Tunes for Bears to Dance to
Tunes For Bears To Dance To – Robert Cormier. Plot – Chapter 1 In chapter 1 of Tunes for Bears to Dance to by Robert Cormier we find out that Henry lives next to a crazy house and sees an old man who is Mr. Levine everyday walking in and out and he wonders why they let him go without anyone else. We find out that Henry had broken his knee by falling down the stairs of where he lives, which is on the third floor of a tenement building. Eddie which was Henrys brother had died about a year ago of a hit-and-run accident. Henry had a job at the corner market which is owned by Mr. Hairston. Henry couldn’t do his job because of his knee, he was hired because Mr. Hairston has a bad back so he couldn’t pick things up off the ground or pack the bottom shelf, but he said he would wait until Henry’s knee recovered. Figures of Speech 1. Carrying a small leather bag that swung like a pendulum form his right hand. SIMILE. Page 1. 2. In the late afternoon when the old man had returned from wherever he went, his steps were slower, spider webs had appeared around his eyes, and his shoulders drooped although his cheeks were still smooth, like stones worn away by years of rain. SMILIE. Page 2. 3. He scowled most of the time, his expression as sour as the pickles in the wooden barrel near the cash register. SMILIE. Page 4 4. He was interrupted by the arrival of a customer, Mrs. Lumpke, who was never without her red hat, like an upside down flowerpot, on her head. SMILIE. Page 6. 5. He died instead, sprawled in the gutter of First Street in Frenchtown. His neck broken like a chicken bone snapped apart to make a wish. SMILIE. Page 8. 6. “Jackie Antonelli’s a greaseball”, Mr. Hairston said. METAPHOR. Page 4. 7. The boy saw Mrs. Karminski huffing and puffing as a small dog that looked like a windup toy pulled her along the sidewalk. SMILE. Page 5 8. His moustache was a wedge of frost on his upper lip. METAPHOR. Page 1. 9. Then, a strange grunt, like