#2147. The Bean Trees - pre-reading activity

Literature, level: Senior
Posted Mon Feb 26 08:27:14 PST 2001 by Kerry LeBlanc (kleblan1@epsb.edmonton.ab.ca).
Argyll Home Education Services Centre, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

BEFORE READING
- What I Bring To My Reading of The Bean Trees

This assignment has prewriting activities that will not only help you when it comes time to write about Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees, but will also help you get more out of reading the novel. The notes you make will be useful as you read as well as when you have writing assignments.

This assignment it is not for marks; however, it MUST be completed before you will be able to access any activities that come after it.

1) Look at the front and back cover of the novel. Use the headings below to jog your thoughts about ideas and attitudes you bring to your reading of The Bean Trees. Respond to as many of the headings as possible, and type in whatever ideas you can think of.

MY MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS -

SETTING -
(time and place, including any specific settings)

CHARACTERS -
(characters I'll meet in this novel, what happens to them, their relationships to one another and to the setting)

FAMOUS IMAGES AND QUOTATIONS -
(things I've heard, words, phrases, lines)

BARBARA KINGSOLVER'S PURPOSE -

WHAT DO I EXPECT TO GET FROM READING THIS NOVEL? -

WHAT DOES THE TITLE MEAN? -

MY THOUGHTS ON ADOPTION:

MY THOUGHTS ON CHILD ABUSE:

2) One issue this novel explores is the concept of adoption. Under what circumstances would you support adoption?

Is it ever okay to abandon someone who needs your help in some way? If so, when?

What responsibility do you have toward people in society as a whole?