IMPORTANT: Comprehension questions will be in chronological order as you read through the story. Page numbers are approximate, and will vary with different editions of the book.
Section 1: Beginning: August 1920 – Dionne Quintuplets
Vocabulary
- ancient: belonging to the very distant past and no longer in existence
- drought: a prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall
- feud: a prolonged or bitter quarrel or dispute
- fierce: having or displaying an intense or ferocious aggressiveness
- pester: trouble or annoy with frequent or persistent requests or interruptions
- ratchet: a bar or wheel with a set of angled teeth in which a cog engages and allows a motion in one direction only
- soured: having a rancid smell
Vocabulary Usage in the Book
- And Ma, with only Great-uncle Floyd,/old as ancient Indian bones,/and mean as a rattler,/rotting away in that room down in Dallas. (Beginning August, 1920, pg. 5)
- I watched the plants,/surviving after so much drought and so much wind,/I watched them fry,… (Fields of Flashing Light, pg. 31)
- He takes that red face of his out to the barn,/ to keep from feuding with my pregnant Ma. (Debts Page 27)
- …/he got a red-headed, freckled faced, narrow hipped girl/with a fondness for apples/and a hunger for playing fierce piano./ (Beginning: August 1920, pg. 3)
- …/sizzling with/Mad Dog, /swinging with the Black Mesa Boys/or on my own,/crazy,/pestering the keys./ (On Stage, pg. 13-14)
- /…and I fled,/barefoot, and breathless, back inside,/it wasn’t until the dust/hissed against the windows,/until it ratcheted the roof,/That Daddy woke./ (Fields of Flashing Light, pg. 32)
- And every little crowd/is grateful to hear a rag or two played/on the piano/by a long-legged, red-haired girl,/even when the piano has a few keys soured by the dust./ (On the Road with Arley, pg. 49)
Comprehension Questions
- Billie Jo says that Daddy got a long-legged, wide cheek-boned, redheaded, freckled girl instead of a boy. (Beginning: August 1920, pg. 3)
- The wager between Mr. Noble and Mr. Romney as to who could kill the most rabbits began when both declared that the rabbits had done more damage on their crops than anywhere else in Cimarron County. (Rabbit Battles, pg. 6)
- Billie Jo is able to get what she wants, especially to play the piano by asking permission when her mother is in the kitchen cooking, washing dishes, or baking and is just annoying enough to get a yes. (Permission to Play, pg. 12)
- When the committee asks for donations Ma donates three jars of apple sauce, some cured pork and a feed sack nightie that was to be for the new baby. (Not Too Much To Ask, pg. 16)
- When Daddy says, “ The potatoes are peppered plenty tonight Polly,” he means that they are covered in dust. (Rules of Dining, pg. 21)
- Since the age of four Billie Jo has been dazzled by her Ma’s piano playing. (Dazzled, pg. 24)
- Ma says that Daddy has to believe that the rain will come because he is a farmer and its coming on to spring and wheat has to be planted. (Debts, pg. 27)
- When Billie Jo asks to miss school to play the piano in a show her mother becomes angry and says she cannot take part in the show. (Foul As Maggoty Stew, pgs. 28-29)
- Daddy is awakened in the middle of the night by the dust storm hitting the roof of the house. (Fields of Flashing Light, pg. 32)
- While taking the six weeks test the students are covered by dust blown in by strong winds and are so dusty they need to take baths. (Tested By Dust, pg. 37)
- In order to forget the dust for hours Billie Jo plays the piano. (Beat Wheat, pg. 39)
- One of the things that Daddy is willing to talk about of his time in France during the Great War is the sight of the red poppies on the graves of the dead. (World War, pg. 44)
- When Ma is “ripe as a melon,” she aches for rain. (Hope in a Drizzle, pg. 55)
- Ma’s reaction to the thought of delivering quintuplets is to weep. (Dionne Quintuplets, pg. 57)
Section 2: Wild Boys of the Road – Outlined by Dust
Vocabulary
- antiseptic: a substance that prevents the growth of disease-causing microorganisms
- carcass: the dead body of an animal
- fester: a wound or sore becoming septic; food or garbage becoming rotten and offensive to the senses
- kerosene: a light fuel used in jet engines and domestic heaters and lamps
- review: a formal assessment or examination of something with the possibility or intention of instituting a change if needed
- scuff: scrape or brush the surface of a shoe or object against something
- suffocate: die or cause to die from the lack of air or inability to breathe
Vocabulary Usage in the Book
- …/He bathed my burns in antiseptic./… (Burns, pg. 62)
- …/On either side of the road are/the carcasses of jackrabbits, small birds, field mice,/stretching out into the distance./ (Birthday, pg. 73)
- My father stares at me/while I sit across from him at the table,/while I was dishes in the basin,/my back to him,/the picked and festered bits of my hands in agony./… (Outlined by Dust, pg. 111)
- …/Daddy/put a pail of kerosene/next to the stove/and Ma/fixing breakfast,/ thinking the pail was filled with water,/lifted it,/to make Daddy’s coffee,/poured it/… (The Accident, pg. 60)
- Vera Wanderdale/is putting on a dance revue at the Palace/and Arley asked/if I’d play a number with the Black Mesa Boys./… (Dance Revue, pg. 91)
- …/She’d scuff into the kitchen a few minutes later,/bleary eyed,/to start breakfast./ (Outlined by Dust, pg. 113)
- …/Too hard to/ watch their lungs clog with dust,/like our chickens, suffocated./… (Driving the Cows, pg. 102)
Comprehension Questions
- During breakfast Billie Jo’s hands are burned when she uses them to smother the flames burning her mother’s apron. (The Accident, pg. 61)
- After being burned Billie Jo’s has a vivid dream and when she awakes she finds that one part is true, her hands are burned stumps filled with pus. (Nightmare, pg. 65)
- After being sent outside by the Doc to get water, Billie Jo describes the grasshoppers as a thousand whirring engines. (Devoured, pg. 68)
- Ma and Billie Jo’s brother are buried on the rise overlooking the dried up Beaver River. (Blame, pg. 70)
- While walking to town Billie Jo tries not to look back at the grave holding Ma and the baby. (Birthday, pg. 73.)
