October Sky
Chapter 1
1. What does the narrator set up from the very beginning as the conflict between his parents (the primary conflict of the story)?
2. How many people lived in Coalwood?
3. What did the narrator see each morning when he shook his blanket?
4. Who owned the houses in Coalwood?
5. What does his mother have in the yard that becomes a symbol of her resistance to Coalwood?
6. What did the narrator do for a part time job?
7. Why was it unusual for the narrator to become friends with Rev. Richard?
8. The Rev.’s statement, “That Daniel he knew the Lord?”
9. How did the narrator’s family decide what denomination they would become?
10. What happened when Tony’s father was killed in the mine?
11. What was unique about Coalwood as compared to Gary?
12. What did the narrator’s mother use to decide whether or not she would marry her husband?
13. The line, “It was a decision that I believe she often regretted, but still would not have changed,” is an example of what literary device?
14. What happened to the narrator’s grandfather?
15. The line, “I was awakened by the tromp of feet and clunking of lunch buckets outside as the day shift went to work,” is an example of what literary device?
16. The line, “After they (the coal miners) were swallowed by the earth,” is an example of what literary device?
17. The line, “Coalwood was surrounded by forests and mountains dotted with caves and cliffs and gas wells and fire towers and abandoned mines just waiting to be discovered,” is an example of what literary device?
18. Who does the narrator give credit to for his love of reading?
19. What did the books in Coalwood fail to let the narrator see?
Chapter 2
1. In the narrator’s mind, what was the best thing about his father’s being put in charge of the mines?
2. What formed the “dividing line” for the narrator’s life?
3. How did his father feel about the communists in Russia?
4. What was distinctive about Jim?
5. The line, “she said my brother must have been dropped off by mistake by vacationing Rockefellers,” is an example of what literary device?
6. What made Roy Lee unique among the boys?
7. Why was it difficult for the narrator to make friends?
8. What did Roy Lee believe about Sputnik?
9. Who was the narrator’s partner for worm dissection?
10. What was the most important thing in Coalwood besides coal mining?
11. The line, “opposing quarterbacks ran from him (Jim) like scared rabbits,” is an example of what literary device?
12. The line, “At the time, a player as good as Jim was accorded nearly the same celebrity status as Johnny Unitas and Bart Starr,” is an example of what literary device?
13. The line, “I could just imagine him (Dr. von Braun) high on a gantry, lying on his back like Michelangelo,” is an example of what literary device?
14. The line, “For all I knew, a man with that much conviction might even form an expedition into space like Lewis and Clark,” is an example of what literary device?
15. What did the narrator find out about Sputnik from his local paper?
16. What did Homer think about this?
17. Where did the narrator find out more about Sputnik?
18. What did the narrator use as fuel for his first rocket?
19. Why was Sherman in charge of the countdown?
20. What did the boys destroy with their first rocket?
Chapter 3
1. The line, “O’Dell’s eyes were as wide as the barn owls,” is an example of what literary device?
2. What question does Sonny’s mom ask him?
3. What does Sonny ask his mom regarding his father’s feelings?
4. What does Sonny’s mom think building the rocket will show?
5. The line, “the tipple loomed before me like a spider,” is an example of what literary device?
6. At the end of the chapter when Sonny’s dad answers the phone, begins to cough and then has a spasm, what literary device is at work?
