Out of the Dust Blog #1
Answer one of the questions below. Periods 3 & 5, submit your comment by 3 p.m. on 12/12/07. Periods 2 & 8, your comment is due by 3 p.m. on 12/13/07 . Once comments have been submitted for moderation, it will be graded using the blog rubric; there will be NO REVISING! Therefore, thoroughly think through your answer and submit a detailed response.
Blogs submitted after the due date and time will receive an “Oops…Missing!” stamp.
1. What is the accident? How do terms like “freak accident” or “didn’t mean it to happen” describe the accident?
2. In Devoured, what do the grasshoppers symbolize?
3. In Blame, what does “under their words a finger pointed” mean?
4. Describe Billie Jo’s birthday. What is the scene like? What does she do to brighten her otherwise bleak day?
5. Why does Billie Jo include Kilauea as one of her diary entries? What’s significant about the poem?
6. Choose one word to summarize the novel thus far. What is it and why?
7. How might this novel be considered historical fiction?
December 10th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
1. What is the accident? How do terms like “freak accident” or “didn’t mean it to happen” describe the accident?
When Billie Jo’s mom caught on fire while pouring coffee for her Dad. Because Billie Jo thought the pail of kerosene was a pail of water on slashed it on her mom to get out the fire.
2. In Devoured, what do the grasshoppers symbolize?
Death like dust eating away everything.
3. In Blame, what does “under their words a finger pointed” mean?
They where talking about who did the accident like pointing fingers but in words.
4. Describe Billie Jo’s birthday. What is the scene like? What does she do to brighten her otherwise bleak day?
idk
5. Why does Billie Jo include Kilauea as one of her diary entries? What’s significant about the poem?
She talks about Kilauea like the volcanic debris chokes anything it its path, just like dust.
6. Choose one word to summarize the novel thus far. What is it and why?
Gloomy, because she’s having a whole lot of problems right now like her mom died and like the fields dying and etc.
7. How might this novel be considered historical fiction?
The book is talking about different aspects at that time period not about one thing.
December 10th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
QUESTON I CHOSE: How might this novel be considered hisorical fiction?
This novel (Out of the Dust) might be considered historical fiction becasue the events and things that’s happening can be real like the dust storm but the characters can be fiction like Billie Jo, Polly known as Ma and so on.
December 10th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
2. In Devoured the grasshoppers represent the fire that burned Billie Jo’s mom because the grass hoppers devoured the apple trees, just like how the fire devoured Billie Jo’s mom.
December 10th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
The accident is when Billie Joe is in her house with her mom and the mom sees a bucket of something liquid. She guesses its water, but it is Kerosene[a gas]. The mom uses it for the husbands coffee and all of a sudden it lights on fire and the mom runs out of the house to tell her husband. Billie Joe saw the burning pail and grabbed it then threw it out the window. She didn’t know that her mom was running back to the house and the pail hit her mom and her apron lit on fire. The mom was burning in a column of fire. Freak accident says that it is like a very serious accident. Didn’t mean it to happen means that when she threw the pail out of the house she didn’t mean it to hit her mom she just didn’t want the house to burn up.
December 10th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
I am doing #7.
This novel might be considered a historical fiction bacause there are real events in the novel. One event is when she talks about Kilauea’s eruption. That was real at that time. Another one is the Dust Bowl. That was an real event that had a series of dust storms. That is just two of the many events. It is fiction because Billie Jo was not a real person that wrote it. By that I mean that there was not a person named Billie
Jo that wrote this novel. The author just made it like a diary.
December 10th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
1. The accident was that Billie Jo`s mother was cooking and had got the stove on fire .”Didn`t mean to happen” was when Billie Jo was in the house and she got the pot and tryed to fling it out but when she went to do it ,it landed on her mother then made her not look like her anymore.
2. The grasshoppers symbolize death. It symbolizes death because they come and eat all of ma`s apples and they are know food to eat, so they starve.
3. Well I think it means something like pointing at someone to blame on so they point that person out by pointing.
4. Her birthday wasn`t like how we have our birthdays know because we have all kinds of presents and special things. The scene is like when her friends come to help her celebrate her birthday. What she does to brighten up her bleak day is by doing something she hadn`t done before.
5. Billie Jo adds Kilauea to her diary because it is a volcano eruption and then has a storm or some kind of disaster to where she lives so that is where the storm comes to place.
6. The word I would choose is going to be sad because back then there was not realy anything to rely on so they had to stay close to there family and make sure they have every thing they would need to have at the time.
7. It would might be a historical fiction because it is about how Billie Jo writes things from long ago which considers it history.
December 10th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
I am going to be answering Q#1. The accident is that Billie Joʻs mother dies of burning to death, pregnant with Billie Joʻs soon to be brother. These two frazes could mean it was unexpected or it wasnʻt meant to happen.
December 10th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
How might this novel be concidered Historical Fiction?
I think It’s because the place, the time, the weather and the facts really exist but their is no proof that Billie Jo , her family and the events trully happened. So you can say that the baseline is real but the story is fiction.
December 10th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
5. Why does Billie Jo include Kilauea as one of her diary entries? What’s significant about the poem?
Billie Jo includes Kilauea in one of her diary entries because Billie Jo compares Kilauea to dust storms. Kilauea had an eruption and lava and smoke burst out, the lava and smoke destroyed everything in its path. During bad dust storms in Oklahoma dust destroyed everything in its path. So Billie Jo had a diary entry about Kilauea because she was explaining the similarities in an interesting way.
The significant thing about this poem is how Billie Jo explains the similarities of the dust storms in Oklahoma and an eruption in Kilauea. Billie Jo explains it in a poem and it is a very important part of the poem, that’s why it is the significant part of the poem. Without explaining the similarities of an eruption in Kilauea and the dust storms in Oklahoma there would be no poem.
December 10th, 2007 at 11:17 pm
1. The accident was when Billie Joes ma was cooking breakfeast one morning. Billie’s dad left a bucket of kerosene on the table.Ma mistacened it for water. billie Joe’s mother got on fire. When billie Joe tries to put out the fire from her mom she also got baddly burned. ” feak accedent” or ” didn’t meen it to happen” describes the accedent when billie wanted to help put out her mom but instead of she made it wurse by puting more kerosene on her mother because she also thought it was water. It brang mor pane to her mom and to her brother.
2.The grasshopers in this poem might mean to bring pain and take away from someone .
3.”Under the words a finger pointed” might mean that someone else or something else is using or blaming them for something they did not do. It brings them sorroe
4.Billie joes birthday was kind of good for the family and her.
