POINTS FOR UNDERSTANDING

1. What even changed the life of the Grey Family?

R. The loss of all of their fortune that had sunk to the bottom of the sea due to a terrible storm
that hit the ship at the time, which by the way carried the owner himself as well.

2. In what ways did the event change their life?

R. In different ways; it made Agne’s father lose all hope and became desperate and overtime he
became ill and this worried everybody in the family and no one could do anything for him to
regain hope due to the loss of his money.
It also made the family sell a little horse they owned (pony); moreover; they stopped purchasing
new clothes and Mr. Richard Grey had the tough task of dismissing one of their servants.
Finally, it made Agnes think about helping her family by becoming a governess and eventually
accepting a job offer as a baby-sitter.

3. What idea did Agnes have and what did her mother and sister think of it at first?
R. Agnes had the idea of becoming a governess and help her family in everything she could. As
soon as Agnes delivered verbally the news to them, her mother and sister had different reactions
to it. Her mother said nothing in regard to that announcement whilst her sister fumbled the book
she was reading and cried.

4. Agnes experienced several strong feelings in this chapter. Give reasons why she felt a)
nervous b) worried and c) excited.
 The time Agnes felt nervous was the night before leaving for her new job because it her last
night at home with her family. ‘When it was time to go to bed and I saw my empty
cupboards, I suddenly felt nervous’
 Agnes experienced worry was when she said ‘I was young and did not understand how
serious this loss was, but I could see how it had upset my parents and this worried me’.
Because she saw her parents, especially her father heartbroken since he lost all the money
invested for his family to become wealthy.
 She felt excited the time her father was told he could be rich just within just a few weeks.
‘My father was excited and so were we all. We were going to be rich!’
 On one other occasion, Agnes experienced excitement the morning she was going to go to
her new job, ‘I felt excited again. I washed, dressed, ate breakfast and kissed my family
goodbye’.