Chapter 1 Comprehension Questions:
1. What does jubilantly mean (page 10)? Use thisword in a sentence
2. What did John Bentley return with after searching for Mary?
3. What do you think of Moses Carver's decision to refuse to give the bushwhackers money after they raided his farm? What would you have done? Why?
Chapter 2 Comprehension Questions:
1. What does specimen mean(page 19)? Use this word in a sentence.
2. How would George calm himself when he was overcome with thoughts about the brutality of slavery and the loss of his mother?
3. Why do you think it was so significant to George that he found the knife on the ground after dreaming about it?
Chapter 3 Comprehension Questions:
1. What does reconstruction mean (page 36)? Use this word in a sentence.
2. What chores did George perform for the Watkins to earn his keep?
3. When the two white men beat George and stole his books, he had to give up school for a time, but he did not give up on learning. What do you think kept him going?
Chapter Four Comprehension Questions:
1. What does timidity mean (page 48)? Use this word in a sentence.
2. Why did George add the middle initial W to his name?
3. What effect did the lynching and burning of the black man have on George?
4. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? "Even though slaves were freed after the Civil War, they were not as free as white people." Give two reasons to back up your answer.
Chapter 5 Comprehension Questions:
1. What does campaign mean (page 63)? Use this word in a sentence.
2. What musical instrument did George play?
3. Why was George eager to help George Steeley build his barn?
4. George loved to start every morning by walking in the countryside. Give two reasons why you think George might have continued to do this throughout his life.
Chapter 6 Comprehension Questions:
1. What are vermin (page 70)? Use this word in a sentence.
2. Who convinced George that he should study horticulture rather than art?
3. How did George combine his love of plants with his passion for painting?
4. How do you think George's experience at Iowa State College would have been different without Mrs. Liston's visit? Explain your answer.
Chapter Seven Comprehension Questions:
1. Why does hybrid mean (page 80)? Use this word in a sentence.
2. How was George able to win over so many of the other students at the National Students Summer School?
3. When George graduated from Iowa State, he had many options open to him. Why do you think George decided to pursue agriculture in graduate school rather than pursue music, art, or a military career?
Chapter Eight Comprehension Questions:
1. What does glamorous mean (page 96)? Use this word in a sentence.
2. What present was George given when he left for Tuskegee?
3. Why was George reluctant to be around groups of white people who did not know him?
4. When George realized that the agricultural department at Tuskegee had no equipment, he turned to the trash pile for inspiration. What does this tell you about George's character? Explain.
Chapter Eight Comprehension Questions:
1. What does glamorous mean (page 96)? Use this word in a sentence.
2. What present was George given when he left for Tuskegee?
3. Why was George reluctant to be around groups of white people who did not know him?
4. When George realized that the agricultural department at Tuskegee had no equipment, he turned to the trash pile for inspiration. What does this tell you about George's character? Explain.
Chapter Nine Comprehension Questions:
1. What are legumes (page 105)? Use this word in a sentence.
2. What famous industrialist donated a library to Tuskegee institute?
3. Why did George call the bug that his students presented to him a "humbug"?
4. How do you think George felt about being called the "Wizard of Tuskegee"? Explain your answer.
Chapter Ten Comprehension Questions:
1. What does endorsement mean (page 121)? Use this word in a sentence.
2. What was Frances Johnston planning to photograph during her visit to Ramer?
3. What was it about Frances Johnston's background that made the incident in Ramer so shocking to her?
4. George worked tirelessly to convince black farmers to begin growing crops they could eat rather than cotton. Why do you think he had such a passion for this message?
Chapter Eleven Comprehension Questions:
1. What are carbohydrates (page 127)? Use this word in a sentence.
2. What four crops did George recommend to farmers as the best to grow?
3. What was the biggest problem faced by Southern farmers when they first started growing peanuts?
4. When George had to find a way to make peanut products, he turned to "Mr. Creator" to help him. What events in his past may have helped George believe that God could help him solve this problem?
Chapter Twelve Comprehension Questions:
1. What does systematically mean (page 140)? Use this word in a sentence.
2. What was the Seed Corn Gospel Train?
3. Why was George's voluntary Bible study so popular?
4. Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois had very different views on how to bring about racial equality. With whom do you most agree? Explain your answer.
Chapter Thirteen Comprehension Questions:
1. What does dehydrated mean (page 149)? Use this word in a sentence.
2. In the South, what was the summer of 1919 called?
3. During the war George made banners that read,
No hungry nation can protect its flag" (page 150). What message was he trying to get across?
Chapter Fourteen Comprehension Questions:
1. What does prestigious mean (page 163)? Use this word in a sentence.
2. What organization awarded George the Spingarn Medal?
3. George did not like discussing racial issues, yet he joined the Tuskegee Hospital protest. Why?
4. The text refers to the progress of racial equality in the following way: "For every step forward, something happened to push the cause back" (page 166). Explain what this statement means, and illustrate it with an example from George's time at Tuskegee?
Chapter Fifteen Comprehension Questions:
1. What does economic mean (page 173)? Use this word in a sentence.
2. What honor did George receive from Simpson College?
3. Why did George reprint thousands of copies of his bulletins in the 1930s?
4. What do you think it was about George that attracted important and wealthy men like Henry Ford?
Chapter Sixteen Comprehension Questions:
1. What does substantially mean (page 183)? Use this word in a sentence.
2. How long had George owned the suit he wore to the banquet in Atlantic City?
3. George said, "Others must take up the various trails of truth and carry them on" (page 182). When he designed his foundation, how did he provide a way to help other black scientists carry on their work?
4. Dr. Alan Valentine said that George had "helped thousands of men acquire new confidence and self-respect" (page 185). Explain how you think George did this.