The Watsons Go to Birmingham Chapter One

Transcription

1 The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963 Chapter One In Notetaker set up a page for each chapter of The Watsons Go To Birmingham Begin your file by answering the following questions for Chapter One. 1. The story begins with a description of a cold Saturday. How does the narrator use the description to set the mood of his story? Do you think the story will be sad, humorous, or a combination? 2. Who are the members of the family huddled together on the couch? Give a short description of each. 3. Dad often tried to forget about problems by cutting up. What is cutting up? Give an example. 4. Describe the Brown Bomber. What place did the Bomber seem to have in the family? 5. Who is the narrator of the story? Is it told in first person, third person limited, or third person omniscient? 6. What type of relationship did Kenny have with his brother, Bryon? How did the game Surviving the Blizzard demonstrate this? 7. Do you agree with the chapter title, which states that the Watsons are weird? Are there any ways they are not a typical family? 8. List some examples of the figures of speech we talked about. 9. What is a juvenile delinquent?

2 Chapter Two 1. Larry Dunn was king of the kindergarten and Byron was like a god at Clark Elementary School. Why were they the rulers of the school? 2. What two things were wrong with Kenny and caused other children to tease him? 3. The children called Kenny Poindexter. What does the name imply? 4. One day a new boy became Kenny s personal savior What does Kenny mean by this term, and from what would the new boy save Kenny? 5. What does the word emulate mean? 6. What does the word punctual mean? 7. Who was Langston Hughes? 8. Find the real name for lazy eye. Use World Book topic and dictionary to help you answer 5, 6, 7, and 8. Chapter Three 1. What is the new boy, Rufus Fry, like? What makes him different from the other boys? 2. What happened to make Kenny decide not to play with LJ Jones ever again? 3. What two things about Rufus caused the other children to tease him? 4. What incident ended the secret friendship between Kenny and Rufus? Why does Kenny feel sorry for losing Rufus as a friend? 5. Did Kenny and Rufus get back together? What does this tell you about Kenny? 6. What is a Nazi? In the story many of the characters and important objects have nicknames. For example, the car is the Brown Bomber, the father is Daddy Cool, and Bryon s friend is Buphead. If you had a nickname based on your personality or appearance, what would it be?

3 Chapter Four 1. What image do the Watsons present in their layers of clothing? Does this contribute to their reputation of being weird? 2. How do the Watson children help each other through the ordeal of having to wear layers and layers of clothing? 3. What was the only good thing about Momma s being afraid of the cold? 4. How does Rufus show he is a good friend when Kenny realizes Larry has stolen his mittens? 5.. Byron bullies Larry into giving back his leather gloves. How does this incident show both the good and bad sides of Byron? 6. Byron makes reference to The Miracle Worker and The Great Carp Escape when he was discussing Kenny s mittens with Byron. Use either World Book or the internet to find out what The Miracle Worker was about and what a carp is. 7. Did Larry deserve what he got from Byron? 8. Write an example of a figure of speech you found in this chapter. Chapter Five 1. What is the title of the chapter and the game Byron plays? What does it demonstrate about the boys personalities? 2. What punishment does Momma threaten to give Byron for playing with matches? Do you agree with the punishment? Is there another method of discipline that you think would be more effective? 3. Why doesn t Momma go through with the punishment? 4. Use World Book to learn about Eliot Ness. 5. What figure of speech can you find in this chapter? 6. When Kenny s Momma got really angry, she began to have a heavy Southern accent. Is there a way you can tell when your parents are getting angry?

4 Chapter Six 1. What events in this chapter show that the Watsons do not have a lot of money? 2. Why were Byron and Kenny reluctant to sign for the groceries? 3. When Byron finds out that all he has to do to get things from the store is sign for them, what does he do? 4. How does Byron pay for his crime? Do you think that the punishment fit the crime? 5. Bryon kills a bird and then gives it a funeral. How do these actions demonstrate the two different sides of his personality? 6. What figure of speech did you find in this chapter? 7. What is a peon? Chapter 7 1. What did Byron do that caused his parents to be so upset with him? 2. Why do you think it made his parents both angry and sad? 3. What might get the same reaction from your parents today? 4. What was Byron s punishment? Do you think his father was too harsh? 5. Who is Yul Brynner? 6. What is a figure of speech in this chapter? 7. What does a Chihuahua look like?

