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Glass Castle Reading Guide 1 – Pages 1-501. Look at the epigraph (“a short quotation or saying at the beginning of a book or chapter,

intended to suggest its theme”) at the beginning of The Glass Castle.a. How does that first line in particular (“Dark is a way and light is a place […]”) relate to

a major theme of the Odyssey? (THEME)

b. What do you think this epigraph might foreshadow about The Glass Castle? (FORESHADOWING)

2. How is the introduction to The Glass Castle similar to the introduction to The Odyssey? (EPIC CONVENTIONS and STRUCTURE)

3. Explain what the specific details about Jeanette’s mother in the second paragraph suggest about her. (CHARACTERIZATION)

Detail… Reveals…“[…] her eyes widened with childish glee when she found something she liked.”“Her long hair was streaked with gray, tangled and matted […]”“[…] the skin was parched and ruddy from all those winters and summers exposed to the elements.”

4. Look at this sentence from the fifth paragraph. “My husband was working late, as he did most nights, and the apartment was silent except for the click of my heels on the polished wood floor.” What does the underlined section suggest about Jeannette? (CHARACTERIZATION)

5. Find three examples of imagery from the hotdog/hospital scene that stick out to you. Copy the quotation and explain how those specific details help the story. (IMAGERY)

Imagery… How it Helps the Story…

6. Read the two following quotations: “He sat down on my bed and started telling me the story about the time Lori got stung

by a poisonous scorpion [….]” “The next time they visited, Brian’s head was wrapped in a dirty white bandage with

dried bloodstains.”What do these selections suggest about the kind of care the Walls children receive? (INFERENCE)

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7. When Rex (Jeannette’s father) breaks her out of the hospital, he says to her, “‘You don’t have to worry anymore, baby [….] You’re safe now.” How is his statement an example of situational irony? (IRONY)

8. An allusion is a reference to another literary work. In The Glass Castle, the family cat is named Quixote, which is an allusion to the Spanish novel Don Quixote about a hopeless dreamer who is unable to deal with reality. How might that allusion be symbolic of an issue that Walls family deals with? (SYMBOLISM)

9. Read the following quotation: “A year after Lori was born, Mom and Dad had a second daughter, Mary Charlene,

who had coal-black hair and chocolate-brown eyes, just like Dad. But Mary Charlene died one night when she was nine months old. Crib death, Mom always said.”

Make an inference about why Mary Charlene died. (INFERENCE)

10.After Jeannette falls out of the moving car and her parents fail to notice, her father says to her, “‘Damn, honey […] you busted your snot locket pretty good.’” Reflecting on this, Jeannette says, “Snot locker. It was hilarious.” Do you think she actually thinks it’s hilarious, or is she being sarcastic? Why? (TONE)

11.On page 34, Jeannette says, “I wondered if fire had been out to get me. I wondered if all fire was related, like Dad said all humans were related, if the fire that had burned me that day was somehow connected to the fire I had flushed down the toilet and the fire burning at the hotel.” What does fire seem to symbolize throughout the book? Explain your answer. (SYMBOLISM)

12.What does the dialogue between Jeannette and her father on page 45 reveal about Jeannette’s character? (CHARACATERIZATION) – “Looks to me like you got in a fight,” Dad said […]/ “Just a little dustup,” I said. That was the word Dad always used after he’d been in a fight./ “How many were there?”/ “Six,” I lied./ “Is that split lip okay?” he asked./ “This lil’ ol’ scratch?” I asked. “You should have seen what I did to them.”/ “That’s my girl!” Dad said […]

13.Draw portraits of Rex and Rosemary. (CHARACTERIZATION)

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Rosemary Walls Rex Walls