Search all of SparkNotes

Suggestions

Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.

No Fear Shakespeare
Literature
Other Subjects
Teacher
Blog

Help

Search all of SparkNotes

Suggestions

Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.

No Fear Shakespeare
Literature
Other Subjects
Teacher
Blog
Help

Homecoming

Cynthia Voigt

Study Guide

Study Guide

Summary
- Plot Overview
Characters
- Character List
- Dicey
- James
- Maybeth
- Sammy
- Gram
Main Ideas
- Themes
- Motifs
- Symbols
- Key Facts
Quotes
- Important Quotes Explained
Further Study
- Context
- Full Book Quiz
- Study Questions
- Suggestions for Further Reading
Writing Help

Further Study

Full Book Quiz

Further Study Full Book Quiz

1. Why does Dicey lie to the policeman in the parking lot in Peewauket?

She senses he is an unkind and dangerous man
She is afraid to let any adult know of their predicament
She is afraid Sammy might have broken the window about which the policeman is asking
She is afraid he will want to search for and institutionalize Momma

2. Why does Sammy initially refuse to leave the parking lot in Peewauket?

He is a lazy child and hates walking
He is merely displaying defiance towards Dicey
He likes playing in the mall
He refuses to believe Momma has left them and thinks she will come back

3. What lie does Dicey tell the children about their parents?

That Momma and their father got married
That the police came looking for their father
That Momma and their father had a happy and loving relationship
That Momma never had any other boyfriends besides their father

4. Why does Dicey not correct Louis and Edie when they mistake her for a boy?

She enjoys deceiving people
She thinks she might be able to get information out of them if they think she is a boy
She thinks it is safer if people think she is a boy
She plans to tell them she is a girl later, causing them to question their assumptions about gender

5. Why does Dicey become so upset when Sammy steals a wallet?

She feels that stealing money is morally wrong
She is afraid that a serious theft will arouse the attention of the police
She does not want Edie and Louis to think they are thieves
She thinks Sammy took to great a risk of getting caught by the wallet's owner

6. What inspires Dicey to have the children carry grocery bags to earn money?

The gas station owner suggests it
She remembers how much Momma used to struggle carrying bags to the car
She read about it in a book
She has a fantasy of bringing heavily-laden grocery bags to her hungry siblings

7. Why does the inscription on the gravestone near the Connecticut River affect Dicey so deeply?

It resonates with her understanding of the transience of life
She fears Momma is dead
She fears she and her siblings are close to death
She recognizes the name on the gravestone

8. Why does Stewart help the Tillermans even after James steals money from him?

To teach him a lesson about generosity and morality
Because James gives it back
Because Dicey becomes so upset
Because he feels James has only hurt himself by stealing the money

9. How does Eunice react to the children?

She takes them in warmly
She receives them coldly and speaks harshly about their mother
She is afraid the children will steal something or hurt her
She feels compelled to take care of them, but cannot help seeing them as a burden and sacrifice

10. What is Father Joseph and Eunice's prevailing reaction to Dicey's explanations of her mother's life?

They are deeply saddened by what the children have endured
They are scandalized by Momma's lifestyle
They are warm and sympathetic to Dicey's plight
They see Momma's life as something from which they can learn

11. What is the main reason Dicey dislikes her life in Bridgeport?

She feels she and her siblings are drawing apart from one another
She hates Eunice's fussiness
She is worried that Sammy will get hurt fighting the other boys
They are not close to the sea

12. Why does Eunice decide to adopt the children?

She loves them dearly and cannot imagine life without them
She adores Maybeth and figures she will put up with the others in order to adopt the girl
She feels it is her religious duty to give up her dreams and care for the children
She feels she can learn from James's understanding of the scriptures

13. How does Dicey feel once they are on the bus to New York?

She is overcome with fears that Eunice will catch them and stop them
She regrets leaving, sensing they have given up their one chance at having a home
She feels excited at being on the road again
She begins to worry about the bad things that might happen to them on the way

