Plot
Vocab gets REAL!
Literary Devices and Figurative Language
Characters
Misc. Questions
100

Where does the story take place?

New Mexico in the 1970s

100
Another girl might have pulled it off, someone with more ___________ than she, someone used to walking beside attractive boys and chatting gaily and smiling disarmingly.
What is sophistication
100

The Standford ring is a-

symbol

100

Who is pregnant?

Cathy Griffin

100
How did Mr. Griffin die?
What is a heart attack.
200

What type of conflict do our characters face?

Man vs Man, Man vs Self

200
In the distance, the rugged Sandia Mountains rose in faint outline, almost _____________ by pinkish haze.
What is obscured
200

 The phrase "conscience weighing like lead" is an example of:

Personification and Simile

200

What is the significance of Susan's role in the group?

She provides moral contrast to the other characters and leads Mr. Griffin to the parking lot during the "prank".

200
Does David's grandmother view his recent behavior as awkward, scary, suspicious, or threatening?
What is suspicious.
300

What is the climax of the novel?

Mr. Griffin dies.

300
But Mr. Griffin was always there, as reliable as the bell itself, stiff and straight in a navy blue suit, white shirt and tie, his hair dark hair slicked flat against his head, his mouth firm and _____________________ beneath the small, neatly trimmed mustache.
What is uncompromising
300

"He was like a robot, programmed to be the perfect teacher and nothing else." What figurative language is this? You may not say simile.

Hyperbole

300

What happened to Mark's father? To David's father?

Mark's father died in a fire, and David's father left his family.

300

“Why, you’re not Davy!” she said to the boy with funny eyes. Based on the information in this sentence who has come into David’s grandmother’s bedroom.

Who is Mark Kinney.

400

Who is going to be tried for 1st degree murder? 2nd degree? Manslaughter?

1st degree = Mark

2nd degree = David, Betsy, Jeff

Manslaughter = Susan

400
Other teachers might ____________ in late, delayed in the teacher’s lounge for a last drag on a cigarette or a final swallow of morning coffee.
What is saunter
400

"The words were knives, sharp and cutting." What figurative language is this an example of?

Metaphor

400

What motivates Jeff to participate in the kidnapping?

His academic frustration

400

[Mark] looped the cord around Susan’s wrists and pulled it so tight that she gasped in pain. “…Sue and I are going to have a little talk…I left your keys in the car. I didn’t think we’d be tied up here so long.” What literary device does the author use in these sentences?

What is a pun.

500

How does the author create suspense throughout the novel?

Through multiple plot twists, imagery, news reports, and flashbacks

500
It was a lintless face, built on a triangle with the skin stretched _______ and smooth from the wide cheekbones to the sharply pointed chin.
What is taut
500

Song for Ophelia is an example of....

an allusion

500

How does the setting influence Susan's character development?

The small-town atmosphere affects her moral decisions and creates her inner turmoil.

500
What does the reader discover about Mark as he sets fire to the curtains in Susan’s house?
What is he set the fire that killed his father.
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