Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing Education Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

"Well, I do have a nice even script," Sheila said. "But if I'm going to copy over your written work you better give it to me by next Tuesday. Otherwise, I won't have enough time to do the job. And you two better get going on your poster." Sheila talked like she was the teacher and we were the kids. (7.25)

Shmoop bets you know someone in school just like Sheila. She knows it all and loves ordering everyone around.

Quote #8

Me and Jimmy designed the whole poster ourselves. We used the pros and cons of each kind of transportation. It was really clever. We divided a chart into land, sea, and air and we planned an illustration for each—with the airplane done in silver sparkle and the letters done in red and blue Magic Marker. (7.26)

Despite Sheila's misgivings about their abilities, Peter and Jimmy end up doing a bang-up job on the poster. You can tell Peter's really proud of it.

Quote #9

That night I showed my mother and father our new poster. They thought it was great. Especially our silver-sparkle airplane. My mother put the poster on top of the refrigerator so it would be safe until the next day, when I would take it to school. (7.114)

Notice how the author makes a point about telling us that Peter's parents put the poster on top of the fridge "so it would be safe." It's a little bit of foreshadowing—a hint of what's to come. In this case, it's a dead giveaway that this poster's not going to be safe at all.