5 Chapter 8 1. Dad was busy adding things to their car, the Brown Bomber. What were some of the things he added? For what do you think he was getting the car ready? 2. As the final touch, Dad added the Ultra-Glide to the car. What was the Ultra-Glide? How did the members of the family react to it? 3. Momma finally tells the children why they are fixing up the car. Where are they going? 4. What are the reasons Momma gives for sending Byron to stay with Grandma Sands? 5. How did Kenny know that Momma really meant what she said? 6. What figure of speech did you find in this chapter? 7. Can you find the lyrics for either Under the Boardwalk or Yakety-Yak? 8. Can you find a picture of one of the TV shows mentioned? Chapter Nine 1. Dad explained that there were some things Byron had to learn and that he was not learning them in Flint. What things was Dad talking about? 2. Dad also explained about what s happening in some parts of the South. To what events and attitudes was he referring? 3. Kenny thought that being grown-up was kind of scary. He didn t know how his parents knew how to take care of things. What kinds of things do you depend on your parents to take care of for you? 4. Momma planned every detail of the trip in a notebook entitled The Watsons Go to Birmingham What type of details did she put in the book? Do you think everything will go according to plan? Do you know anyone who plans things out like Momma did? 5. The Watsons left at nine in the morning and headed for the expressway. What was the mood of the family as they left? 6. What is a hillbilly? Can you find a picture of a hillbilly? 7. What does seniority mean?

6 Chapter As the Watsons travel through Ohio, they experience culture shock. What differences do they notice as they travel through the state? 2. When the Watsons stop in Tennessee, they experience even more differences. What feelings do they have as they travel the hills of Appalachia? 3. What does sanitation mean? 4. Where is Appalachia? 5. What, if any, experiences have you had with an outhouse? 6. Can you find a picture of Buster Brown? Chapter As the Watsons continue their journey, it becomes apparent that Dad is not going to stop and that they are going to drive to Birmingham in one day. Why did Dad put all Momma s careful planning to waste and drive for eighteen hours straight? 2. Was Grandma Sands like what Kenny expected? What did she look like? How did she react to her beautiful, beautiful family? 3. Kenny expected Byron to do battle with Grandma Sands, but he reacted in an entirely different way. How did Byron react to Grandma Sands? 4. What does Et Tu, Brute mean and where does it come from? 5. Can you find a picture of either Bobo Brazil or the wrestler Sheik? 6. Can you find a figure speech?

7 Chapter What was the worst thing about Birmingham? 2. Who was Mr. Roberts? 3. Why didn t Momma like him? 4. Grandma Sands explained to Momma her relationship with Mr. Roberts. How did Momma react? 5. What do you think was the best thing about Birmingham for the family? 6. Can you find a website that discusses dogs being drowned by raccoons? 7. Can you find a figure of speech? Chapter Why were the children warned to stay away from Collier s Landing? What was the Wool Pooh? 2. Byron was acting differently than when he was at home in Michigan. How had Byron changed? What do you think caused this change? 3. Kenny almost drowns in the Wool Pooh but is rescued by Byron. What lesson do you think both boys learned? 4. What does the word trespassing mean? 5. Have you ever ignored any warnings and gotten into trouble? 6. What is a figure of speech in this chapter?

8 Chapter Where had Joey gone on Sunday morning? Why didn t Kenny go? 2. Kenny hears a sound like thunder. What does the sound turn out to be? 3. When Kenny runs to the church, what sight does he see? 4. One particular object catches Kenny s eye. What is it? Who does Kenny thinks holds the object, and to whom does he think it belongs? 5. Kenny acts strange when he gets home. Why do you think he acts this way? 1. When Joey returns and talks to Kenny in his bedroom, what does he think is happening? How does Joey react? 2. A strange thing happened to Joey that caused her to walk away from the church before the bomb went off. What happened? How can this event be explained? 3. Kenny realizes that the Wool Pooh has not taken Joey. What does the Wool Pooh symbolize? 4. How do the events of this chapter change the tone and theme of the story? What serious issues are being addressed in this chapter? 5. What is a figure of speech in this chapter? 6. Can you find a web site about the Birmingham bombings?

9 Chapter What facts about the bombing are given at the beginning of this chapter? 2. Since they had returned home, Kenny has been disappearing every day. Where did he go? Why did he choose that particular place? 3. Kenny finally cries and tells Byron why he feels so bad. He is angry and afraid about the bombing, but there is something else that is bothering him. What is bothering Kenny about himself? 4. Byron talks to Kenny and tells him he was brave to go into the church to find Joey and if he had not been born, then Joey would not have left the church when she thought she saw him. Do you agree that it was part of you (Kenny) that took Joey outta that church? Do you think Kenny was brave or cowardly? 5. Kenny and Byron talk about why people would hate others so much that they would bomb churches and hurt little kids. Kenny says it is a sickness, while Byron says hate turns people into monsters. What is your opinion? 6. Byron tells Kenny that there are no magic powers, but Kenny thinks he is wrong. What kind of things does Kenny view as magic powers or angels or genies? 7. Byron is correct when he says that Kenny is going to be all right. What do you think enabled Kenny to get past the terrible things he saw and experienced? 8. Why does Kenny want his dinosaurs back? Why did he give them away in the first place? 9. Although Kenny and his family were all right, how did their experiences in Birmingham change them? 10. What figure of speech did you find in this chapter?