr

ade

publ

i-

cati

ons,

gon

e ov

er p

age

by p

age

in s

nat

ched

hal

fh

ours

at

wor

k

and

duri

ng

even

ings

at

hom

e,h

e h

ad c

opie

d fa

cts,

quot

atio

ns,

and

figu

res

onto

th

at s

hee

t.A

nd

he

had

car

ried

it w

ith

him

to

the

Pu

blic

Lib

rary

on

Fif

th A

ven

ue,

wh

ere

he’

d sp

ent

a do

zen

lun

ch h

ours

an

d ea

rly

even

ings

add

ing

mor

e.A

ll w

ere

nee

ded

to

supp

ort

and

len

d au

thor

ity

to h

is id

ea f

or a

new

gro

cery

-sto

re

disp

lay

met

hod

;wit

hou

t th

em h

is id

ea w

as a

mer

e op

inio

n.A

nd

ther

e th

ey a

ll la

y,in

his

ow

n im

prov

ised

sh

orth

and—

cou

ntl

ess

hou

rs o

fw

ork—

out

ther

e on

th

e le

dge.

For

man

y se

con

ds h

e be

lieve

d h

e w

as g

oin

g to

aba

ndo

n t

he

yello

w s

hee

t,th

at t

her

e w

as n

oth

ing

else

to

do.T

he

wor

k co

uld

be d

upl

icat

ed.B

ut

it w

ould

tak

e tw

o m

onth

s,an

d th

e ti

me

to

pres

ent

this

idea

was

now

,for

use

in t

he s

prin

g di

spla

ys.H

e st

ruck

his

fis

t on

th

e w

indo

w le

dge.

Th

en h

e sh

rugg

ed.E

ven

th

ough

his

plan

was

ado

pted

,he

told

him

self

,it

wou

ldn’

t br

ing

him

a r

aise

100

110

120

130

10

Co

llect

ion

1:

Plo

t an

d S

etti

ng

Part

1


Aft

er r

ead

ing

lin

es 1

25–1

41,

wh

at d

o y

ou

pre

dic

tTo

m

will

do

?

Sam

ple

an

swer

: To

m

will

go

ou

t o

n t

he

led

ge

to t

ry t

o r

escu

e

the

yello

w p

aper

.

pro

ject

ion

(pr£

·jek√

◊¥n

)n

.:so

met

hin

g t

hat

juts

ou

t fr

om

a su

rfac

e.

Pro

–is

a L

atin

pre

fix

mea

nin

g“f

orw

ard

”; t

he

roo

t –j

ect–

mea

ns

“th

row

” o

r “t

hru

st.”

dis

card

ing

(dis

·kär

d√i«

)v.

use

d a

s ad

j.:ab

and

on

ing

;g

etti

ng

rid

of.

Pau

se a

t lin

e 12

4. W

hy

is t

he

yello

w p

aper

so

imp

ort

ant

toTo

m?

Un

der

line

the

det

ails

that

tel

l yo

u w

hy.

4.co

nvo

lute

d(k

än√v

¥·lº

t≈id

)ad

j.:in

tric

ate;

co

iled

.



Firs

t h

is r

igh

t h

and,

then

his

left

,he

care

fully

sh

ifte

d h

is

fin

gert

ip g

rip

from

th

e pu

ttyl

ess

win

dow

edg

ing

to a

n in

den

ted

row

of

bric

ks d

irec

tly

to h

is r

igh

t.It

was

har

d to

tak

e th

e fi

rst

shu

fflin

g si

dew

ays

step

th

en—

to m

ake

him

self

mov

e—an

d th

e

fear

sti

rred

in h

is s

tom

ach

,bu

t h

e di

d it

,aga

in b

y n

ot a

llow

ing

him

self

tim

e to

th

ink.

An

d n

ow—

wit

h h

is c

hes

t,st

omac

h,a

nd

the

left

sid

e of

his

fac

e pr

esse

d ag

ain

st t

he

rou

gh c

old

bric

k—h

is

ligh

ted

apar

tmen

t w

as s

udd

enly

gon

e,an

d it

was

mu

ch d

arke

r

out

her

e th

an h

e h

ad t

hou

ght.

Wit

hou

t pa

use

he

con

tin

ued

—ri

ght

foot

,lef

t fo

ot,r

igh

t

foot

,lef

t—h

is s

hoe

sol

es s

huff

ling

and

scra

pin

g al

ong

the

rou

gh

ston

e,n

ever

lift

ing

from

it,f

inge

rs s

lidin

g al

ong

the

expo

sed

edgi

ng

ofbr

ick.

He

mov

ed o

n t

he

balls

of

his

fee

t,h

eels

lift

ed

slig

htl

y;th

e le

dge

was

not

qu

ite

as w

ide

as h

e’d

expe

cted

.Bu

t

lean

ing

slig

htl

y in

war

d to

war

d th

e fa

ce o

fth

e bu

ildin

g an

d

pres

sed

agai

nst

it,h

e co

uld

fee

l his

bal

ance

fir

m a

nd

secu

re,a

nd

mov

ing

alon

g th

e le

dge

was

qu

ite

as e

asy

as h

e h

ad t

hou

ght

it

wou

ld b

e.H

e co

uld

hea

r th

e bu

tton

s of

his

jack

et s

crap

ing

stea

dily

alo

ng

the

rou

gh b

rick

s an

d fe

el t

hem

cat

ch m

omen

-

tari

ly,t

ugg

ing

a lit

tle,

at e

ach

mor

tare

d cr

ack.

He

sim

ply

did

not

per

mit

him

self

to lo

ok d

own

,th

ough

th

e co

mpu

lsio

n5

to

do s

o n

ever

left

him

;nor

did

he

allo

w h

imse

lfac

tual

ly t

o th

ink.

Mec

han

ical

ly—

righ

t fo

ot,l

eft

foot

,ove

r an

d ag

ain

—h

e sh

uff

led

alon

g cr

abw

ise,

wat

chin

g th

e pr

ojec

tin

g w

all a

hea

d lo

om s

tead

ily

clos

er..

..

Th

en h

e re

ach

ed it

,an

d at

th

e co

rner

—h

e’d

deci

ded

how

he

was

goin

g to

pic

k u

p th

e pa

per—

he

lifte

d h

is r

igh

t fo

ot a

nd

plac

ed

it c

aref

ully

on

th

e le

dge

that

ran

alo

ng

the

proj

ecti

ng

wal

l at

a

righ

t an

gle

to t

he

ledg

e on

wh

ich

his

oth

er f

oot

rest

ed.A

nd

now

,

faci

ng

the

build

ing,

he

stoo

d in

th

e co

rner

for

med

by

the

two

wal

ls,o

ne

foot

on

th

e le

dgin

g of

each

,a h

and

on t

he

shou

lder

-

hig

h in

den

tati

on o

fea

ch w

all.

His

for

ehea

d w

as p

ress

ed d

irec

tly

into

th

e co

rner

aga

inst

th

e co

ld b

rick

s,an

d n

ow h

e ca

refu

lly

190

200

210

Co

nte

nts

of

the

Dea

d M

an’s

Po

cket

13


Pau

se a

t lin

e 20

5. W

hy

do

esn

’t T

om

per

mit

him

self

to lo

ok

do

wn

?

If h

e lo

oks

do

wn

, he

mig

ht

pan

ic a

nd

lose

his

bal

ance

.

5.co

mp

uls

ion

n.:

dri

vin

g f

orc

e.

In li

nes

181

–189

, no

tice

ho

wti

me

seem

s to

slo

w d

ow

n a

sTo

m t

ries

to

ove

rco

me

his

fear

. Un

der

line

det

ails

th

atsh

ow

th

at t

ime

is p

assi

ng

slo

wly

.


150

160

170

180

12

Co

llect

ion

1:

Plo

t an

d S

etti

ng

Part

1

con

firm

atio

n(k

än≈f

¥r·m

†√◊

¥n)

n.:

pro

of.

Co

nfi

rmat

ion

com

es f

rom

th

eLa

tin

wo

rd f

irm

us,

mea

nin

g“s

tro

ng

.” W

hat

oth

er E

ng

lish

wo

rds

are

fro

m t

his

ro

ot?

Poss

ible

an

swer

s: f

irm

,

affi

rm

Pau

se a

t lin

e 17

6, a

nd

co

nsi

d-

er w

hat

has

hap

pen

ed s

o f

ar.

In y

ou

r o

wn

wo

rds,

exp

lain

wh

y To

m d

ecid

es t

o g

o o

ut

on

th

e le

dg

e.

Sam

ple

exp

lan

atio

n:

He

nee

ds

the

pap

er t

o

wri

te h

is r

epo

rt. H

e

ho

pes

th

at t

he

rep

ort

will

lead

to

a p

rom

o-

tio

n a

nd

a r

aise

.

Cir

cle

the

wo

rds

in li

nes

177–

180

that

des

crib

e th

ese

con

d s

etti

ng

in t

he

sto

ry.

Ho

w d

oes

th

e n

ew s

etti

ng

incr

ease

th

e su

spen

se?

Sam

ple

an

swer

:

A le

dg

e is

a m

ore

dan

ger

ou

s p

lace

to

be

than

insi

de

an

apar

tmen

t.

to h

im,w

ould

add

a s

pec

ial i

nte

rest

an

d im

port

ance

to

his

mem

oran

dum

,wh

ich

wou

ld d

o it

no

har

m a

t al

l.

