The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver                                           Name:___________________________

 

 

Once again, thanks to Dr. Cathy Decker’s page: http://locutus.ucr.edu/~cathy/bean/beanindex.html

 

 

Chapter 5: “Harmonious Space”

 

New Characters
  • Jerry Speller
  • Jessie
  • Aimee
  • the father of Sandi's baby
  • Fei
  • La-Isha
  • Timothy

 

Idioms, Slang, and Difficult Words
  • gussets
  • punked-out
  • being flex

 

Cultural and Historical Allusions
  • Train whistle
  • tea kettle whistle
  • Bob Seger
  • plane crash into the D.C. river
  • Dixie
  • Kermit the frog
  • Miss Piggy
  • Knox gelatin
  • paisley
  • boxcars
  • Ripley's Believe It or Not
  • Lazyboy recliner
  • army cot
  • Mr. Ed
  • jockey cap
  • the madonna
  • Virgo
  • wind chimes
  • beachcomber
  • sarong
  • Beach Blanket Bingo
  • clarinet

 

 

Chapter Six: “Valentine’s Day”

 

Discussion Questions

  1. What is the lesson Mattie teaches Taylor at the start of the chapter?
  2. What has Taylor been hiding from Mattie?
  3. What positive things happen when Taylor shares her feelings with Mattie?
  4. Why has Lou Ann been hiding her true personality, feelings, and thoughts from Taylor?
  5. What positive things happen when Lou Ann shares her feelings with Taylor?
  6. What is Lou Ann's theory of friendship?
  7. What is Taylor's theory of men? Is it a logical one? Why or why not?
  8. How is Turtle like Lou Ann's cat?
  9. What does Lou Ann read to Turtle and why?
  10. How do Lou Ann and Taylor make up from their argument?
  11. What is the card Taylor sends her mom? What is its significance?
  12. Why is a chapter called "Valentine's Day" critical of men?
  13. How does Lou Ann's appearance change during the talk with Taylor?

 

Cultural and Historical Allusions

·         John Wayne

·         Maze

·         "You are old, Father William"

·         Reader's Digest

·         borscht

·         M-16

·         José Cuervo

·         "Skip to My Lou"

·         toilet flapper ball

·         Washington Monument

·         Cleopatra

·         pipe wrench

·         caulking gun

·         angle drill

·         battery-head cleaner

·         Ladies' Home Journal

·         frisbee

·         Wick 'N' Candle

·         communist

·         Blondie and Dagwood

·         grits

·         prom queen

·         Old MacDonald Had an Apartment House

·         Tony Lama boots

·         slot machine

·         the No-Evil monkey brothers

·         love beads

·         hillbilly



Chapter Seven: “How They Eat In Heaven”

 

New Characters
  • Esperanza, Hope
  • Estevan, Steven
  • Edna Poppy
  • Mrs. Virgie Mae Parsons

 

Discussion Questions

  1. What is the significance of the group going to Lou Ann's "special" place in the desert?
  2. Why didn't Lou Ann and Angel get married there?
  3. Why is Esperanza obsessed with Turtle?
  4. What is wrong with Esperanza? How is she like Turtle and Snowboots?
  5. Can you think of symbolic meanings for…the quails?...Turtle's first sound? Her first word?… Ann's hair cutting?
  6. What do we learn about Lou Ann's self-esteem?
  7. What signs do we have of Lou Ann and Taylor's friendship growing?
  8. What's weird about Edna Poppy?
  9. What is Mrs. Parsons like?
  10. What is Estevan like?
  11. Why is Mattie on TV?
  12. Why do you think Mattie's words are partially talked over?
  13. What is the story Estevan tells? How is it significant?

 

Cultural and Historical Allusions
  • People Magazine
  • tom boy
  • Tube top
  • Sherman tank
  • Guatemalan embroidery
  • Russian Matryoshka dolls
  • Mohawk haircut
  • Navy-Bean soup
  • Hungarian goulash
  • "Blue Bayou"
  • Star Trek
  • Captain Kirk
  • shingled hair cut
  • Dorothy Hamill hair cut
  • wok
  • cheongsam, qipao, or banner dress

 

 

Chapter Eight: “The Miracle of Dog Doo Park”

 

New Characters
  • April "Turtle" (discovery of Turtle's name)
  • Alice Jean Stamper Greer
  • Rachel
  • Harland Elleston
  • Ernest Jakes
  • Terry
  • Jill
  • Dr. Pelinowsky
  • Granny Logan
  • She-Wolf Who Hunts by the First Light

 

Discussion Questions

  1. Why is Lou Ann crying at the zoo?
  2. What do Lou Ann and Taylor learn about Turtle at the zoo?
  3. Why was Lou Ann upset with her brother's marriage?
  4. What was Granny Logan's opinion of Lou Ann's brother's marriage?
  5. Why is Taylor upset with her mom?
  6. What is the symbolism of the bird in the cactus?
  7. What has been wrong with Turtle?
  8. Can you think of a symbolism for the turtles having sex at the zoo?
  9. What is the "Miracle of Dog Doo Park"?
  10. What does the wisteria symbolize?  (You’ll see wisteria again in the novel.)

 

Cultural and Historical Allusions
  • General Hospital
  • Marlboro man
  • "X and Y Sitting in a Tree"
  • Eleanor Roosevelt
  • foster care
  • foster mother
  • wing-tip shoes
  • skateboards
  • Burpee's Catalogue
  • "Blue Bayou"
  • Bermuda shorts
  • Blazer with four-wheel drive
  • succotash


Chapter Nine: “Ismene”

 

New Characters
  • The Greasers
  • The Nutters

 

Cultural and Historical Allusions
  • 4-H Club
  • India's caste system
  • The Untouchables
  • The stolen, lost, disappeared children of Guatemala
  • Time-Life books
  • Levi's

 

 

 

Chapter Ten: “The Bean Trees”

 

Cultural and Historical Allusions
  • "La Bamba"
  • transients
  • beef shingles
  • bungalow
  • Elvis Presley's movies
  • wainscoting
  • Superball
  • evil eye
  • Tom Selleck
  • mosaic tile
  • Guatemela death squads
  • convenience store