The Bean Trees Journals:
Journal # / Chapter / Prompt74 / 1 / “I found my head rights, Mama. They’re coming with me” (Kingsolver 23).
Explain the context and meaning of this quote. How do you think Taylor’s decision will shape the rest of the story/her life?
75 / 2 / Describe Lou Ann. What do you know about her? What do you think about her marriage/life? How are she and Taylor alike so far?
76 / 3 / Think about the bean vine that Mattie shows Taylor in her backyard. It grows from Beans that were brought from China in the early 1900’s. Describe the symbolic significance of this plant in terms f the American population and particularly Taylor, Turtle, and Lou Ann.
77 / 4 / Why do you think this chapter is called “Tug Fork Water”? How can this be a metaphor for the entire content of this chapter?
78 / 5 / Discuss Taylor’s attempt to find a place to live. Why do you think the Author hooks her up with characters so different from her? Describe these characters. Describe Taylor’s first meeting with Lou Ann. What are the “first impressions”?
79 / 6 / How do Lou Ann and Taylor bond? Give specific examples. Particularly, what is their philosophy toward men?
80 / 7 / Why is this chapter called “How They Eat in Heaven”?
81 / 8 / “‘I have always thought you had a wonderful way with words,’he said. ‘You don’t need to go fishing for big words in the dictionary. You are poetic, mi’ija.’ . . . ‘Well, thank you for the compliment,’ I said, ‘but that’s the biggest bunch of hogwash, what you said. When did I ever say anything poetic?’ ‘Washing hogs is poetic,’ he said” (Kingsolver 118). Why do you think Kingsolver has made Estevan the character with the best command of the English Language? What do you think this means? How is the relationship between Taylor and Estevan developing?
82 / 9 / Describe what you have learned about the situation in Guatemala.
83 / 10 / “Turtle shook her head. ‘Bean trees,’ she said, as plainly as if she had been thinking about it all day. We looked where she was pointing. Some of the wisteria flowers had gone to seed, and all these wonderful long green pods hung down from the branches. They looked as much like beans as anything you’d ever care to eat. ‘Will you look at that,’ I said. It was another miracle. The flower trees were turning into bean trees.’” (Kingsolver 143-144)Explain the context and meaning of this quote.
84 / 11 / How does Lou Ann change in this chapter?
85 / 12 / “The whole Tucson Valley lay in front of us, resting in its cradle of mountains. The sloped desert plain that lay between us and the city was like a palm stretched out for a fortuneteller to read, with its mounds and hillocks, its life lines and heart lines of dry stream beds” (Kingsolver 161) Explain the context and meaning of this quote.
86 / 13 / “There is no point treating a depressed person as though she were just feeling sad, saying, 'There now, hang on, you'll get over it.' Sadness is more or less like a head cold- with patience, it passes. Depression is like cancer.” (Kingsolver 173). Explain the context and meaning of this quote. Do you agree with this idea?
87 / 14 / “A human being can be good or bad or right or wrong, maybe. But how can you say a person is illegal? You just can't. That's all there is to it” (Kingsolver 195). Explain the context and meaning of this quote. Do you agree with this idea?
88 / 15/16 / How have the characters evolved throughout the book and how does it change in these chapters? For example the roles of Lou Ann and Taylor and how Turtle is maturing or falling back where she began.
89 / 17 / It didn’t seem to matter to Turtle, she was happy where she was. . . . She watched the dark highway and entertained me with her vegetable-soup song, except that now there were people mixed in with the beans and potatoes: Dwayne Ray, Mattie, Esperanza, Lou Ann and all the rest. And me. I was the main ingredient (Kingsolver 232). Explain the context and meaning of this quote. Reflect on the book as a whole.