14. Why do Tom and Jerry offer to take the Tillermans across the bay?

Tom dares Jerry to do it without asking his parents' permission
Jerry has a crush on Dicey
They love to sail so much that they will use any excuse they can get to take trips
Dicey asks them to teach her to sail

15. Why does Dicey enjoy sailing so much?

She thinks being in the sun gives her a good chance to work on her tan
It makes her feel lazy and relaxed
She likes it mainly because she associates it with Jerry, to whom she is attracted
She enjoys the sense of freedom, ease, and power it gives her

16. Why does Dicey decide they must walk when they reach the eastern shore?

They have run out of money
She thinks it will be fun since she has bought camping supplies
She wants to save money to travel with in case their grandmother will not take them in
She wants the children to learn the value of hard work

17. How do the children know that Mr. Rudyard is a bad man?

His house is dilapidated
His wife is afraid of him
His dog is afraid of him and he leers at Maybeth
His rates for picking tomatoes are lower than the rates of other farmers in the area

18. How does Mr. Rudyard try to convince Will to let him take the children?

He tells Will they are his foster children
He tries to befriend Will
He wheedles and pleads
He tells Will the children have stolen money from the circus

19. How does Dicey's grandmother react to Dicey initially?

She welcomes her inside and offers her lunch
She speaks brusquely and tells Dicey the children cannot stay with her
She screams so that she cannot hear anything Dicey says
She throws the phone at Dicey

20. What does Dicey find in the barn that makes her decide they must try and convince their grandmother to take them in?

A sailboat
Stalls for horses and cows
More food than their grandmother can possibly eat in a year
Four bicycles perfect for the Tillerman children

21. Why does their grandmother not make the children leave?

She likes having them around to work on the farm
She thinks they can help her earn money
She softens when she sees how much they love the place
She genuinely likes them, and wants them to stay, though she is afraid to take responsibility for them

22. Why does their grandmother become so angry the night when Will and Claire visit?

Because she defies her decision to send Sammy to bed without supper
Because she thinks Dicey is too easy on Sammy
She is furious with Sammy for leaving without telling them where he was going
She is angry the children have brought the attention of outsiders to her farm

23. Why does Gram tell Dicey she cannot take them in?

She cannot bear the way the children defy her
She does not want to take responsibility for Maybeth
She fears losing her freedom and failing the children
She simply prefers to be alone

24. Why did Momma and Francis Verricker not marry?

He refused to be tied down
Momma thought he was not responsible enough to be her husband
He did not really love the children
Momma saw that her own parents' marriage was deeply unhappy and did not want to replicate their unhappiness

25. Why does Gram finally agree to take the children in?

Maybeth begins to cry pitifully
James convinces her that they can help her earn money
Dicey challenges her to face the fact that taking them is the right thing to do
She feels it is time to give up her solitary ways

Previous section Context Next section Context Quick Quiz

Popular pages: Homecoming

Character List CHARACTERS
Dicey: Character Analysis CHARACTERS
Important Quotations Explained MAIN IDEAS
Themes MAIN IDEAS

Take a Study Break

Every Shakespeare Play Summed Up in a Quote from The Office
QUIZ: Are You Living in a Literary Dystopia?
QUIZ: Can You Guess the Book from a Bad One-Sentence Summary?
Pick 10 Books and We'll Guess Whether You're an Introvert or an Extrovert
Greek Mythology Summed Up in John Mulaney Quotes
Every Book on Your English Syllabus, Summed Up in Marvel Quotes
Literary Characters Summed Up in Quotes from The Office

The #1 FREE study site for students

Most Popular
No Fear Shakespeare
Literature Guides
Other Subjects
SparkNotes Blog

More Help
About
Contact Us
How to Cite SparkNotes
Advertise

Find Us On

Copyright © SparkNotes LLC

Terms of Use

|

Privacy

|

Cookie Policy

|

Do Not Sell My Personal Information