5.Billie Joe includes kilouea in this so she can give an example of what she thinks is the same kind of great incident.
6.Heavenly. I choose this because this book is more harsh and rough but it is still kind of imotinal for billie Joe, Her mother, her brother, and her father especually because it must be realy hard to loose someone you loved greatfuly.
7.This novel might be consiterd historical fiction because its seems more like a kind family that loves each other. But has a lot of problems in this peirod of time in their life.
December 11th, 2007 at 8:16 am
The accident in “Out of the Dust” is when Billie-Joe flies the bucket of kerosene on her Mother. She didnt do it intetionally actually her dad left it on the counter and the mom thought it was coffee. So she poured it into her cup and BAM! The fire flew up in the air like a rope of fire. The mom went to get the dad outside and Billie Joe not knowing that her mother was comming back flew the bucket out the door and then the mom caught on fire. Billie Joe discribes it as “Ma looked like a single column of fire.” “Didn’t mean to happen” to me describes it more. Billie Joe didnt know that Ma was comming back, she didnt want her mom to catch on fire, she didnt mean to hurt her moher. Some people think it was Billie Joes fault some don’t. Only Billie Joe knows that her dad was drunk and left the burning Kerosene on top of the counter. Poor Billie Joe.
December 11th, 2007 at 8:24 am
Hardships.That is one word that would describe the story so far.Billie Jo, her father and mother have had nothing but hardships so far.They have little money,the wheat isn’t growing,and the accident with the fire.Now Billie Jo and her father are enduring more hardships with the death of Billie Jo’s mother and newborn brother.Everywhere she goes Billie Jo thinks her mother is haunting her and she can’t bring herself to do the things her mother wanted to do.She can’t even bring herself to play the piano anymore.
December 11th, 2007 at 8:33 am
In devoured, grasshoppers symbolize death because devour means to consume quickly. When the grasshoppers came flying in they consumed everything in it’s path. That day Ma died. So the grasshoppers came on the day Ma died. Therefore the grasshoppers symbolize death
December 11th, 2007 at 8:45 am
I choose question 1. The accident is when Billie Jo’s mother thought that in the pot was hot water but it was kerose that the father put in so the mom porred it in the coffe cup and it went on flames. So Billie Jo’s mom ran out of the house but then she ran back in and Billie Jo was getting the pot and when she got it, she threw it out the door. The thing she never see was her mom running back in so the pot on fire went strait on the mom and the mom was in flames buring. That was the accident. “Freak accident” or “didn’t mean it to happen” describe the accident very very bad that she wants to go back in time and wished she never threw the pot at her mom also it means that she can not forgive her self of what she had did to her mom.
December 11th, 2007 at 8:47 am
In Devoured, what do the grasshoppers symbolize?
In devoured the grasshoppers symbolize death. I know this because before Billie Jo’s mother and new born baby brother died the grasshoppers showed up. When the grasshopppers showed up they ate all of Billie Jo’s fathers weed and all of her mother’s apple tree.
December 11th, 2007 at 9:02 am
When the grasshoppers came in the book the grasshoppers ate all the wheat , tassles,leaves, stalks, ma’s garden, the fence post, laundry, Ma’s apple tree. When the grasshoppers came it gave them phamon and it also ment death. Billie Jo’s mom died first then her brother died, so in this story grasshoppers represent death.
December 11th, 2007 at 9:08 am
1.The accident was a pot of karosene was on the counter and ma was making Coffe for dad and she thought that the pot of karosene was water.So she put it in the pot on the stove and it lit into a karosene BLAZE!!!!!.Ma ran out the house to go and call dad outside and when she did that Bille jo threw it out the window and ma was running back into the house while the balze was going on to ma’s dress and lighting her on fire.Bille jo was tring to put out the blaze with her hands but she couldn’t.So dad went into the house and grabed the other pot of karosene thinking it was water.Dad threw it on ma and the BLAZE!! got even worse and they finaly put out the fire and they seen ma very burnt and badly hurt.
Freak accident in this story was that dad started a a mager accident and it backed fired to ma and ma got really hurt eally bad.But while ma was getting burnt she was preagnet and it was really bad for the baby.Thats the Freak accident.
December 11th, 2007 at 4:58 pm
1.What is the accdent?How do terms like “freak acident”or didn’t me it to happen”describe the accident?
The accident was Billie Jo threw karosene oil on her mother. Billie Jo’s mother went outside and Billie Jo had the kettle of karosene and she “accidently” THREW the karosene on her mother. Billie Jo saw that her mother needed help because she was burning on fire.Billie Jo ran out of the house and began beating the fire off of her mother.This was a difficult for Billi Jo because her hands were getting burned. As soon as billie got the fire off of her mother she was able to see what had happened to Billie Jo’s hands and her mothers burned sore body.
The terms “freak accident” and “didn’t mean to do it” to me means that the accident was a very ugly accisent and it was a terrible thing to see happen to a mother.And the term “didn’t mean to do it ” can also mean that Billie Jo did not mean to throw the karosene oil on her mother.Billie Jo’s mother was in a heap of pain.When I say heap I mean that Billie Jo’s mom look like a piece of burned chicken.Billie Jo’s mom had alittle slit in her mouth which in terms means Bilie Jo’s mom was melting because to have a slit formed for your mouth her two lips melted together. Billie Jo could not handle seeing her mom like this.After the accisent Billie Jo had , had very terrible dreams and Billie Jo was preety much miserable and felt quite guilty and she could not forgive her dad for leaving the koresen out like that.This is what I think .
December 11th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
The accident is when the stove lights on fire and Billie Jo throws the kerosene can out the door[that her father left there] and hits her mother and her mom catches on fire too. Billie Jo’s hands also catches on fire. The word grasshopper might symbolize death because when the grasshoppers came thats when Billie Jo’s mom died. The phrase “under there words a finger pointed” might symbolize that someone was talking and under there breath they said it was Billie Jo’s fault that her mom died. The day of her birthday she goes behind Arley Wanderdales house to listen to him play the piano. I think that she included Kilauea as a diary entry because the rumbling of Kilauea sounded like a dust storm approching. One word to summarize the novel would be sad because her mom and little brother dies and she lives in place where there is a lot of dust storms and it is miserable because they are poor. This novel could be considered historical fiction because the part about a lot of dust storms and dry weather is true but I think the characters aren’t.
December 11th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
Out of the Dust
I chose question #1 which asks What is the accident? How do terms like ” freak accident” or ” didn’t mean it to happen” describe the accident?
