Matt Lynch

6-13-99

Per.4

English

 

West with the Night Independent Reading:

The Bean Trees

 

Use of Figurative Language

  1. "White rocks sloped up out of the water like giant friendly hippo butts." Pg.90

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  2. "Turtle would cry and pant at just the slightest taste, fanning her tongue and eyeing Lou Ann like she was some spy that tried to poison us." Pg.152

 

 

 

Use of Vocabulary

1. Mrs. Parsons made a prudish face. Pg.106

 

 

 

2. She woke reluctantly, and groggily accepted my explanation of what was happening.

 

 

 

 

Setting

1. "It was a of forest, except that in place of trees there were all of these puffy looking rocks shaped like roundish animals and roundish people." Pg.35

 

2. "Possibly it had once been a gas station, although there were no pumps and the building at the back of the paved lot looked abandoned." Pg. 37

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. This simile lends itself to the story to describe the vivid and very much alive environment and ecosystem of the southwest United States. Her use of such colorful language is frequent throughout the book and in describing the southwest it is a wonderful tool.
  2. This simile gives some comedic relief. Although the book is filled with humorous moments this little anecdote about Lou Ann’s new job at Red Hot Mama’s salsa factory. It doesn’t serve much purpose, but it does enhance Turtle’s character by giving her a little bit of humor.

 

 

1.prudish- like a prude; excessively proper or modest; too modest about sex. This adjective helps to describe Mrs. Parsons’s general demeanor.

2.groggily- slowly and without much thought, not fully awoken. This adjective helps to illustrate how tire Turtle Is when first woken up when Taylor has to tell her that she is being taken away.

 

 

 

1.This passage helps to describe the first impression that she gets as she enters Arizona in the very early morning. Kingslover is very prolific in her description of the desert and its surroundings and she finds very creative ways to express the uniqueness of this new environment.

2.This description describes what is perhaps one of the more colorful environments of the book; the Jesus is Lord Used Tires building. It is quite an inventive use of setting as a progressive measure in the story. This tire shop and the character she encounters there really signals her departure from Kentucky

Characterization

1. "He had on camouflage army pants and a black baseball cap with cloth flaps hanging down the back, such as Gregory Peck or whoever it was always wore in those old Foreign Legion movies. His T-shirt said VISITOR FROM ANOTHER PLANET." Pg.37

2. "He made our country boys look like the hand me down socks that Mamma brought home, all full of their darns and mends. Hughes Walter was no Kentucky boy." Pg.3

 

Theme

1. "A three o’clock in the afternoon all the cicadas stopped buzzing at once. They left such emptiness that it hurt your ears. Around four o’clock, we heard thunder." Pg.160

2. "But it didn’t seem to matter to turtle, she was happy where she was. The sky went from dust color to gray and then to cool black sparked with stars, and she was still wide awake." Pg.232

 

 

Tone

1. " It took what seemed was an extremely long time to draw up a statement, which Mrs. Cleary shuttled off to type. She came back and was sent off twice more to make repairs. After several rounds of white out we had managed to create an official document." Pg.215

2. "Later that night when the kids were in bed I realized exactly what was bugging me: the idea of Lou Ann reading magazines for child-raising tips and recipes and and me coming home grouchy after a day’s work. We were like some family on a TV commercial." Pg.84

 

Use of Color

1. "The clouds were pink and fat and hilarious looking." Pg.35

2. "Mattie’s purple bean vines hung from the fence." Pg.77

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and entrance into the new world of Arizona

1.This description talks about and introduces the reader to the owner of the Jesus is Lord Used Tire shop. This eccentric character gives the reader a bit of shell shock. He gives off an odd vibe of translucent toughness. He certainly adds a little gruffness to the already rough environment.

2. This description of her high school science teacher shows how desperate the situation for her is in Kentucky. Her understanding of him shows the reader that it was time for her to move on with her life and search out her destiny that is obviously not in Kentucky.

1. This passage illustrates the theme of emptiness. It is also used as a foreshadowing device that shows that later in the chapter Turtle will be taken away. The thunderstorm and silence both show the turbulent times ahead.

2. This theme is taken from the last page of the book. It shows rebirth, not only in the night sky, but also for Turtle and Taylor who are reunited and will again start their mother daughter relationship. They are once again on the road where their relationship had begun.

 

1.The impatient tone of this particular description shows how angst filled Taylor has become about finally getting Turtle back. Its use of these impatient terms demonstrates to the reader how much Taylor yearns to get Turtle back into her life.

2. The sarcastic tone of this passage demonstrates how fed up Taylor has become with her current living conditions. She obviously feels that this must stop and that she needs to make some sort of new arrangements. Not that she dislikes Lou Ann but she must begin to move on.

1.The use of pink in this and other descriptive selections about Arizona show how new it is.

2. The use of purple in this selection shows how alien and dead the bean vines are after the first frost.