Characters
Billie Jo's best friend who moved to California with her family.
Livie
The wind got so harsh in Oklahoma that they found this buried under the dust?
(Hint: Think Jurassic Park)
Dinosaur bones
The following is an example of what type of figurative language:
The stove clanked in the corner.
Onomatopoeia
At the start of the novel, Bayard (Bille Jo's dad) refuses to grow anything other than wheat. By refusing to change his ways, he is showing what character trait?
Billie Jo decides to return home and forgive Pa.
Climax
He was the person Billie Jo named her baby brother after.
Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR)
What decade does this story take place in? It's also the decade of the Great Depression.
1930s
The novel Out of the Dust is written in this type of poetry.
Free Verse
At the start of the novel, Billie Jo wants out of the dust.
By the end, does she still want out? Why or why not?
She goes back into the dust because that's where her father is, and it's what made her who she is (remember, the dust represents hardship).
Billie Jo meets Louise and tells her about Ma; Pa goes to the doctor for his spots.
Falling action
Who is the protagonist of the novel?
Billie Jo Kelby
Along with being an important symbol, the dust also plays which character role?
(Think protagonist)
Antagonist
What type of figurative language is represented in the following example: “I tell him he is like the sod, / and I am like the wheat, / and I can’t grow everywhere, / but I can grow here.”
Simile
Billie Jo feels this emotion when her best friend gets to leave the dust, but she doesn't.
Jealousy/Bitterness
By accident, Billie Jo throws the pail of kerosene at Ma. Both are burned badly.
Who is Miss Freeland and what are her character traits?
Billie Jo's teacher. She is kind, empathetic, and helpful.
Is this novel fiction or non-fiction? How do you know?
It is historical fiction. You can tell because it is not a true story.
This type of figurative language is when you compare to unalike things without using "like" or "as".
Ex: You are sunshine.
Metaphor
Is Bayard a static or dynamic character? Why or why not?
He's dynamic. He grows as a person: starts talking and being supportive of BJ again; lets go of his stubbornnes; goes to night school;moves past his grief.
Pa decides to diversify his crops on the farm; Pa and Louise are engaged; Billie Jo plays piano.
Resolution
He went off to Amarillo, Texas to sing on the radio. He still visits Billie Jo at the end of the novel.
Mad Dog
What does Aunt Ellis' letter to Billie Jo say?
It's an invitation to live with her.
What type of figurative language is the following:
"The night sky kept flashing,
lightning danced down on its spindly legs"
Personification
Is Billie Jo static or dynamic? Why or why not?
She's dynamic. She grows in many ways: learns to value the life she's lived; moves past her pain; forgives her father; accepts Louise; stays in the dust.
Pa drinks away the money; Ma and Franklin die; the storms worsen; a family moves into school.
Rising action