English Literature 4: The Secret Life of Bees Name: __
Study Guide: Chapter ONE
Vocabulary
chrome – silver
seep – to leak
paradise – heaven
insomniac – a person who has problems sleeping
orneriness – bad temper
pulsating – throbbing
herringbone – a pattern like fish bones
conjure – to create
disjointed – unconnected
impersonating – pretending to be
tailspin – a spinning crash
dollops – small piles
imbecile – an idiot
carousing – partying
magnitude – large size
smirking – smiling smugly
gouged – cut out
abdomen – the stomach
grits – a type of grain
pining – longing
lure – to entice
snuff – powdered tobacco
scalded – burned
agitation – worry; excitement
motes – spots
sashaying – walking with style
unperturbed – unworried
recoil – to draw back
1. Who is Lily?
2. Who is Rosealeen?
3. Lily wakes up T. Ray in the middle of the night to show him something. What does she want to show him? Why?
4. What happened to Lily’s mother?
5. What does Lily think will give her a “real chance” to learn how to be a beautiful, fashionable girl?
6. Lily captures bees and puts them in a jar to prove to T. Ray that they really do exist. How does she take care of them and how do they fare?
7. How did Lily discover Rosaleen loved her “beyond reason”?
8. What daydreams did Lily have about Rosaleen?”
9. Identify Deborah and tell three “scraps of information” Lily knows about her.
10. What items were in the paper bag Lily found in the attic?
11. What did Mrs. Henry do for Lily?
12. Before Lily went to first grade, T. Ray came to the peach stand to tell her something. What did he tell her? Why?
13. What major event on television captures Rosaleen’s attention?
14. When Lily asks for the silver charm bracelet for her birthday, T. Ray just looks at her and keeps on eating. What effect does his response have on her?
15. During the overnight hours after she had asked for the charm bracelet, Lily sneaks out of the house and goes somewhere. Where does she go? Why?
16. Why does T. Ray make Lily kneel down on the Martha White grits?
17. The morning after she is punished for being in the orchard, Lily wakes up late. T. Ray yells at her for not going to work at the peach stand on time. What does Lily understand after T. Ray tells her, “As long as you’re under my roof, you’ll do what I say!”?
18. Why does Rosaleen want to go to town?
19. For what is Rosaleen arrested?