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Study Guide Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt Mr. West
Part 2: Ch. 1-12
Chapter Questions
1
1. Why were the children leaving Cousin Eunice? Do you think Dicey left a note of explanation? Explain.
2. What precautions did the Tillermans take at the bus station in New York City? Why did they take these precautions?
3. How did Dicey’s mood change once the bus left New York?
4. Why did Dicey decide to take the Annapolis bus from Wilmington? Why would this create other problems for the children?
5. What was the Tillermans’ mood at the end of the first day of their journey? Why did they feel that way?
2, 3
1. How did James get Jerry and Tom to offer them a boat ride to the Eastern Shore? What did this reveal about James?
2. What fear did Sammy’s dream reveal? How did Dicey calm his fear?
3. What did Dicey enjoy about the sail across the bay? Why did she conclude that a boat would be a perfect home?
4. Why did Jerry think that Dicey would make an excellent sailor?
5. Why did the voice of the man in the store sound familiar to Dicey?
4, 5
1. Why couldn’t Dicey plan to take a route along the water’s edge to Crisfield?
2. How did Will know that the children were strangers in Easton?
3. Why did Dicey think they should earn some money picking crops?
4. How did Mr. Rudyard’s ill treatment of his dog foil his plans to capture the children?
6
1. Why did Dicey and James decide to walk toward Hurlock instead of Secretary?
2. How did Will’s former statement that Claire could be a good person to have on your side prove to be true?
3. How did Will help the Tillerman children?
4. Why did Dicey feel content while she was with the circus? How was this similar to the ideal life she had imagined aboard a boat?
7, 8
1. Why didn’t Dicey want Will to go with them to their grandmother’s? Why did she leave James, Sammy, and Maybeth in town?
2. Why wasn’t Dicey able to find her grandmother’s name in the telephone book?
3. Why do you think Abigail Tillerman pretended not to know Dicey? Why do you think she acted the way she did toward the children?
4. Why did Dicey’s grandmother think that she and Dicey were “two of a kind”?
5. Why did Dicey’s discovery in the barn excite her? How did it present a challenge to her?
6. What did Dicey mean by thinking that they had won one battle, but there was still a whole war to win?
9, 10
1. What was Dicey’s plan for getting their grandmother to let the Tillermans stay? How do you know Mrs. Tillerman understood their plan?
2. What evidence is there that their grandmother was beginning to enjoy the children’s company?
3. Why did Dicey refer to her disagreement with her grandmother over Sammy as a “battle”? What did she mean by wondering, if she won the battle, would she lose the war?
4. What did Dicey risk by disagreeing with her grandmother on how to punish Sammy?
5. What evidence was there that the circus troupe had become fond of the Tillerman children?
11, 12
1. Why do you think Grandmother felt she had to explain herself to Dicey? Why had she made the decision to make the children leave, even though she wanted them to stay?
2. Why had Grandmother had such a difficult married life?
3. Why did Grandmother feel she had failed with her own children?
4. How did Dicey’s feelings toward her grandmother change after their late-night talk? What was the mood during the days following this talk?
5. What evidence was there that Grandmother was thinking about ways to get money to take care of the children?
6. Why do you think Gram changed her mind about letting the children stay?
Questions for Discussion by Chapters
1. Do you agree with Dicey that “Home” is out of the question for the Tillermans? Do you think she should be ready to settle for something less than her dream of living with Momma again? What do you think Dicey wished for as she surveyed the scene around the college in Annapolis?
Simile
2, 3. Why was James puzzled by the way Jerry and Tom acted out their friendship? Do you think it is normal for good friends to challenge one another and risk getting each other into trouble? Dicey felt sad as she walked away from Jerry and Tom and continued on her way with her family. Aside from the heat and the long walk ahead, why do you think she felt sad?
Writing
4, 5. What do you think might have happened to the children if they had not been able to run away from Mr. Rudyard? Why do you think the author ended chapter 5 with an amusing aspect of their experience and with the children giggling about Mr. Rudyard?
Writing
6. What do you think Dicey meant by saying that she used to think that everyone was pretty much like them? What did Will mean by saying that everyone was different, but everyone thinks that they are the only ones different? Do you agree with Dicey’s new philosophy that it is foolish to plan ahead and waste time worrying about the future? Are you a person who generally plans ahead or lives for the moment? Why do you think Will helped the children? Do you think it is realistic for them to imagine that a stranger would come to their aid? Explain.
Writing
7, 8. Do you think that Abigail Tillerman is crazy or do you agree with James that she is “crazy as a fox”? Give reasons to support your answer. Why do you think Grandmother is so gruff and indifferent to the children? Is there anything about her family’s history to suggest why she should act this way?
Predictions
9, 10. How do you think Claire and Will’s visit affected Grandmother and her feelings about the children? Do you think that Dicey should have challenged her grandmother? Was she being brave, being an advocate for her little brother, or just making a power play against her equally strong-minded grandmother?
Writing
11, 12. Characterization – Imagine a Venn Diagram comparing Dicey and her grandmother. What would be the shared characteristics in the overlapping portion of the circles?
Symbolism – What do you think the sailboat symbolized to Dicey? What did a home symbolize to Dicey and the other children?