Question
SD1: Lights come up on an old farmhouse, a barn, and a dilapidated pickup truck.
SD2: In the background stretch barren fields covered in glittering snow.
SD3: Old Karl enters wearing boots that look like he's had them for decades. He speaks to the audience.
Old Karl: This is the farm where I grew up, near the town of Rock Creek, Iowa. My pop was born here, and so were his pop and his pop's pop.
SD1: He walks downstage.
Old Karl: I guess you could say we've been here just about forever. Farming is no slice of pie, but we've always made do with what we have.
SD2: He steps off to the side as the front of the farmhouse lifts away, revealing a modest kitchen, a den, and three bedrooms.
SD3: A family is gathered around a dinner table.
Karl: Is there more meat?
Mama: No, but the potatoes will fill you up.
Ingrid: Can I take the truck tonight? Karl, I can drop you off at Teri's place if you want.
Pop: Truck's busted.
Karl: And Teri moved away last weekend.
Ingrid (to Karl): That's why you've been so mopey.
Theo: Seems like everyone is moving away.
Karl: Teri said Rock Creek will be a ghost town soon.
Pop (laughing): Ghosts make fine enough neighbors.
SD1: Pop scoops a heap of potatoes onto Karl's plate.
Pop: All I ever wanted was this farm and this family. I'm staying put.
In Scene 1, Old Karl says, "Farming is no slice of pie, but we've always made do with what we have." What does he mean? What other details does the playwright include in Scene 1 to support this idea?
SD2: In the background stretch barren fields covered in glittering snow.
SD3: Old Karl enters wearing boots that look like he's had them for decades. He speaks to the audience.
Old Karl: This is the farm where I grew up, near the town of Rock Creek, Iowa. My pop was born here, and so were his pop and his pop's pop.
SD1: He walks downstage.
Old Karl: I guess you could say we've been here just about forever. Farming is no slice of pie, but we've always made do with what we have.
SD2: He steps off to the side as the front of the farmhouse lifts away, revealing a modest kitchen, a den, and three bedrooms.
SD3: A family is gathered around a dinner table.
Karl: Is there more meat?
Mama: No, but the potatoes will fill you up.
Ingrid: Can I take the truck tonight? Karl, I can drop you off at Teri's place if you want.
Pop: Truck's busted.
Karl: And Teri moved away last weekend.
Ingrid (to Karl): That's why you've been so mopey.
Theo: Seems like everyone is moving away.
Karl: Teri said Rock Creek will be a ghost town soon.
Pop (laughing): Ghosts make fine enough neighbors.
SD1: Pop scoops a heap of potatoes onto Karl's plate.
Pop: All I ever wanted was this farm and this family. I'm staying put.
In Scene 1, Old Karl says, "Farming is no slice of pie, but we've always made do with what we have." What does he mean? What other details does the playwright include in Scene 1 to support this idea?
Answers
Bot
Old Karl is expressing the idea that farming is difficult and that his family has had to work hard to make ends meet. The playwright includes details such as the dilapidated pickup truck, the barren fields covered in glittering snow, and the modest kitchen, den, and bedrooms to show that the family has limited resources. The conversation around the dinner table also reveals that the family is struggling to make ends meet, as they are discussing the lack of meat and the fact that their truck is broken. Karl's comment about everyone moving away also suggests that the family is struggling to survive in a difficult economic climate.