“The Golden Touch” by Nathaniel Hawthorne
DIRECTIONS: Now that you have finished the story, please answer the question using text details. ____________________________________________________________________________ RL.9-10.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
1. (a) Explain what the text says explicitly.
Read paragraph 5 of “The Golden Touch.” How does the narrator describe King Midas’s idea of happiness? Cite text evidence to support your response.
King Midas calls himself “a happy man”, but he believed “the very tip top of enjoyment would never be reached unless the whole world were to become his treasure room, and be filled with yellow metal which should all his own.” So King Midas claims to be happy, but doesn’t believe he’ll be supremely happy until he owns all the gold in the world.
(b) Support an inference drawn from the text. Based on paragraph 5, what inference can you draw about King Midas and his idea of happiness? Cite text evidence to support your response.
2. (a) Analyze how complex characters interact with other characters.
In paragraph 2 of “The Golden Touch,” Marygold runs to meet her father, holding yellow flowers she has picked. Explain how King Midas reacts. Then, explain what his reaction reveals about his values and how his values affect his interaction with his daughter. Cite text evidence to support your response.