Study Guide “The Green Mamba”
1. What actions do the narrator and Mr. and Mrs. Fuller take that lead you to realize they think the situation with the snake is very serious?
2. Why doesn’t the snake man buy captured snakes from the natives?
3. Describe how the snake man caught the snake
4. Do you think Mr. Macfarlane is confident in his job? Support your answer.
From “A Minor Bird”
5. Why did the narrator wish the bird would fly away?
6. What did the narrator do to try to get rid of the bird?
7. How does the narrator’s opinion of the bird change the poem?
8. In what ways are Mr. Macfarlane and the narrator of the poem alike? Different? Explain!
Vocabulary
Define the words from “The Green Mamba”
1. flailing
2. veranda
3. manipulate
4. shaft
5. venom
6. gauntlet
7. implement
8. dumbfounded
9. malevolent
10. wheedling
Check Test
True or False
1. “The Green Mamba” is told from the 1st person point of view.
2. The setting is very important to this selection.
3. A deadly snake goes into the narrator’s house
4. The snake kills the dog.
5. Mr. Fuller gets very nervous when he hears that there is a snake in the house.
6. Macfarlane and the snake see each other at the same time.
7. The green mamba strikes at Macfarlane.
8. Macfarlane uses the pole like a hammer to stun the snake on the head.
9. In “A Minor Bird,” the speaker wants a bird to go away from his house.
10. The speaker blames the bird for singing off key.
Vocabulary Test
1. dumbfounded
2. implement
3. veranda
4. shaft
5. gauntlet
6. wheedling
7. malevolent
8. flailing
9. manipulate
10. venom
a. a useful article of equipment; tool
b. a stout, heavy glove with a wide, flaring cuff often covering part of the arm
c. a large porch along one or more sides of a house
d. beating; thrashing
e. easily bent
f. wishing evil to happen to others
g. to handle skillfully
h. using soft, flattering words
i. the poison of a snake
j. the long, slender stem of an arrow or spear
k. amaze; make unable to speak