Question
The Girl Who Drew Cats
by Eugie Foster
This passage tells the story of Ariko, a girl who loves to draw cats. Ariko’s disapproving mother takes her to a female leader called an “abbess” who uses riddles to try to help Ariko find her purpose.
As you read, pay attention to who is telling the story.
In a small village in Japan, there was a girl who drew cats. Her name was Ariko, and she lived with her mother and two sisters.
At home, Ariko drew pouncing tabby cats on the paper screens, aloof moon-faced cats on the slatted walls, and spotted bobtail cats on the tatami mats. At school, she drew a parade of cats on the playground fence, and sometimes, instead of a page of sums or an essay, her teachers received drawings of sleek-furred cats. Fortunately, they were lenient, for Ariko was bright and sweet-mannered, and she never talked back. But one week, after she turned in a picture of a heavy-eyed tomcat on Monday, a languid Siamese on Tuesday, a drowsy tortoiseshell on Wednesday, and a yawning black cat on Thursday, her history teacher sent a note home.
“Am I paying your tuition fees so you can draw cats?” Ariko’s mother scolded. “Second sister is the top student in her math class, and eldest sister works in the fields so you can go to school. No more of these distractions.” And she took Ariko’s brushes and ink stone away.
But Ariko still drew cats. She sketched dust cats in the road, charcoal cats on the trees, and soy sauce cats with a chopstick brush. When Mama discovered the capering soy sauce cat on her freshly scrubbed paper screen, she sighed.
“Ariko, what prospects will a girl have who draws cats?” she said.
Ariko lowered her eyes.“I’m sorry, Mama. Maybe I can become an artist?”
When she heard that, Mama scowled and sent Ariko to bed. But she spent the night pondering her daughter’s future. Come daybreak, Mama took Ariko to the local temple and presented her to the abbess, a wizened old woman in somber robes.
“All my daughter does is draw cats,” she said. “There’s no use for art outside the temple, so her place must be here.”
The abbess turned kindly eyes to Ariko. “My name is Gently Floating Cloud,” she said, “but you may call me Lady Cloud. There is a sister here who can instruct you in the ways of ink and brush. But I’m uncertain whether you are suited for temple life. I have some questions I’d like to ask you.”
Lady Cloud clasped her fingers together. “First, can you tell me what it is that you keep after you give it to another?”
Ariko furrowed her brow like Mama did when she was troubled. “Your word,” she said. “You keep your word when you give it.”
Lady Cloud nodded. “And you always must. Next, what is it that has never been but will always become, that’s never seen but is believed in by all?”
Perplexed, Ariko cast about for inspiration. Her eyes lifted to the horizon, where the sun was a blaze of white upon dawn’s indigo-violet tapestry. “Tomorrow,” she exclaimed. “Everyone believes in tomorrow!”
“Indeed we do.” Lady Cloud folded her hands in her sleeves. “My final question is this: What is something so long as it is unknown but becomes nothing once it is known?”
Ariko furrowed her brow and cast all around. But no answer came. How could one know something unknown?
___
Adapted from The Girl Who Drew Cats, by Eugie Foster, ©️️ by Cricket Media, Inc. Reproduced with permission.
Questions
Read paragraphs 1 through 4. Which of the following best describes the narrator’s perspective of Ariko’s mother’s disapproval of Ariko’s art?
The narrator is Ariko who describes her perception of what her mom thinks about her art.
The narrator is omniscient and describes Ariko’s inner thoughts and Ariko’s mother’s inner thoughts about Ariko’s art.
The narrator is a third person narrator limited to Ariko’s perspective, so the reader understand’s Ariko’s mother’s actions through Ariko’s perspective.
The narrator is a third person narrator who describes Ariko’s mother’s actions but does not describe the mother’s inner thoughts about Ariko’s art.
by Eugie Foster
This passage tells the story of Ariko, a girl who loves to draw cats. Ariko’s disapproving mother takes her to a female leader called an “abbess” who uses riddles to try to help Ariko find her purpose.
As you read, pay attention to who is telling the story.
In a small village in Japan, there was a girl who drew cats. Her name was Ariko, and she lived with her mother and two sisters.
