The Butterfly Circus

Quotable Quotes:
"If you could only see the beauty from the ashes."
"The greater the struggle, the more glorious the triumph"

Setting: at the carnival and then, the circus

Time: during the depression
Main Characters at the Carnival freak show
The Bearded Lady Siamese Twins
Obese Woman Painted or Tattooed Man
Will, the limbless freak
Main Characters at the Circus:
Sammy, a little boy Mr. Mendez, the owner of the circus
Will, the limbless performer Anna, Queen of the Air
The Strongest Man Poppy, the trapeze artist

Vocabulary to help you as you listen and watch.

Carnival a travelling amusement park with rides and sideshows
Circus an arena or tented area used for shows of daring, great physical skill and trained animals.
rides for example: roller-coaster rides, merry-go-round rides, pony rides
bearded lady woman with a beard or hairy lower part of face (a freak of nature)
fate future, destiny
heifer young cow
extraordinary different, unusual, special
peculiar strange
perversion something not good and not right, obscene
turned his back on rejected, didn’t want, abandoned
limbless no limbs, no arms and no legs
magnificent incredibly beautiful, wonderful, superb, splendid
get a hold of yourself control yourself, calm down
my fault I'm responsible. I'm to blame.
my trunk my large metal suitcase
sideshow not the main show, a diversion
inspiring giving hope, motivating, influencing people to action
man's imperfections the faults people have.
on display on show, being exhibited
contortions twisting one's body into unusual and impossible shapes
trapeze a horizontal bar suspended by ropes from the ceiling, usually in circuses
splendid wonderful, magnificent, glorious
grace beautifully supple, seemingly easy and fluid movements
astounding amazing, awesome, incredible
cursed from birth someone wished the baby evil and harm when it was born
caterpillar the worm that is hatched from a butterfly's egg
cocoon the stage a caterpillar goes through in a protective covering before it becomes a butterfly
You'll manage You'll do fine. You'll cope. You'll be okay.
witness see, observe, watch
ascending going up
leap jump

Go to www.quizlet.com and make your own vocabulary list with the words above. You can use the definitions I gave
you or find your own. Make an attachment and send it to Maggie.
How to Create your own Quizlet.

1. Log on to www.quizlet.com
2. Type in user name and password.
3. Click on Make Flashcards
4. Type title. (CBC news, Book Report…etc…)
5. Choose the language (English to English)
6. Type in a new word
7. Select the meaning in context. Be careful to pick the correct meaning.
8. Add more rows if you need
9. Click Create when you are finished

Congratulations! You have just created your own quizlet activity!!!

:)

Do the activities on the Quizlet you just made. There will be a spelling test waiting for you
when I see you back in class.
Questions to think about as you watch the video:
1. What was Will’s job at the carnival?

2. What disgusting thing did Will do when Mr. Mendez went to talk to him?

3. Why didn’t Mr. Mendez display Will as a freak in his circus?

4. In the beginning, why didn’t Will have a job to do in the circus?

5. Why did the video keep showing butterflies? What do butterflies represent?

6. Why did Mr. Mendez spoke so unkindly to Will when they were watching the
performers?

7. Mr. Mendez looked at his performers and talked about the beauty that came from ashes.
From Ashes To Beauty
An ugly, disgusting caterpillar became a magnificent butterfly
A fighter in the bar became the Strongest Man in the World
A poor street performer became the Oldest Trapeze artist
A prostitute in a brothel became Anna, the Queen of the Air
A limbless carnival freak became _____________________________

8. Will saw his lack of limbs as a handicap. Mr. Mendez saw it as an advantage. In your
opinion, what advantages do immigrants have over Canadians?
a.

b.

9. Mr. Mendez said, “The greater the struggle, the more glorious the triumph.” Explain what
he means.

10. When Sammy looked at his jar, he couldn’t find his caterpillar? What had happened to it?

11. Why didn’t the circus people help Will cross the river?

12. What was Will’s first triumph? His second triumph? His third and most glorious triumph?

13. Why did Mr. Mendez have tears in his eyes when he watched Will’s splendid
performance?

14. Why did a little crippled boy give Will a big hug?

15. Why did the mother of the crippled boy cry?

16. Did Will transform from a caterpillar to a butterfly?

Vocabulary:
1. The carnival had a side show, or a freak show which featured odd or abnormal people.
Name some of them.

2. All the people in the side show looked very miserable. The obese woman, the Siamese
twins, the limbless man …etc…didn’t smile or laugh. Can you explain why?

2. The Butterfly Circus featured people with unusual talents. What special abilities do
some of them have?

3. When Will finally emerged from the water, everyone was relieved. Why were they
happy he came out of the water?

4. Will was exuberant when he realized he could get up on his own. Can you explain why
he was so very happy, joyful and thrilled?

5. Will became an inspiration to the crippled boy. How did he give the boy hope?

6. The video kept mentioning and showing butterflies. What is the significance of a
butterfly? What does it mean or represent?

7. When Will was displayed as a freak in the carnival, he had very low self-esteem. He had
no confidence in himself. What gave Will confidence and pride in himself? What did doing
something well do to his self-esteem?

What do these quotes mean?

1. “There is nothing inspiring about man’s imperfections on display.”

2. “What this world needs is a little wonder.”

3. “But they are different from me!”

“Yes, you do have an advantage.”

4. “If you could only see the beauty that comes from ashes.”

5. “The greater the struggle, the more glorious the triumph.”

 The Butterfly Circus

Use a good dictionary and find the different parts of speech.

Noun Verb Adjective Adverb

quote xxx

perversion

contortion

xxx astounding

grace

manage

Fill in the blanks with the correct parts of speech.

Imperfect imperfections perfectly perfect perfection
Perfected perfectly
1. Mr. Mendez said there was nothing inspiring about man’s _____________________.
Will didn’t have a __________________ body because he didn’t have arms or legs.
Will couldn’t move ____________________ like a normal person. Mr. Mendez didn’t expect
_____________________ from Will. Mr. Mendez said what was ___________________ in
Will was an actually an advantage. In the end, Will ______________________ his diving
skills and dove ______________________ for the audience.

Inspired inspirational inspiring inspiration

2. In my opinion, this is a very ________________video because it gives us hope. When
Will, the limbless man became a circus star, he _______________a crippled boy and
filled him with dreams for the future. Will became an ___________________ for the boy.
In real life, Will is an ____________________speaker and you can read about his life
story in Google.

Gracefulness grace gracefully graceful grace

3. A butterfly is a very ___________________insect. When it opens its splendid wings, it
flies ________________ around. Mr. Mendez loved to watch the ________________ of
his performers. They ______________ the circus with their colourful costumes and their
amazing talents. They had a lot of _______________________.
1. To read the transcripts to the first part of the video, go to

http://dotsub.com/view/7b5f59aa-6339-4831-866c-d085988f52ec/viewTranscript/eng

2. To find out more about Will, the limbless man, go to:

http://www.attitudeisaltitude.com/aboutus-nick.php

4. Go to Google. Type ‘Nick Vijucic’ in the search box. You will find amazing information
and images about the real person. Write down at least 6 things about him.

Find out about his birth.

Find out about his childhood.
Is he married or single?
What is his occupation?
Where does he live?
What is his attitude toward life?
Why is he an inspiration?