Close Reading from Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick (pg.

1-3)

Comment [1]: Orange= fact/characteristic

DIRECTIONS: Read the following passage. While reading, underline, summarize, label, define, question and record
inferences and other literary devices in the margins. Then, answer the questions on the reverse side completely.

I never had a brain until Freak came along and let me borrow his for a while, and thats the truth, the whole
truth. The unvanquished truth, is how Freak would say it, and for a long time it was him who did the talking.
Except I had a way of saying things with my fists and my feet even before we became Freak the Mighty,
slaying dragons and fools and walking high above the world.
Called me Kicker for a timethis was day care, the year Gram and Grim took me overand I had a thing
about booting anyone who dared to touch me. Because they were always trying to throw a hug on me, like it

Comment [2]: Metaphor ? Did Freak teach

the narrator, or is this actually the truth, as it
says
Comment [3]: Define: Unconquered or yet to
overcome
Comment [4]: Comment: It seems like Freak
has a physical disability and the narrator has a
mental disability, so they would be perfect as a
team.
Comment [5]: Comment: Freak is the smart
one while the narrator is the physically strong
person in the 'team'.

was a medicine I needed.

Gram and Grim, bless their pointed little heads, theyre my mothers people, her parents, and they figured
whoa! better put this little critter with other little critters his own age, maybe it will improve his temper.
Yeah right! Instead, what happened, I invented games like kick-boxing and kick-knees and kick-faces and
kick-teachers, and kick-the-other-little-day-care-critters, because I knew what a rotten lie that hug stuff was.
Oh, I knew.
Thats when I got my first look at Freak, that year of the phony hugs. He didnt look so different back then, we

Comment [6]: Summary: The narrator has

temper issues, always physically hurting others,
and was put in day-care because of his
mother's parents reaction to the situation.

were all of us pretty small, right? But he wasnt in the playroom with us every day, just now and then hed
show up. Looking sort of fierce, is how I remember him. Except later it was Freak himself who taught me that
remembering is a great invention of the mind, and if you try hard enough you can remember anything, whether
it really happened or not.
So maybe he wasnt really all that fierce in day care, except Im pretty sure he did hit a kid with his crutch once,

Comment [7]: ? Since Freak is so smart,

where did he learn all his knowledge from. Did
his parents/guardian/s teach him or was he a
self-taught person.

whacked the little brat pretty good. And for some reason little kicker never got around to kicking little Freak.
Maybe it was those crutches kept me from lashing out at him, man those crutches were cool. I wanted a pair
for myself. And when little Freak showed up one day with these shiny braces strapped to his crooked legs,
metal tubes right up to his hips, why those were even more cool than crutches.

Comment [8]: ? Is Freak born with a disability,

since he had crutches and now leg braces.

Im Robot Man, little Freak would go, making these weird robot noises as he humped himself around the
playground. Rrrrrrrrrrrr like he had robot motors inside his legs going rrrrrrrrrrrrr, and this look,
like dont mess with me, man, maybe I got a laser cannon hidden inside these leg braces, smoke a hole right
through you. No question, Freak was hooked on robots even back then, this little guy two feet tall, and already
he knew what he wanted.
Read all parts of the question first to make sure you are answering the questions completely!

