AKEELAH AND THE BEE
SUMMARY
A young girl learns to believe in herself and value her intelligence in this critically-acclaimed, family-friendly drama. Akeelah Anderson is an 11-year-old who is raised by her single-parent mother, Tanya, who was left on her own after the death of her husband. While Akeelah is a very bright girl, she isn’t a star student and seems afraid of acting intelligently around her friends and classmates. However, Akeelah's English teacher sees genuine potential in her student and pushes her to enter the school's first spelling bee, convinced Akeelah has the brains and the talent to win.
Akeelah applies herself and emerges victorious in the local competition, but discovers the going gets tougher when she goes to a statewide bee, studying for the regionals with the help of strict English teacher Dr. Larabee, who accepts his friend Mr. Walsh’s invitation to act as her coach. Larabee, a college professor who was a spelling-bee champ as a child, is a stubborn taskmaster who questions Akeelah's ability and commitment, but in time he develops a respect for his pupil and helps her prove her talent as she climbs the ladder to the National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC.
Meanwhile, Tanya feels intimidated when she finds the contests are dominated by children from rich, white families and privileged backgrounds, and argues that the competition may not be in Akeelah's best interest, believing instead that homework should be the one and only priority in Akeelah's life. It soon becomes apparent that if Akeelah has any intention of entering the national spelling bee championships, she will not do so with Tanya's permission or blessing. Can she beat the odds and succeed against a two-time finalist, Dylan Chiou, a rival that seems impossible to surpass who is in his last year of competition and feels obligated to win to please his overbearing father?
SOME STORY ELEMENTS
Themes: Single Parents, Child Prodigies, Inner City, Mothers and Daughters, Teachers and Students, Death, Lying, Friendship
Atmosphere: Begins hopeless, but ends in an uplifting, heartwarming way
Characters: Akeelah, Tanya, Dr. Larabee, Georgia, Dylan, Javier, Mr. Welch, Devon, Kiana, Derrick T, Terrace
AKEELAH AND THE BEE
READING COMPREHENSION – Be prepared to answer these questions
1. How old is Akeelah? ______
2. Mention one event that shows us that Akeelah is intelligent at the beginning of the movie. ______
3. Does Akeelah like her school? Justify your answer. ______
4. Describe Dr. Larabee, both physically and as a person.
5. Mention one character that gave Akeelah support for her competition. How does this character help Akeelah?
6. Why does Georgia get angry with Akeelah?
7. Sometimes Mr. Welch is more excited with Akeelah’s spelling than she is. Why does he need Akeelah to succeed?
8. Describe one strategy that Akeelah uses to be a better speller.
9. If Akeelah is the protagonist, who would you consider her biggest antagonist? ______
10. How was Georgia able to join Akeelah in Washington, DC, since the Andersons only had tickets for two people (Akeelah and Tanya)?
ELEMENTS OF THE STORY MATCH
1. theme / _____ the two bullies2. problems / _____ Akeelah’s insecurities and her distracting home life
3. setting / _____ dealing with the death of a loved one
4. foreshadowing / _____ Feeling hopeless; being poor makes you feel inferior
5. secondary character / _____ Georgia, Akeelah’s best friend
6. flashback / _____ Seeing the initials D and L on Akeelah’s jump rope.
7. stock character / _____ South Los Angeles in the present time
8. atmosphere / _____ the main character, who is Akeelah
9. protagonist / _____ When Akeelah remembers Dylan’s word xanthosis during her visit to his school