- While Billie Jo spends her time in pain her father spends the time building the pond that his wife had suggested he build before she died. (The Hole, pg. 77)
- After the war when Europe didn’t need America’s wheat any more farmers had to grow more wheat, put more cattle on the land to try to make the same amount of money they had during the war because they had taken out loans, bought expensive equipment and had debts to pay. (The Path of Our Sorrow, pgs. 83-84)
- Arley Wanderdale says that Billie Jo’s hands could play the piano again if she tried. (Those Hands, pg. 89)
- When it snows a “real snow,” the grass, wheat, cattle, rabbits and Daddy are happy. (Real Snow, pg. 90)
- The price of admission to the Art exhibit held in the basement of the courthouse is one book or 10 cents. (Art Exhibit, pg. 94)
- When her grade receives the top grade of the Oklahoma state tests she wishes that she could go home and tell her Ma and hear her say, “I knew you could.” (State Tests Again, pg. 99)
- Billie Jo thinks that the first drops of rain sound like a stranger tapping on the door of a dream. (First Rain, pg. 104)
- Hayden P. Nye liked the way Billie Jo played the piano. (Hayden P. Nye, pg. 107)
- Even though there has been so much sorrow Daddy still sometimes sings under his breath, deep with the pain of what has happened to them. (Outlined By Dust, pg. 111)
Section 3 – The President’s Ball – The Visit
Vocabulary
- amateur: a person who engages in a pursuit, especially a sport on an unpaid basis
- court: a tribunal presided over by a judge, judges or magistrate in civil and criminal cases; to be romantically involved with someone with the intention of future marriage
- migrant: a worker who moves place to place to do seasonal work
- paralysis: the loss of the ability to move in part or most of the body, typically as a result of an illness, poison or injury
- pneumonia: lung inflammation caused by bacterial or viral infection, in which the air sacs fill with pus and may become solid
- procession: a number of people or vehicles moving forward in an orderly fashion, especially as part of a ceremony or festival
- prospects: the possibility or likelihood of some future event occurring
Vocabulary Usage in the Book
- Backstage,/we were seventeen amateur acts,/our wild hearts pounding,/our lips sticking to our teeth,/our urge to empty ourselves/top and bottom,/… (The Competition, pg. 129)
- He didn’t come to court me./… (The Visit, pg. 168)
- …/We share it at lunch with our guests,/the family of migrants who have moved out of dust/and Depression/and moved into our classroom./… (Family School, pg. 121)
- Till ten,/when Arley stands up from the piano,/to announce we have raised thirty-three dollars/for infantile paralysis,/a little better than last year./ (The President’s Ball, pg. 115)
- Last Friday,/Pete Guymon took ill with dust pneumonia./… (Dust Pneumonia, pg. 140)
- …/But we ended up going anyway,/driving down the road in a procession to Texahoma./… (Blankets of Black, pg. 163)
- My father thought maybe/he ought to go to night school,/so if the farm failed/there’d be prospects to fall back on./… (Night School, pg. 138)
Comprehension Questions
- On the day that no one goes hungry the girls ears are ringing with the sound of satisfied children. (Lunch, pg. 118)
- Miss Freeland keeps the kids out of the classroom because the mother of the family staying in the classroom is about to give birth. (Birth, pg. 123)
- The sheriff decides that some of the sugar from the moonshine should be used by Miss Freeland to bake goodies for the children to eat. (Something Sweet From Moonshine, pg. 126)
- The Grover boys play the saxophone, banjo, and clarinet. (The Competition, pg. 130)
- When playing at the Palace Theater Billie Jo notices that her hands hurt after she has finished playing and is listening to the applause. (The Competition, pg. 132)
- Peter Guyman’s truck, which is full of produce sits at the side of the road because he has died from dust pneumonia and no-one knows how to keep the truck on the road. (Dust Pneumonia, pg. 140)
- The driver desperate to get home straddles the car’s tires half on and half off the road in order to follow the road. (Dust Storm, pgs. 142-143 )
- Billie Jo feels that rain falling in other places, but not where they live is a broken promise. (Broken Promise, pg. 147)
- Billie Jo does not want to die, but she does want to go away, anywhere away from the dust. (Following in Hist Steps, pg. 149)