1. Cite a piece of text evidence that explains a CONFLICT that shapes a characters identity. Explain.
...little Freak showed up one day with these shiny new leg braces strapped to his crooked legs, metal
tubes right up his hips This tells me that this character has a disability with his legs, or was injured there,
and that he was considerably small for his age. If it wasnt for the text evidence, I wouldnt be able to
understand Freaks difficulty in the story, and I wouldnt know his true identity.
2. How is the protagonist POWERFUL? How are they POWERLESS? Explain and cite evidence for each.
The protagonist is powerful because he has a characteristic of hurting other people, so sooner or later, other
characters will fear him, and that gives him power over them. Called me a Kicker for a time, he was given a nickname
because other people noticed that he was a physical person. The protagonist is also powerless because he was not very
intelligent and usually used his feet and hands to explain what he felt or thought, so he also wasnt good with words. I
never had a brain until Freak came along and let me borrow his for a while is how the narrator explains it, so
even he recognized that he was powerless in some way and used his power to keep from being too powerless.
3. How does the author want us to feel about the protagonist? Use CHARACTERIZATION to help you construct your
response.
The author wants us to feel that the protagonist isnt the nicest or most thoughtful person in the world, but he also
has positive feelings about people, even if its a select few. The author uses direct characterization, explaining personality
directly, to describe the main character. I had a way of saying things with my fists and my feet The author is telling
us that the protagonist likes to be physical instead of using words to describe his thoughts or feelings, so he doesnt care
about others and is partly a bully and is not a very nice person. But there is an extent to that, when the author says
Maybe it was those crutches kept me from lashing out at him {Freak}, man those crutches were cool. it shows
that the protagonist is being nice, not being bad, to Freak because he thought his crutches were cool so he thought he
would later become his friend since Freak is his kind of person. From this, the author wants us to think that the
protagonist isnt all stone, and that he does have a heart for other people. From the author's characterization, it is evident
that he wants us to feel that the protagonist is not the nicest egg in the bunch, but he just needs to find the right kind of
person to be with to be kind-hearted.
Rubric rating submitted on: 10/9/2015, 5:57:16 AM by ksawyer@northsmithfieldschools.com

Marking Text and/or

Highlighting
Your score: 4

Student has colorcoded highlighting or

developed a system
of marking the text for
optimal
understanding.
Marking is not
friviolous, but rather is

Student has
highlighted or marked
relevant information in
a way that furthers
understanding of the
text.

Student has
attempted to highlight
or mark text, but some
of the marks are not
relevant to the
understanding of the
piece or are too few to
build the

Student has
attempted highlighting
or marking the text,
but it does not make
sense in the context
of the story.

Student has not

attempted to highlight
or mark the text in any
way.

Comment [9]: ? Is this a present-day story,

because I don't believe kids are let to lash out
on each other in daycare. If not, how far into the
future is this setting, and are there any
differences to the 'common people' in that day?

thoughtfully and
insightfully done.

understanding.

Margin Notes
Your score: 4

Margin notes reflect a

deep understanding of
the text, including
inferences,
questioning, labeling
literary devices, etc.
Notes do not
overwhelm the
document, but are
plentiful enough to
use as a quick
reference.

Margin notes reflect

an understanding of
the text, including
important information,
questioning, labeling
literary devices, etc.
Notes are plentiful
enough to use as a
quick reference.

Margin notes reflect

some understanding
of the text, including
some relevant
information or
questioning. Notes
are few, but can serve
as reference.

Margin notes are

attempted, but are
neither relevant nor
plentiful enough to
use as a quick
reference. Margin
notes do not make
sense.

Student did not

attempt margin notes.

Short Responses
Your score: 4

Student includes
BEST text evidence
(with quotation marks)
to answer each
response, as well as a
brief explanation of
how the evidence
connects to the
question.

Student includes text

evidence (with
quotation marks) to
answer each
response, as well as a
brief explanation of
how the evidence
connects to the
question.

Student includes text

evidence (with
quotation marks) to
answer each
response, but does
not explain.

Student explains an
answer without
including text
evidence to each
question.

Student does not

answer short
responses.

RAISE Response
Your score: 4

Student does ALL of

the following:
Restate prompt
Answer prompt
Give relevant
background
Include direct text
evidence
Cite text evidence
Explain how text
evidence
is relevant to
prompt
Extend prompt using
reader strategies
(inferences,
predictions, etc.)

Student is missing 1-2

of the following:
Restate prompt
Answer prompt
Give relevant
background
Include direct text
evidence
Cite text evidence
Explain how text
evidence
is relevant to
prompt
Extend prompt using
reader strategies
(inferences,
predictions, etc.)

Student is missing or
needs to work on 2-3
of the following:
Restate prompt
Answer prompt
Give relevant
background
Include direct text
evidence
Cite text evidence
Explain how text
evidence
is relevant to
prompt
Extend prompt using
reader strategies
(inferences,
predictions, etc.)

Student is missing 4-5

of the following, or
RAISE makes no
logical sense:
Restate prompt
Answer prompt
Give relevant
background
Include direct text
evidence
Cite text evidence
Explain how text
evidence
is relevant to
prompt
Extend prompt using
reader strategies
(inferences,
predictions, etc.)

Student does not

attempt RAISE
response.

Comments:
Ethan, can I keep this as an example?