Out of the Dust

1
Out of the Dust

• Level 1

2
Throughout the book

• Billie Jos Moment Map
• Syntax Dialectical Journal

3
Billie Jos Moment Map
Beginning August 1920 Billie Jo is born. Her
father really wanted a boy.
4
Syntax Dialectical Journals
Assertion You need ten examples where Karen Hesses syntax helps add to the meaning of the text Evidence Quote Commentary- How does the syntax add to the meaning of the text? What is the effect of her style and use of language?
Syntax / Name of poem
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Winter of 1934 Venn Diagram
8 4 8
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Winter of 1934
Assertion Character Trait Evidence Quote Commentary Explanation
Billie Jo
Billie Jo
Dad
Dad
Ma-
Ma
Mad Dog
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Rules of Dining (21)

• What do the Rules of Dining tell you about
  Billie Jos family?
• Support your assertion with evidence

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Dazzled (24)

• Billie Jo says of Ma, In the kitchen she is my
  ma in the barn and the fields she is my daddys
  wife, but in the parlor Ma is something
  different (24). What does Billie Jo mean by
  this? How does Mas piano relate to Billlie Jos
  statement?
• Explain in detail

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Spring of 1934 Imagery Dialectical Journal
Assertion Draw picture Evidence Quote Commentary Explanation
Image 1
Image 2
Image 3
Image 4
Image 5
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Discussion Questions for Spring 1934

• Apples, dust, wind, fire, a piano--all of these
  images are repeated in the text. Why does the
  author put them there? How do images enhance the
  story? What would it be like without the 'word
  pictures'?
• Describe Billie Jo's relationship with her ma.
  Does any of it seem familiar? How does playing
  the piano bring them together while also drawing
  them apart?

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Summer 1934- Emotion Dialectical Journals
Assertion Character /Emotion Evidence Quote Commentary Explanation
Emotion 1
Emotion 2
Emotion 3
Emotion 4
Emotion 5
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Pie Graph Summer of 1934
Create a pie graph assigning the percentage of
guilt to each character for the The Accident
(60)
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Questions Summer of 1934

• Who put the kerosene by the stove? How does this
  relate to the person that is considered by all as
  the guilty party?
• What makes a good neighbor? Are Billie Jo's
  neighbors good to one another? What are some
  examples of how her neighbors help one another?

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Autumn 1934-Character sketch
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Question Autumn 1934

• Why is the art exhibit so important and so
  painful for Billie Jo? What does this tell us
  about her character? What elements of the story
  does the exhibit bring together?

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Winter 1935 - Emotion Dialectical Journals
Assertion Emotion Evidence Quote Commentary Explanation
Emotion 1
Emotion 2
Emotion 3
Emotion 4
Emotion 5
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Question Winter 1935

• Billie Jo says her father "spends long days
  digging" (p. 111). How does the digging represent
  Billie Jo's relationship with her father? What is
  the texture of their relationship? What could
  either of them do to save their fragile family?

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Spring 1935
6
2
2
2
6
6
2
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Question Spring 1935

• Billie Jo compares her ma to a tumbleweed, while
  her father "was more like the sod. / Steady,
  silent, and deep" (p. 202). Is Billie Jo more
  like her mother or her father in this respect?
  What image could Billie Jo be compared to?
• The quote is from Summer of 1935 but answer
  the question before you get to the summer of
  1935, so your answer about Billie Jo is original.

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Summer 1935

• Point of View
• Write the event of the summer of 1935 through the
  eyes of a supporting character.

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Question Summer 1935

• Billie Jo says, ". . . if I had any boy court me
  / it'd be Mad Dog Craddock" (p. 153). How do her
  feelings about him change as the story
  progresses? Is he more than a friend to her? What
  are Mad Dog's feelings? He would be interesting
  to explore in a Point of View response.
• Students sometimes comment on the babies that
  appear and disappear in the story the Lindbergh
  baby, Franklin, the Dionne babies, the migrant
  baby, and the baby abandoned on the church steps.
  Is there a connection between these babies? Why
  does the author include them in the story? Why
  does Billie Jo want to adopt the abandoned baby?
  Why does her father refuse?
• Why does the man on the freight train give Billie
  Jo the photograph of his family?

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Autumn 1935

• What is the theme of Out of the Dust? Prove your
  assertion with at least 2 sets of evidence and
  commentary.

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Question Autumn 1935

• After reading Out of the Dust discuss how the
  realizations of Billie Jo and her family affected
  your perspective on your life.