37 pages • 1 hour read
Tornado
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Chapter 1Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary: “The Storm”
The farmhand, Pete, yells to warn the family about a twister. He ushers the narrator, two brothers, and a grandmother into the storm cellar. The narrator’s mother, Beth, emerges from the house. She calls for her husband, Link, who is out in the cornfield. Pete tells her Link won’t be able to hear but can climb into a ditch for protection and encourages her into the cellar. The narrator listens to the storm and worries about his father.
Pete says the situation reminds him of a dog he had once named Tornado. The children are familiar with the dog, and Pete begins his story, which begins on “an August day, a whole lot like this one” (5).
Chapter 1 Analysis
Byars begins the novel in media res, which means that it begins in the midst of the action, with Pete yelling warnings about the tornado and telling the family to get into the storm cellar. Starting in the middle of the action builds tension and curiosity about whether the family will escape the tornado, who all the characters are, and what will happen next. The setting is described in relation to the ominous natural phenomenon in the sky as “a long, black funnel cloud in the west […] pointed from the dark sky right down to our farm” (1).
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By Betsy Byars