To s

impl

y go

ou

t an

d ge

t h

is p

aper

was

an

eas

y ta

sk—

he

cou

ld b

e ba

ck h

ere

wit

h it

in le

ss t

han

tw

o m

inu

tes—

and

he

knew

he

was

n’t

dece

ivin

g h

imse

lf.T

he

ledg

e,h

e sa

w,m

easu

rin

g

it w

ith

his

eye

,was

abo

ut

as w

ide

as t

he

len

gth

of

his

sh

oe,a

nd

perf

ectl

y fl

at.A

nd

ever

y fi

fth

row

of

bric

k in

th

e fa

ce o

fth

e

build

ing,

he

rem

embe

red—

lean

ing

out,

he

veri

fied

th

is—

was

inde

nte

d h

alf

an in

ch,e

nou

gh f

or t

he

tips

of

his

fin

gers

,en

ough

to m

ain

tain

bal

ance

eas

ily.I

t oc

curr

ed t

o h

im t

hat

ifth

is le

dge

and

wal

l wer

e on

ly a

yar

d ab

oveg

rou

nd—

as h

e kn

elt

at t

he

win

dow

sta

rin

g ou

t,th

is t

hou

ght

was

th

e fi

nal

con

firm

atio

n

ofh

is in

ten

tion

—h

e co

uld

mov

e al

ong

the

ledg

e in

defi

nit

ely.

On

a s

udd

en im

puls

e,h

e go

t to

his

fee

t,w

alke

d to

th

e fr

ont

clos

et,a

nd

took

ou

t an

old

tw

eed

jack

et;i

t w

ould

be

cold

ou

tsid

e.

He

put

it o

n a

nd

butt

oned

it a

s h

e cr

osse

d th

e ro

om r

apid

ly

tow

ard

the

open

win

dow

.In

th

e ba

ck o

fh

is m

ind

he

knew

he’

d

bett

er h

urr

y an

d ge

t th

is o

ver

wit

h b

efor

e h

e th

ough

t to

o m

uch

,

and

at t

he

win

dow

he

didn

’t a

llow

him

self

to h

esit

ate.

He

swu

ng

a le

g ov

er t

he

sill,

then

fel

t fo

r an

d fo

un

d th

e

ledg

e a

yard

bel

ow t

he

win

dow

wit

h h

is f

oot.

Gri

ppin

g th

e

bott

om o

fth

e w

indo

w f

ram

e ve

ry t

igh

tly

and

care

fully

,he

slow

ly

duck

ed h

is h

ead

un

der

it,f

eelin

g on

his

fac

e th

e su

dden

ch

ange

from

th

e w

arm

air

of

the

room

to

the

chill

ou

tsid

e.W

ith

infi

nit

e

care

he

brou

ght

out

his

oth

er le

g,h

is m

ind

con

cen

trat

ing

on

wh

at h

e w

as d

oin

g.T

hen

he

slow

ly s

tood

ere

ct.M

ost

ofth

e

putt

y,dr

ied

out

and

brit

tle,

had

dro

pped

off

the

bott

om e

dgin

g

ofth

e w

indo

w f

ram

e,h

e fo

un

d,an

d th

e fl

at w

oode

n e

dgin

g

prov

ided

a g

ood

grip

pin

g su

rfac

e,a

hal

fin

ch o

r m

ore

deep

,for

the

tips

of

his

fin

gers

.

Now

,bal

ance

d ea

sily

an

d fi

rmly

,he

stoo

d on

th

e le

dge

outs

ide

in t

he

slig

ht,

chill

bre

eze,

elev

en s

tori

es a

bove

th

e st

reet

,

star

ing

into

his

ow

n li

ghte

d ap

artm

ent,

odd

and

diff

eren

t-

seem

ing

now

.



the

corn

er a

gain

,squ

eezi

ng

and

push

ing

into

it,n

ot o

nly

his

fac

e

but

his

ch

est

and

stom

ach

,his

bac

k ar

chin

g;an

d h

is f

inge

rtip

s

clu

ng

wit

h a

ll th

e pr

essu

re o

fh

is p

ulli

ng

arm

s to

th

e sh

ould

er-

hig

h h

alf-

inch

inde

nta

tion

in t

he

bric

ks.

He

was

mor

e th

an t

rem

blin

g n

ow;h

is w

hol

e bo

dy w

as

rack

ed w

ith

a v

iole

nt

shu

dder

ing

beyo

nd

con

trol

,his

eye

s

squ

eeze

d so

tig

htl

y sh

ut

it w

as p

ain

ful,

thou

gh h

e w

as p

ast

awar

enes

s of

that

.His

tee

th w

ere

expo

sed

in a

fro

zen

gri

mac

e,

the

stre

ngt

h d

rain

ing

like

wat

er f

rom

his

kn

ees

and

calv

es.I

t

was

ext

rem

ely

likel

y,h

e kn

ew,t

hat

he

wou

ld f

ain

t,sl

um

p do

wn

alon

g th

e w

all,

his

fac

e sc

rapi

ng,

and

then

dro

p ba

ckw

ard,

a lim

p

wei

ght,

out

into

not

hin

g.A

nd

to s

ave

his

life

he

con

cen

trat

ed o

n

hol

din

g on

to

con

scio

usn

ess,

draw

ing

delib

erat

e de

ep b

reat

hs

of

cold

air

into

his

lun

gs,f

igh

tin

g to

kee

p h

is s

ense

s aw

are.

Th

en h

e kn

ew t

hat

he

wou

ld n

ot f

ain

t,bu

t h

e co

uld

not

stop

sh

akin

g n

or o

pen

his

eye

s.H

e st

ood

wh

ere

he

was

,bre

ath

-

ing

deep

ly,t

ryin

g to

hol

d ba

ck t

he

terr

or o

fth

e gl

imps

e h

e h

ad

had

of

wh

at la

y be

low

him

;an

d h

e kn

ew h

e h

ad m

ade

a m

ista

ke

in n

ot m

akin

g h

imse

lfst

are

dow

n a

t th

e st

reet

,get

tin

g u

sed

to it

and

acce

ptin

g it

,wh

en h

e h

ad f

irst

ste

pped

ou

t on

to t

he

ledg

e.

It w

as im

poss

ible

to

wal

k ba

ck.H

e si

mpl

y co

uld

not

do

it.

He

cou

ldn’

t br

ing

him

self

to m

ake

the

slig

hte

st m

ovem

ent.

Th

e

stre

ngt

h w

as g

one

from

his

legs

;his

shi

veri

ng

han

ds—

num

b,co

ld,

and

desp

erat

ely

rigi

d—h

ad lo

st a

ll de

ftn

ess;

6h

is e

asy

abili

ty t

o

mov

e an

d ba

lan

ce w

as g

one.

Wit

hin

a s

tep

or t

wo,

ifh

e tr

ied

to

mov

e,h

e kn

ew t

hat

he

wou

ld s

tum

ble

clu

msi

ly a

nd

fall.

Seco

nds

pas

sed,

wit

h t

he

chill

fai

nt

win

d pr

essi

ng

the

side

ofh

is f

ace,

and

he

cou

ld h

ear

the

ton

ed-d

own

vol

um

e of

the

stre

et t

raff

ic f

ar b

enea

th h

im.A

gain

an

d ag

ain

it s

low

ed a

nd

then

sto

pped

,alm

ost

to s

ilen

ce;t

hen

pre

sen

tly,

even

th

is h

igh

,he

wou

ld h

ear

the

clic

k of

the

traf

fic

sign

als

and

the

subd

ued

roa

r

ofth

e ca

rs s

tart

ing

up

agai

n.D

uri

ng

a lu

ll in

th

e st

reet

sou

nds

,

he

calle

d ou

t.T

hen

he

was

sh

outi

ng

“Hel

p!”

so lo

udl

y it

ras

ped

his

th

roat

.Bu

t h

e fe

lt t

he

stea

dy p

ress

ure

of

the

win

d,m

ovin

g

250

260

270

280

Co

nte

nts

of

the

Dea

d M

an’s

Po

cket

15


Cir

cle

the

pre

fix

in im

po

ssib

le(l

ine

268)

. Wh

at w

ord

is t

he

pre

fix

atta

ched

to

? H

ow

do

esth

e p

refi

x ch

ang

e th

e w

ord

’sm

ean

ing

?

The

pre

fix

is im

–;it

is

atta

ched

to

po

ssib

le;i

t

chan

ges

th

e w

ord

to

mea

n “

no

t p

oss

ible

.”

Pau

se a

t lin

e 27

3. D

o y

ou

pre

dic

tth

at T

om

will

mak

e it

to s

afet

y? W

hy

or

wh

y n

ot?

Poss

ible

res

po

nse

:

Tom

will

no

t m

ake

it

to s

afet

y b

ecau

se h

e

is p

aral

yzed

by

fear

.

6.d

eftn

ess

n.:

skill

fuln

ess;

co

ord

inat

ion

.

low

ered

fir

st o

ne

han

d,th

en t

he

oth

er,p

erh

aps

a fo

ot f

arth

er

dow

n,t

o th

e n

ext

inde

nta

tion

in t

he

row

s of

bric

ks.

Ver

y sl

owly

,slid

ing

his

for

ehea

d do

wn

th

e tr

ough

of

the

bric

k

corn

er a

nd

ben

din

g h

is k

nee

s,h

e lo

wer

ed h

is b

ody

tow

ard

the

pape

r ly

ing

betw

een

his

ou

tstr

etch

ed f

eet.

Aga

in h

e lo

wer

ed h

is

fin

gerh

olds

an

oth

er f

oot

and

ben

t h

is k

nee

s st

ill m

ore,

thig

h

mu

scle

s ta

ut,

his

for

ehea

d sl

idin

g an

d bu

mpi

ng

dow

n t

he

bric

k

V.H

alf

squ

atti

ng

now

,he

drop

ped

his

left

han

d to

th

e n

ext

inde

nta

tion

an

d th

en s

low

ly r

each

ed w

ith

his

rig

ht

han

d to

war

d

the

pape

r be

twee

n h

is f

eet.

He

cou

ldn’

t qu

ite

tou

ch it

,an

d h

is k

nee

s n

ow w

ere

pres

sed

agai

nst

th

e w

all;

he

cou

ld b

end

them

no

fart

her

.Bu

t by

du

ckin

g

his

hea

d an

oth

er in

ch lo

wer

,th

e to

p of

his

hea

d n

ow p

ress

ed

agai

nst

th

e br

icks

,he

low

ered

his

rig

ht

shou

lder

an

d h

is f

inge

rs

had

th

e pa

per

by a

cor

ner

,pu

llin

g it

loos

e.A

t th

e sa

me

inst

ant

he

saw

,bet

wee

n h

is le

gs a

nd

far

belo

w,L

exin

gton

Ave

nu

e

stre

tch

ed o

ut

for

mile

s ah

ead.

