3. List the social issues that Kingsolver presents in The Bean Trees and explain how these issues affect the lives of the novel’s characters. 4. Explain how the struggles faced by the characters in the novel are inspiring. 5. How is Taylor Greer like Barbara Kingsolver? 6. How are the […]
Read more Study Help Essay QuestionsStudy Help Full Glossary for The Bean Trees
anatomical resembling the human body. Angel Dust another name for PCP. Apoplectic a stroke; a condition of great excitement or anger. Beach Blanket Bingo refers to a 1965 beach movie of the same name, featuring teen idols Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. beef shingles on toast a dish in which […]
Read more Study Help Full Glossary for The Bean TreesCritical Essays A Note about Feminism
Between 1920 and 1960, enthusiasm for the women’s rights movement decreased. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the United States Constitution, which would have made sex discrimination officially unconstitutional, caused feminists to split during the 1920s and form two camps — those who favored the ERA and those who opposed […]
Read more Critical Essays A Note about FeminismCritical Essays Kingsolver’s Women
The women in the novel are ordinary, decent women. Their concerns, similar to those of most single women, include how to survive on very little income, how to keep their children clothed and fed, and how to keep a job and care for their children at the same time. Kingsolver […]
Read more Critical Essays Kingsolver’s WomenCritical Essays Major Themes in The Bean Trees
Throughout the novel, Kingsolver focuses on family as a major theme. Taylor ends up with Turtle, and together they form a family. When they move in with Lou Ann and her son, their family grows. Neither Taylor nor Lou Ann can afford much; by sharing expenses, they help each other […]
Read more Critical Essays Major Themes in The Bean TreesCritical Essays Literary Tools
A dialect is a spoken version of a language. Dialects develop when people are separated or isolated from one another due to natural geographic barriers, such as mountain ranges, or social barriers, such as class. Prior to the development of motorized travel, which allows people to move about more easily, […]
Read more Critical Essays Literary ToolsCritical Essays Kingsolver’s Style
Kingsolver’s native southern Kentucky dialect contributes to the realistic representation of the simple, ordinary life lived by her characters. Taylor and Lou Ann both grew up in rural Kentucky and consider themselves hillbillies. They feel comfortable with each other because they talk alike, using expressions such as “I’ll swan” and […]
Read more Critical Essays Kingsolver’s StyleBarbara Kingsolver Biography
Kingsolver was born on April 8, 1955, in Annapolis, Maryland, to Wendell Kingsolver, a physician, and Virginia Henry. Her family soon moved to be close to relatives living in eastern Kentucky. Kingsolver’s father worked as the only doctor in rural Nicholas County, a county situated between the poverty of coal […]
Read more Barbara Kingsolver BiographySummary and Analysis Chapters 16-17
Summary and Analysis Chapter 16 is the climactic chapter in the novel. Estevan, Esperanza, Taylor, and Turtle visit Mr. Armistead, the person whom Cynthia, the social worker, suggested that Taylor see about getting legal guardianship of Turtle. In Armistead’s office, Estevan and Esperanza pretend to be Turtle’s parents. They “give” […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 16-17Summary and Analysis Chapters 14-15
Summary and Analysis The level of suspense and tension increases as Taylor, Turtle, Estevan, and Esperanza leave Tucson in a car. Esperanza rides in the backseat with turtle. Esperanza’s long hair is flowing free of the braid she usually wears, ironically portraying a “brave show of freedom.” At the New […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 14-15