Wild Things- Guiding Questions

Wild Things- Clay Carmichael

Quiz Bowl Questions
1. What is the name of the town where Henry and Zoe live?
-Sugar Hill, (25)

2. Name a significant person in Zoe’s past.
-Her mother was significant to her past along with her mother’s boyfriends.

3. Name at least one similarity between Henry and mom’s boyfriends.
-Their clothing and their smell of working men. (32)

4. Zoe’s mom had many boyfriends that Zoe mentions. Ray is one. Who were the other 4?
-The other four were Lester, Manny, Charlie and Harlan.

5. What kinds of things does Zoe enjoy the most?
- Zoe enjoys, reading, writing, being outdoors, she loves animals and solitude.

6. Interpret Figurative Language-On page 35, when Zoe says “When I saw who it was, an ant could’ve knocked me over, easy” what example of figurative language is she using? Explain its meaning.
- She is using a hyperbole to describe how she felt unbelievably surprised.

7. From which point of view is the story told when the cat is not speaking?
- From first person, Zoe’s voice.

8. When, on page 24, Mrs. Wilson says “ I see that mendacity and smart tongues run deep in the Royster Family…” she means
-That Henry and Zoe are both liars.

9. What is Henry’s profession?
- He is now a famous artists who makes sculptures and was a heart surgeon.

10. Who are two significant characters that Zoe meets at her new school?
- Zoe meets Ms. Avery (her teacher) and Hargrove ( a boy who gives her some trouble)

11. Zoe felt most happy in Henry’s library and the cabin. There was one more time in which Zoe seems happiest. When or where did this happen?
-Zoe seemed happy during the snow storm that also gave her a day away from school. ( 89)

12. Name the significant object that Ms. Avery gave to Zoe?
- Ms. Avery gives Zoe a journal. (97)

13. Name at least one similarity between Henry and Zoe. Prove it with a quote from the text.
(examples: their mothers were sick, they both like books, they have similar feet, they have red hair, they both have a gap in their two front teeth, they both like solitude)
Pg 92, Henry to Zoe: ‘my mother was that way too; pg 93, Henry to Zoe: “like your mother in her own way,” pg 90, Zoe to Henry: “we both have the same feet”

14. Zoe found a picture and six carved animals inside a cigar box in the cabin. There was a squirrel. What were the other 5 animals.
- An otter, a possum, a white deer, a raccoon, a field mouse. (87)

15. When Zoe yelled at Henry “you promised you wouldn’t leave me,” Henry responded with : “Abandonment and _______________ are not the same thing.” Complete the quote with the right word.
-The word “education” should be added because Zoe is not wanting to go to school and her uncle tries to explain that it is required by law that she attends. (65)

16. We learned that Henry joins metal together by ______________.
-“welding” (97)

17. The women  in the church demand that the Father/Padre get rid of the cat. Why was one of the women particularly upset?
-The cat was urinating on the graves flowers. (80-81)

18. What was the reason for Bessie rejecting a heart transplant?
-She believed that the heart makes the person who they are, and a new heart would change her. (50)

19. What did Zoe like to do the minute she came home from school every day?
-She liked to head for the woods and explore, especially when she found the cabin she made her own. (83)

20. In the novel, we meet another character who is related to Zoe and shows up one day at Zoe’s home. Who is this new relative of Zoe’s?
-Maud Booker, she is Zoe’s grandmother. (103 and 107)

21. Why was the cat unwilling to go to the cabin?
-The cat was unwilling to go to the cabin because he did not trust the humans that had lived there before. He had watched the savage man and his family there before. (138)

22. Which event made Zoe realize that the cabin was not an ideal home?
-She got sick and realized she would have no one to take care of her. (119)

23. Name at least one new similarity between Henry and Zoe. Prove it with a quote from the text.
-They both like alone time. “Aloneness was as much his was as mine,” (108)

