Out of the Dust Spring 1935

Name:

1A. Read this excerpt from page 156: I hate fire. Hate it. But the entire Oklahoma Panhandle is so dry, Everything too ready to ignite. Last week The school caught fire. Damage was light, On account of it being caught early. Most kids joked about it next day, But it terrified me. Part A: What does the word ignite mean as used in the text above?

• A) to dislike greatly
• B) getting caught
• C) go up in flames
• D) kidding around

1 Part B: Which detail best supports Part A?

• A) “most kids joked about it next day”
• B) “I hate fire. Hate it”
• C) “on account of it being caught”
• D) “the school caught fire”

2 Part A: What is the author’s best purpose or meaning for including page 174’s Let Down during Spring 1935 of Out of the Dust?

• A) To give insight into Billie Jo’s fears, frustrations, emotions, and feelings
• B) To explain why Billie Jo is unfortunate
• C) To show the reader that Billie Jo is very concerned about her father’s health
• D) To prove Billie Jo’s resilience

2. Part B: Which two details below best supports Part A?

• C) “I don’t know, I let them down”
• F) “and now I think we’re both turning to dust”
• A) “Miss Freeland started to cry”
• B) “if my father ever went to Doc Rice to do something about the spots on his skin”
• D) “But my father isn’t going to Doc Rice”

3 Part A: What is the best theme of pages 184-186’s Baby Out of the Dust: Spring 1935?

• A) It’s hard to commit to a change.
• B) Family comes first.
• C) Everything will work out for the best.
• D) No one knows what the future holds.

3 Part B: Which two details best supports Part A?

• B) “She had kept those dimes to send me to Panhandle A and M. To study music. No point now.” Page 186
• E) “Imagining a song for my little brother, buried in Ma’s arms on a knoll overlooking the banks of the Beaver, imagining a song for the Lindbergh baby stiff in the woods, imagining a song for this new baby who would not be my father’s son.” Page 186
• A) “Then he looked at me sorry as dust.” Page 185
• C) “he pulled out a box with the rest of the clothes Ma had made for our new baby and told me to drop them by the church if I wanted” Page 185
• D) “I asked my father if we could adopt it” Page 185

4 Part A: What is the main idea of Out of the Dust: Spring 1935?

• A) Billie Jo hopes her daddy will go to the doctor.
• B) Billie Jo wishes the wheat would grow so her daddy would get better.
• C) Billie Jo is becoming a young lady, and she feels nostalgic about her late Ma.
• D) Billie Jo wants very much to learn how to play the piano again.

4 Part B: What two details below best supports Part A above?

• D) “If Ma was here, she would come up and listen” Page 153
• E) I sat at her piano a long time after I got back from church, imagining a song for my little brother, buried in Ma’s arms” Page 186
• A) “But my father isn’t going to Doc Rice” Page 175
• B) “he idled toward the freshened fields, certain the grass would grow again” Page 179
• C) “The government is lending us money to keep the farm going, money to buy seed, feed loans for our cow” Page 172

5 Part A: How is the text of pages 162-167’s Blankets of Black structured?

• A) comparing and contrasting
• B) problem and solution
• C) description
• D) sequential order