Knots in My Yo-Yo String

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This autobiographical piece tells what a neat, tidy rule-follower this author was in his youth.  Once he was unfairly given a detention, which he disregarded. He then apologized to the teacher and was reinstated to school activities. Everything in his life was neat and tidy—except for his yo-yo. Because he was afraid to take risks and fail, he did not excel at some things, such as coloring contests or basketball. His fantasies were the beginnings of developing “an aptitude that thrives on disorder”: imagination, a gift that awaited him later. (McDougal Littell The Language of Literature, 2002)

This lesson was created as part of the Anthology Alignment Project, during which teachers created CCSS-aligned lessons for existing literary and information texts in anthologies. All page numbers and unit/week designations found in this lesson relate to the edition of the anthology named above. If you are using a trade book or different edition of this title, the page/unit/week references in this lesson will not match. Consult the content referenced in the body of the lesson to determine appropriate page numbers for your text.

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