Helen on 86th Street

Helen of 86th Street: 

Helen of 86th Street Wendi Kaufman

Quickwrite: 

Quickwrite What happens when our hopes and dreams don’t come true? What happens when we have to accept loss or when we are disappointed in love or friendship?

Character Traits: 

Character Traits When characters tell their own stories they also tell you a lot about their values, likes, and dislikes “I hate Helen” Vita is outspoken

Allusions: 

Allusions References to anything popular: Literature, history, anything famous

Character Traits: 

Character Traits What method of characterization reveals the narrator’s character traits in the first paragraph on page 106? The traits are revealed through indirect characterization The narrator also reveals her thoughts and feelings directly because she is outspoken

Allusion: 

Allusion Explain the allusion in the second paragraph on page 106. It is a reference to Christopher Marlowe, an English writer and Shakespearean contemporary “The face that launched 1000 ships” is from his play on Troy

“In the Horse”: 

“In the Horse” The Greek warriors hid in a wooden horse to fool the people of Troy The Trojans thought that the horse was a gift and took it into their city The Greeks got out at night, opened the city walls, and then defeated the Trojans

Literature: 

Literature How can you tell that Vita’s mother is familiar with literature on page 106? Cat named after Marlowe Father on his own Odyssey Parakeets named after Keats

Questions: 

Questions What is Vita’s mom’s boyfriend's name? Farfel Why is Helen acting weird at school? She likes Tommy Aldridge, the boy who hides in the wooden horse with Vita Find the simile in the 2nd column on page 107. That Helen is as beautiful as a statue

Questions: 

Questions “He has a chair in mom’s apartment.” A chair is an important teaching position at a university He is the only man she is dating or the highest on her list Find the simile in the first column on page 108. “He smells like those cough drops”

Allusions: 

Allusions Explain the two allusions that Farfel speaks on page 108. “The play’s the thing” “We’re all just players strutting and fretting our hour on the stage” Her mother appreciates Farfel’s literary allusions

Argus: 

Argus “Mom is spinning Argus” She is spinning the urn of her dog’s ashes in her hands Argus was Odyseus’s dog, the only thing that recognizes him when he comes back from a 20 year journey

Questions: 

Questions What does Vita do every night? Writes a letter to her father Which box is she on? Her third box of letters What does the 2nd paragraph in the 2nd column of 109 tell us about Vita’s mom? Her name is Victoria She doesn’t like to travel She worries about things at home when she’s away

Compare and Contrast: 

Compare and Contrast Compare and contrast the letter Vita writes to her father with the letter she wants to write. She wants to write about her true feelings The letter she writes deals with what happens at school They are similar because Vita tries to connect with her father by asking him questions that relate his experiences to her

Metaphor: 

Metaphor Explain: “I was thinking how we all travel differently, Vita. Some of us don’t even have to leave the house.” She speaks of travel as a mental activity The direction one takes in life

Questions: 

Questions What happens to Tommy Aldridge on page 110? He is sent home because he has ninja turtles on his sheet What is Mr. Dodd’s advice to Helen on how to cry onstage? Try to think of something sad What are the Greek words that Vita mutters on page 110? Spankopita, moussaka, gyro

Questions: 

Questions What are Vita’s three wishes as she lights the letters on fire? Farfel leaves, dad comes to the play, she gets to play Helen Where are the ashes hidden? In the urn with the dog Explain the allusion “No more burnt offerings when I am not home” Mom comes home and smells the burning Vita says that she was cooking She was referring to the cooking She accidentally hit on the truth

Questions: 

Questions How did Vita get to play Helen? Helen gets the chickenpox Vita stands up and gets noticed and gets the role Helen recovers but does not want to play Helen She wants to sit in the horse with Tommy Helen’s parents write a letter Vita gets to play Helen!

Allusion: 

Allusion Why is there a hole in the audience on page 112? All of Vita’s wishes came true except for her dad coming to the play