Judith Gorog(1938– ) has
been traveling all her life. Born in Wisconsin, she has lived in many
parts of the United States and also in Germany and Italy. She has
travelled far and wide—to Peru, Japan, Europe, and Indonesia. All
along the way, Judith wrote stories. She says, “I have always
written, and began to write stories for children when I was a child,
making up stories and plays and rewriting the Greek myths with myself
taming Pegasus.”
You
are about to read a short story called “Those
Three Wishes.” In
what kind of narrative do you generally find someone who makes “three
wishes”?
Think
about what you might wish for if you were granted three wishes:
I Wish
I had/were...
1.
2.
3.
While
reading paragraphs 1-3,
try to understand the
character of the protagonist. Underline
the positive
aspects
and circle the negative:
What
aspect of her character is highlighted
in paragraph 2?
Why
is
she
nicknamed
“Melinda Malice”?
Why
never in her face?
How
do you explain
the fact she is always ‘included’?
Would
you like to be her friend?
Those three Wishes
1. No
one ever said that Melinda Alice was nice. That wasn’t the word
used. No, she was clever, even witty. She was called—never to her
face, however—Melinda Malice. Melinda Alice was clever and cruel.
Her mother, when she thought about it at all, hoped Melinda would
grow out of it. To her father, Melinda’s very good grades
mattered