He

saw

,in

th

at in

stan

t,th

e Lo

ew’s

th

eate

r si

gn,b

lock

s

ahea

d pa

st F

ifti

eth

Str

eet;

the

mile

s of

traf

fic

sign

als,

all g

reen

now

;th

e lig

hts

of

cars

an

d st

reet

lam

ps;c

oun

tles

s n

eon

sig

ns;

and

the

mov

ing

blac

k do

ts o

fpe

ople

.An

d a

viol

ent,

inst

anta

-

neo

us

expl

osio

n o

fab

solu

te t

erro

r ro

ared

th

rou

gh h

im.F

or a

mot

ion

less

inst

ant

he

saw

him

self

exte

rnal

ly—

ben

t pr

acti

cally

dou

ble,

bala

nce

d on

th

is n

arro

w le

dge,

nea

rly

hal

fh

is b

ody

proj

ecti

ng

out

abov

e th

e st

reet

far

bel

ow—

and

he

bega

n t

o

trem

ble

viol

entl

y,pa

nic

fla

rin

g th

rou

gh h

is m

ind

and

mu

scle

s,

and

he

felt

th

e bl

ood

rush

fro

m t

he

surf

ace

ofh

is s

kin

.

In t

he

frac

tion

al m

omen

t be

fore

hor

ror

para

lyze

d h

im,a

s

he

star

ed b

etw

een

his

legs

at

that

ter

ribl

e le

ngt

h o

fst

reet

far

ben

eath

him

,a f

ragm

ent

ofh

is m

ind

rais

ed h

is b

ody

in a

spa

s-

mod

ic je

rk t

o an

upr

igh

t po

siti

on a

gain

,bu

t so

vio

len

tly

that

his

hea

d sc

rape

d h

ard

agai

nst

th

e w

all,

bou

nci

ng

off

it,a

nd

his

body

sw

ayed

ou

twar

d to

th

e kn

ife-

edge

of

bala

nce

,an

d h

e ve

ry

nea

rly

plu

nge

d ba

ckw

ard

and

fell.

Th

en h

e w

as le

anin

g fa

r in

to

220

230

240

14

Co

llect

ion

1:

Plo

t an

d S

etti

ng

Part

1


Lin

es 2

41–2

47te

ll ab

ou

tth

ree

even

ts—

on

e is

a c

ause

;th

e o

ther

s ar

e ef

fect

s. C

ircl

eth

e ca

use

, an

d u

nd

erlin

e th

eef

fect

s.

In li

nes

224

–230

, un

der

line

the

wo

rds

that

tel

l wh

y To

m’s

fear

su

dd

enly

incr

ease

s.

You

may

kn

ow

th

e te

rmtr

ou

gh

(trô

f),

mea

nin

g “

alo

ng

, op

en c

on

tain

er f

or

pig

s’ f

oo

d.”

In t

his

co

nte

xt,

ho

wev

er, t

rou

gh

(lin

e 21

6)m

ean

s “g

roo

ve”

or

“lo

ng

ind

enta

tio

n.”




320

330

Co

nte

nts

of

the

Dea

d M

an’s

Po

cket

17

side

of

the

flim

sy b

arri

er h

e h

ad e

rect

ed in

his

min

d;an

d h

e

knew

th

at if

it b

roke

th

rou

gh h

e w

ould

lose

th

is t

hin

,art

ific

ial

con

trol

of

his

bod

y.

Du

rin

g on

e sl

ow s

tep

he

trie

d ke

epin

g h

is e

yes

clos

ed;i

t

mad

e h

im f

eel s

afer

,shu

ttin

g h

im o

ffa

littl

e fr

om t

he

fear

ful

real

ity

ofw

her

e h

e w

as.T

hen

a s

udd

en r

ush

of

gidd

ines

s sw

ept

over

him

an

d h

e h

ad t

o op

en h

is e

yes

wid

e,st

arin

g si

dew

ays

at

the

cold

rou

gh b

rick

an

d an

gled

lin

es o

fm

orta

r,h

is c

hee

k ti

ght

agai

nst

th

e bu

ildin

g.H

e ke

pt h

is e

yes

open

th

en,k

now

ing

that

ifh

e on

ce le

t th

em f

lick

outw

ard,

to s

tare

for

an

inst

ant

at t

he

ligh

ted

win

dow

s ac

ross

th

e st

reet

,he

wou

ld b

e pa

st h

elp.

He

didn

’t k

now

how

man

y do

zen

s of

tiny

sid

ling

step

s h

e

had

tak

en,h

is c

hes

t,be

lly,a

nd

face

pre

ssed

to

the

wal

l;bu

t h

e

knew

th

e sl

ende

r h

old

he

was

kee

pin

g on

his

min

d an

d bo

dy

was

goi

ng

to b

reak

.He

had

a s

udd

en m

enta

l pic

ture

of

his

apar

tmen

t on

just

th

e ot

her

sid

e of

this

wal

l—w

arm

,ch

eerf

ul,

incr

edib

ly s

paci

ous.

An

d h

e sa

w h

imse

lfst

ridi

ng

thro

ugh

it,

lyin

g do

wn

on

th

e fl

oor

on h

is b

ack,

arm

s sp

read

wid

e,re

velin

g7

in it

s u

nbe

lieva

ble

secu

rity

.Th

e im

poss

ible

rem

oten

ess

ofth

is

7.re

velin

g(r

ev√¥

l·i«

)v.

use

d a

s ad

j.:ta

kin

g g

reat

ple

asu

re o

r d

elig

ht.

Re-

read

lin

es 3

20–3

25. C

ircl

ew

hat

To

m t

ries

to

do

as

he

wal

ks t

he

led

ge.

Th

en,

un

der

line

two

imm

edia

teef

fect

s o

f th

at a

ctio

n.

Notes

Notes

Pau

se a

t lin

e 31

9. W

hat

so

rto

f co

nfl

ict

is T

om

fac

ing

? Is

it

an

inte

rnal

or

exte

rnal

con

flic

t?

Tom

is b

attl

ing

his

fea

r

of

hei

gh

ts. H

is c

on

flic

t

is in

tern

al.

© L

awre

nce

Th

orn

ton

/Get

ty Im

ages

.

betw

een

his

fac

e an

d th

e bl

ank

wal

l,sn

atch

up

his

cri

es a

s h

e

utt

ered

th

em,a

nd

he

knew

th

ey m

ust

sou

nd

dire

ctio

nle

ss a

nd

dist

ant.

An

d h

e re

mem

bere

d h

ow h

abit

ual

ly,h

ere

in N

ew Y

ork,

he

him

self

hea

rd a

nd

ign

ored

sh

outs

in t

he

nig

ht.

Ifan

yon

e

hea

rd h

im,t

her

e w

as n

o si

gn o

fit

,an

d pr

esen

tly

Tom

Ben

ecke

knew

he

had

to

try

mov

ing;

ther

e w

as n

oth

ing

else

he

cou

ld d

o.

Eye

s sq

uee

zed

shu

t,h

e w

atch

ed s

cen

es in

his

min

d lik

e

scra

ps o

fm

otio

n-p

ictu

re f

ilm—

he

cou

ld n

ot s

top

them

.He

saw

him

self

stu

mbl

ing

sudd

enly

sid

eway

s as

he

crep

t al

ong

the

ledg

e

and

saw

his

upp

er b

ody

arc

outw

ard,

arm

s fl

ailin

g.H

e sa

w a

dan

glin

g sh

oest

rin

g ca

ugh

t be

twee

n t

he

ledg

e an

d th

e so

le o

fh

is

oth

er s

hoe

,saw

a f

oot

star

t to

mov

e,to

be

stop

ped

wit

h a

jerk

,

and

felt

his

bal

ance

leav

ing

him

.He

saw

him

self

falli

ng

wit

h a

terr

ible

spe

ed a

s h

is b

ody

revo

lved

in t

he

air,

knee

s cl

utc

hed

tigh

t to

his

ch

est,

eyes

squ

eeze

d sh

ut,

moa

nin

g so

ftly

.

Ou

t of

utt

er n

eces

sity

,kn

owin

g th

at a

ny o

fth

ese

thou

ghts

mig

ht

be r

ealit

y in

th

e ve

ry n

ext

seco

nds

,he

was

slo

wly

abl

e to

shu

t h

is m

ind

agai

nst

eve

ry t

hou

ght

but

wh

at h

e n

ow b

egan

to

do.W

ith

fea

r-so

aked

slo

wn

ess,

he

slid

his

left

foo

t an

inch

or

two

tow

ard

his

ow

n im

poss

ibly

dis

tan

t w

indo

w.T

hen

he

slid

th

e

fin

gers

of

his

sh

iver

ing

left

han

d a

corr

espo

ndi

ng

dist

ance

.For

a

mom

ent

he

cou

ld n

ot b

rin

g h

imse

lfto

lift

his

rig

ht

foot

fro

m

one

ledg

e to

th

e ot

her

;th

en h

e di

d it

,an

d be

cam

e aw

are

ofth

e

har

sh e

xhal

atio

nof

air

from

his

th

roat

an

d re

aliz

ed t

hat

he

was

pan

tin

g.A

s h

is r

igh

t h

and,

then

,beg

an t

o sl

ide

alon

g th

e br

ick

edgi

ng,

he

was

ast

onis

hed

to

feel

th

e ye

llow

pap

er p

ress

ed t

o th

e

bric

ks u

nde

rnea

th h

is s

tiff

fin

gers

,an

d h

e u

tter

ed a

ter

ribl

e,

abru

pt b

ark

that

mig

ht

hav

e be

en a

lau

gh o

r a

moa

n.H

e op

ened

his

mou

th a

nd

took

th

e pa

per

in h

is t

eeth

,pu

llin

g it

ou

t fr

om

un

der

his

fin

gers

.

