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“Peonies”

• The following version of this book was used to create this Lesson Plan: Smith, Zadie. Intimations. Penguin Books, 2020.

• The first story, “Peonies,” begins on page 1.

• Smith describes looking in at the Jefferson Market Garden just before leaving New York.

• Smith says she was trying to make good use of her two minutes of free time in the “forty-five minute increments into which…[she] divided [her] days” (1).

• She likens the way she packs her free time to the way a child packs sand for a sandcastle.

• Smith describes this time as “those days” (1) letting the reader know she is speaking of the past.

• During those free moments, Smith might get a macchiato and guard against anyone who might try to speak to her.

• One day during her free moment, Smith noticed tulips in a city garden— “pink with orange highlights” (2).

• She recalls wishing the tulips were peonies.

• With...

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