Book Report Materials.

English 70 Book Report Materials

Complete the following book report based on the chapters you read for this week's assignment.

Book Title: The Secret Life of Bees.

Author: Sue Monk Kidd

PART 1: DESCRIBING

Who are the main characters in the book? Choose 3 other main characters, and use the table below to describe 1 physical trait and 1 personality trait for each character.

Character	Appearance Trait	Personality Trait	How do you know? *Support your descriptions by using passages, quotes, or ideas in the book.
Character 1 (Main Character): Lily Owens	-Her hair was messy. -She wore clothes that she had made for herself in economics class. (Cotton print shirtwaists with crooked zippers and skirts hanging below her knees. -Black hair. -She didn’t have much of a chin. -Nice eyes. (“Sophia Lauren eyes”) -Her fingers were bloody and chewed. -She picked at the scabs on her body. (Scars)	-She worried about how she looked and whether she was doing things right. -She likes to read. -Smart. -Determined.	Page 3: “My hair was constantly going off in eleven wrong directions..” Page 8: “ he did not care that I wore clothes I made for myself in home economics class, cotton print shirtwaists with crooked zippers and skirts hanging below my knees, outfits only Pentecost girls wore.” Page 9: “My hair was black like my mothers but basically a nest of cowlicks, and it worried me that I didn’t have much of a chin.” Page 9: “I had nice eyes, though, what you would call Sophia Lauren eyes…” Page 9: “I started picking scabs off my body and, when I didn’t have any, gnawing the flesh around my fingernails till I was a bleeding wreck.”
Character 2: Rosaleen	-Big round face. -African American -Body that sloped out from her neck.	-Very loving and kind. -She’s tough. -Caring. -Nurturing -Motherly	Page 2: “She Had a big round face and a body that sloped out from her neck like a pup tent, and she was so black that night seemed to seep from her skin.” Page 11: “ I was the only one who knew that despite her sharp ways, her heart was more tender than a flower skin and she loved me beyond reason.” Page 32: “Coming alongside the men, Rosaleen lifted her snuff jug, which was filled with black spit, and calmly poured it across the tops of the men’s shoes…”
Character 3: Deborah Owens	-Her hair was black. -She had thick curls. -She smelt like cinnamon.  - She didn’t have much of a chin. -She was pretty.	-Kind -Loving	Page 6: “ Her hair was black and generous, with thick curls circling her face, a face I could never coax into view, despite the sharpness of everything else.” Page 6: “I was wrapped in her smell. The scent got laid down in me a permanent way and had all the precision of cinnamon.” Page 13: “She was more or less missing a chin, too, but even so, she was above- average pretty, which offered me genuine hope for my future.” 2

What are the main events in the chapters you read? Use the table below to describe three main events in the story according to your opinion. 

Questions	Event 1	Event 2	Event 3
What happened?	Lily shot her mother.	Rosaleen gets arrested.	Lily and Rosaleen escape.
When did it happen and where?	-Lily was four when it happened. -It was in the afternoon. -It happened in their house.	-Sylvan. The worst side of town. -Esso station on the corner of West Market and Park Street	-Sylvan Memorial Hospital
Who was involved? What did they say? What did they do?	-Deborah, T-Ray and Lily Owens. -Words of fury. -Deborah pulled Lily toward her, only to get grabbed by T-Ray. -He carried Lily to the door and set her down in the hallway. He then told her to go to her room. Lily didn’t listen instead she tried to push past him back into the room where her mother was. T-Ray shouted, “Get in goddamned room!” and shoved Lily. “I landed against the wall, then fell forward onto my hands and knees. Lifting my head, looking past him, I saw her running across the room. Running at him yelling. “Leave her alone.” -T-Ray took her by the shoulders and shook her. -Deborah lunged away into the closet looking for something high on a shelf. -She grabbed a gun. -Lily ran toward her, falling and wanting to her. -T-Ray snatched the gun and dropped it. -Lily found the gun on the floor picked it up and pulled the trigger.	-Three men who were playing cards. -One of the men looked up and saw them and said, “Well, look what we got coming here. Where’re you going, nigger?” -Lily told Rosaleen to keep walking and to not pay attention, but Rosaleen didn’t listen. She replied back to the men saying, “I’m going to register my name so I can vote, that’s what.” -The man next to the dealer put his cards down and said, “Did you hear that? We’ve got ourselves a model citizen.”  The other two men said that they’ve never seen one that black nor have they seen that one that big either. The third man felt obligated to say something so he spurted out, “Where’d you get that fan, nigger?” Rosaleen had said that she stole it from a church. -Coming alongside the men Rosaleen poured the spit in her jug onto their shoes. -The men got angry and grabbed Rosaleen and flung her around yelling at her to apologize. She didn’t. Which only made things worse. -The police were called. -Rosaleen was on the ground with blood dripping from the cut beneath her eye. _The policeman got to the scene and told Rosaleen that she was under arrest for assault, theft and disturbing the peace.	-Lily _Rosaleen -The lady at the front desk. -Mr. Gaston -Policeman watched Rosaleens door. --Rosaleen got sent to the hospital because she “fell” -Lily went to the hospital and found and asked her what had happened. -Rosaleen said that two men held her by the arms while the other one hit her. -Lily found a phone and called the front desk of the hospital, she told the lady that Mr. Gaston wants to send the policeman that they’ve got over there back to the station. -Lily and Rosaleen rushed out of the hospital onto the highway, where they would hitchhike to Tiburon.
Why is this an important event?	This event marks the death of her mother, which is the main mishap of the story and leads to future events throughout the story.	This event is important because it leads to the main event of the story. It shows that although she’s a woman, she is still strong enough to defend herself.	I believe that this event is most important. They escape from T-Ray, jail and the hospital. They’re on a knew path to living different lives.

What do you think will happen next?

I think that Rosaleen and Lily will find Tiburon, South Carolina, there they will find someone who knew Lily’s mother, as well as somewhere to stay.

PART 2: CRITIQUING

What was the part or passage of the book that you liked the most so far? Why? Share your favorite passage on your personal blog page. 

Copy the passage you liked the most here. Write down the page #.

Why do you like this passage?

Page 8-9: “He didn’t believe in slumber parties or sock hops, which wasn’t a big concern as I never got invited to them anyway, but he refused to drive me to town for football games, pep rallies, or Beta Club car washes, which were held on Saturdays. He did not care that I wore clothes I made for myself in home economics class, cotton print shirtwaists with crooked zippers and skirts hanging below my knees, outfits only the Pentecost girls wore. I might as well have worn a sign on my back: I AM NOT POPULAR AND NEVER WILL BE. I needed all the help that fashion could give me, since no one, not a single person, had ever said, “ Lily, you are such a pretty child,” except for Miss Jennings at church, and she was legally blind. “

I like this passage because it shows how her life is and what she wears and goes through mentally. She is a tough girl, she makes her owns clothes and sort of fends for herself. The passage puts you in her shoes and gives you a sense of sorrow for her and makes you realize that she doesn’t have much of an every day teenage girl life.