Out of the Dust
Name: ___________________________________________________ Date: ______________________
SPRING 1935
Section 11: Heartsick through Blankets of Black
1. Who is the boy Billie Jo thinks of in Heartsick? .
2. What marks does Billie Jo’s father have on him in Skin? He
3. Why does Billie Jo say that she should steer clear of Mad Dog Craddock?
4. What subject do people not talk about to Billie Jo’s face?
5. What is in the letter that Aunt Ellis sent to Billie Jo’s father?
6. Why can’t Billie Jo remember the names of the migrant workers who have gone out to
7. Whose funeral did Billie Jo and her father set out for?
8. What wouldn’t start at the end of Blankets of Black?
Section 11 Part I: Using Prior Knowledge and Contextual Clues
Below are the sentences in which the vocabulary words appear in the text. Read the sentence. Use any clues you can find in the sentence combined with your prior knowledge, and write what you think the words in bold mean.
1. The hard part is in spite of everything/if I had any boy court me,/it’d be Mad Dog Craddock.
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2. My father and I,/we can’t soothe each other.
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3. Everything too ready to ignite.
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4. So they separated the burning cars/and moved them down a siding,/away from any little thing that
might catch if the flames hopped.
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5. …until nothing remained but warped metal,/and twisted rails,/scorched dirt, and/charred ties.
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6. One family came in/clutched together,/their pa, divining the path/with a long wooden rod.
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Part II: Determining the Meaning: Match the vocabulary words to their dictionary definitions.
___52. court A. calm; quiet; ease or relieve
___53. soothe B. catch fire
___54. ignite C. to seek affection of with intent to romance
___55 siding D. bent; twisted
___56. warped E. guessing
___57. divining F. short section of railroad track