An accident happened when ma (Polly) was doing something on the stove with kerosene on it. The stove burst into flames Because ofthat Ma ran outside to call pa. Billie Jo was trying to help by throughing the kerosene out the door but didn’t see her ma coming back so the kerosene went on ma. Ma caught on fire. Billie Jo didn’t mean it to happen, she was just trying to help and get the kerosene out of the house. Because ma was in flames Billie Jo beat at her ma to get the flames out . Later when a doctor came to help ma and Billie Jo the doctor had to cut away all the burnt skin off ma’s body and Billie Jo’s hands. Only when the doctor put the medicine on did Billie Jo feel the pain. That was a freak accident that changed Pa and Billie Jo’s relatiionships together.
December 11th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Out Of The Dust could be considered historical fiction because the facts about the time and place are accurate. Historical fiction books are when the book has true facts but the characters or maybe the setting is made up. The way that they lived fits in with the time that they were living in. They had lot’s of dust storms and plenty of people died from the dust storms. Billie Jo and all of the other characters however, are made up. They’re fictious characters. That’s what makes Out Of The Dust classified as historical fiction.
December 11th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
Question #5
I think that Billie Joe chose to include the incident of Kilauea in her diary because it reminded her so much of the dust storms that was destroying her life and her home. The way that Kilauea spewed molten lava and devoured the area was a reminder to her of the dust storms and how they deserted the dry barren wasteland.
December 11th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
1. the accident is that Billy jo’s dad leaves karosene by the stove and it catches on fire so billy jo grabs the karosene to throw it out of the house but her mom waqs walking by so it hit her mom and she she gets badly burned.Then everyone blames it on billy jo.
2. Grasshoppers symbolize a lot of stuff around her and that she will like never be “bored”.
3.it means that while they were saying stuff and blaming her they were pointing at her.
4. it was regular but they had a lot of dust as in a duststorm. SHe starts playing piano.
5.because it was really important and she liked It. SHe explained the scenary good.
6.ongoing, because you will never know what will happen next.
7. because it is kind of the history because that is how it was before and it seems like it is made up.
December 11th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
The protagonist is Billie Joe. She lives in a place they call the dust bowl. They call it the dust bowl because dust is always flying. The Inciting incident is when Billie Joe finds a bucket of fuel. When she found the bucket she was thinking that somebody might get hurt with it. She opened the door and dumped the fuel. When she found her mother right there, she tried to stop but she was too late. The fuel went all over her mother, making her mother burn up from the dust flying all over her. This is not good because Billie Joe’s mother Polly has a baby in side of her giving her pain. But this is when the trouble starts. Her father takes Billie Joe’s money and gets drunk by using the money to buy beer. The very next day Polly died and so did the baby. Now the dad is saying that it is Billie Joe’s fault for Polly dying. Billie Joe says that it is her dads fault because instead of caring for her mother, he decided to get drunk.
December 11th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
I choose question 1. My answer is the accident was when Billy Jo threw the boiling pot of koresene out of the window and it accidentally hit mama and she caught on fire. But mama isn’t the only one who got burned, Billy Jo was burned on her hands.
The terms “freak accident” and “didn’t mean to happen” mean that something really bad happened to Billy Jo, the baby, or mama or something happened to all of them.It also can mean that mama, the baby, or Billy Jo died or they all both died. It also might mean that Billy Jo threw the pot of koresene at mama on accident and people thinks she’s crazy and is calling it a “freak accident”. But only the baby Franklin and mama died and luckily Billy Jo had injuries on her hands only.
December 11th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
The accident is that there is a fire in a pail of karocine and billijo tried to thro it out of the house but she did not see her mom coming in so she burned her mom and later her mom died when she just got birth to her baby after that her baby died. Billijo didn’t mean to heart her mom she was trying to get the pail out of the house.
December 11th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
The accident is when Billie Jo’s dad puts kerosene on the stove. Ma thought it was water and she poured the kerosene in the coffee pot. The kerosene caught on fire and ma ran out the door. Billie Jo thought her mom wasn’t by the door so she threw the burning pot out the door. Some of the kerosene touched ma’s apron and she caught on fire. Her ma had baby in her stomch and Billie Jo put out the fire with her hands. her hands got badly burnt. Ma had burnt skin all over. Terms like “freak accident” and “didn’t mean it to happen” mean that Billie Jo didn’t mean to burn her mom. She was trying to save the house from burning down and accidentlly burnt her mom by thowing the kerosene on her.
December 11th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
If I had to choose one word to summarize the book, “Out Of The Dust”, it would be ‘Tragic’. This story is tragic because the main character, Billie Joe’s mom dies and a dust bowl is coming. Everthing is just happening so fast. Billie Joe is so upset after her mom dies and is scared of the dust bowl, she wants to move to a different country. On top of everything else, Billy Joe’s dad drank up all thier safety money. This is a real tragedy.
December 11th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
Billie Jo includes “Kilauea” as one of her diary entries, because that poem talks about how in Hawai`i a volcano had erupted [Kilauea] and that it might cause sandstorms. Whats significant about this poem is that, if it does cause sandstorms then where Billie Jo lives they will have more and stronger sand blowing everywhere.
December 11th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
1. The accident was when Billie Joe accidently threw a gas out the door because her hands caught on fire so she didnt want anything else to happen but when she threw it out she diddnt see her Ma comming so it all spilled on her Ma and she got burnt. How the words “Freak accident” or “diddn’t mean to happen describes this accident is that Billie Joe felt like a total freak when it happend but it was also a huge accident because she diddnt see her Ma coming!
2. In Devoured, the Grasshoppers might symbolize the death of Billie Joe’s mother and baby brother.
3. What under their words they finger pointed means is that when they were practically yelling at Billie Joe for something she diddnt mean to do they were pointing at her while they were yelling at her feriously.
4. At Billie Joe’s Birthday the scene was her mother playing the piano. What brightens Billie Joes day was her mother playing the piano for her.
5. Why Billie Joe includes Kilaues as one of her diary entries is because she is descussing the similarities between the dust storm and how when Kilauea errupted here in Hawaii all of the smoke was like the dust storm.
6. One word that summerizes Out of the Dust so far is sad because Billie Joe’s life is really sad because her mom and brother dies, the blame is on her because her mother dies, she doesnt really have a nice loving family, and she is poor.
7. How the novel might be concidered historical fiction is because this could be a true story but this story is made up.
December 11th, 2007 at 6:58 pm
One word that I think would summarize everything I have read thus far would probably be “fustrated”. I chose that word because if I was in Billie Jo’s position right now I would be fustrated and upset too. Especially at the father who was out drinking while Billie Jo’s mom was dieing. Billie Jo has the right to be mad at the father because it sounds like he did not even care about the mother, because I know I would be mad at the father. Also that the wheat dies, the mom dies, and the “Grasshoppers” eat all the apples on their apple tree. So now Billie Jo is left with nothing exept her hated father.