By

a ki

nd

oftr

ick—

by c

once

ntr

atin

g h

is e

nti

re m

ind

on

firs

t h

is le

ft f

oot,

then

his

left

han

d,th

en t

he

oth

er f

oot,

then

the

oth

er h

and—

he

was

abl

e to

mov

e,al

mos

t im

per

cep

tib

ly,

trem

blin

g st

eadi

ly,v

ery

nea

rly

wit

hou

t th

ough

t.B

ut

he

cou

ld

feel

th

e te

rrib

le s

tren

gth

of

the

pen

t-u

p h

orro

r on

just

th

e ot

her

290

300

310

16

Co

llect

ion

1:

Plo

t an

d S

etti

ng

Part

1


exh

alat

ion

(eks

≈h¥·

l†√◊

¥n)

n.:

som

eth

ing

bre

ath

ed o

ut;

bre

ath

.

Ch

ang

e ex

hal

atio

nto

its

op

po

site

by

chan

gin

g t

he

pre

fix.

inh

alat

ion

imp

erce

pti

bly

(im

≈p¥r

·sep

√t¥·

bl≤

)ad

v.:i

nsu

ch a

slig

ht

way

as

to b

eal

mo

st u

nn

oti

ceab

le.

Ch

ang

e im

per

cep

tib

lyto

its

op

po

site

by

dro

pp

ing

th

ep

refi

x.

per

cep

tib

ly

Notes

Notes



impe

rcep

tibl

y be

ndi

ng,

body

sh

akin

g w

ith

th

e st

rain

,th

e sw

eat

star

tin

g fr

om h

is f

oreh

ead

in g

reat

su

dden

dro

ps,h

e pu

lled,

his

enti

re b

ein

g an

d th

ough

t co

nce

ntr

ated

in h

is f

inge

rtip

s.T

hen

,

sudd

enly

,th

e st

rain

sla

cken

ed a

nd

ende

d,h

is c

hes

t to

uch

ing

the

win

dow

sill,

and

he

was

kn

eelin

g on

th

e le

dge,

his

for

ehea

d

pres

sed

to t

he

glas

s of

the

clos

ed w

indo

w.

Dro

ppin

g h

is p

alm

s to

th

e si

ll,h

e st

ared

into

his

livi

ng

room

—at

th

e re

d-br

own

dav

enpo

rt8

acro

ss t

he

room

,an

d a

mag

azin

e h

e h

ad le

ft t

her

e;at

th

e pi

ctu

res

on t

he

wal

ls a

nd

the

gray

ru

g;th

e en

tran

ce t

o th

e h

allw

ay;a

nd

at h

is p

aper

s,ty

pe-

wri

ter,

and

desk

,not

tw

o fe

et f

rom

his

nos

e.A

mov

emen

t fr

om

his

des

k ca

ugh

t h

is e

ye a

nd

he

saw

th

at it

was

a t

hin

cu

rl o

f

blu

e sm

oke;

his

cig

aret

te,t

he

ash

lon

g,w

as s

till

burn

ing

in t

he

ash

tray

wh

ere

he’

d le

ft it

—th

is w

as p

ast

all b

elie

f—on

ly a

few

min

ute

s be

fore

.

His

hea

d m

oved

,an

d in

fai

nt

refl

ecti

on f

rom

th

e gl

ass

befo

re h

im,h

e sa

w t

he

yello

w p

aper

cle

nch

ed in

his

fro

nt

teet

h.

Lift

ing

a h

and

from

th

e si

ll h

e to

ok it

fro

m h

is m

outh

;th

e

moi

sten

ed c

orn

er p

arte

d fr

om t

he

pape

r,an

d h

e sp

at it

ou

t.

For

a m

omen

t,in

th

e lig

ht

from

th

e liv

ing

room

,he

star

ed

won

deri

ngl

y at

th

e ye

llow

sh

eet

in h

is h

and

and

then

cru

shed

it in

to t

he

side

poc

ket

ofh

is ja

cket

.

He

cou

ldn’

t op

en t

he

win

dow

.It

had

bee

n p

ulle

d n

ot

com

plet

ely

clos

ed,b

ut

its

low

er e

dge

was

bel

ow t

he

leve

l of

the

outs

ide

sill;

ther

e w

as n

o ro

om t

o ge

t h

is f

inge

rs u

nde

rnea

th it

.

Bet

wee

n t

he

upp

er s

ash

an

d th

e lo

wer

was

a g

ap n

ot w

ide

enou

gh—

reac

hin

g u

p,h

e tr

ied—

to g

et h

is f

inge

rs in

to;h

e

cou

ldn’

t pu

sh it

ope

n.T

he

upp

er w

indo

w p

anel

,he

knew

fro

m

lon

g ex

peri

ence

,was

impo

ssib

le t

o m

ove,

froz

en t

igh

t w

ith

drie

d pa

int.

Ver

y ca

refu

lly o

bser

vin

g h

is b

alan

ce,t

he

fin

gert

ips

ofh

is

left

han

d ag

ain

hoo

ked

to t

he

nar

row

str

ippi

ng

ofth

e w

indo

w

370

380

390

400

Co

nte

nts

of

the

Dea

d M

an’s

Po

cket

19


The

man

y d

etai

ls, o

r co

mp

li-ca

tio

ns,

of

Tom

’s d

ang

ero

us

exp

erie

nce

mak

e it

see

m a

s if

To

m h

ad b

een

on

th

e le

dg

efo

r a

lon

g t

ime.

Cir

cle

the

wo

rds

in li

nes

380

–384

th

atte

ll h

ow

lon

g h

e h

as r

eally

bee

n o

n t

he

led

ge.

8.d

aven

po

rt(d

av√¥

n·p

ôrt

≈)n

.:la

rge

sofa

or

cou

ch.

Pau

se a

t lin

e 39

9. W

hat

mig

ht

Tom

do

no

w?

Tom

mig

ht

bre

ak

the

win

do

w o

r tr

y

to f

ind

an

oth

er

win

do

w t

o e

nte

r.

utt

er s

afet

y,th

e co

ntr

ast

betw

een

it a

nd

wh

ere

he

now

sto

od,

was

mor

e th

an h

e co

uld

bea

r.A

nd

the

barr

ier

brok

e th

en,a

nd

the

fear

of

the

awfu

l hei

ght

he

stoo

d on

cou

rsed

th

rou

gh h

is

ner

ves

and

mu

scle

s.

A f

ract

ion

of

his

min

d kn

ew h

e w

as g

oin

g to

fal

l,an

d h

e be

gan

taki

ng

rapi

d bl

ind

step

s w

ith

no

feel

ing

ofw

hat

he

was

doi

ng,

sid

ling

wit

h a

clu

msy

des

per

ate

swif

tnes

s,fi

nge

rs s

crab

blin

g

alon

g th

e br

ick,

alm

ost

hop

eles

sly

resi

gned

to

the

sudd

en

back

war

d pu

ll an

d sw

ift

mot

ion

ou

twar

d an

d do

wn

.Th

en

his

mov

ing

left

han

d sl

id o

nto

not

bri

ck b

ut

shee

r em

ptin

ess,

an im

poss

ible

gap

in t

he

face

of

the

wal

l,an

d h

e st

um

bled

.

His

rig

ht f

oot

smas

hed

into

his

left

an

kleb

one;

he s

tagg

ered

side

way

s,be

gan

fal

ling,

and

the

claw

of

his

han

d cr

acke

d ag

ain

st

glas

s an

d w

ood,

slid

dow

n it

,an

d h

is f

inge

rtip

s w

ere

pres

sed

har

d on

th

e pu

ttyl

ess

edgi

ng

ofh

is w

indo

w.H

is r

igh

t h

and

smac

ked

grop

ingl

y be

side

it a

s h

e fe

ll to

his

kn

ees;

and,

un

der

the

full

wei

ght

and

dire

ct d

ownw

ard

pull

ofh

is s

aggi

ng

body

,

the

open

win

dow

dro

pped

shu

dder

ingl

y in

its

fram

e ti

ll it

clo

sed

and

his

wri

sts

stru

ck t

he

sill

and

wer

e ja

rred

off

.

For

a si

ngl

e m

omen

t h

e kn

elt,

knee

bon

es a

gain

st s

ton

e on

the

very

edg

e of

the

ledg

e,bo

dy s

way

ing

and

tou

chin

g n

owh

ere

else

,fig

hti

ng

for

bala

nce

.Th

en h

e lo

st it

,his

sh

ould

ers

plu

ngi

ng

back

war

d,an

d h

e fl

un

g h

is a

rms

forw

ard,

his

han

ds s

mas

hin

g

agai

nst

th

e w

indo

w c

asin

g on

eit

her

sid

e;an

d—h

is b

ody

mov

ing

back

war

d—h

is f

inge

rs c

lutc

hed

th

e n

arro

w w

ood

stri

ppin

g of

the

upp

er p

ane.

For

an in

stan

t h

e hu

ng

susp

ende

d be

twee

n b

alan

ce a

nd

falli

ng,

his

fin

gert

ips

pres

sed

onto

th

e qu

arte

r-in

ch w

ood

stri

ps.

Th

en,w

ith

utm

ost

delic

acy,

wit

h a

foc

use

d co

nce

ntr

atio

n o

fal

l

his

sen

ses,

he

incr

ease

d ev

en f

urt

her

th

e st

rain

on

his

fin

gert

ips

hoo

ked

to t

hes

e sl

im e

dgin

gs o

fw

ood.

Elb

ows

slow

ly b

endi

ng,

he

bega

n t

o dr

aw t

he

full

wei

ght

ofh

is u

pper

bod

y fo

rwar

d,

know

ing

that

th

e in

stan

t h

is f

inge

rs s

lippe

d of

fth

ese

quar

ter-

inch

str

ips

he’

d pl

un

ge b

ackw

ard

and

be f

allin

g.E

lbow

s

340

350

360

18

Co

llect

ion

1:

Plo

t an

d S

etti

ng

Part

1


Re-

read

lin

es 3

40–3

54. W

hat

is t

he

“sh

eer

emp

tin

ess”

To

men

cou

nte

rs?

Exp

lain

wh

ath

app

ens

nex

t.

