How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Mr. Poe sighed, and looked at each of the three children. His face was kind, but it didn't look like he really believed what the Baudelaire orphans were saying. "Are you familiar with the Latin term 'in loco parentis'?" he asked.
Violet and Sunny looked at Klaus. The biggest reader of the three, he was the most likely to know vocabulary words and foreign phrases.
"Something about trains?" he asked. Maybe Mr. Poe was going to take them by train to another relative.
Mr. Poe shook his head. "'In loco parentis' means 'acting in the role of parent,'" he said. (5.36-38)
"In loco parent" is basically a fancy legal term meaning a horrible villain can raise you any way he sees fit. Now, good day, children.
Quote #5
"Now, I hate to usher you out posthaste, but I have very much work to do."
The children just sat there, stunned. Mr. Poe looked up, and cleared his throat. "'Posthaste,'" he said, "means—"
"—means you'll do nothing to help us," Violet finished for him. (5.41-43)
Violet is pretty right on here: Mr. Poe thinks the kids might not have understood what he was trying to say, but the truth is, they know all too well what he's about.
Quote #6
It is very useful, when one is young, to learn the difference between "literally" and "figuratively." If something happens literally, it actually happens; if something happens figuratively, it feels like it's happening. If you are literally jumping for joy, for instance, it means you are leaping in the air because you are very happy. If you are figuratively jumping for joy, it means you are so happy that you could jump for joy, but are saving your energy for other matters. The Baudelaire orphans walked back to Count Olaf's neighborhood and stopped at the home of Justice Strauss, who welcomed them inside and let them choose books from the library. Violet chose several about mechanical inventions, Klaus chose several about wolves, and Sunny found a book with many pictures of teeth inside. They then went to their room and crowded together on the one bed, reading intently and happily. Figuratively, they escaped from Count Olaf and their miserable existence. They did not literally escape, because they were still in his house and vulnerable to Olaf's evil in loco parentis ways. But by immersing themselves in their favorite reading topics, they felt far away from their predicament, as if they had escaped. In the situation of the orphans, figuratively escaping was not enough, of course, but at the end of a tiring and hopeless day, it would have to do. (5.48)
The poor things. This is actually a cute little language lesson. The kids can't actually escape from Count Olaf right now, but they can use books and their imagination to get away. And of course, we're reading a book right now and using it to get away from our own lives. Isn't that fun?