Guide for Responding
Check your comprehension
How does the wartime situation in Paris affect the Sunday habits of Morissot and Sauvage?
They couldn’t go fishing anymore.
How do they succeed for a while in defying the war?
They went fishing despite the war.
What surprise do they encounter?
That they weren’t alone at the place where they were fishing.
How does a final choice they have to make lead to the end of the story?
They refuse to give information to the Prussians, which causes both of them to die.
Critical Thinking
INTERPRET:
What causes the two friends to try fishing again?
As their country was in a war, they wanted to take time away to escape from the war and relax.
Find two details of the men's journey to the island that might give readers an uneasy feeling.
They can see Prussians and a battle is happening near them.
What message does Maupassant convey by showing how war breaks in on the peacefulness of fishing?
Their lives have been changed and it will never be the same as long as there's war because it will make everyone seem guilty even when doing something innocent like fishing.
Reading strategy
In “ Two Friends “ what is significant about the “powdersmoke” that Morissot and Sauvage see on the mountain?
Indicates the village is going to be under attack but another meaning could be suffering that will never end.
What details about the two men in “Two friends” might lead you to believe that they will not betray each other?
They had an unbelievable connection in which they always knew what they were thinking so we feel that that friendship did not give rise to betrayal.
Literary focus
What is the climax in “Two friends”?
When they refuse to give the password to outpost to the Prussian Officer.
In “Two friends” Maupassant hints at the climax even though it arrives with shocking suddenness. Find three of these hints; then tell why a reader might overlook them.
They refused to give the password to the outpost to the Prussian officer.
The Prussians showed up and the two friends stopped fishing after seeing them.
The Prussians pointed guns at them.
It could be overlooked since they make these situations look like it was something normal, that is, they were very calm and for us didn't care about that part.
By Catalina Botero and
Jazmín Ruíz, Step 10 Blue
