Chapter 5
- What simile does Kingsolver use to describe the railroad track?
- How long does Taylor last at the Burger Derby?
- According to Taylor, what was the favorite TV show of the really high-stung horses?
- How impressed is Taylor by the establishment run by F-E-I?
- How does Taylor react to Lou Ann?
- What is one of Turtle’s normal positions?
- Why is Lou Ann smiling at the end of the chapter?
- What is the significance of the title of this chapter, “Harmonious Space”?
New Characters
- Jerry Speller
- Jessie
- Aimee
- the father of Sandi’s baby
- Fei
- La-Isha
- Timothy
Idioms, Slang, and Difficult Words
- gussets
- punked-out
- being flex
Cultural and Historical Allusions
- Train whistle
- tea kettle whistle
- Bob Seger
- plane crash into the D.C. river
- Dixie
- Kermit the frog
- Miss Piggy
- Knox gelatin
- paisley
- boxcars
- Ripley’s Believe It or Not
- Lazyboy recliner
- army cot
- Mr. Ed
- jockey cap
- the madonna
- Virgo
- wind chimes
- beachcomber
- sarong
- Beach Blanket Bingo
- clarinet
Medical, Natural, and Geographic Allusions
- Tucson train station
- albino
- soybean curd
- teething
- homeostasis
- newborns with flat heads
- nitrates
- split personality
- artery
- chest cavity
- auricles
- ventricles
- hardened artery
Great Quotes
- “‘You’ll have to excuse Timothy; he used caffeine yesterday and now his homeostasis is out of balance.’ I presumed they were talking about his car, although I was not aware of any automotive uses for caffeine.
‘That’s too bad,’ I said. ‘I wouldn’t do anything with caffeine but drink it.’”