December 11th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
By: Tahiti Chong
Out of the
1. What is the accident?
The accident is when Billy Joe’s dad has a pot of hot steaming kaolesean. And her dad through it out the door. Which her mom that is pregnant was entering the door into the house. While both of the parents did not see each other so as mom etered the house dad threw the hot kaoesean out the door of where her mom was. At that dangerous moment the wife got badly burned all over her. Which affected the baby as well since the accident burned her. Billy Joe, after the accident she said that she didnt even recognized her mom anymore because she couldnt see her face, she couldnt talk clearly, she cant do anything but lie down and drink water to help her get through the pain of her burns. Billy Joe cant evan make an image of her before the accident. Her mom was like a stranger to her. It was just a big accident. No one wanted this to happen. They were all sad but the one that got hurt the most was her mom that got totally burned. It was hard for her family because they also have to avoid the dust storm too! Later her mom was yelling for water but her dad was out drinking so it was only Billy Joe which tried her hardest but it didnt work. Slowly, sadly, and painfully her mother died because she needed water but no help. Before she died she had painfully gave birth to a boy. But after she gave birth her mom and baby brother died together. The baby died because when her accident with the burns that infected and affected the baby, so he died. It was the most tragic moment. She also couldnt recognize her dad especially when he was out drinking and getting drunk. It hurt her because it was as if she was all on her own. No mom, has to avoid the dust storms, it’s like living on her own with a stranger/dad.
Didnt mean to happen means that it was an accident or that he/she didnt even want the thing to begin, finish, or happen.
December 11th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
in the poem devoured, the grass hoppers symbolyze the lucusts that are eating all the crops. they ate all the apples and they ate ma’s garden. in other words they ate all of the food and they ate all of the plants that grew in the town.
December 11th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
Billie Jo talks about Kilauea because it is just like the dust bowl.It’s just like the dust bowl because there is lot’s and lot’s of dust like when the volcano erupted. Billie Jo also might have written it because it is similar to the situation that they are having, like the tearing up of crops and the heat. The significance of this poem is that Billie Jo shares her different life experiences in her diary.
December 11th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
In the book “Out of the Dust” the main character Billie Jo almost burned her mother to death. This is how it happened: Billie Jo’s father brought in a pail of kerosin and sat it next to the stove. Mother (Polly) thought that it was water and she poured it into the coffee instead of making coffee she made a rope of fire. (a quote from the book). The house was soon almost swallowed in fire. Everyone desperately tried to leave the house. Billie Jo ran for the can of kerosin thinking that she could throw it out the door and save what was left of the house. She grabbed it and just as she threw it out the door mother stepped in to the door. Mother caught on fire and was almost burned alive. Billie Jo tried to pat out the fire with her hands and was majorly burned in the process. You could consider this a freak accident because it happened in a strange way and so unexpectedly. I think under their words fingers pointed means that even if they didn’t say it was her fualt the way they said their words and what they said made it very clear that they were blaming her.
December 11th, 2007 at 7:44 pm
7.How might this novel be considered historical fiction?
This book mightt be considered historical fiction because the dust storms really happens in Oklahoma that might be why it is historcal.Out of the dust main character Billie Jo isn’t a real person and that might be why it is fiction.
December 11th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
In one word I would describe “Out of the Dust” as emotional. There was a whirlwind of emotions in this story. Happiness, sadness, guilt, anger and grief. Happiness when Billie Jo is asked to perform at the Palace Theater. Sadness when her best friend, Livie moves to California. Guilt when Billie Jo accidentally throws kerosene all over her mother, Polly. Anger when her dad goes out drinking and leaves her at home alone to care of her mother and grief when her mother and her baby brother, Franklin dies.
December 11th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
In Blame, what does “under thier words a finger pointed” mean?
While a group of peope were talking about the incident of Billie Jo’s ma’s death, they focused all the blame on Billie Jo. Even though it was all an accident, they never payed attention to that. Even though her dad was out speading ma’s money getting drunk, since Billie Jo burned her, its all Billie Jo’s fault. In my opinion, that is not fair. She should not be blamed on a MISTAKE.
December 11th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
What the accident is that Billie Jo’s dad put kerosine by the stove while ma was cooking and making breakfast. Ma thought it was water and pored it or put it on the stove and the kerosine caught on fire so Ma ran out calling dad. Billie Jo was going outside when she remembered the kerosine burning so she grabbed it and threw it out the door and at the same time so Ma caught on fire and was just a column of fire. Billie Jo tried patting and hitting the fire off Ma to save her and the baby. But the time she got the fire to be gone Ma’s body was severely burned. The term “didn’t mean it to happen” describe the incident because from Billie Jo’s point of view she didn’t know Ma was coming back, but from other peoples point of view not knowing what Billie Jo was thinking they are saying “freak accident” because it’s weird that someone would throw kerosine at their own mother.
In “Devoured” the grasshoppers symbolize Billie Jo’s Ma’s death because Ma’s apple tree was eaten by the grasshoppers just like how death ate away on her mother as she went to go get water.
In “Blame” “under their words a finger pointed” means that at Ma’s and the baby Franklin’s funeral everyone was talking about Ma’s and Franklin’s death and even though they weren’t saying Billie Jo killed them that’s what they meant, and Billie Jo could tell they were blaming her.
I think she included Kilauea is her diary entries because she is expressing her feelings with out being rude like saying I hate my life and yelled at someone today she can say the volcano exploded mass lava every where so she is using symbolizes. I think it is significant because she is expressing herself or the mountain is really erupting.
The one word I chose to summarize the novel thus far is tragedy. I choose tragedy because it starts off as a normal family and then “the accident” happens and puts everyone especially Billie Jo into a deep tragedy and great sorrow. That’s what my one word for this novel is . . . tragedy.
This book could be known as a historical fiction because the facts about places and some people could be true but the main character and other characters are made up.
December 11th, 2007 at 9:00 pm
This novel might be considered a historical fiction because it is a true story of a girl’s life, and how she struggles to get over her mother and infant baby brother’s deaths in the of a middle of a dust bowl back in the 1930’s.
