Subject: English

Topic: A Retrieved Reformation

Grade: VIII

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 Before Before Statement After After
Reading Reading Reading Reading
Agree Disagree Agree Disagree
True change is impossible,
even for people who
strongly desire it.

Love can transform people.

Those who reform are

rewarded for it by the new
trust of others.

Most people never change

their views of others, even
when they observe
changed behaviour.

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1. What advice does the warden give Jimmy just before Jimmy is released
from prison?
The warden tells Jimmy to become a better man and live a better life.
2. What does the clerk hand to Jimmy as he is released from prison? What
does Jimmy do with it?
The clerk hands Jimmy money for his train ride home. Jimmy goes to a
restaurant, then gives some money to a blind man and buys a train ticket
to his hometown.
3. Why did Jimmy gaze fondly at his toolbox?
Jimmy gazed fondly at his toolbox because it was the finest set of
burglar’s tools in the East. It was a complete set, made of specially
tempered steel, the latest designs in drills, punches, braces and bits,
jimmies, clamps, and augers, with two or three novelties, invented by
Jimmy himself. It had cost him over nine hundred dollars to have them
made.
4. When out of prison, how does Valentine support himself?
He resumes his life of crime as a safecracker.
5. Why does Ben start looking for Jimmy again?
Ben start looking for Jimmy again because he deduces that it must be
Valentine from the pattern of the robberies.

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6. What happens to Jimmy in front of Elmore Bank?
Jimmy sees a woman named Annabel Adams and he falls in love with her.
7. What business did Jimmy take up in Elmore? How did he fare?
He opened a shoe-store and secured a good run of trade.
8. Why does Jimmy ask for the rose Annabel was wearing?
He wants to keep it as a memento of her, since he believes she won’t marry
him any more after he reveals who he is/or that he will be taken to jail.
9. Why does Valentine use his old talents once again?
When his fiancée Annabel’s niece is accidentally locked in the vault, Valentine
risks his new way of life to free her.
10. Find three details in the story that support the idea that Valentine has really
changed.
He abandons his plan to rob the bank in Elmore. He remains in town and
opens a successful shoe store. He writes a letter to an old friend in which he
admits to change and arranges to give away his burglary tools.
11. Why does Ben pretend not to know Jimmy?
Ben observes that Jimmy has changed his life. When Jimmy rescues the girl,
Ben is convinced of the change and is willing to allow the reformed criminal to
continue leading an honest life.

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 Period 1:
safecracking : the act of breaking into a safe

clamps : a band, or clasp for strengthening or holding things

together
augers : a tool resembling a large corkscrew, for boring holes
in wood
phoenix : a person or thing regarded as uniquely remarkable in
some respect
knob : a rounded ball, especially at the end or on the surface
of something
frantically : in a hurried manner owing to fear, anxiety, or other
emotion
queer : strange; odd

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 Story Details Inferences
 Pardoned by the governor  He has important friends
after serving only ten who do him favours.
months of a four-year
sentence.
 “Why, I never cracked a safe  Jimmy probably lies a lot.
in my life.”
 Uses his rehabilitation  Jimmy is used to fancy
money for food, wine, and a living.
good cigar.
 Tosses a quarter into the hat  Seems sympathetic to
of a blind man. others’ misfortunes.
 Walks out with his suitcase  Jimmy has no intention of
full of burglary tools. giving up his profession.
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 What do these pictures tell you?

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 Character traits

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