The Outcasts of Poker Flat - Vocabulary Worksheet - Reading and Understanding

Sep 28, 2026

Bret Harte’s “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” is used in a classroom vocabulary and reading worksheet. Students complete context clue questions, identify causes for banishment, explain why the outcasts go to Sandy Bar, and describe character traits such as bellicose, maudlin, and jocular. The worksheet includes a synonym-based vocabulary test, glossary-based sentence writing, a reading check with true/false items, and prompts to sequence major narrative events and analyze Oakhurst’s strengths and weaknesses.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time14 min

AccessFree to download

Understanding the Selection

Understanding Vocabulary

Writing and Responding to Literature

Reading Check

HBJ mateial opyighted under notice appearing earier in this work NAME CLASS DATE. # Bret Harte The Outcasts of Poker Flat USING CONTEXT CLUES ACTIVITY In “The Outcasts of Poker Flat,”Bret Harte uses a variety of carefully chosen words to describethe small group of outcasts.In some of the following sentences,one of those words is usedincorrectly.When you find a word used incorrectly,cross out the word and write a replacementon the blank provided.If no word is used incorrectly,leave the sentence as it is and write C onthe blank.Use your dictionary as necessary. 1.Piney Woods displays such a malevolent character that Mother Shipton and the Duchessbecome protective of her. 2.According to the citizens of Poker Flat,each of the outcasts is guilty of one improprietyor another. 3.Among the outcasts themselves,the only member of the group guilty of felonious intentis Uncle Billy. 4.In a jocular voice,Mother Shipton confides to Oakhurst that she is about to die. 5.Oakhurst apparently meets each crisis with equanimity;it is only at the conclusion ofthe story that his weakness is revealed. 6.In his willingness to risk his life for others,Tom Simpson demonstrates his anathemafor humanity. 7.In the small,close community that the outcasts establish for themselves,each is a pariahof the other. 8.Around the refuge of the outcasts,snow cached higher and higher. Vocabulary Worksheets·Adventures in American Literature 547 NAME CIASS DATE VOCABULARY WORKSHEET 52-CONTINUED 9.At the end of the story,Mother Shipton's only vituperative thought occurs when smokebecomes visible from Poker Flat. 10.The reading of the Iliad provides the outcasts with some bellicose hours. HBJ material copyrighted under notice appearing earier in this work. HBJ material copyrighted under notice appearing earier in this work. SCORE. DATE_ CLASS # Bret Harte The Outcasts of Poker Flat _VOCABULARY TEST —— Write the letter of the best synonym for each word.(5 points each) 1.conjecture (a)joint (b)analysis (c)guesswork(d)solution 2.reimburse (a)repay (b)buttress (c)borrow(d)refinish 3.expatriate (a)murder(b)relieve (c)encircle (d)exile 4.expletive (a)answer(b)insertion (c)oath(d)specific 5.coquetry (a)beauty (b)flirting(c)omelet(d)skill 6.malevolence (a)ill will (b)crime(c)storm (d)friendship 7.anathema (a)curse (b)song (c)argument (d)blessing 8.bellicose (a)enormous (b)fruitful (c)hostile(d)loud 9.pariah (a)den (b)outcast (c)fern (d)father 10.equanimity(a)quantity (b)friendship(c)composure (d)hostility 11.guileless (a)ridiculous (b)unfair(c)fearful (d)naive 12.jocular (a)humorous (b)athletic (c)arterial(d)angry 13.malevolent (a)generous (b)willful (c)evil (d)undesirable 14.felonious (a)trivial (b)treacherous (c)catty(d)benevolent 15.occult (a)foreign(b)infrequent (c)mysterious (d)eyestrain 16.extemporize (a)improvise (b)delay(c)chill (d)construct 17.beguile(a)confirm (b)deceive (c)trust (d)inform 18.malediction (a)prayer(b)illness (c)stuttering(d)curse 19.sublimity (a)darkness (b)incompleteness (c)loftiness (d)cache 20.travail (a)prairie(b)struggle(c)peak (d)journey NAME_ CLASS DATE Bret Harte(1836-1902) # THE OUTCASTS OF POKER FLAT (Pages 413-421) ## Understanding the Selection 3.In the story,what three events provoked the decision to banish certain objectionablecharacters from Poker Flat? (1)

FAQs

What task does the worksheet ask students to do using context clues?

Students review sentences from the story and determine which carefully chosen word is used incorrectly. They cross out the incorrect word and write a replacement, or write C if no word is incorrect.

What synonym choices are students expected to select in the vocabulary test?

Students choose the letter of the best synonym for each given vocabulary word, with options listed for each item (e.g., conjecture, malevolence, equanimity, bellicose).

How does the worksheet evaluate reading comprehension?

It includes a True/False reading check and a prompt to list the major events in narrative order. It also asks students to explain how Oakhurst can be both the strongest and the weakest outcast using story details.

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Maya Linwood