December 11th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
2. In the book “Out of the Dust”, in the Chapter “Devoured”, grasshoppers come and eat all the crops and plants. The grasshoppers symbolize the death of Billie Jo’s mother. The reason why is because when she gave birth to Billie Jo’s brother Franklin, the strain on her body from getting burned and trying to deliver a baby was painful and hard for her to endure. She died right after giving birth to him along with the baby. The grasshoppers also symbolizes the pain and birth of the baby who was eating away at her insides during her labor and delivery. It’s just like when the grasshoppers eat all the crops and plants killing all vegetation in sight.
December 11th, 2007 at 10:05 pm
I will answer question number two. I think that in “Devoured” the grasshoppers symbolize death or pain. I think that the Grasshoppers symbolize death and pain because when Billie Jo mentioned them they ate and destroyed everything that they saw.They destroyed Billie Jo’s hand scabs, Ma’s apples/tree, the crops, Ma, and Billie Jo’s infant brother.Ma and the son were laying on Ma’s death bed [from her burns] when the grasshoppers arrived destroying everything including Billie Jo’s brother and mother.Billie Jo’s brother was just a few moments old.
December 12th, 2007 at 6:54 am
The accident is when Bille Jo tosses a pail full of burning carocine out the window of her house and it gets all over her mother.Her mother then cathes fire and gets severely burned all over her body. Terms like freak accident or didn’t mean to happen describe the accident beacause Bille Jo didn’t purposely throw the pail at her mother she thought that her mother was out in the feilds getting daddy and was just trying to save her house.
December 12th, 2007 at 7:13 am
6. Choose one word to summarize the novel thus far. What is it and why?
The word I chose to summarize the novel thus far would be the word “strong”. I chose the word strong because Billie Jo showed strength when she came upon challenges such as the death of her mother and infant brother and enduring all of the dust storms that happened so far. I also chose the word strong because of the challenges she faces in her every day life such as money problems, water, and food. Billie Jo represents the word strong very well.
December 12th, 2007 at 7:42 am
In Devoured, what do the grasshoppers symbolize?
In devoured the grasshoppers sybolize death because after the grasshopers came her mother and her new born baby brother had past away.
December 12th, 2007 at 10:40 am
I am doing question seven.
“Out of the Dust” is historical fiction because it has historical happenings, but the characters are not real. Billie Jo and her parents are fictional characters. The dust bowl is real but the characters in the dust bowl are not real.
December 12th, 2007 at 10:42 am
I am going to be explaining Q#5.
Billie Jo includes Kilauea as one of her diary entries because she compares it to her life styles. Ther signifigant part is how she describes it. Such as “huge chunks in the air and smoke choking everything in its path. She ends ” it as sounds a little like a dust storm” which is the climate of her home.
December 12th, 2007 at 10:43 am
Question 5:Billie Jo includes because it gets compared to a dust storm. This poem is singnificant because it has talks about Kilauea, and it pops out.
December 12th, 2007 at 10:45 am
I am doing question one.
“Ma suddenly was a colom of fire”, is a quote from the poem the acceden in the book out of the dust. Bilie Joe was trying to save her house when her mother accedently lit a pal of carosean. when bilie joe was throughing the pale out of the house here mom was in the way. Suddenly her mom was on fire. Polly (Bilie Joes mother) was burned very baddly.
December 12th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
Freek accident might mean that it was a mistake of the persons doing. The accident was a freek accident cause it wasen’t her fault that ther kerosone was there. The grasshopper means death devouring tha family. Under their word a finger pointed means they are blaming Billie Jo that her mom died. on her birthday, she brightend her day by playing the piano. The kilauea scene might mean that she is expolding cause she is so mad that her mom died. SAD. This book is sad how her mom died a slow and painful death. It is in Oklahoma( a real place) about a real girl and there is lots of dust storms
December 12th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
My question I chose was number six. One word that I chose was tragic to summarize this book. I chose the word tragic because her life is hard, her mother died, and the dust bowl was coming. A lot of tragic things are happening to Billie Joes life.
December 12th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Billie Jo wrote a diary entry about Kilauea because she thinks that it is a perfect description of a dust storm. In my point of view, this entry is significant because of the comparisons that Billie Jo makes between Kilauea and the dust storms she expieriences back at home. Billie Jo explains what happened when Kilauea exploded. She describes what it must of felt like, looked like, and sounded like. Then she says how much it’s like the dust storms.
December 12th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Im doing question nember one.
The accident was when Billie Jo threw a pan that was on fire out of the door and it hit her mom in a few seconds her mom was up in flames. How coul it be called a didn’t mean to do it accident it could be called that because Billie Jo didin’t mean to light her mom on fire when she threw it out the door she didin’t know her mom was there and she didn’t mean for it to light her on fire.
December 12th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
The accident is when billie jo father leaves a kerosene by the stove.then billie jo ma thinks it was hot water and put it on the stove it burst into flame. Her mom ran outside then billie jo took the kettle (it was the pot of kerosene) and threw it outside it landed on her mom.
December 12th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
The accident in out of the dust is when billie jo`s mom was cooking and a gas tank was by the kitchen stove and there was a fire and polly ran out of the house so billie saw the gas tank and threw it out the windown but she didn`t known her mom was coming back. So the gas tank blew up in her face . The grasshopper symbolizes death. The blame ment that billie blamed her father because he put the gas tank by the stove and if it wasn`t there then billie wouldn`t have thrown the gas out of the window and have it blown up in her moms face. The seen is about her playing the piano. it`s described good and you can get what she is saying about kilauea and how she feels. Dust because i think that dust means the place that she lives and the pain and suffering and the lives she lossed. It could have happen in the passed.
December 12th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
The accident is when Billie Jo throws a pail of kerosene at Ma. Ma then turns into a column of fire. She screams, and then Billie Jo uses her hands to try extinguishing the fire. Then the fire burnt out leaving Ma scorched like meat and Billie Jo with sore hands. Then the Dad instead of getting a doctor he gets drunk. Ma asks for water so Billie Jo goes and pumps up some water. Ma has trouble drinking the water and it goes all over her wounds. It turns out that Ma and the baby die. The grasshoppers symbolize that all life lives and dies (all the wheat and apple trees die from the grasshoppers) just like Ma and the baby die. I think that what they mean when the ”Finger Pointed” is when almost everyone blames Billie Jo for what happened to Ma when she feels that it’s all Dads fault because he drank the money and got drunk. She brightens her day by forgetting about what happened to Ma. I think Billie Jo included Kilauea because of the landscape and weather. I think the word to summarize the novel is Sadness. I think this novel can be considered historical fiction because back then the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma killed alot of crops including people.
