Chapter: 14. Three Wise Old Women
A. Fill in the blanks.
The three women were called wise old women. The women screamed ‘We’ll drop! We’ll drop!’ when on the ladder. The ladder ended up afloat in the sea. The poem ends by saying the poet doesn’t know what happened next. B. Answer these questions.
What was unusual about one woman carrying a ladder to climb for cherries on a winter day? It was unusual because cherries do not grow in winter, making the ladder unnecessary and the idea quite silly for the season. How did the women’s fear change once they were on top of the ladder? Their fear changed from being afraid of meeting a bear on the ground to being afraid of falling off the top of the ladder. Describe the initial scene of the women’s walk before they encountered any problems. Initially, three “wise” old women went for a walk on a winter day. One carried a basket for berries, one a ladder for cherries, and the “wisest” carried a fan for the sun. They walked very far and very fast, eventually losing their way. C. Answer these questions with reference to the context.
“Suppose he should eat me!” ‘And me!!’ ‘And me!!!’
a. What emotion is primarily conveyed by these lines?
* The emotion primarily conveyed by these lines is extreme and exaggerated fear or panic.
b. How does the poet use punctuation and repetition to emphasize this emotion?
* The poet uses repetition of “And me!!!” with multiple exclamation marks to show how quickly and intensely the fear spreads from one woman to all three. The punctuation (exclamation marks) visually represents their growing terror and frantic cries. “But the wind was strong as the wind could be, And blew their ladder right out to sea;”
a. What figure of speech is used in the first part of this line (“strong as the wind could be”)?
* The figure of speech used is hyperbole, or exaggeration, to emphasize the immense strength of the wind.
b. Describe the sudden and unexpected turn of events caused by the wind.
* The incredibly strong wind caused a sudden and unexpected turn of events by literally blowing their ladder, with the women on it, out into the sea. This transformed their ground-based adventure into an unlikely sea voyage on a makeshift, leaky boat. 
Answer key