The

“sh

eer

emp

tin

ess”

is t

he

op

en a

par

tmen

t

win

do

w. T

om

stu

mb

les

and

acc

iden

tally

clo

ses

the

win

do

w.

Wh

at c

ause

s th

e “b

arri

er”

tob

reak

(lin

es 3

37–3

39)?

The

“bar

rier

” se

par

at-

ing

To

m f

rom

pan

ic

bre

aks

wh

en h

e re

al-

izes

th

at h

e p

rob

ably

can

’t r

etu

rn t

o t

he

apar

tmen

t—ev

en

tho

ug

h it

is o

nly

a

wal

l aw

ay.

Rea

d t

he

bo

xed

pas

sag

eal

ou

d t

wic

e. O

n y

ou

r se

con

dre

ad, f

ocu

s o

n y

ou

r p

acin

gan

d d

eliv

ery.



win

dow

.He

cou

ld s

ee h

er r

ush

acr

oss

the

room

,fac

e as

tou

nde

d

and

frig

hte

ned

,an

d h

ear

him

self

shou

tin

g in

stru

ctio

ns:

“Nev

er

min

d h

ow I

got

her

e! J

ust

ope

n t

he

win

d—”

She

cou

ldn’

t op

en

it,h

e re

mem

bere

d,sh

e’d

nev

er b

een

abl

e to

;sh

e’d

alw

ays

had

to c

all h

im.S

he’

d h

ave

to g

et t

he

build

ing

supe

rin

ten

den

t or

a

nei

ghbo

r,an

d h

e pi

ctu

red

him

self

smili

ng

and

answ

erin

g th

eir

ques

tion

s as

he

clim

bed

in.“

I ju

st w

ante

d to

get

a b

reat

h o

ffr

esh

air,

so—

”

He

cou

ldn’

t po

ssib

ly w

ait

her

e ti

ll C

lare

cam

e h

ome.

It w

as

the

seco

nd

feat

ure

sh

e’d

wan

ted

to s

ee,a

nd

she’

d le

ft in

tim

e to

see

the

firs

t.Sh

e’d

be a

not

her

th

ree

hou

rs o

r— H

e gl

ance

d at

his

wat

ch;C

lare

had

bee

n g

one

eigh

t m

inu

tes.

It w

asn’

t po

ssib

le,

but

only

eig

ht

min

ute

s ag

o h

e h

ad k

isse

d h

is w

ife

good

bye.

She

was

n’t

even

at

the

thea

ter

yet!

It w

ould

be

fou

r h

ours

bef

ore

she

cou

ld p

ossi

bly

be h

ome,

and

he

trie

d to

pic

ture

him

self

knee

ling

out

her

e,fi

nge

rtip

s

hoo

ked

to t

hes

e n

arro

w s

trip

pin

gs,w

hile

fir

st o

ne

mov

ie,

prec

eded

by

a sl

ow li

stin

g of

cred

its,

bega

n,d

evel

oped

,rea

ched

its

clim

ax,a

nd

then

fin

ally

en

ded.

Th

ere’

d be

a n

ewsr

eel n

ext,

may

be,a

nd

then

an

an

imat

ed c

arto

on,a

nd

then

inte

rmin

able

scen

es f

rom

com

ing

pict

ure

s.A

nd

then

,on

ce m

ore,

the

begi

n-

nin

g of

a fu

ll-le

ngt

h p

ictu

re—

wh

ile a

ll th

e ti

me

he

hun

g ou

t

her

e in

th

e n

igh

t.

He

mig

ht

poss

ibly

get

to

his

fee

t,bu

t h

e w

as a

frai

d to

try

.

Alr

eady

his

legs

wer

e cr

ampe

d,h

is t

hig

h m

usc

les

tire

d;h

is k

nee

s

hurt

,his

fee

t fe

lt n

um

b,an

d h

is h

ands

wer

e st

iff.

He

cou

ldn’

t

poss

ibly

sta

y ou

t h

ere

for

fou

r h

ours

or

anyw

her

e n

ear

it.L

ong

befo

re t

hat

his

legs

an

d ar

ms

wou

ld g

ive

out;

he

wou

ld b

e fo

rced

to t

ry c

han

gin

g h

is p

osit

ion

oft

en—

stif

fly,

clu

msi

ly,h

is c

oord

i-

nat

ion

an

d st

ren

gth

gon

e—an

d h

e w

ould

fal

l.Q

uit

e re

alis

tica

lly,

he

knew

th

at h

e w

ould

fal

l;n

o on

e co

uld

sta

y ou

t h

ere

on t

his

ledg

e fo

r fo

ur

hou

rs.

A d

ozen

win

dow

s in

th

e ap

artm

ent

build

ing

acro

ss t

he

stre

et w

ere

ligh

ted.

Look

ing

over

his

sh

ould

er,h

e co

uld

see

th

e

top

ofa

man

’s h

ead

beh

ind

the

new

spap

er h

e w

as r

eadi

ng;

in

440

450

460

470

Co

nte

nts

of

the

Dea

d M

an’s

Po

cket

21


Cir

cle

the

wo

rds

in li

nes

445–

450

that

tel

l ho

w lo

ng

Cla

re h

as b

een

go

ne.

Un

der

-lin

e th

e w

ord

s in

lin

es45

1–45

5 th

at t

ell h

ow

lon

g

it w

ill b

e b

efo

re C

lare

get

sh

om

e.

inte

rmin

able

(in

·t∞

r√m

i·n¥·

b¥l

)ad

j.:en

dle

ss.

casi

ng,

he

drew

bac

k h

is r

igh

t h

and,

palm

fac

ing

the

glas

s,an

d

then

str

uck

th

e gl

ass

wit

h t

he

hee

l of

his

han

d.

His

arm

reb

oun

ded

from

th

e pa

ne,

his

bod

y to

tter

ing,

and

he

knew

he

didn

’t d

are

stri

ke a

har

der

blow

.

Bu

t in

th

e se

curi

ty a

nd

relie

fof

his

new

pos

itio

n,h

e si

mpl

y

smile

d;w

ith

on

ly a

sh

eet

ofgl

ass

betw

een

him

an

d th

e ro

om

just

bef

ore

him

,it

was

not

pos

sibl

e th

at t

her

e w

asn’

t a

way

pas

t

it.E

yes

nar

row

ing,

he

thou

ght

for

a fe

w m

omen

ts a

bou

t w

hat

to d

o.T

hen

his

eye

s w

iden

ed,f

or n

oth

ing

occu

rred

to

him

.Bu

t

still

he

felt

cal

m;t

he

trem

blin

g,h

e re

aliz

ed,h

ad s

topp

ed.A

t th

e

back

of

his

min

d th

ere

still

lay

the

thou

ght

that

on

ce h

e w

as

agai

n in

his

hom

e,h

e co

uld

giv

e re

leas

e to

his

fee

lings

.He

actu

ally

wou

ldlie

on

th

e fl

oor,

rolli

ng,

clen

chin

g tu

fts

ofth

e ru

g

in h

is h

ands

.He

wou

ld li

tera

lly r

un

acr

oss

the

room

,fre

e to

mov

e as

he

liked

,ju

mpi

ng

on t

he

floo

r,te

stin

g an

d re

velin

g

in it

s ab

solu

te s

ecu

rity

,let

tin

g th

e re

lief

floo

d th

rou

gh h

im,

drai

nin

g th

e fe

ar f

rom

his

min

d an

d bo

dy.H

is y

earn

ing

for

this

was

ast

onis

hin

gly

inte

nse

,an

d so

meh

ow h

e u

nde

rsto

od t

hat

he

had

bet

ter

keep

th

is f

eelin

g at

bay

.

He

took

a h

alf

dolla

r fr

om h

is p

ocke

t an

d st

ruck

it a

gain

st

the

pan

e,bu

t w

ith

out

any

hop

e th

at t

he

glas

s w

ould

bre

ak a

nd

wit

h v

ery

littl

e di

sapp

oin

tmen

t w

hen

it d

id n

ot.A

fter

a f

ew

mom

ents

of

thou

ght

he

drew

his

leg

up

onto

th

e le

dge

and

pick

ed lo

ose

the

knot

of

his

sh

oela

ce.H

e sl

ippe

d of

fth

e sh

oe

and,

hol

din

g it

acr

oss

the

inst

ep,d

rew

bac

k h

is a

rm a

s fa

r as

he

dare

d an

d st

ruck

th

e le

ath

er h

eel a

gain

st t

he

glas

s.T

he

pan

e

ratt

led,

but

he

knew

he’

d be

en a

lon

g w

ay f

rom

bre

akin

g it

.His

foot

was

col

d an

d h

e sl

ippe

d th

e sh

oe b

ack

on.H

e sh

oute

d

agai

n,e

xper

imen

tally

,an

d th

en o

nce

mor

e,bu

t th

ere

was

no

answ

er.

Th

e re

aliz

atio

n s

udd

enly

str

uck

him

th

at h

e m

igh

t h

ave

to

wai

t h

ere

till

Cla

re c

ame

hom

e,an

d fo

r a

mom

ent

the

thou

ght

was

fu

nny

.He

cou

ld s

ee C

lare

ope

nin

g th

e fr

ont

door

,wit

h-

draw

ing

her

key

fro

m t

he

lock

,clo

sin

g th

e do

or b

ehin

d h

er,a

nd

then

gla

nci

ng

up

to s

ee h

im c

rou

ched

on

th

e ot

her

sid

e of

the

410

420

430

20

Co

llect

ion

1:

Plo

t an

d S

etti

ng

Part

1


Wh

y d

oes

To

m h

ave

to k

eep

his

des

ire

for

secu

rity

an

dre

lief

“at

bay

,” o

r in

th

eb

ackg

rou

nd

(lin

es 4

18–4

20)?

Poss

ible

res

po

nse

: To

m

can

’t a

ffo

rd t

o b

e to

o

rela

xed

bec

ause

he

mu

st c

on

cen

trat

e o

n

savi

ng

him

self

.