Chapter 4
1. What insult does Sonny use against Buck?
2. Why did Pooky Suggs quit school in the sixth grade and who does he blame for this?
3. Why does Homer decide to go see a lawyer in Welch?
4. What decision does the judge make about the lawsuit?
5. How was Homer’s attitude different towards his sons’ participation in the parade?
6. When 25 men were “cut off from the company,” why does Sonny think the phrase cut off is accurate?
7. What do Mr. Dubonnet (the union organizer) and Homer have in common?
8. What does Homer discover about his lungs?
9. What happens to the first attempt the U.S. makes at a satellite?
Chapter 5
1. How did the students at the school view Quentin?
2. Why did Quentin need Sonny?
3. What kind of fuel does Quentin tell Sonny is used in rockets?
4. Whose reaction worries Sonny when he befriends Quentin?
5. What did the company store have as two of its most prominent features?
6. What was the rumor about Junior?
7. What does Mr. Dubonnet tell Sonny about his place in Coalwood?
8. Where did Quentin and Sonny get the tubing for their rocket?
9. What does Quentin tell Sonny about failure?
10. How does Dorothy feel about Sonny’s attempt to make a rocket?
Chapter 6
1. Who did Sonny talk to when everyone in the house seemed at odds?
2. What name does Sonny make up for his rocket club?
3. Where do they choose as a launch site for the rockets?
4. What is the reader supposed to understand when Quentin shares Sonny’s lunch?
5. Who is the new science teacher?
6. What contrasts the people of Welch with the people of Coalwood?
7. What is the difference between Sonny and Jim according to Emily Sue?
8. What substance does Sonny need in order to make the rocket fuel?
9. How had Sonny known about the secret entrance to the mines?
10. What does Mr. Bykovski decide to teach Sonny?
11. Why did Sonny name his first rocket Auk I and what literary device does that make this name?
12. Why did Auk I fail?
13. When Auk IV goes astray, where does it head for?
14. Who is at Homer’s office when the rocket lands?
15. What does Homer say about the rocket?
16. Who is Homer mad at when the chapter ends?
Chapter 7
1. What does Homer do with Sonny’s chemicals?
2. What does Sonny’s mother have to say about it?
3. What does Homer do to Mr. Bykovski?
4. What does Sonny find out about Dorothy?
5. When they switch sites to Pine Knob, what happens when the last bottle goes off?
6. What is the topic of the sermon on the Sunday after the boys change sites?
7. Who influenced the preacher to write this particular sermon?
8. After the sermon, where does Homer take Sonny?
9. What does Sonny ask for at the end of the chapter.
Chapter 8
1. What did the Soviet Union launch on March 26?
2. How do the students act when the principal takes the stage?
3. The line, “even the most squirmy of us sat as quiet as stones,” is an example of what literary device?
4. What does Mr. Tuner announce?
5. What was happening at the school because of Sputnik?
6. Who does Mr. Turner think will be let down if the students don’t learn more?
7. What does Mr. Turner finish off his speech with?
8. What does Buck think will be denied him because of the decision about the team?
9. What does Buck think will be his fate now?
10. Who does Jim blame for his problems?
11. What did the people who gossiped at the fence conclude?
12. What had the boys figured out how to do to get the things they needed?
13. What did Homer accuse Sonny of?
14. Where is Quentin staying?
15. How does Sonny think things would be different if Jim were building the rocket?
Chapter 9
1. What was the first thing Homer did with new engineers?
2. Who was one of the engineers who stuck it out?
3. The line, “He has got more money than Carter has little liver pills,” is an example of what literary device?
4. The fact that the women wonder how anyone understands each other in the North is an example of what literary device?
5. Why did Jim and Sonny have to carry Jake to his room?
6. What did Jake pay Sonny to do?
7. What does the company announce in May?
8. Why did miners carry medals with them?
9. If a miner died, how long did him family have to vacate the town?
10. The line, “The miners of Coalwood walked around with their eyes lined like Cleopatra’s” is an example of what literary device?
11. What does O’dell point out that Sonny’s father is doing?
12. What does O’Dell’s mother make for the boys?
13. Who came to the launch of the rocket?
14. The line, “Basil had the physique of Ichabod Crane,” is an example of what literary device?
15. What did the boys discover about Basil?
16. What does Mr. Dubonnet determine is wrong with the rocket?
17. Besides determining the problem with the fuel, what else do the boys need to figure out?
18. Why did the company pay the miners with two dollar bills?
19. Who does Sonny want to come to the launch?
20. What subject does Sonny need to figure out the problems with the rocket?
21. What did Mr. Bykovski start to teach the boys?
22. What does Homer say about things that come easy?
23. What does Jake have his mother send him?
24. The line, I thought how ironic it was that Jake’s telescope could see starts a million light years away, but not the town it was in. Maybe I was that way myself. I had a clear vision of my future in space, but the life I led in Coalwood sometimes seemed to blur,” is an example of what literary device?