December 12th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
I think this novel is considered historical fiction because during the time period it was written in, Oklahoma had a lot of dust storms and the dust got all over everything. Back then, a lot of the people that lived in the desert area of Oklahoma didn’t have a lot of money and life was pretty harsh. It was like they were in the dust bowl. It might also be considered historical fiction because Billie Jo is a fictional character, just like all the other characters in this book. That is how I think this novel can be considered historical fiction.
December 12th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
In the story “THE BLAME” the words “under thier words a finger pointed” means that in the story “THE ACCIDENT” Billie Jo saw that the pail was on fire and she didn’t know that her mom just came back and she went to throw the pail outside. At the moment that she threw the pail outside her mom got burnt because there was keroscene in the pail and all that was left on mom was dead skin. Later on that day they scrapped the dead skin off and then after that, there was only fresh skin left on mom. Later her mom died. People are blaming Billie Jo for killing her mother, but she is trying to say that it was a accident because she didn’t know that her mom came home and that she was right there.Thats why this diary entry is called “THE BLAME”.
December 12th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
The acsident is when bille joe sees a pail of karocine that is lit on fire, just before polly [billy joes mother] ran out of the house because she tryed to make pops cofee and pored it in and created a rope of fire. So when she ran to get pa she came back but billyjoe threw the flaming bucket out the door and burned ma. They symbolize fammen and death because they eat till things like trees are dead and when they came polly dead. Pa and billyjoe were trying to blame each other for what happend. she helps out to brighten her day from beeaing bad. she compares it to the dust that wipes out every thing in its path. It is sad and good there are both kind of parts. It is historical fiction because it is set in a time when it was hard to live.
December 12th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
The accident is all Billie Jo’s fault. Or at least thats what every one says. Father puts the kerosen by the stove. He wants Ma to make him coffe so she thinks thats water and pours it in and instead of making coffe she made fire! She runs out and calls father and Billie Jo follows, then stops to think about the kerosen. She turns around grabs the bucket and throws it out of the window but Ma was coming back. The kerosen was on Ma and she was on fire. Ma got badly burned and thats what caused Ma to die. The term “I didn’t mean to.” describes the accident like everyone blames Billie Jo for her Ma dieing.
December 12th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
Freek accident might mean that the person did not mean the incident. So Billie Jo did not mean to kill her mother. The grasshopper means death devouring her family. Under there words a finger pointed means the dad is blaming billie jo for there familys death, but it was really the dads fault because he put the kerosine in the bucket. Billie jo includes Kilauea because it was when the volcano was erupting. The thing that was significent about this poem was that it had discriptive words and i could imagine the scene in my mind. The word that discribes this book now would be sad because the mom died in a very painful way. This book might be historical Fiction because the story might be real but the characters might be fake.
December 12th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
Question 3
What is meant by “under their words a finger pointed” is that mom died because of Billie Jo. As the word spread they all concluded that it was Billie Jo’s fault.
December 12th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
1. the accident is when Billie Jo threw out the kerosene and went on to ma on accident. She went up in flames and got really bad burns everywhere
2.The grasshoppers represent the locust and how it ripped through everything that Billie Jo had like the apple tree.
3.When someone pointed out that Billie Jo had caused the accident when it wasn’t her fault.
4.Billie jo’s birthday was a same old day with the dust everywhere. Shehad a lot of ways to brighten her day.
5.She adds in Kilauea because the dust is like all of the debris flying through the air just like the duat at the house.
6.I would choose horrifing because Billie Jo goes through many things like the death of her mother, and the locusts going through the apple tree. The apple tree had not one apple left on it.
7.It is considered historical fiction because this dust happened long ago but is not based on a true person that went through the dust storm.
December 12th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
In Devoured, the grasshoppers symbolize a negative connection to Billie Jo’s life. The grasshoppers remind Billie Jo of just how helpless she feels throughout the death of her mom, as well as the devastation to the crops. What Billie Jo needs to realize is despite all of her efforts, the tradegy she experiences is way beyond her control. She cannot stop the death of her mom or the destruction to the crops. Fortunately, Billie Jo will have many mental memories of her mom even though the grasshoppers devoured some of the physical memories, her mom’s tree.
December 12th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
I choose question three which is In Blame, what does “under their words a finger pointed” mean? Since Billy Jo’s mother died from her terrible burns of the kerosine everyone is very sad. Billy Jo is blamed because she threw the pail. Everyone say’s oh a accident, but really the whole time their just pointing their finger at her. They all think Billy Jo was the person who is responsible for her mothers death, but no one thought to say that Billy Jo’s dad was the one to put the kerosine in the kitchen. That is what under their words of finger pointed mean.
December 12th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
The question that I chose was the first one. The accident all started when Billie Joes father had a bucket of kerosene in the kitchen. When Billie Joes mother (Polly) was preparing breakfast she saw the bucket of kerosene and mistaken it for coffee. Since Polly was thinking the bucket of kerosene was coffee she poured it into a mug for Billie Joes father to drink. Then all of a sudden BUM! The bucket of kerosene and the mug created a fire. Polly did not know what to do so she went outside to get Billie Joes father. While Polly was outside Billie Joe was still in the kitchen by the fire. Billie Joe did not want the fire to burn down the house so she thought she was doing a good deed by throwing the bucket of kerosene out the window. It turned out that Billie Joe made a mistake by throwing the bucket of kerosene out the window because Billie Joe did not realize that her mother was coming back into the house. So Polly ended up with all of her skin burned and she did not look like Polly anymore. Since Polly was still pregnant she tried to give birth to her son but Polly died trying. That was the accident. “Didn’t mean it to happen,” describes the accident because Billie Joe did not know that Polly was coming back into the house she just thought that she was doing a good deed. This accident also describes “freak accident” because the accident was kind of Billie Joes fathers fault because he was the one that left the bucket of kerosene in the kitchen if he had not left the bucket of kerosene in the kitchen their would not be any accident.
December 12th, 2007 at 8:25 pm
6. Choose one word to summarize the novel thus far. What is it and why?
From what I have read so far in Out of the Dust, I think the best word to describe this book would be depressing. Depressing is the word I would use because when Billie Jo was first born, her father rejected her because he wanted a boy not a girl. When Billie Jo accidently throws a bucketful of lighted kerosene, which seriously burns her mother, her family blames her for the tragedy, but Billie Jo blames her dad because he was the one that left it on the stove. It looked like tea. This is why Billie Jo lit the stove, she thought she was heating up tea. This situation is depressing because she was just trying to help and all these bad things happen as a result. Another situation is when her dad spends all the emergency money on beer and doesn’t stay home to give Ma a drink of water. This causes Ma to suffer because Billie Jo tries to give Ma water but ends up dripping the water on Ma’s burned skin. Soon Ma dies by giving birth to the baby she was going to have but then the baby dies, too, and the town blames Billie Jo for their deaths. After that, her dad acts like Billie Jo was not alive. This made me feel bad for Billie Jo because after everything that has happened to her no one gives her pity. This is why I chose the word depressing.
