Paragraphs 3, 4, and 5 reveal that Myop lives the simple life of a sharecropper's daughter. As sharecroppers, her family is presumably poor; so, Myop's play consists of her exploration of the natural outdoors behind her family's cabin.
In Paragraph 3, we follow Myop as she walks along the fence to the spring. This spring is where her family draws its drinking water; however, it is also where pigs root for food along its shallow banks.
Paragraph 4 reveals these woods are not strange to Myop. Her mother has often taken her there to gather nuts in the fall. Here, we see Myop's family relies on food they can harvest in the wild. This paragraph also reveals that the woods behind Myop's cabin are filled with sources of natural beauty; in her travels, Myop comes across pretty ferns, leaves, blue flowers, and the fragrant buds of a sweet suds bush.
Paragraph 5 begins to reveal an encroaching darkness into Myop's surroundings. The text tells us Myop has explored this area of the woods before, but the experience will prove different this time.
The strangeness of the land made it not as pleasant as her usual haunts. It seemed gloomy in the little cove in which she found herself. The air was damp, the silence close and deep.
The text betrays negativity and foreshadows a sense of dread. The change in atmosphere portends a change in mood. The mood shifts from one of carefree innocence to one of unease. By the end of the story, we know Myop has lost her innocence. Paragraphs 3, 4, and 5 reinforce the theme of the story: purity and innocence often fall victim to the ugly truths of life. Certainly, the three paragraphs paint a picture of Myop's idyllic life, but they also reinforce the notion that there is ugliness even in the midst of beauty.
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