24. Zoe had a few favorite book characters, who had no parents at all. Lennox was one. Name another?
- Mowgli; 112 (The others have at least one parent)
25. Zoe knew that the person who cared for her during her sleep was not her father. She says, “Because whoever it was actually _______________. “ Complete the quote with the right word.
-“cared” (123)

26. We learned that Zoe calls her cat_______________.
-“C’mere” (124)

27. Why did Zoe suspect that Hargrove was the person who destroyed her cabin?
-She suspected that Hargrove had looked at her notebook and then her journal disappeared. He would be the only one who would know about the cabin through reading Zoe’s journal. (129-131)

28. There are two things in Bessie and Fred’s life that Helen says are real art? Quilting is one, what is the other?
-Fred’s gardening. (144)

29. What was the reward that Mayor Peters offered to whomever turned in the person who hurt Hargrove?
-5, 000 dollars (140)

30. When do we begin to realize that Hargrove has a “soft spot”?
- While he is playing and petting Mr. Sylvester’s dog. (174)

31. What was the important event during which everyone gathered together as a family?
-Everyone gathered together at Thanksgiving dinner. (160-161)

32. What is the name of the dog Hargrove is petting one day when Zoe notices Hargrove has a “soft spot”?
-His name is Sparky. (174)

33. Name at least one difference between Harlan and Ray?
-Harlan apologizes for the mistakes of the past and attempts a relationship with Zoe, while Ray returns to take Henry’s money buy trying to sell Zoe’s mother’s possessions to them. Harlan also confesses to trying to save Zoe and get her away from her mother because he saw that she was not a very fit parent for Zoe.

34. What event makes Bessie call Henry and Fred “fools and hypocrites” after they call Zoe foolish and rash?
-Bessie recalls the memory of Fred and Henry jumping in a river to save Sheriff Bean as a child. (164)

35. Many of Uncle Henry’s actions demonstrate that he is a kind, selfless man. For example, where did Uncle Henry spend the day on Thursdays?
- He would spend his Thursdays Volunteering at the Sugar Hill free clinic. (174)

36. On page 153, when Zoe says “staring into the face of wilderness itself” what example of figurative language is she using? Explain its meaning.
-She is using personification to describe the wildness of the boy as a real person.

37. On page 188, when Zoe goes to the workshop and wants to talk to Henry, she ends up leaving the workshop instead. Why?
- She left because she felt that Henry was not ready to talk to her. He was too absorbed in his work.
38. On page 24, the cat is napping under a rhododendron. A rhododendron is most likely a ________________.
- A plant.
39. What does Zoe call the metal scarecrow?
-She calls it a one-of-a-kind, one-hundred-percent-guaranteed combination universal craziness deflector luck magnet and wild thing. (197)

40. How does the author first show us that the cat begins to trust Zoe?
- The cat lets her tough it and sleeps on the porch of the house. (206-207)

41. On page 201, Zoe reads from the book “The Boy Who Drew Cats”. How do we know that she is reading from a different text?
- The words are italic when Zoe reads.
42. Where was the New Year’s Eve gallery opening? How much did Zoe’s sculpture sell for?
-The gallery was in New York and it sold for more than $4,500. (226)

43. What two words does Uncle Henry use to describe the white deer, Sister after reading the story to Zoe while Wil was hiding in the closet?
-Fine and Magical. (204)

44. In the quilt that Bessie left Zoe, she included 9 important symbols. Mr. C’mere and Henry’s farmhouse were two. What were the other 7?
-Padre, Fred’s red truck, a log cabin, Sister and Wil, her journal, a pack of Juicy Fruit, a heart with wings.

45. How does Zoe learn that Wil is her brother?
-He left her the picture of his parents wedding and his father was also her father. (222-223)

46. On page 233, when Zoe says, “he vanished like a dream in daylight” what example of figurative language is she using? Explain its meaning.
-She is using a simile to say that Wil disappeared.

46. Why was Zoe mourning Wil, if he had not died?
- He left so she felt cheated of him. (237)

47. What does Wil take with him when he leaves that makes Harlan worry?
-Wil takes a motorcycle that he was fixing. (235)