December 12th, 2007 at 9:00 pm
In the book “Out of the Dust”, the accident that happened was when Billie Jo’s mother got burned from the kerosene.The accident happened when Billie Jo’s father left the kerosene right next to the stove. It caught on fire and Billie Jo’s mother ran outside. Billie Jo was about to throw the kerosene out the door as her mom ran right by the door. The kerosene splashed all over her, and Billie Jo was in trouble.
Billie Jo was left to blame, although it was her father’s fault to leave the kerosene by the stove. Their was nothing she could do about it. Rumors were going around that Billie Jo killed her mother and new born baby brother. Why was a young girl as Billy Jo to blame? Her father was the one to blame, he didn’t even feel sorry for Bill Jo, nor did he tell the truth. It seemed like he didn’t even care about Billie Jo anymore.
The words “freak accident” or “didn’t mean it to happen” truly describes the accident very well, because it was truly an accident on Billy Jo’s part. An accident that she did not intend for it to happen, really happened not intentionally, but it was a “freak accident”. A freak accident because it wasn’t mean’t to happen, but it did.
December 12th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
The accident is when the kerosine was left by the coffee and then it caught on fire, Bille Jo just reacted and threw the pot out the door right when Billie Jo’s mother was walking in the and she got seriously burned. The term “freak accident” describes this incident because freak accident means something happening unexpectidly and reslly rare to happen,just like Billie Jo’s mother catching on fire. It “didn’t mean to happen” because Billie Jo was trying to save the house from burning because then they would have nothing; all of a sudden billie jo’s mom walks in the house right when the pot is flying out the door.
December 12th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
I chose question #3: I think “Under their words a finger pointed” means that they were only pointing out Billie Joe because she threw the bucket of kerosene on top her mom. If they were going to point her out her dad should’ve known that it was partly his fault as well. Billie Joe thought that the bucket was water, so she was going to use it to put the fire on her mom out. One thing she didn’t know was that when she trew the bucket at her mom instead of water it was kerosene. Billie joe felt bad because she threw the bucket, but confused becaues her dad put a bucket of kerosene right next to the oven. So while they were talking they only pointed out Billie Joe “under their words”, because they thinm it’s all her fault which it was not all her fault, but it seemed lik because her dad didn’t want to say anything about what he did, because he should’ve took part of that blame.
December 13th, 2007 at 5:38 am
The grasshoppers in Devoured might symbolize the baby brother. I think this because in this chapter it says that the grasshoppers ate,destroyed,and killed everything only leaving the a few plants and some wheat to lay there at die. What the text also said was that the Mom, Polly, had died that same day giving birth to the baby. The baby is just like the grasshoppers because he killed his Mom and they killed everything.
What the grasshoppers might also represent is death because when they came to the Dust Bowl they devoured everything in their path killing all types of plants that had a lot of hard work in put in to them.
December 13th, 2007 at 7:24 am
In blamed the “under their words a finger pointed” means that the people were blaming Billie Jo for her mother’s death. They did that by pointing their fingers at her.pointing their fingers meant blaming Billie Jo.
December 13th, 2007 at 7:25 am
The accident is that Billie Jo’s dad left keroscene in the sink while the mom told Billie Jo to go get her water for dad’s coffee. Instead of grabbing water she grabbed thwe keroscene and it blew up. Mom was on fire! Biile Jo grabbed the keroscene pail and threw it out of the window and hit mom. Again she was burned. A “freak accident” is like she didn’t know what to do but they all knew what to do, “didn’t mean it to happen”is like they knew what to do but since Billie Jo was smart enough to throw the keroscene out first the house didn’t burn down but in the wrong spot she threw it.
December 13th, 2007 at 7:26 am
In the poem “The Accident” it is sort of a freak accident, because Billie Jo’s mom was just making coffee for Billie Jo’s dad but she did not realize it was kerosene. So then the kerosene started to flame and her mother ran out of the house looking for Billie Jo’s Dad. And as Billie Jo ran out the door she thought of the flaming pail in the bone dry house, and she thought that if she didn’t do anythig then all they have will turn into burnt ashes. So not knowing her mother was returning Billie Jo threw the pail of flaming kerosene out the door. The gas spilled on her mother’s apron and as Billie Jo described her mom suddenly turned into a column of fire. Billie Jo jumped on her mother and tried to put the flames out by hitting it with her hands. It obviously did not work because in the next poem Billie Jo said her mom smelt like scorched meat because her mom got burned, Bad.
December 13th, 2007 at 7:35 am
The accident was that Billie Joe accedently through the pale outside so te house wn’t burn, but, instead, Billie Joe throgh the pale of kerosene out the door and landed on top of mom. The accident was not supposed to happen, what Billie Joe had to do was that she had to throw out the pale so the house would not burn the house.
December 13th, 2007 at 7:38 am
The accident is when Billie Jo’s mother was making her father’s coffee when the can of kerosene that was next to the oven caught on fire. Then when Billie Jo tried to throw the can of burning kerosene out of the window when some of the kerosene splashed onto her mother’s dress, and she caught on fire. The terms ”freak accident” and ”didn’t mean to happen” describes the accident because the freak accident was that the kerosene caught on fire and some of it splashed onto Billie Jo’s mother and then she caught on fire to. Also Billie Jo didn’t mean for the kerosene to splash onto her mother, but mainly because her mother was pregnent.
December 13th, 2007 at 10:34 am
In the titled poem devoured the grasshoppers symbolize death. I say it means death because while all the plants die at t5he same time Bille Jo’s mom die.
December 13th, 2007 at 10:34 am
In devoured the grasshoppers symbolize death. I say that it means death because while Billie Jo’s mom is dying all the plants die at the same time.
December 13th, 2007 at 10:41 am
Out Of The Dust is Great book because Billie Joe can play the piano really good. Her mom was pregnant and her dad is just stuburn. The big thing that you must be thinking about Dust. Dust is fear or death. So if you do the math it add up to acciedents. oklahoma is a dried of dump nothing could survive this maddness. Billi jo Mother was cooking breakfest and there was a gassy oil by the stove and it was on fire Billi Jo ran in by the stove and flew the gas out the window on to her mother burning her body of killing her mom and baby brother.
