Chapter Twenty-three

Please reread the last paragraph on page 288.  What does this tell you about the way Calpurnia feels about Miss Spitty?  Please provide evidence from the text that supports your point of view.

Chapter Twenty-three

Please reread the last paragraph on page 287.  Based on context, what do you think foofaraw means?

Chapter Twenty-three

Please reread the first full paragraph on page 280.  Based on context, what do you think ambivalence means?

Chapter Twenty-two

The last sentence of this chapter reads, "But it was part of the hard bargain I'd made with Granddaddy, who only regarded me from his end of the table and nodded in approval."

What does this tell us?  Is the last full paragraph on page 271 a clue?

Looking Ahead

I will not post any more questions on the blog before we return to school, but I will be responding to your ideas, so please check back.  Your next reading assignment will be to have chapters 22 and 23 read by Friday.  Enjoy the rest of your break, and Happy New Year!

Chapter Twenty-one

By the end of this chapter, Callie is especially dismayed.  Why is that?  What was Granddaddy trying to tell her at the end of this chapter?  Please be thorough and thoughtful with your responses.

Chapter Twenty-one

Why does Harry think Callie's question about becoming a scientist is "so far-fetched"?

Chapter Twenty

During the big birthday party, on page 240, Callie thinks of Travis, "That boy was growing up fast."  What did she mean by that?  Before responding, please reread pages 239 and 240.

Chapter Nineteen

On page 233, before Granddaddy samples the batch of distilled pecan liquor, he says to Calpurnia, "To your good health, Calpurnia, my companion in sailing uncharted waters."  What do you think this metaphor ("my companion in sailing uncharted waters") means in this context?

On the next page (234), in explaining (from page 233) to Calpurnia "The lesson for today is this: It is better to travel with hope in one's heart than to arrive in safety," he says, "It means that we should celebrate today's failure because it is a clear sign that our voyage of discovery is not yet over.  The day the experiment succeeds is the day the experiment ends.  And I inevitably find that the sadness of ending outweighs the celebration of success."  How are these two quotes related and what did Granddaddy mean?  What was the message he tried to send to Calpurnia?

Chapter Nineteen

On page 230, Calpurnia uses a metaphor that is repeated later.  She mentions that cod liver oil (a common treatment for a variety of ailments in the 19th century) "held no healing powers for the mangled paw caught in the cruel caught in the cruel trap."  What does this metaphor ("the mangled paw caught in the cruel caught in the cruel trap") mean in the context of Calpurnia's situation?

Lateness

Sorry everyone, but I've been sick for the past couple days, so I'm behind on my reading and posting.  I hope to have the questions for yesterday (Thursday) up by tomorrow.  I hope you're all having a great break!

Chapter Eighteen

Why do you suppose, on page 224, Viola called Callie, "Miz Callie," when she had never called her "Miss" before?

Chapter Seventeen

On page 222, Callie declares, "My last thought, before I fell into a restless sleep, was of the coyote.  If only I could figure out how to gnaw my own leg off."

What did she mean?  Why did she say that?

Chapter Seventeen

"My Lord, what a dismal response.  Was the answer such an ingrained, obvious part of the way we lived that no one stopped to ponder the question itself?  If no one around me even understood the question, then it couldn't be answered.  And if it couldn't be answered, I was doomed to the distaff life of womanly things.  I was depressed right into the ground." (p. 218)

Please interpret what you think Callie was thinking at this time, using evidence from the text to support your thinking.

Chapter Fourteen

On page 196, Callie thinks, "I could ask Granddaddy his thoughts about it [coming out].  But then I realized I didn't need to.  I could just imagine his opinion on the matter."

What would you expect his opinion to be on this matter?

What do you think Callie will decide about it?  Why?

Chapter Fourteen

Why did Calpurnia think she might be a disappointment to her mother?

Chapter Fourteen

Why do you think Viola grew so upset that Callie decided to try chopping cotton?  What does it have to do with being a "debutante" and "coming out?"  Why did Viola call her "selfish?"

Chapter Thirteen

Page 187: "I'd heard him called 'the Perfessor' by various semiliterate wags about town in tones that might have been termed faintly derisive."

How do you interpret this sentence?  

Chapter Twelve

On page 179, Granddaddy said, "Let us cast some light in the shadowy corners of Terra Incognita.  Let us hold high the lamp of knowledge and expunge another dragon from the map."  What did he mean by that?

Chapter Twelve

Please reread (on page 179) the paragraph that begins with "Oh.  Vetch.  Bloody red murder raged in my bosom."  What was going on there?  What specifically caused the type of reaction Calpurnia had?  What was she thinking and feeling?  Why?

Chapter Twelve

Please reread the very first paragraph of this chapter on page 172.  Thinking about the entirety of that paragraph, what do you think Calpurnia was saying?  What was her point?

Chapter Eleven

Finding another sample of  the vetch consumed Calpurnia to such a degree that she actually contemplated running away from home if she could not find one.  She said, "Never had I felt so wretched" about not labeling the jar with the location of the first sample.  Why was this so distressing and so important for her?  Please be specific, using examples from the text, to explain your thinking.

Chapter Eleven

Why, on page 155, did Mother allow Calpurnia to stop knitting.  Hint: it was in something she didn't say.

Chapter Ten

Please reread the first half of page 145.  Why was there "stunned silence" after Calpurnia "huffed, that's no fair"?  And after Granddaddy said, "She has a point there, Margaret.  Pass the gravy, please. Ha!", why was it that "he punctured the tension in the room and deflected any punishment I might have called down upon myself"?  Please explain your interpretation of this scene.

Chapter Ten

Why did Harry give Calpurnia the advice he did on page 137?

Chapter Nine

If Calpurnia is so dedicated to science and naturalism, why did she decide to release Petey rather than kill him for a specimen for her collection?  Please support your thinking with evidence from the text.

Chapters Nine and Ten Vocabulary

•  jettison (116)
• daguerreotype (117)
• codger (118)
• prodigious (118)
• prerequisite (119)
• ignominy (131)
• inane (142)

Chapter Eight

Why do you think Granddaddy felt that it was a bad idea to give names to experimental subjects?  What do you think he meant when he said, "It tends to spoil the truly objective observation"? (p. 110)

Chapter Eight

Please reread the entire last paragraph on page 107 (which continues on to page 108) where Calpurnia questions whether it might have been better for the turtle to die.  She thinks to herself, "But too late, I had interfered and thus made myself responsible for its safety.  Wondering if I was, in my own small way, promoting the survival of the unfittest, I pushed it into the water, where it disappeared in a wink." (p. 108)

Considering the context of the whole story and the things Calpurnia is learning, what do you think she meant?  What was causing her to feel so conflicted about this turtle?

Chapter Eight

"Calpurnia, I would never 'kid.'  And for once, your mother and I are in agreement on this important point: The use of slang is an indicator of a weak intellect and an impoverished vocabulary." (p. 98)

What did Granddaddy mean by this?

Chapter Eight

"My mother's usual attitude of noncommittal formality toward her father-in-law warmed to something approaching gratitude or maybe even affection." (p. 94)

In the context of the story, what does this mean?