At home, Ariko drew pouncing tabby cats on the paper screens, aloof moon-faced cats on the slatted walls, and spotted bobtail cats on the tatami mats. At school, she drew a parade of cats on the playground fence, and sometimes, instead of a page of sums or an essay, her teachers received drawings of sleek-furred cats. Fortunately, they were lenient, for Ariko was bright and sweet-mannered, and she never talked back. But one week, after she turned in a picture of a heavy-eyed tomcat on Monday, a languid Siamese on Tuesday, a drowsy tortoiseshell on Wednesday, and a yawning black cat on Thursday, her history teacher sent a note home.
“Am I paying your tuition fees so you can draw cats?” Ariko’s mother scolded. “Second sister is the top student in her math class, and eldest sister works in the fields so you can go to school. No more of these distractions.” And she took Ariko’s brushes and ink stone away.
But Ariko still drew cats. She sketched dust cats in the road, charcoal cats on the trees, and soy sauce cats with a chopstick brush. When Mama discovered the capering soy sauce cat on her freshly scrubbed paper screen, she sighed.
“Ariko, what prospects will a girl have who draws cats?” she said.
Ariko lowered her eyes.“I’m sorry, Mama. Maybe I can become an artist?”
When she heard that, Mama scowled and sent Ariko to bed. But she spent the night pondering her daughter’s future. Come daybreak, Mama took Ariko to the local temple and presented her to the abbess, a wizened old woman in somber robes.
“All my daughter does is draw cats,” she said. “There’s no use for art outside the temple, so her place must be here.”
The abbess turned kindly eyes to Ariko. “My name is Gently Floating Cloud,” she said, “but you may call me Lady Cloud. There is a sister here who can instruct you in the ways of ink and brush. But I’m uncertain whether you are suited for temple life. I have some questions I’d like to ask you.”
Lady Cloud clasped her fingers together. “First, can you tell me what it is that you keep after you give it to another?”
Ariko furrowed her brow like Mama did when she was troubled. “Your word,” she said. “You keep your word when you give it.”
Lady Cloud nodded. “And you always must. Next, what is it that has never been but will always become, that’s never seen but is believed in by all?”
Perplexed, Ariko cast about for inspiration. Her eyes lifted to the horizon, where the sun was a blaze of white upon dawn’s indigo-violet tapestry. “Tomorrow,” she exclaimed. “Everyone believes in tomorrow!”
“Indeed we do.” Lady Cloud folded her hands in her sleeves. “My final question is this: What is something so long as it is unknown but becomes nothing once it is known?”
Ariko furrowed her brow and cast all around. But no answer came. How could one know something unknown?
___
Adapted from The Girl Who Drew Cats, by Eugie Foster, ©️️ by Cricket Media, Inc. Reproduced with permission.
Questions
Read paragraphs 1 through 4. Which of the following best describes the narrator’s perspective of Ariko’s mother’s disapproval of Ariko’s art?
The narrator is Ariko who describes her perception of what her mom thinks about her art.
The narrator is omniscient and describes Ariko’s inner thoughts and Ariko’s mother’s inner thoughts about Ariko’s art.
The narrator is a third person narrator limited to Ariko’s perspective, so the reader understand’s Ariko’s mother’s actions through Ariko’s perspective.
The narrator is a third person narrator who describes Ariko’s mother’s actions but does not describe the mother’s inner thoughts about Ariko’s art.
Answers
GPT-4o mini
The best description of the narrator’s perspective of Ariko’s mother’s disapproval of Ariko’s art is:
**The narrator is a third person narrator who describes Ariko’s mother’s actions but does not describe the mother’s inner thoughts about Ariko’s art.**
This option accurately reflects the narrator's focus on the events and actions regarding Ariko and her mother without delving deeply into the mother's internal thoughts or feelings. Instead, readers infer the mother's disapproval through her dialogue and actions.
**The narrator is a third person narrator who describes Ariko’s mother’s actions but does not describe the mother’s inner thoughts about Ariko’s art.**
This option accurately reflects the narrator's focus on the events and actions regarding Ariko and her mother without delving deeply into the mother's internal thoughts or feelings. Instead, readers infer the mother's disapproval through her dialogue and actions.