December 13th, 2007 at 10:43 am
The question that I chose to answer was question # 7. I think that the book “Out of the Dust” could be considered as a historical fiction book because it happened in the past/history but no one knows for sure if these events actually had happen. That is why I think this novel could be considered as a historical fiction story.
December 13th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
1. Ma was just making coffee and mistakenly used the kerosene can. Her “coffee” turned out to be flames! Ma ran, calling for Billie jo’s father. So Billie Jo tried to throw out the can and splashed it on Ma. She caught on fire!!! Quickly Billie Jo ran to her side- the baby’s too- and burned her hands trying to save Ma. This could be considered a “freak accident” because Billie Jo’s father couldn’t have predicted Ma would use it for coffee. Then if he did, he couldn’t predict Billie Jo’s actions of throwing out the gasoline and splashing her mother. So the accident could be a “freak accident” and they didn’t mean for it to happen.
December 13th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
in blame I think “a finger pointed” means that someone was blaming billie joe and was pointing his or her finger at her to say that it was her fault that billie joes mother was dead because she threw the pail of kerosene and thats what i think “a finger pointed” means.
December 13th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
7. This novel is considered this genre (historical fiction) because it is what its name applies. It is historical because the setting is in the olden days of the dust bowl in 19th century america. But the hardships and characters are all modled after the people who lived there might have been like. Thats the thing. Thats how the might have been like. The setting and locations are real, but the situations and characters are fiction. Thus, they call it historical fiction.
December 13th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
1.Becuse it was an aciendent and it turned out to be one of the biggest aciedents.
2.Locust grasshoppers dont eat that fast but locusts are close to grasshoppers in the inseact family
3.that someone made bille jo feel gulty and blamed her.
4.A cake brightens her day and aley asking her to play.
5.shes comparing kilauea to the dust bowl that she lives in
6.Interesting:it keeps me hooked in the story
7.becuase this is how people lived in that time and it is not true but could be
December 13th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
I am doing question #3. It means like they are blaming her behind her back. They are not saying it was her in her face but they are saying it was her fault.
December 14th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
The phrase “under their words a finger pointed” means that when they came over Billie Joe was in shame beacuse it was her fault that her mother had passed because Billie Joe threw the pail of Kerosene out the door but she didn’t know that her mother was coming back into the house at that time so the pail of fire and Kerosene landed on her mother.Billie Joe tried to beat out the fire but it was too late the mother was burned really bad!!!
December 14th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
I think this novel is considered historical fiction because it talks about Oklahoma as a dust bowl. I think it would be an historical fiction book because it probably talks about Oklahoma in the old days. Oklahoma probably looks old still but the laws and people might have changed.
December 17th, 2007 at 11:18 am
6.One word that I think describes the whole book Out of the Dust is death because once her mom dies her dad gets really sad and depressed and doesn’t love her like how her mom would.When ever she did something little her mom would always make a big deal about it and always made Billie Jo feel good.On July 1934 her mom died from a pail of kerosene and a stove. While she was burning Billie Jo panicked and tried to tap it out with her hands which left a mark of her mom.One day the mom and her little brother in the mothers whome died,she loved her very much.
December 17th, 2007 at 11:18 am
2.The Grashoopers simbolize the death and fear that is coming and how her mom will die in a few minutes and so will her brother to.
1.the acident was that billy jo dad left a Karsoinx a verey explosive chemical that her mom acidently put on the stove. And it went up in flames and her mom ran out the door saying papa Help.Then Billy Jo thougt that the house would catch fire and they would hve no home so she through the pot out the door and didn’t see her mom coming back in and it burned her badly and Billy Jo tried to stop the fire by useing her hands and she got burned to. An the fearky part was a the funeral the just said that she throw the pot and not that her daddy left the pot of chemicals by the stove.
December 17th, 2007 at 11:20 am
The accident was that a fire started when Billie Jo’s dad put a pail of kerosene next to the stove.Ma fixing breakfast, thinking the pail was filled with water, and lifted it, to make daddy’s coffee’pourd it, but instead of making coffee’ Ma made a rope of fire. Billie Jo threw the kerosene out side but suddenly threw the kerosene at Ma. Ma was badly burned and Billie Jo’s hand was badly burned to. then a couple of days later Ma died giving birth to her baby brother.
Question #1
December 17th, 2007 at 11:22 am
2. In devoured, what do the grasshoppers symbolize?
Ma was burned by the flames from the pale of kerosene nere the stove, ma poured it into the pot thinking it was water to make coffee for daddy and got burned bad by the flames. As Billy jo trys to put out the flames with her hands she feels no pais]n until the end. It burned ma on her face, discising it with ashes and burnt skin looking nothing like ma. As she lay in bed, Billy jo walks out to look at the sky seeing a cloud, a cloud of grasshoppers coming to feast. The grasshoppers pass leaving nothing but bare earth, symbols death everywhere. Ma
died.
December 17th, 2007 at 11:27 am
1. The accident was that Billie Jo’s dad left a pale of kerosene by the stove. Then ma wanted to make coffee for dad but ma didn’t know that the it was kerosene so she poured it into a pot thinking the kerosene was water. Then the house started to burn, then ma darted outside to warn dad. Then Billie Jo didn’t want the house get burnt more so she grabs the kerosene and runs and threw the kerosene didn’t ma was coming back. Then the fire got on ma’s apron and then she caught on fire so Billie Jo pushed ma to the ground and tries to put the fire out with her hands. Then after ma had no skin. After giving birth ma died.
December 18th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
1. It describes it by saying it was 1 of the worst accidents that has ever happened to the family. And it will always be the worst.
2. It symbolizes the storms of dust that tortures and brings desruction to the families crops and lifes.
3. It means that they are all pointing fingers at each other so they get the blame put on them.
4. Her birthdays are different from ours in the present day we have better jobs that pay a lot of money. But back in Billie Jo’s time in life they have jobs that dont pay much. So instead she has relitives that come over to celebrate with her.
5. She talks about who Kilauea’s ash is exactly like the dust she gets.
6. In the begining of the book life gets rough. But when ma dies things get even harder because Billie and pa are blaming each other for the death of ma.
7. It can be concidered historical fiction because thats how life was back in the time the books setting is.
January 7th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
My name is Jalen and I am reading out of the dust. It is a girl Billy Jo and she doesnt like the dust because she can get killed by it. One part of the story Billy Jo’s Ma was cooking and the oil got coaght on her so she got burned baddly. So she went to the hospital and she got this water thing to not get burned and it was really paneful and she had a baby that was coming and the baby got burned . So when she had the baby it was a burned baby. That is the story of Billy Jo and her family and Out Of The Dust. Out of the dust is a great story because it is really exciting.