- Mad Dog looks at Billie Jo as if he is waiting to pick a fight with her, yet at the same time looks at her with kindness. (Regrets, pg. 155)
- The mail gets stuck on the Santa Fe because mountains of dust have blown onto the tracks preventing the trains from moving. (The Mail Train, pg. 158)
- The migrants are fleeing the blowing dust and going to where they can rent farms and start again. (Migrants, pg. 160)
- As Billie Jo is sulking in that truck on their way to Texhoma a sudden black cloud unleashes a dust storm that turned the day into night. (Blankets of Black, pg. 163)
- Mad Dog is going to the Amarillo to sing on the radio and is hoping he sings well enough to be given a job. (The Visit, pg. 168)
Section 4: Freak Show – Finding A Way
Vocabulary
- betrothed: to be engaged to another for future marriage
- brontosaurus: a type of dinosaur, great lizard
- cancer: a disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in parts of the body
- glazes –to fit panes of glass into a window; to overlay or cover with a smooth shiny coating
- gaunt: lean and haggard, especially because of suffering, hunger or age
- glower: to have an angry or sullen look on one’s face
- kerchief: a piece of fabric used to cover the head, or worn tied around the neck
Vocabulary Usage in the Book
- Her betrothal gift to him/… (Finding a Way, pg. 226)
- I think for a moment of Joe De La Flor/herding brontosaurus instead of cattle/and I/smile./… (Old Bones, pg. 188)
- I think/he didn’t care much,/if he had some cancer/and took and died./… (Cut It Deep, pg. 209)
- We close our eyes/together/ and together find that stillness/like a pond/a pond/when the wind is quiet/and the surface/glazes/gazing unblinking/at the blue sky./… (The Dream pg. 193-194)
- But I can see the gaunt of hunger in his cheeks./… (Something Lost, Something Gained, pg. 200)
- He just keeps that invitation from her,/glowering down at me from the shelf above the piano. (Help From Uncle Sam, pg.173)
- I try to contain the ache as I leave my bed,/I try to still my heart as I/ slip from my room with my kerchief of dimes./… (Out of the Dust, pg. 197)
Comprehension Questions
- In order to keep the farms going the government gives loans to the farmers for seed and feed for the animals. These loans do not have to be paid back unless the crops survive and can be sold. (Help From Uncle Sam, pg. 172)
- After the rains come some of the ranchers cleaned the dust from their tractors, put the cattle out to graze on the new grass, and one sang from the saddle again. (The Rain’s Gift, pg. 180 )
- Everyone gathers at the Joyce City Hardware and Furniture Company storeto hear Mad Dog sing on WDAG. (Sunday Afternoon at the Amarillo Hotel, pg. 182)
- Ma had been saving the dimes that Billie Jo had earned to send her to Panhand le A & M to study music. (Baby, pg. 186)
- The bitterness that Billie Jo feels comes from the dust, the silence of her father and the absence of her Ma. (Midnight Truth, pg. 195)
- When a man enters the train car she is in, she describes him as dirty, sour smelling and with eyes that look like death. (Something Lost, Something Gained, pg. 200)
- Billie Jo likens her mother and the man on the train to tumble weed because they like tumble weed held on as long as they could and then tumbled away as there are no roots. (Something Lost, Something Gained, pg. 202)
- When Billie Jo awakens on the train she discovers the man has gone and has taken her biscuits and left in exchange the photograph of his family. (Something Lost, Something Gained, pg. 203)
- Once the pond is complete Daddy plans for them to swim in it and to stock it with fish. (Met, pg. 206)
- Doc tells Billie Jo to rub ointment onto her hands each day to use her hands and they will heal fine. (Cut It Deep, pg. 210)
- Billie Jo likes Louise because she is plain, honest and makes her Daddy laugh. (The Other Woman, pg. 213)
- Billie Jo will not allow Louise to crowd her out of her Daddy’s life now that she has just found a way back into it and she won’t allow her to visit her Ma’s grave. (Not Everywhere, pg. 215)
- When Daddy leaves the big pans, the wooden spoons and leftovers in the kitchen for Billie Jo and Louise to finish up she has mixed feelings about him, irritated, but mostly love. (Teamwork, pg. 223)
- Louise’s betrothal gift to Billie Jo’s father is a mule. (Finding a Way, pg. 226)