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ELA OUT OF THE DUST STUDY GUIDE

Total questions: 23

Worksheet time: 17mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

Billie Jo's father takes a job 

a)

Transporting crops to a neighboring community

b)

Harvesting Wheat for other farmers

c)

Digging ponds for the neighbors

d)

Digging holes for the Power Company

2.

"I hear the first drops,

Like the tapping of a stranger

at the door of a dream,...

It strokes the roof,

streaking the dusty tin,

pronging..." (104)

This quote contains 

a)

Simile and Personification

b)

Simile and Metaphor

c)

Personification and Verbal Irony

d)

Verbal Irony and Simile

3.

Who encourages Billie Jo to play the piano again? 

a)

Arley Wanderdale

b)

Mad Dog

c)

Coach Albright

d)

Her father

4.

"He said, 'I'm good at digging,' and everyone who knows about our hole knows he's telling the truth." What is Billie Jo referring to in this quote? 

a)

The pond that Billie Jo's father is digging in memory of her mother

b)

The trench that Billie Jo's father had to build to save the wheat

c)

The grave that Billie Jo's father had to dig for Billie Jo's mother and brother

d)

The swimming pool Billie Jo's father had to dig for the school kids

5.

Why does County Agent Dewey shoot and kill the cows? 

a)

They are starving

b)

They are old

c)

They have a disease

d)

Their limbs are broken

6.

Why do the paintings at the art exhibit mean so much to Billie Jo? 

a)

They represent a time when she could play the piano

b)

They remind her of the times she used to visit the art exhibit with her mother

c)

They represent a life outside of the dust bowl

d)

They remind her of a time when her family had financial security 

7.

"Dust piles up like snow across the prairie, dunes leaning against fences, mountains of dust pushing over barns." What is the literary device?

a)

Hyperbole

b)

Personification

c)

Metaphor

d)

Simile

8.

Which of the following quotes best reveal the hope everyone feels by the end of "First Rain"? 

a)

"...free of the weight of dust." 

b)

"...the frail stalks revive..." 

c)

"And later, when the clouds lift..." 

d)

"...a concert of rain notes..."

9.

What sport did Coach Albright ask Billie Jo to play? 

a)

Softball

b)

Volleyball

c)

Basketball

d)

Soccer

10.

While waiting for the baby to arrive, Billie Jo states, "I keep the kids out and listen behind me, praying for the sound of a baby crying out into this world..." What is the literary device used in this quote? 

a)

Personification

b)

Metaphor

c)

Simile

d)

Hyperbole

11.

While waiting for the baby to arrive, Billie Jo states, "I keep the kids out and listen behind me, praying for the sound of a baby crying out into this world..." What does this quote reveal about Billie Jo? 

a)

The joy she feels anticipating the baby's arrival 

b)

The agony she feels while waiting for the baby

c)

The indifference she displays about the baby's arrival

d)

The anger she feels waiting for a baby that is not her brother 

12.

What did Billie Jo's father miss at Christmas?

a)

Cranberry Sauce

b)

Apple Sauce

c)

Turkey

d)

Moonshine

13.

What made Billie Jo "forget the pain" in "Competition"?

a)

Prize money

b)

Arley Wanderdale's support 

c)

Her father's attendance

d)

Applause

14.

Who received "third prize" in "Competition"? 

a)

Mad Dog Craddock

b)

Birdie Jasper

c)

Billie Jo

d)

Ben Grover

15.

I have a hunger, more than food. I have a hunger, bigger than Joyce City.” What is Billie Jo’s “hunger” in "Dreams"?

a)

To play the piano in front of an audience again

b)

To be able to talk to her mother again

c)

To hold her baby brother, Franklin

d)

To be able to talk freely with her father 

16.

After the baby is born, Billie Jo states, “And then the cry comes and I have to go away for a little while and just walk off the feelings.” What does this reveal about Billie Jo at this moment?

a)

She is grieving for her own baby brother

b)

She overcome with joy for the baby's arrival

c)

She feels sad for the baby's mother because they can't afford to take care of the baby

d)

She feels sad because she knows they will have to leave soon

17.

"My father’s voice starts and stops, like a car short of gas, like an engine choked with dust, but then he clears his throat and the song starts up again.” What is the literary device used in this quote?

a)

Personification

b)

Metaphor

c)

Simile

d)

Hyperbole

18.

Why did Ashby Durwin and Rush men have one half ton of sugar?

a)

They were going to use it for the competition

b)

They were delivering it to a local grocery store

c)

They were making moonshine

d)

They were going to bake for the kids at school

19.

What did Sheriff Robertson do with the sugar?

a)

It was donated to the school for baking

b)

It was donated to designated families in need

c)

It was donated to the homeless shelter

d)

It was taken back to the police station

20.

Billie Jo chooses to not use her ma's book of poetry as admission to the art exhibit because

a)

It has been damaged in the fire

b)

It was a precious momento of her mother's

c)

Her father wouldn't let her

d)

They would not accept it as a form of admission

21.

"It isn't the work I hate, the knuckle-breaking work of beating mud out of every blessed thing, but every day my fingers and hands ache so bad. I think I should just let them rest, let the dust rest, let the world rest. But I can't leave it rest, on account of Ma haunting." What theme is developed in this passage? 

a)

Guilt

b)

Isolation

c)

Forgiveness

22.

"Time to Go"

They left a couple of weeks after the baby came,

all of them crammed inside that rusty old truck. 

I ran half a mile in their dust to catch them. 

I didn't want to let that baby go. 

"Wait for me," I cried,

choking on the cloud that rose behind them. 

But they didn't hear me.

They were heading west.

And no one was looking back." 

What does this passage reveal about Billie Jo? 

a)

She's become attached to the baby

b)

She became attached to the baby's mother

c)

She is jealous that they're heading west

d)

She wishes someone would look back at her

23.

Why doesn't Billie Jo want her father to attend night school? 

a)

She feels more isolated in his absence

b)

She's unhappy that he will miss dinner

c)

She doesn't want him to be around other women

d)

She worries he will leave her one day