Facts I
Did the mother want to be a midwife? Please explain the reason for either answer. (Page 15)
No, the mother did not want to be a midwife. Dad wanted her to be a midwife, so they could be self-reliant, not dependent on the government.
How old was Tara when her imagination formed as a memory? (Page 3)
5
What would Dad and Grandma down the hill argue about a lot? (Page 4)
The mess from the giant junkyard and the kids not going to school.
Was Tara's family the only one that pursued the unconventional lifestyle? How did you figure out your answer? (The Weavers in Chapter 1 & Midwifery in Chapter 2)
Other people like the Westovers in this small Idaho community rely on herbal cures and communal knowledge and refuse to send their children to schools, doctors, or hospitals.
How did the Midwife make Tara's mom feel? (Page 13)
The midwife intimidated Tara's mom. Tara's mother is supposed to be the midwife's assistant. The midwife was in her late forties, and she was short and plump. She had authority even though she had no license or certificate. Tara's mom and the midwife are very different.
Tara mentioned the baby doesn't make sense, so why not? (Page 3)
Because she was the youngest of the family.
What did the mother get for all of the kids, which was supposed to be ready in the first place, in chapter 2? (Page 18)
She got them birth certificates.
How did Dad allow Mom to get the children's birth certificates? (Page 18)
Dad didn't like relying on the government or giving them any information about his family. Still, he relented when he realized that Luke's ability to drive was a necessity, much like a telephone.
What happened to Mother when the other midwife (Judy) moved? (Page 16)
Tara's mother was now the only midwife for a hundred miles. She did not want to be a midwife because it was stressful, and she would have to take the blame if something went wrong with the birth.
What does dad do with all the dairy products? (Page 4)
He removes all of the dairy products from the refrigerator.
What was Dad's opinion about public schools? (Page 4)
A public school was a ploy by the government to lead children away from God.
How did her imagination become a memory that “formed?” (Page 3)
It's something she imagined, then came to remember as if it had happened.
What did Mother get that Dad could not argue with her about? (Page 18)
She got a phone, so there would be no trouble during birth deliveries.
In Tara's imagination, what does she remember her mom holding? (Page 3)
A baby
What did Tara's mother tell Tara to say about her being a midwife if the feds came? (Page 21)
Tara's mother told her not to tell the Feds that she was a midwife. Mother called it "the art of shutting up."
If Tara decided not to leave for Arizona, why did she choose to stay home? (Page 3 & the chapter title)
She thought it was the Good to choose.
How did Mother's births go as a midwife? How did she develop her character? (Page 17)
The births went smoothly, and Mother was in charge of financial power for the first time.
What does dad have in his truck the next morning instead of dairy? (page 4)
50 gallons of honey
What happened during the birth at the end of chapter 2? (Page 21)
The baby's heart rate dropped super low, and the mother and baby had to be hospitalized. Tara's mother had to act like she was not the midwife. She did this by asking, "Aren't babies supposed to come out feet-first," so the doctor was persuaded that she could not be a midwife.
Was Tara negative or positive on her mom's midwifery as a part of Dad's doctrine in chapter 2? (Page 23)
Weeks later, after a birth goes wrong and Mother is forced to drive the laboring woman to the hospital, she relays the story of how she managed to convince both a police officer who pulled her over on the way and a doctor who questioned her at the hospital, that she was simply a friend of the pregnant woman who knew nothing about births. Listening to the story—and repeating it to her friend Maria later—Tara feels proud of her mother for being both a “fine midwife” and a master when it comes to deceiving “doctors and cops.”