Tom

is s

o c

lose

to

saf

ety,

yet

so f

ar a

way

. In

lin

es 4

21–4

31,

circ

le t

he

thre

e w

ays

Tom

trie

s to

get

into

th

e ro

om

.

reb

ou

nd

ed(r

i·b¡

nd

√id)

v.:

bo

un

ced

bac

k.

Cir

cle

the

pre

fix

in r

ebo

un

ded

.W

hat

do

es t

he

pre

fix

mea

n?

“bac

k” o

r “a

gai

n”




shou

lder

wh

ile t

he

last

of

the

lett

ers

burn

ed,h

e sa

w t

he

man

acro

ss t

he

stre

et p

ut

dow

n h

is p

aper

an

d st

and—

even

see

min

g,

to T

om,t

o gl

ance

tow

ard

his

win

dow

.Bu

t w

hen

he

mov

ed,i

t

was

on

ly t

o w

alk

acro

ss t

he

room

an

d di

sapp

ear

from

sig

ht.

Th

ere

wer

e a

doze

n c

oin

s in

Tom

Ben

ecke

’s p

ocke

t an

d h

e

drop

ped

them

,th

ree

or f

our

at a

tim

e.B

ut

ifth

ey s

tru

ck a

nyon

e,

or if

anyo

ne

not

iced

th

eir

falli

ng,

no

one

con

nec

ted

them

wit

h

thei

r so

urc

e,an

d n

o on

e gl

ance

d u

pwar

d.

His

arm

s h

ad b

egu

n t

o tr

embl

e fr

om t

he

stea

dy s

trai

n o

f

clin

gin

g to

th

is n

arro

w p

erch

,an

d h

e di

d n

ot k

now

wh

at t

o do

now

an

d w

as t

erri

bly

frig

hte

ned

.Clin

gin

g to

th

e w

indo

w s

trip

-

pin

g w

ith

on

e h

and,

he

agai

n s

earc

hed

his

poc

kets

.Bu

t n

ow—

he

had

left

his

wal

let

on h

is d

ress

er w

hen

he’

d ch

ange

d cl

oth

es—

510

Co

nte

nts

of

the

Dea

d M

an’s

Po

cket

23

Paus

e at

line

509

. At

this

poi

ntin

th

e st

ory

, wh

at e

ven

tsco

uld

hap

pen

nex

t?

Pred

icti

on

s w

ill v

ary.

Som

e st

ud

ents

may

pre

dic

t so

meo

ne

will

spo

t To

m a

nd

res

cue

him

.

© E

uan

Myl

es/G

etty

Imag

es.

anot

her

win

dow

he

saw

th

e bl

ue-

gray

flic

ker

ofa

tele

visi

on

scre

en.N

o m

ore

than

tw

enty

-odd

yar

ds f

rom

his

bac

k w

ere

scor

es o

fpe

ople

,an

d if

just

on

e of

them

wou

ld w

alk

idly

to

his

win

dow

an

d gl

ance

ou

t...

.For

som

e m

omen

ts h

e st

ared

ove

r

his

sh

ould

er a

t th

e lig

hte

d re

ctan

gles

,wai

tin

g.B

ut

no

one

appe

ared

.Th

e m

an r

eadi

ng

his

pap

er t

urn

ed a

pag

e an

d th

en

con

tin

ued

his

rea

din

g.A

fig

ure

pas

sed

anot

her

of

the

win

dow

s

and

was

imm

edia

tely

gon

e.

In t

he

insi

de p

ocke

t of

his

jack

et h

e fo

un

d a

littl

e sh

eaf

of

pape

rs,a

nd

he

pulle

d on

e ou

t an

d lo

oked

at

it in

th

e lig

ht

from

the

livin

g ro

om.I

t w

as a

n o

ld le

tter

,an

adv

erti

sem

ent

ofso

me

sort

;his

nam

e an

d ad

dres

s,in

pu

rple

ink,

wer

e on

a la

bel p

aste

d

to t

he

enve

lope

.Gri

ppin

g on

e en

d of

the

enve

lope

in h

is t

eeth

,

he

twis

ted

it in

to a

tig

ht

curl

.Fro

m h

is s

hir

t po

cket

he

brou

ght

out

a bo

ok o

fm

atch

es.H

e di

dn’t

dar

e le

t go

th

e ca

sin

g w

ith

both

han

ds b

ut,

wit

h t

he

twis

t of

pape

r in

his

tee

th,h

e op

ened

the

mat

chbo

ok w

ith

his

fre

e h

and;

then

he

ben

t on

e of

the

mat

ches

in t

wo

wit

hou

t te

arin

g it

fro

m t

he

fold

er,i

ts r

ed-t

ippe

d

end

now

tou

chin

g th

e st

riki

ng

surf

ace.

Wit

h h

is t

hum

b,h

e

rubb

ed t

he

red

tip

acro

ss t

he

stri

kin

g ar

ea.

He

did

it a

gain

,th

en a

gain

,an

d st

ill a

gain

,pre

ssin

g h

arde

r

each

tim

e,an

d th

e m

atch

su

dden

ly f

lare

d,bu

rnin

g h

is t

hum

b.

Bu

t h

e ke

pt it

alig

ht,

cupp

ing

the

mat

chbo

ok in

his

han

d an

d

shie

ldin

g it

wit

h h

is b

ody.

He

hel

d th

e fl

ame

to t

he

pape

r in

his

mou

th t

ill it

cau

ght.

Th

en h

e sn

uff

ed o

ut

the

mat

ch f

lam

e w

ith

his

thu

mb

and

fore

fin

ger,

care

less

of

the

burn

,an

d re

plac

ed t

he

book

in h

is p

ocke

t.Ta

kin

g th

e pa

per

twis

t in

his

han

d,h

e h

eld

it

flam

e do

wn

,wat

chin

g th

e fl

ame

craw

l up

the

pape

r,ti

ll it

fla

red

brig

ht.

Th

en h

e h

eld

it b

ehin

d h

im o

ver

the

stre

et,m

ovin

g it

from

sid

e to

sid

e,w

atch

ing

it o

ver

his

sh

ould

er,t

he

flam

e fl

ick-

erin

g an

d gu

tter

ing

in t

he

win

d.

Th

ere

wer

e th

ree

lett

ers

in h

is p

ocke

t an

d h

e lig

hte

d ea

ch

ofth

em,h

oldi

ng

each

till

th

e fl

ame

tou

ched

his

han

d an

d th

en

drop

pin

g it

to

the

stre

et b

elow

.At

one

poin

t,w

atch

ing

over

his

480

490

500

22

Co

llect

ion

1:

Plo

t an

d S

etti

ng

Part

1


Pau

se a

t lin

e 50

2. H

ow

is T

om

tryi

ng

to

so

lve

his

pro

ble

m?

He

is t

ryin

g t

o s

et f

ire

to t

he

lett

er s

o t

hat

som

eon

e lo

oki

ng

ou

t

a w

ind

ow

or

wal

kin

g

on

th

e st

reet

wo

uld

see

him

.

Notes

Notes



He

test

ed h

is p

lan

.Th

e fi

nge

rs o

fh

is le

ft h

and

claw

like

on

the

littl

e st

ripp

ing,

he

drew

bac

k h

is o

ther

fis

t u

nti

l his

bod

y

bega

n t

eete

rin

g ba

ckw

ard.

Bu

t h

e h

ad n

o le

vera

ge n

ow—

he

cou

ld f

eel t

hat

th

ere

wou

ld b

e n

o fo

rce

to h

is s

win

g—an

d h

e

mov

ed h

is f

ist

slow

ly f

orw

ard

till

he

rock

ed f

orw

ard

on h

is k

nee

s

agai

n a

nd

cou

ld s

ense

th

at h

is s

win

g w

ould

car

ry it

s gr

eate

st

forc

e.G

lan

cin

g do

wn

,how

ever

,mea

suri

ng

the

dist

ance

fro

m

his

fis

t to

th

e gl

ass,

he

saw

th

at it

was

less

th

an t

wo

feet

.

It o

ccu

rred

to

him

tha

t he

cou

ld r

aise

his

arm

ove

r hi

s he

ad,

to b

rin

g it

dow

n a

gain

st t

he

glas

s.B

ut,

exp

erim

enta

lly in

slo

w

mot

ion

,he

knew

it w

ould

be

an a

wkw

ard

blow

wit

hou

t th

e fo

rce

ofa

driv

ing

pun

ch,a

nd

not

nea

rly

enou

gh t

o br

eak

the

glas

s.

Faci

ng

the

win

dow

,he

had

to

driv

e a

blow

fro

m t

he

shou

lder

,

he

knew

now

,at

a di

stan

ce o

fle

ss t

han

tw

o fe

et;a

nd

he

did

not

know

wh

eth

er it

wou

ld b

reak

th

rou

gh t

he

hea

vy g

lass

.It

mig

ht;

he

cou

ld p

ictu

re it

hap

pen

ing,

he

cou

ld f

eel i

t in

th

e n

erve

s of

his

arm

.An

d it

mig

ht

not

;he

cou

ld f

eel t

hat

too

—fe

el h

is f

ist

stri

kin

g th

is g

lass

an

d be

ing

inst

anta

neo

usl

y fl

un

g ba

ck b

y th

e

un

brea

kin

g pa

ne,

feel

th

e fi

nge

rs o

fh

is o

ther

han

d br

eaki

ng

loos

e,n

ails

scr

apin

g al

ong

the

casi

ng

as h

e fe

ll.

He

wai

ted,

arm

dra

wn

bac

k,fi

st b

alle

d,bu

t in

no

hurr

y

to s

trik

e;th

is p

ause

,he

knew

,mig

ht

be a

n e

xten

sion

of

his

life

.

An

d to

live

eve

n a

few

sec

onds

lon

ger,

he

felt

,eve

n o

ut

her

e

on t

his

ledg

e in

th

e n

igh

t,w

as in

fin

itel

y be

tter

th

an t

o di

e a

mom

ent

earl

ier

than

he

had

to.

His

arm

gre

w t

ired

,an

d h

e

brou

ght

it d

own

an

d re

sted

it.

