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?

Chapter Seven

What evidence can you find in the text about how some (any) members of Calpurnia's family felt about Minerva Goodacre?  Why do you suppose she returned to Austin?  Why were Harry's letters to her returned unopened?

Chapter Seven

"There had been times in the past when I'd been in some kind of mild trouble with him and, uncomfortable as those times had been, they had always passed.  I had basked safe in the knowledge that I was forever his favorite; I took his love on faith and wrapped it around me like a blanket.  But this was different.  I had fundamentally injured him while trying to protect us, to protect him.  No.  If I were being honest, to protect myself.  And I felt the first icy grip of grief around my heart." (p.82)

In the context of the story so far, please explain in as much detail as possible, what Calpurnia meant by these words -- what she was thinking, what she was feeling.

Chapter Seven

Based on your prior knowledge of his character, and using specific examples from this chapter, how do you see Granddaddy as different from the rest of Calpurnia's family?

Monday, December 10, 2012

I forgot to mention on Friday, that I will not be in the classroom (much) on Monday, because I'll be at another one of my math workshops.  You will have time to work on your blog responses (and revisiting older discussions) during the day in class.

Just Wondering

Even beyond the vocabulary I give you to prepare you for reading each chapter, this book is pretty tough, and there are lots more challenging words than are even on your lists.  How are you handling this?  How do you think you're doing with this story, considering all the unfamiliar words?

There are no other questions for chapter six.

Chapter Five

It seems that the relationship between Calpurnia and Granddaddy continues to evolve.  What evidence of that do you see?  Why do you think it's occurring?

Chapter Four

Reread the last full paragraph on page 50.  Using context, and any background knowledge you may have about what life might have been like in Texas in 1899, think about the usage of the word "passed."  What do you think it means in this paragraph?

Chapter Three

"I was overcome with sadness as I bid good-bye to my bat.  Yet earlier I had set fire to a mountain of arms and legs and felt nothing.  I had thrown the boy from Elgin into a trench with all the others.  And I felt nothing." (p.46)

Why do you think Jacqueline Kelly chose to have Calpurnia's grandfather share this story, especially this ending about the bat?  What does this reveal to you about him and his experiences in the war?

Chapter One

Calpurnia, in this chapter, found evidence of Charles Darwin's discoveries in her own yard.  What was it that Calpurnia realized?

Chapter One

Based on what you read in chapter one, what kind of relationship does Calpurnia have with her grandfather?  Please provide evidence from the text to support your thinking.