1. List five major characters. Write three sentences identifying each one. Lily: Lily is a fourteen year old girl and the main character of the novel. She does not enjoy living with her father, as he is abusive and blames Lily for his problems. After she breaks Rosaleen out of jail for confronting racists, she and Lily head to Tiburon, South Carolina where she suspects her mother once was. Rosaleen: Rosaleen is the black housekeeper that has developed a strong relationship with Lily. When she went to register to vote, she confronted three racists, and was sent to jail. Lily broke her out of jail and the pair headed to Tiburon, South Carolina, hoping to escape the police and make a better life.
T Ray: T Ray is the father of Lily. He abuses her and blames her for his problems. He told Lily that her mother ran away from them, and she doesn’t believe it, so she runs away to Tiburon, South Carolina. Deborah: Deborah is the mother of Lily. Her daughter accidentally killed her when Lily was only four. Her influence lives through Lily and T Ray and Lily blames herself for killing her. August: August Boatwright is the oldest of the Boatwright sisters. She is a nurturing beekeeper and very influential to Lily along with many others. She is well respected across the town, although she still has to deal with the racism and prejudices faced by all African Americans in the South during that time period. List three to five minor characters. Write two sentences identifying each one.
May: May is the younger sister of August and June Boatwright. She is overly sensitive and when she is upset she sings and she goes to her “wailing wall”, to calm her down. She is abnormally sensitive in a way that in which she carries the weight of the world, and when she finds out that Zach was sent to jail, she drowned herself out of the pain. June: June is the sister of May Boatwright and August Boatwright. She is a schoolteacher and talented musician who is bitter about life and refuses to marry after being left at the altar many years before. She is in love with Neil but is afraid to marry him, in fear she will be left at the altar again.
Zach: Zach is August’s godson who helps her with the honey. Zach and Lily develop a good relationship with each other, and they kiss. One day when Zach was hanging out with his friends, one of them got into trouble, and it sent all of them to jail. 2. What is the setting (time and place) of the novel? The setting of this novel starts out in late July of 1964 in Sylvan, South Carolina, and finishes up in November of 1964 in Tiburon, South Carolina.
3. Who is the narrator of the novel? Through what point of view is the plot told? The narrator of this novel is the main character, Lily Owens, and this novel is told through first person point of view.
4. What is the major conflict? How is it resolved? The major conflict is that motherless Lily does not enjoy living with her emotionally detached father, who abuses and disrespects Lily daily, claims that when Lily was a small child, she accidentally killed her mother. When her black maid-and only friend-Rosaleen gets arrested for confronting three racists, Lily decides to break Rosaleen out of jail. Together they run away to Tiburon, South Carolina, a place Lily suspects her mother once spent time.
5. List in sequential order ten important actions that happen in the plot. Put a star next to the climax or turning point of the novel. •When the story begins, Lily Owens is an unpopular teenager, living unhappily at home. Her mother died when she was four and her father, on his good days is neglectful, and abusive on his worst. • Lily shares a good affiliation with Rosaleen, the housekeeper, and learns that Lily played a role in accidentally killing her mother when she was young. She loves Rosaleen, but nonetheless yearns for her mother, Deborah. When Rosaleen goes to register to vote, she is confronted by three white men to the point where police show up, and Rosaleen is charged with a number of things, and they haul Rosaleen and Lily off to jail.
• T Ray, Lily’s father, shows up to bail Lily out of jail, and they get into an argument angry enough to reveal that Lily’s mother left her and T Ray prior to her death, a fact she had never considered, which angers Lily bad enough that she runs away and breaks Rosaleen out of jail. • After she successfully breaks Rosaleen out of jail, the pair head to Tiburon, South Carolina, hoping someone was affiliated with her mother. When she arrives, she gets an idea of someone who might know her mother, from a jar of honey.. After she gets the name of the beekeeper that made the honey, the two head to the house of august Boatwright. When they arrive, August puts the two to work, Lily with the bees, and Rosaleen in the kitchen.
• Lily quickly befriends coworker Zach, and they develop feelings for each other. However, Zach is black, which given the political status at that time, makes it dangerous for them to be a couple. It is in fact so dangerous, that Zach gets arrested after a tussle with his friends and racist white men.• After Zach’s arrest, other repercussions take place as well, resulting in the suicide of May Boatwright, August’s sister. Eventually Lily gets the nerve to ask August of her relationship with Lily’s mother. She learns about her mother’s separation from T Ray, and she is upset to learn that her mother, in fact, had left her during a nervous breakdown to T Ray. It takes a while for Lily to get over the shock of this revelation.
• Soon after, T Ray tracks her down to August’s home and threatens to take Lily home. She and August convince him to leave her there, as August promises to take good care of her. T Ray agrees and leaves. When the novel closes, Lily is still in high school and claims to have found a good home with Rosaleen and the Boatwright sisters, and living happily with good friends. 6. What is the theme or lesson of the novel? Why? The theme or lesson of the novel is the irrationality or racism and because throughout the book, the racist attitudes towards African Americans builds a strong relationship between Lily, who is white, and many other women, who are black despite the racist controversy at that time.
7. Is the title of the novel appropriate? Why or why not? The title of the novel is appropriate and because beekeeping is a key topic throughout the novel, and it helps build an even stronger relationship with Lily and August.
8. Do you like the ending of the novel? Why or why not? I like the ending of the novel and because it wraps up the major conflict and all of the minor conflicts. It also makes sure that everyone gets along and does not leave many questions for the reader.
9. Generate at least five questions (things you didn’t understand, or wondered about) to ask during discussion. • One question I consistently asked myself while I was reading the novel was, Did Lily actually shoot her mother, or did T Ray make that up. •Another question I had was why was Lily so quick to forgive her mother in Chapter fourteen? • A third question I had was how far away is Sylvan, South Carolina, to Tiburon, South Carolina? .A fourth question I had was did Lily ever go back to stay with her father, or did she leave him alone? • A final question I had was why would August take Lily in to her home, if she knew she was lying the entire time?
10.Identify five important quotes from the novel and explain each quote’s significance in terms of character development, plot/conflict development/foreshadowing, symbolism, style (tone, imagery, diction, syntax) and/or theme. Write the quotes, including the page numbers, and write at least two sentences explaining each quote’s importance. *Reminder: a quote is any passage in the novel – it can be narration or dialogue. • “How nobody is perfect. How you just have to close your eyes and breathe out and let the puzzle of the human heart be what it is.”(353) This quote from the novel means that people are going to make mistakes and they will need to be forgiven. It also says that you just have to let things play out by itself.
•”This is what I know about myself. She was all I wanted and I took her away.”(9) This quote from the book means that Lily’s mother was all she wanted in her life and she took her away by gunshot. This quote resembles the more negative feelings of Lily when she was still depressed about the loss of her mother. • “All these mothers. I have more mothers than any eight girls off the street. They are the moons shining over me.”(374) This quote means that Lily has all of these people that care for her, and like mothers to her. This resembles that she is getting over the loss of her mother and all of these women are taking the role of Lily’s mother.
• “The world will give you that once in a while, the boxing bell rings and you go back to your corner, where somebody dabs mercy on your beat-up life.”(101) This quote means that when things are not going well for you at all, eventually it will all settle down for a while and put you out of the situation. There will be a brief break to get away from all of the commotion. • “People who think dying is the worst thing don’t know a thing about life.”(3) This quote is a more negative quote from Lily, resembling that she has lived without a mother for most of her life. She has learned to compensate with the fact that her mother is dead.