Th

en h

e kn

ew t

hat

it w

as t

ime

to m

ake

the

atte

mpt

.He

cou

ld n

ot k

nee

l her

e h

esit

atin

g in

defi

nit

ely

till

he

lost

all

cou

rage

to

act,

wai

tin

g ti

ll h

e sl

ippe

d of

fth

e le

dge.

Aga

in h

e

drew

bac

k h

is a

rm,k

now

ing

this

tim

e th

at h

e w

ould

not

bri

ng

it d

own

till

he

stru

ck.H

is e

lbow

pro

tru

din

g ov

er L

exin

gton

Ave

nu

e fa

r be

low

,th

e fi

nge

rs o

fh

is o

ther

han

d pr

esse

d do

wn

bloo

dles

sly

tigh

t ag

ain

st t

he

nar

row

str

ippi

ng,

he

wai

ted,

feel

ing

the

sick

ten

sen

ess

and

terr

ible

exc

item

ent

build

ing.

It g

rew

an

d

560

570

580

Co

nte

nts

of

the

Dea

d M

an’s

Po

cket

25


Un

der

line

the

sen

ten

ce in

lines

574

–579

th

at e

xpla

ins

wh

y To

m h

esit

ates

.

Exam

ine

the

wo

rd in

stan

ta-

neo

usl

y(l

ine

571)

. Cir

cle

the

smal

ler

wo

rd w

ith

in it

th

at

is f

amili

ar t

o y

ou

. Th

en,

un

der

line

its

suff

ix, o

r w

ord

en

din

g. W

hat

do

esin

stan

tan

eou

sly

mea

n?

“in

an

inst

ant”

or

“im

med

iate

ly”

Pau

se a

t lin

e 56

5. W

ill T

om

be

able

to

bre

ak t

he

gla

ss?

Exp

lain

.

Poss

ible

an

swer

s:

Yes,

he

will

pu

t al

l his

ener

gy

into

th

e ef

fort

.

No

, he

is w

orn

ou

t.

ther

e w

as n

oth

ing

left

bu

t th

e ye

llow

sh

eet.

It o

ccu

rred

to

him

irre

leva

ntl

yth

at h

is d

eath

on

th

e si

dew

alk

belo

w w

ould

be

an

eter

nal

mys

tery

;th

e w

indo

w c

lose

d—w

hy,h

ow,a

nd

from

wh

ere

cou

ld h

e h

ave

falle

n?

No

one

wou

ld b

e ab

le t

o id

enti

fy h

is b

ody

for

a ti

me,

eith

er—

the

thou

ght

was

som

ehow

un

bear

able

an

d

incr

ease

d h

is f

ear.

All

they

’d f

ind

in h

is p

ocke

ts w

ould

be

the

yello

w s

hee

t.C

onte

nts

ofth

e de

ad m

an’s

pock

ets,

he

thou

ght,

one

shee

t of

pape

r be

arin

g pe

ncile

d no

tati

ons—

inco

mpr

ehen

sibl

e.

He

un

ders

tood

fu

lly t

hat

he

mig

ht

actu

ally

be

goin

g to

die

;

his

arm

s,m

ain

tain

ing

his

bal

ance

on

th

e le

dge,

wer

e tr

embl

ing

stea

dily

now

.An

d it

occ

urr

ed t

o h

im t

hen

wit

h a

ll th

e fo

rce

ofa

reve

lati

on t

hat

,if

he

fell,

all h

e w

as e

ver

goin

g to

hav

e ou

t of

life

he

wou

ld t

hen

,abr

upt

ly,h

ave

had

.Not

hin

g,th

en,c

ould

eve

r be

chan

ged;

and

not

hin

g m

ore—

no

leas

t ex

per

ien

ce o

r pl

easu

re—

cou

ld e

ver

be a

dded

to

his

life

.He

wis

hed

,th

en,t

hat

he

had

not

allo

wed

his

wif

e to

go

off

by h

erse

lfto

nig

ht—

and

on s

imila

r

nig

hts

.He

thou

ght

ofal

l th

e ev

enin

gs h

e h

ad s

pen

t aw

ay f

rom

her

,wor

kin

g;an

d h

e re

gret

ted

them

.He

thou

ght

won

deri

ngl

y

ofh

is f

ierc

e am

biti

on a

nd

ofth

e di

rect

ion

his

life

had

tak

en;h

e

thou

ght

ofth

e h

ours

he’

d sp

ent

by h

imse

lf,f

illin

g th

e ye

llow

shee

t th

at h

ad b

rou

ght

him

ou

t h

ere.

Con

tent

s of

the

dead

man

’s

pock

ets,

he

thou

ght

wit

h s

udd

en f

ierc

e an

ger,

a w

aste

d lif

e.

He

was

sim

ply

not

goi

ng

to c

ling

her

e ti

ll h

e sl

ippe

d an

d

fell;

he

told

him

self

that

now

.Th

ere

was

on

e la

st t

hin

g h

e co

uld

try;

he

had

bee

n a

war

e of

it f

or s

ome

mom

ents

,ref

usi

ng

to t

hin

k

abou

t it

,bu

t n

ow h

e fa

ced

it.K

nee

ling

her

e on

th

e le

dge,

the

fin

gert

ips

ofon

e h

and

pres

sed

to t

he

nar

row

str

ip o

fw

ood,

he

cou

ld,h

e kn

ew,d

raw

his

oth

er h

and

back

a y

ard

perh

aps,

fist

clen

ched

tig

ht,

doin

g it

ver

y sl

owly

till

he

sen

sed

the

oute

r lim

it

ofba

lan

ce,t

hen

,as

har

d as

he

was

abl

e fr

om t

he

dist

ance

,he

cou

ld d

rive

his

fis

t fo

rwar

d ag

ain

st t

he

glas

s.If

it b

roke

,his

fis

t

smas

hin

g th

rou

gh,h

e w

as s

afe;

he

mig

ht

cut

him

self

badl

y,an

d

prob

ably

wou

ld,b

ut

wit

h h

is a

rm in

side

th

e ro

om,h

e w

ould

be

secu

re.B

ut

ifth

e gl

ass

did

not

bre

ak,t

he

rebo

un

d,fl

ingi

ng

his

arm

bac

k,w

ould

top

ple

him

off

the

ledg

e.H

e w

as c

erta

in o

fth

at.

520

530

540

550

24

Co

llect

ion

1:

Plo

t an

d S

etti

ng

Part

1


Pau

se a

t lin

e 55

3. W

hat

are

the

po

ssib

le e

ffec

ts o

f To

m’s

pla

n?

If t

he

gla

ss d

oes

no

t

bre

ak, h

e w

ill f

all o

ff

the

led

ge.

irre

leva

ntl

y(i

·rel

√¥·v

¥nt·

l≤)

adv.

:in

a w

ay n

ot

rela

ted

to

the

po

int

or

situ

atio

n.

inco

mp

reh

ensi

ble

(in

·käm

≈pr≤

·hen

√s¥·

b¥l

)ad

j.:n

ot

un

der

stan

dab

le.

Pau

se a

t lin

e 52

6. W

hy

do

esit

mat

ter

to T

om

th

at n

o o

ne

wo

uld

un

der

stan

d t

he

yello

wsh

eet

of

pap

er?

Tom

wo

rked

har

d o

n

the

pap

er; i

f h

e d

ied

,

the

wo

rk w

ou

ld b

e

use

less

.




Co

nte

nts

of

the

Dea

d M

an’s

Po

cket

27

Stor

y M

apR

evie

w t

he

sequ

ence

of

even

ts in

“C

onte

nts

of

the

Dea

d M

an’s

Pock

et.”

Th

en,f

ill in

th

e St

ory

Map

bel

ow.

Sam

ple

en

trie

s ap

pea

r b

elo

w.

Cont

ents

of

the

Dea

d M

an’s

Pock

et

Titl

e

“Co

nte

nts

of

the

Dea

d M

an’s

Po

cket

”

Sett

ing

insi

de

and

on

th

e le

dg

e o

uts

ide

of

an a

par

tmen

t, o

n t

he

elev

enth

flo

or

Ch

arac

ters

Tom

an

d C

lare

Ben

ecke

Pro

ble

m

An

imp

ort

ant

pie

ce o

f p

aper

has

blo

wn

on

to t

he

led

ge.

Even

t 1

The

yello

w s

hee

t o

f p

aper

blo

ws

ou

t th

e w

ind

ow

an

d o

nto

th

e le

dg

e.

Even

t 2

Tom

cra

wls

ou

t th

e w

ind

ow

an

d o

nto

th

e le

dg

e to

res

cue

the

pap

er.

Even

t 3

Tom

ret

riev

es t

he

pap

er b

ut

is o

verc

om

e b

y fe

ar.

Even

t 4

Tom

acc

iden

tally

pu

lls t

he

win

do

w s

hu

t.

Even

t 5

(Clim

ax)

Tom

bre

aks

the

win

do

w a

nd

get

s b

ack

into

his

ap

artm

ent.

Res

olu

tio

n

Wh

en t

he

pap

er f

lies

ou

t th

e w

ind

ow

a s

eco

nd

tim

e, T

om

lau

gh

s. H

e ca

res

less

ab

ou

t w

ork

no

w a

nd

mo

re a

bo

ut

his

wif

e.

swel

led

tow

ard

the

mom

ent

ofac

tion

,his

ner

ves

tau

ten

ing.

He

thou

ght

ofC

lare

—ju

st a

wor

dle

ss,y

earn

ing

thou

ght—

and

then

drew

his

arm

bac

k ju

st a

bit

mor

e,fi

st s

o ti

ght

his

fin

gers

pai

ned

him

,an

d kn

owin

g h

e w

as g

oin

g to

do

it.T

hen

wit

h f

ull

pow

er,

wit

h e

very

last

scr

ap o

fst

ren

gth

he

cou

ld b

rin

g to

bea

r,h

e sh

ot

his

arm

for

war

d to

war

d th

e gl

ass,

and

he

said

“C

lare

!”

