4. Confirm your understanding of the story with a brief summary that covers the 5Ws of how the story happened: Who was involved? What happened? Why did it happen? When did it happen? Where did it happen? 5. What has this story taught you about the kinds of events, actions, and people that can cause a change in someone’s life?

6. How did the author organize the story's plot in order to build tension toward the conflict, and did the resolution provide a sense of satisfaction for you, the reader? Explain your response citing at least two examples from the text.

Match the definition to the word for a better understanding of the paragraph. 1 money does not buy happiness or security. 2john ringling, one of the five brothers of the ringling brothers circus, started out in 1884 with a trained horse and a performing bear. 3for over forty years, he worked hard at the family enterprise, bought up smaller circuses, and imported new acts. 4in the 1920s, he was rated as one of the world's wealthiest men and owned every sizable circus in the country. 5over 5,000 people were on his payroll, and over 240 railroad cars were in his retinue each time the circus moved. 6at the time of his death, however, he was a nervous, unhappy man; he was also bankrupt and beset by lawsuits. 7his carefully built circus empire passed into alien hands. 8all those years of work had turned to dust. 1. business organization alien 2. group beset 3. without funds to pay debts retinue 4. troubled or harassed enterprise 5. strange; belonging to another person, place, country, or thing bankrupt