Chapter 10
1. How were Jim and the football players beginning to act?
2. What do the rocket boys start to notice?
3. What does Dorothy say about all the tenth grade girls?
4. What does Mr. Hartsfield say are the chance for Sonny to understand higher level math?
5. What did Sonny start to realize regarding the learning of difficult material?
6. What did Sonny start to realize about Dorothy’s ability to do math?
7. What startling revelation did Sonny suddenly have?
8. What did Mr. Jackson think the boys might be doing?
9. What did the company do to Mr. Carter’s mules?
10. What did Tag say taking the telephones was?
11. How much does Mr. Van Dyke charge them for the phones?
12. Why was chemistry Sonny’s favorite subject?
13. What did Miss Riley want Sonny to do?
14. The line, “Mom was outside leaning on the fence, gossiping with Mrs. Sharitz, when suddenly our chimney erupted with smoke and sparks like a small volcano,” is an example of what literary device?
15. What had changed about the moon after the failure of Pioneer 1?
16. What Sonny decide to do?
Chapter 11
1. What solution did Sonny’s mother come up with regarding the funnel?
2. Who does Sonny’s mom defend the boys against?
3. What does Homer tell Sonny that a real engineer does?
4. The line, “I am going to show you what a real engineer does,” is an example of what literary device?
5. Who are the unexpected people who show up for a launch?
6. What new invention did Quentin come up with?
7. What is wrong with the nozzle of the rocket?
8. What did the football players do to the blockhouse?
9. What does Tag make the players do?
10. What does Sonny ask his mom to let him do?
11. What does Homer think that Sonny could do that he couldn’t?
12. The line, “We were being swallowed by the Earth,” is an example of what literary device?
13. The line, “I took off my helmet whapping against the roof in a painful staccato,” is an example of what literary device?
14. What does Homer say fails in the mines fail?
15. What does Homer want Sonny to do if he pays his way through school?
16. Who is at the surface when Homer and Sonny come up?
17. What does Sonny’s mom say about the possibility of him being an engineer?
18. What does Sonny’s mom think the mine has done to Homer?
Chapter 12
1. What had Sonny’s mom done in retaliation for him going to the mines?
2. Why is Sonny’s mom mad?
3. What did she do with Sonny’s “rocket things?”
4. What does she tell Sonny will happen if he ever goes to the mines again?
5. Why was Sonny having difficulty working things out with his dad?
6. How did Mr. Bykovski feel about Dr. von Braun?
7. Why does Mr. Bykovski think Homer doesn’t like von Braun?
8. What does Mr. Ferro say Sonny will have to do before he helps him?
9. What could Mr. Dubonnet do to stop Sonny if he wanted to?
10. What does Roy Lee tell Sonny about regarding Dorothy?
11. What did Sonny get for Christmas?
Chapter 13
1. Why does Jack order everyone off the bus?
2. What does Miss Riley have for Sonny?
3. What does Sonny agree to do for Miss Riley?
4. What does Sonny find out when he shows Dorothy the book?
5. As Sonny heads home, what almost causes his death?
6. What is implied about the woman, Geneva Eggers, and her relationship with Homer?
7. What had Homer done for Geneva?
Chapter 14
1. What was the Russian rocket, Luna 1, the first rocket to do?
Chapter 15
1. Why does Mr. Hartsfield have a bad opinion of the boys?
2. What kind of school is Big Creek High according to Mr. Hartsfield?
3. What do the state troopers accuse the boys of?
4. When Mr. Hartsield calls Sonny and Quentin back in, what does he tell them?