He

hear

d th

e so

un

d,fe

lt t

he b

low

,fel

t hi

mse

lffa

llin

g

forw

ard,

and

his

han

d cl

osed

on

the

livi

ng-

room

cu

rtai

ns,

the

shar

ds a

nd

frag

men

ts o

fgl

ass

show

erin

g on

to t

he f

loor

.An

d

then

,kn

eelin

g th

ere

on t

he le

dge,

an a

rm t

hru

st in

to t

he r

oom

up

to t

he s

hou

lder

,he

bega

n p

icki

ng

away

the

pro

tru

din

g sl

iver

s an

d

grea

t w

edge

s of

glas

s fr

om t

he w

indo

w f

ram

e,to

ssin

g th

em in

onto

the

ru

g.A

nd,

as h

e gr

aspe

d th

e ed

ges

ofth

e em

pty

win

dow

fram

e an

d cl

imbe

d in

to h

is h

ome,

he w

as g

rin

nin

g in

tri

um

ph.

He

did

not

lie

dow

n o

n t

he

floo

r or

ru

n t

hro

ugh

th

e ap

artm

ent,

as h

e h

ad p

rom

ised

him

self

;eve

n in

th

e fi

rst

few

mom

ents

it

seem

ed t

o h

im n

atu

ral a

nd

nor

mal

th

at h

e sh

ould

be

wh

ere

he

was

.He

sim

ply

turn

ed t

o h

is d

esk,

pulle

d th

e cr

um

pled

yel

low

shee

t fr

om h

is p

ocke

t,an

d la

id it

dow

n w

her

e it

had

bee

n,

smoo

thin

g it

ou

t;th

en h

e ab

sen

tly

laid

a p

enci

l acr

oss

it t

o

wei

ght

it d

own

.He

shoo

k h

is h

ead

won

deri

ngl

y,an

d tu

rned

to w

alk

tow

ard

the

clos

et.

Th

ere

he

got

out

his

top

coat

an

d h

at a

nd,

wit

hou

t w

aiti

ng

to p

ut

them

on

,ope

ned

th

e fr

ont

door

an

d st

eppe

d ou

t,to

go

fin

d h

is w

ife.

He

turn

ed t

o pu

ll th

e do

or c

lose

d an

d w

arm

air

from

th

e h

all r

ush

ed t

hro

ugh

th

e n

arro

w o

pen

ing

agai

n.A

s h

e

saw

th

e ye

llow

pap

er,t

he

pen

cil f

lyin

g,sc

oope

d of

fth

e de

sk a

nd,

un

imp

eded

by t

he

glas

sles

s w

indo

w,s

ail o

ut

into

th

e n

igh

t an

d

out

ofh

is li

fe,T

om B

enec

ke b

urs

t in

to la

ugh

ter

and

then

clo

sed

the

door

beh

ind

him

.

590

600

610

26

Co

llect

ion

1:

Plo

t an

d S

etti

ng

Part

1


un

imp

eded

(un

≈im·p

≤d√id

)ad

j.:n

ot

blo

cked

; u

no

bst

ruct

ed.

Un

imp

eded

has

th

e p

refi

xu

n–,

mea

nin

g “

no

t.”

If y

ou

rem

ove

th

e p

refi

x, y

ou

hav

eth

e w

ord

imp

eded

,mea

nin

g“b

lock

ed; o

bst

ruct

ed.”

Th

eLa

tin

ro

ot

–ped

e–m

ean

s“f

oo

t.”

Imp

ede

com

es d

irec

t-ly

fro

m a

Lat

in w

ord

mea

nin

g“t

o h

old

so

meo

ne

by

the

foo

t.”

At

the

end

of

the

sto

ry, w

hy

do

es T

om

lau

gh

wh

en h

ese

es t

he

yello

w s

hee

t o

fp

aper

fly

ou

t th

e w

ind

ow

?

Poss

ible

res

po

nse

:

Tom

rea

lizes

th

at t

her

e

are

mo

re im

po

rtan

t

thin

gs

in li

fe t

han

wo

rk, e

spec

ially

his

love

fo

r C

lare

.

The

clim

axis

th

e m

ost

exc

it-

ing

par

t o

f a

sto

ry. U

nd

erlin

eth

e se

nte

nce

in li

nes

588

–593

that

is t

he

clim

ax.




Co

nte

nts

of

the

Dea

d M

an’s

Po

cket

29

Skill

s Re

view

Skill

s Re

view

1.__

___

re–

a.n

o; n

ot

2.__

___

un

–b

.fo

rwar

d

3.__

___

sub

–c.

agai

n

4.__

___

pro

–d

.b

elo

w

Pref

ixes

DIR

ECTI

ON

S:M

atch

eac

h p

refi

x w

ith

its

def

init

ion

by

wri

tin

g

the

corr

ect

lett

er o

n t

he

line.

Cont

ents

of

the

Dead

M

an’s

Poc

ket

Voca

bula

ry i

n Co

ntex

t

DIR

ECTI

ON

S:C

om

ple

te t

he

par

agra

ph

by

wri

tin

g a

wo

rd f

rom

th

e w

ord

bo

x

to f

it in

eac

h s

ente

nce

bel

ow

. No

t al

l wo

rds

will

be

use

d.

pro

ject

ion

dis

card

ing

con

firm

atio

n

exh

alat

ion

inco

mp

reh

ensi

ble

reb

ou

nd

ed

un

imp

eded

irre

leva

ntl

y

inte

rmin

able

imp

erce

pti

bly

Wor

d Bo

xW

ord

Box

Tom

cre

pt

on

th

e le

dg

e, h

old

ing

his

bre

ath

, th

en le

t o

ut

a g

reat

(1)

of

air.

So (

2)

did

he

mo

ve t

hat

To

m f

elt

as if

he

wer

e st

and

ing

sti

ll. H

e h

ad b

een

on

th

e

led

ge,

he

tho

ug

ht,

an

(3)

le

ng

th o

f ti

me.

Ho

wev

er, h

is b

urn

ing

cig

aret

te w

as (

4)

that

he

had

act

ual

ly b

een

th

ere

on

ly a

few

min

ute

s. S

tari

ng

at

his

un

read

able

,

(5)

scra

wl o

n t

he

shee

t o

f p

aper

, he

wo

nd

ered

wh

y th

e w

ork

had

see

med

so

imp

ort

ant.

Voca

bula

rySkills

Und

erst

and

pref

ixes

. Use

wor

ds in

cont

ext.


Co

mp

lete

th

e sa

mp

le t

est

item

bel

ow

. Th

e b

ox

at t

he

rig

ht

exp

lain

s w

hy

thre

e o

f th

ese

cho

ices

are

no

t co

rrec

t.

Cont

ents

of

the

Dead

M

an’s

Poc

ket

Skill

s Re

view

Skill

s Re

view

28

Co

llect

ion

1:

Plo

t an

d S

etti

ng

Part

1

Ex

pla

na

tio

n o

f th

e C

orr

ect

An

swe

r

The

corr

ect

answ

er is

B.

Ais

inco

rrec

t b

ecau

se T

om

’s b

oss

is n

ot

men

tio

ned

in t

he

sto

ry. C

is in

corr

ect

be-

cau

se T

om

an

d h

is w

ife

hav

en’t

arg

ued

.

Dis

als

o in

corr

ect;

To

mh

as t

rou

ble

ligh

tin

g t

he

mat

ches

, bu

t th

em

atch

es

pre

sen

t o

nly

a m

ino

r d

iffi

cult

y.

Sa

mp

le T

est

Ite

m

On

eco

nfl

ict

of

the

sto

ry t

akes

pla

ce

bet

wee

n—

ATo

m a

nd

his

bo

ss

BTo

m a

nd

his

ow

n a

mb

itio

n

CTo

m a

nd

his

wif

e

DTo

m a

nd

a b

oo

k o

f m

atch

es

4.Th

e au

tho

r sl

ow

s d

ow

n t

ime

by—

Fu

sin

g f

lash

bac

k an

d f

ore

shad

ow

ing

Gd

escr

ibin

g t

he

even

ts m

om

ent

by

mo

men

t

Hse

ttin

g t

he

sto

ry o

n t

he

elev

enth

-

flo

or

led

ge

Jfo

cusi

ng

on

on

e ch

arac

ter

5.A

t th

e re

solu

tio

no

f “C

on

ten

ts o

f

the

Dea

d M

an’s

Po

cket

” To

m r

ealiz

es

that

—

Aw

ork

is le

ss im

po

rtan

t

Bw

ork

is m

ore

imp

ort

ant

Cfa

mily

an

d w

ork

are

of

equ

al

imp

ort

ance

Dfa

mily

is le

ss im

po

rtan

t

1.Th

ese

ttin

go

f “C

on

ten

ts o

f th

e D

ead

Man

’s P

ock

et”

pro

vid

es—

Ab

eau

tyC

susp

ense

Bh

um

or

Dro

man

ce

2.A

ll o

f th

e fo

llow

ing

des

crib

e To

m’s

inte

rnal

co

nfl

icts

exce

pt—

Fd

ecid

ing

bet

wee

n w

ork

an

d t

he

mo

vies

Go

verc

om

ing

his

fea

r

Hfi

gh

tin

g t

he

tem

pta

tio

n t

o lo

ok

do

wn

Jre

scu

ing

th

e p

aper

fro

m t

he

led

ge

3.In

th

e st

ory

’s s

equ

ence

of

even

ts,

wh

ich

eve

nt

hap

pen

s la

st?

ATo

m b

reak

s th

e w

ind

ow

.

BTo

m li

gh

ts t

he

mat

ches

.

CC

lare

go

es t

o t

he

mo

vies

.

DTo

m s

tep

s o

ut

on

to t

he

led

ge.

DIR

ECTI

ON

S:A

nsw

er t

he

follo

win

g q

ues

tio

ns

by

circ

ling

th

e le

tter

of

the

bes

t re

spo

nse

.

Lit

era

ry S

kills

Ana

lyze

tim

ean

d se

quen

ce.


196 Graphic Organizers

Name Date

Selection Title

Co

pyr

igh

t ©

by

Ho

lt, R

ineh

art

and

Win

sto

n. A

ll ri

gh

ts r

eser

ved

.

Story Map

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Events1.

2.

3.

4.

Climax

Resolution

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