The Dream House Lesson Plan

What is the impact of beginning Part Three with the story of Looksmart’s birth?

A dramatic shift in tone at first to a very happy memory for Patricia, though also clearly one she can’t understand is different for others. She remembers significant detail, including the intensity of Locksmart’s mother’s pain and her own assistance with that. She also feels very close to the mother with whom she stays that night, drinking tea, and staring at the newborn. “It was a good night to be born,” Patricia thinks. She describes an idyllic scene, “The gentle rain nourishing the earth…and everything was washed clean. It felt, for an hour or two, that nothing wicked would ever be left...