Find a word in "The Story of the Porter and the Three Ladies" with which you are unfamiliar. Use any or all of the strategies in this lesson to determine its meaning. In at least one hundred and fifty words, describe what you did to define the word. Include a reference to its context in the story, and the word's definition. Finish by using the word in a new sentence.

The greatest gift the sumerians gave the world was the invention of writing. the sumerians were wealthy people. they needed some way to keep track of what they owned. they began drawing pictures. they used a reed as a pen. they drew on soft pieces of clay. the soft clay was then dried in the sun. the tablet became a permanent record. later, the sumerian drawings changed into wedge-shaped symbols. this kind of writing is called cuneiform. by putting symbols together, the sumerians could write entire sentences.