1. The Bean Trees Chapters 8-17 (the end)

2. Chapter 8, Question #2 “What does Taylor mean when she claims that it was a “conspiracy” that “everybody behaved as if Turtle was [her] own flesh and blood daughter?

3. Chapter 8, Question #2 (147) Everyone, including Taylor’s mother, talk about Turtle as if she were Taylor’s birth daughter – comparing Turtle to Taylor when she was a child, implying that Turtle takes after Taylor – even though they know that Turtle isn’t her daughter. The “conspiracy” is that they apparently know what Taylor does not yet know – that it is love that makes a family.

4. Chapter 8, Question #3 Explain the significance of the allusion Taylor uses to describe the “Miracle at Dog Poo Park” and how it is significant to the novel as a whole.

5. Chapter 8, Question #3 (152) The ugly, “thick, muscly vines on the “old wooden trellis” boom into a “shivery coat of pale leaves.” Taylor compares this to Moses who brought life-affirming nourishment out of nothing, the flowers spring forth from bare dirt. This concept also serves to parallel, and maybe foreshadow, several characters’ lives: Lou Ann, Taylor and Turtle are all beginning to thrive emotionally and socially in their new circumstances.

6. Chapter 8, Question #6 Describe Esteban’s attitude toward Mrs. Parson’s comment that “the woman and the kid who got shot must have been drug dealers’? What does Taylor’s reaction suggest?

7. Chapter 8, Question #6 (157) Estevan feels that Americans have the attitude of believing that tragedies only happen to those who deserve them. Taylor is defensive at first, but admits, defeated, “you’re right…I guess it makes us feel safe.” Too many things in Taylor’s past, and recently, have proven Estevan’s opinion to be right (Newt Hardbine’s tragedy, Lou Ann losing her husband, Turtle, and her mother’s jobs).

8. Chapter 8, Question #8 Evaluate Turtle’s condition of “failure to thrive” as an example of the theme of physical versus emotional scars with specific examples from the chapter. Explain Taylor’s reaction to Turtles condition and why it is significant.

9. Chapter 8, Question #8 (166) The doctor initially claims that though there may be “behavioral evidence” of abuse, there is no real physical evidence. When Turtle’s x-rays prove otherwise, Taylor is overwhelmed by the responsibility of caring for a child whose body would never really ever recover from the abuse she suffered. The reader might wonder if Taylor will be able to handle this emotional situation.

10. Chapter 9, Question #1 Explain the political commentary Kingsolver makes in this chapter. What literary vehicle is most effective in conveying her agenda?

11. Chapter 9, Question #1 Through the very heated and informative dialogue between Taylor and Estevan, Kingsolver effectively divulges her political agenda on the tenuous, violent, and unjust situation with the Guatemalan government and the United States’ role in promoting these atrocities.

12. Chapter 9… Does Taylor develop a crush on Estevan? Or is it admiration?

13. Chapter 10, Question #1 Explain the symbolic significance of the chapter’s title.

14. Chapter Ten, Question #1 Turtle’s vocabulary centers on vegetables, beans in particular. It is she who notices first, that the green pods hanging from the branches of the wisteria tree have gone to seed. Taylor sees the blooming as a miracle that parallels the miracle of Turtle’s own journey.

15. Chapter 10, Question 4 Why has the author waited until now to reveal Edna Poppy’s blindness? What purpose does this knowledge serve in the novel?

16. Chapter 10, Question 4 This supports the theme, illusions vs. reality, in a very literal sense. The reader is led to believe, as Taylor is, that Edna Poppy is blind. Kingsolver drops small clues – “Edna buying her clothes in one color…Virgie’s grip on her elbow,” but the author’s intention is revealed to be