A story can throw several fights at one hero. Find them all, then decide which one was the hardest.
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Students will find more than one conflict in the second half of Kipling's Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, match each conflict to its opponent, and judge which one is Rikki-tikki's greatest challenge. A short section on specific verbs (scuttle, creep, cower, roam) follows from Kipling's own word choices.
A story can hold several conflicts at once, and they don't weigh the same. To rank them, ask what could be lost, how strong the opponent is, and how close the hero comes to losing. In this half of the story the fights are Rikki-tikki against Nag, Rikki-tikki against Nagaina, and a smaller friction with Darzee, who is on his own side.
Students tend to pick the loudest fight instead of the one they can defend. Ask for one line from the story that proves it. Another slip is calling the eggs a separate conflict; the eggs are part of the fight with Nagaina.
For the written paragraph, ask for three things in order: the fight the student picked, what is at stake and how close Rikki-tikki comes to losing, and one detail from the story as proof. There is no single right answer. Either Nag or Nagaina can be defended, as long as the reasons come from the text.
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Before You Start
The words this lesson uses. Tap a card to see what it means, then come back to them whenever a question uses one.
Part One
Questions about the story you just read. Pick your answer straight off, or press Find it in the story if you would rather hunt for the sentence first.
Part Two
The word cards are at the top of this page. Look back at them as often as you need, then answer.