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Suggestions
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Heart of Darkness
Lord of the Flies
Of Mice and Men
The Merchant of Venice
To Kill a Mockingbird
No Fear Shakespeare
Literature
Other Subjects
Teacher
Blog
Help
The Bean Trees
Barbara Kingsolver
Study Guide
Study Guide
Summary
Plot Overview
Summary & Analysis
Chapter One: The One to Get Away
Chapters Two–Three
Chapter Four: Tug Fork Water
Chapters Five–Six
Chapter Seven: How They Eat in Heaven
Chapters Eight–Nine
Chapters Ten–Eleven
Chapters Twelve–Thirteen
Chapters Fourteen–Fifteen
Chapters Sixteen–Seventeen
Characters
Character List
Taylor Greer
Lou Ann
Estevan
Turtle
Alice Greer
Mattie
Main Ideas
Themes
Motifs
Symbols
Key Facts
Quotes
Important Quotes Explained
Further Study
Context
Full Book Quiz
Section Quizzes
Context
Plot Overview
Character List
Analysis of Major Characters
Themes, Motifs & Symbols
Chapter One: The One to Get Away
Chapters Two-Three
Chapter Four: Tug Fork Water
Chapters Five-Six
Chapter Seven: How They Eat in Heaven
Chapters Eight-Nine
Chapters Ten-Eleven
Chapters Twelve-Thirteen
Chapters Fourteen-Fifteen
Chapters Sixteen-Seventeen
Study Questions
Suggestions for Further Reading
Writing Help
How to Write Literary Analysis
Suggested Essay Topics
How to Cite This SparkNote
Further Study
Full Book Quiz
Further Study
Full Book Quiz
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1
. How does Taylor spend the money she earns working at the hospital?
She buys ten hogs
She buys a present for Turtle
She buys a Volkswagon bug
She buys a new dress for her mother
2
. How does Taylor acquire Turtle?
She finds her at Lou Ann’s house
A woman gives Turtle to Taylor
She adopts her through an agency
She takes her from Esperanza
3
. What bird symbolizes Turtle?
The bird that makes its home in a cactus
The quail
The bird that gets trapped in the house
All of the above
4
. How do people eat in heaven, according to Estevan?
With their hands
With their eyes
Accompanied by children
By feeding each other with long spoons
5
. Why does Mattie take her friends into the desert one evening in July?
So that they can smell the rain
To show them Tucson’s city limits from afar
Because she thinks that they should see a snake
To prove to them that the desert is a dry, lifeless place
6
. What signals Lou Ann’s growing sense of independence and confidence?
She gets a job at the Red Hot Mama’s salsa factory
She stops comparing herself to a farm animal
She refuses to take Angel back
All of the above
7
. Why was Turtle vulnerable to the prowler in the park?
She is not shy
She is not very smart
Edna Poppy, her baby-sitter, is blind
Dwayne Ray was distracting her
8
. What do Taylor and Estevan toss into the Lake o’ the Cherokees when they make their wishes?
Pennies
Dolls
Their rings
Beer pop-tops
9
. What does Mattie have in her garden besides vegetables and flowers?
A statue of Elvis
A statue of Jesus
Car tires
A fountain
10
. Of whom does Mattie remind Taylor?
Newt Hardbine
The Virgin Mary
One of the girls at Fannie Heaven
Alice Greer
11
. How does Turtle get her name?
She is slow at everything
She has a firm grip
She hides behind things
She is fond of the tortoises at the zoo
12
. What happens that causes Turtle to mutter her first sound?
Taylor tickles her
The car has to stop suddenly for a family of quail
Dwayne Ray takes her Old McDonald book
Mattie brings her apple juice
13
. How does Sandi from Burger Derby afford baby-sitting for her child?
She takes advantage of the mall’s free day care
The Burger Derby pays her well
Taylor gives her some money
She leaves her child with Mattie
14
. What are Alice Greer’s “head rights”?
An expensive salon hairdo
1
-
800
-
THE-LORD
Taylor’s Volkswagon bug
Her Cherokee blood
15
. What does Taylor identify as a reason she would have to give up Turtle?
Turtle wetting her pants
Turtle burying her doll
Esperanza asking if she could keep Turtle
Finding no honest way of obtaining adoption papers
16
. Who could be seen as Turtle’s tragic counterpart?
Ismene
Dwayne Ray
Taylor as a young girl
Newt Hardbine
17
. What’s in the bottle that Granny Logan takes to Lou Ann?
Sand
Tug Fork water
Poison to kill Angel
Evian
18
. What does Taylor avoid all through her years in Kentucky?
Hospitals
School
Her mother
Getting pregnant
19
. Where does Lou Ann end up working?
At the rodeo
At a salsa factory
At Fanny Heaven
At Jesus Is Lord Used Tires
20
. Of the following, who to the reader’s knowledge still goes by his or her original name?
Estevan
Lou Ann
Turtle
Taylor
21
. What allows Turtle’s successful adoption?
The man at the bar gives Taylor his consent
Esperanza takes her and goes back to Guatemala
Taylor leaves her on Mattie’s doorstep
Estevan and Esperanza pretend to be her biological parents
22
. Who is the patron saint of refugees?
St. Shirley
St. Christopher
St. Stephen
St. Theresa
23
. What does Taylor’s mother require of her before she leaves Kentucky?
She has to clean the house
She has to sit up on the Chevron sign
She has to learn about auto maintenance
She has to explain why she wants to leave
24
. To what does Mattie compare her house?
A bird sanctuary
The kingdom of God
A junkyard
A zoo
25
. Who, at the end of the novel, is Turtle’s “main ingredient” in her vegetable-soup song?
Esperanza
Taylor
St. Christopher
Ismene
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