Study Guide Questions and Vocabulary

Directions: For each set of chapters, define the vocabulary words using a dictionary or dictionary.com. Don’t forget to write the part of speech. The questions are provided to assist the reader understand the literal details of the book. A few opinion questions are also included. When you read a set of chapters, you must define the vocabulary and answer the questions that pertain to those chapters as well.

  1. Write out short answers.
  2. Be prepared to answer the day after a set is due.
  3. Make notes to enable small group discussions.
  4. Preview the questions prior to reading a section/set.

Chapters 1-3 (pages 1-16)

Vocab –

Caboodle:

Dignified:

Heartily:

Peculiar:

Scads:

Suspend:

Tottery:

Questions –

  1. Who’s telling the story?
  1. How does Sal come to be a chickabiddy starting a story?
  1. Who is Phoebe Winterbottom?
  1. What is Sal’s reaction to moving to Euclid, Ohio?
  1. What do you learn of Sal’s mother and father?

Chapters 4-6 (pages 17-35)

Vocab –

Cadaver:

Diabolic:

Gnarled:

Muesli:

Prim:

Prudence:

Ornery:

Questions –

  1. How does Sal’s life develop in Euclid, Ohio?
  1. Why is chapter 5 humorous?
  1. How do the two incidents of chapter 6 fit together?
  1. Why is chapter 6 titled “Blackberries”?

Chapters 7-10 (pages 36-58)

Vocab –

Civilized:

Hankering:

Kosher:

Mussed:

Pandemonium:

Pastrami:

Shrapnel:

Questions –

  1. How did Sal react when her mother left?
  1. Why is chapter 7 titled “Ill-Ah-No-Way”?
  1. What is the route planned for the car trip?
  1. Who’s Gloria?
  1. Who comes to Phoebe’s house and what do they ask?
  1. What happened to Sal at Mary Lou’s house?
  1. Compare and contrast the Finny family and the Winterbottom family.
  1. What does “huzza, huzza” mean?

Chapters 11-14 (pages 59-90)

Vocab –

Agenda:

Anonymous:

Malevolent:

Rhododendron:

Skeptical:

Questions –

  1. Who is Peeby?
  1. Why does Sal flinch when she’s touched?
  1. What does the 2nd porch message mean?
  1. Why is the marriage bed the most precious thing to Gramps?
  1. Why does Gramps have a gap in his teeth?
  1. Describe Mr. Birkway.
  1. What will Mr. Birkway do with the journals?

Chapters 15-17 (pages 91-106)

Questions –

  1. Why does the book turn to talk of private property?
  1. Why do the travellers have a detour in South Dakota?
  1. What is the singing tree? What does it tell you about Sal?
  1. What are the mysterious messages? Who is the messenger?
  1. How do all of the book’s characters have their own agenda?
  1. Prudence
  1. Phoebe
  1. Sal
  1. Mrs. Winterbottom

Chapters 18-20 (pages 107-128)

  1. What does Sal think of her father?
  1. What is Mr. Hiddles’ relationship to Margaret?
  1. Why does Mrs. Winterbottom look scared in chapter 19?
  1. Who is the lunatic?
  1. Why does Sal’s mother kiss the tree?
  1. Why does Phoebe find 3 envelopes when she comes home from school?

Chapters 21-24 (pages 129-156)

Vocab –

Adhesive:

Amnesia:

Lentil:

Malinger:

Questions –

  1. How does Sal find herself with a drawing of a circle with a large maple leaf in the center?
  1. What evidence does Phoebe gather?
  1. Why are Sal and her father “pitiful and lost”?
  1. Where are the badlands and what do they look like?
  1. Why is Sal an only child?
  1. Who is the egg man?
  1. How is Phoebe getting caught in a web of lies?

Chapters 25-27 (pages 157-176)

Vocab –

Glum:

Impulse:

Optimistic:

Unadulterated:

Questions –

  1. How does Phoebe behave at the Finneys’ house?
  1. Why does Sal say that she could practically see the birds of sadness pecking on Mr. Winterbottom’s head?
  1. Why is the weekend unbelievably long?
  1. How are Pandora, Phoebe, and Sal alike?
  1. What important idea does Sal have at the end of chapter 27?

Chapters 28-30 (pages 177-197)

Vocab –

Careening:

Partition:

Questions –

  1. Why is Sal disappointed with Mt. Rushmore?
  1. Why did Gramps teach Sal how to drive?
  1. Phoebe says, “Mom loves me, and she would not leave me without any explanation.” Why does Phoebe’s father begin to cry?
  1. How does the tide rise, the action intensify, in this chapter?
  1. Why does Phoebe’s mother leave with no explanation?
  1. How is Phoebe like another version of Sal?
  1. Why do Phoebe and Sal keep mementos of their mothers?

Chapters 31-33 (pages 198-221)

Vocab –

Nonchalant:

Rummaged:

Questions –

  1. Why does Mr. Birkway begin to share the journals?
  1. Should he apologize? Why or why not?
  1. What is Sal’s discovery in Sergeant Bickle’s office?
  1. What kind of relationship to Gram and Gramps have?
  1. Who is the Winterbottom visitor?
  1. Why is the living room confrontation strained?

Chapters 34 – 40 (pages 222-255)

Vocab –

Percolate:

Psychiatric:

Questions –

  1. 3 adjectives to describe the to Old Faithful
  1. Who is the gooseberry? Why is that name used?
  1. What is happening between Ben and Salamanca?
  1. What is the girls’ telephone plan?
  1. Why do the girls run into Ben at the bus stop?
  1. What do they discover when they look for the lunatic?
  1. What does Sal discover about Ben in the hospital?
  1. How does Phoebe feel seeing her mother and the lunatic?
  1. What is the message from Mrs. Winterbottom?
  1. Why does she warn Phoebe about prejudgments?
  1. How will the Winterbottoms work out their various feelings?
  1. What are 3 gifts presented in this chapter? (Hint – gifts can be explanations or support as well as packages and objects)
  1. Where have the white envelopes been coming from?

Chapters 41-44 (pages 256-280)

Vocab –

Grotesque:

Questions –

  1. What is the cause of Gram’s greyness?
  1. What happens after Gramps gives Sal the car keys?
  1. What does Sal hear from another traveller at the overlook?
  1. What does Sal find at the bus?
  1. How do the sheriff and deputy treat Sal?
  1. What mystery is solved in this chapter?
  1. What happened to Sal’s mother?
  1. What happened to Gram?
  1. What happens to Sal after she returns form the car trip?
  1. How did Mrs. Cadaver know Sal’s mother?
  1. How does the book end?
  1. What do you think this book is about?