Library

Out of the Dust - Lesson 19

By Sara Hofer
Last updated 11 months ago
4 Questions
Lesson 19 Question Set
Directions: Read this passage in which Billie Jo describes the coming of a dust storm. Then answer each item.
from “Fields of Flashing Light”
from Out of the Dust
by Karen Hesse

It wasn’t until the dust turned toward the house,
like a fired locomotive, (1)
and I fled,
barefoot and breathless, back inside,
it wasn’t until the dust
hissed against the windows,
until it ratcheted (2) the roof,
that Daddy woke.

He ran into the storm,
his overalls half-hooked over his union suit.
“Daddy!” I called. “You can’t stop dust.”

Ma told me to
cover the beds,
push the scatter rugs against the doors,
dampen the rags around the windows.
Wiping dust out of everything,
she made coffee and biscuits,
waiting for Daddy to come in.

Sometime after four,
rubbing low on her back,
Ma sank down into a chair at the kitchen table
and covered her face.
Daddy didn’t come back for hours,
not
until the temperature dropped so low,
it brought snow.

Ma and I sighed, grateful,
staring out at the dirty flakes,
but our relief didn’t last.
The wind snatched that snow right off the fields,
leaving behind a sea of dust,
waves and
waves and
waves of
dust,
rippling across our yard.

1 locomotive: Fast-moving train
2 ratcheted: Came down loudly upon

Hesse, Karen. Out of the Dust. Scholastic, Inc., 1997, pp. 32–33.
1.

PART A: Which of the following statements best describes Billie Jo's attitude about the dust storm at the beginning of this passage?

RL.6.1
2.

PART B: Which piece of evidence supports the idea in PART A?

RL.6.1
3.

Read these lines from the passage.

“leaving behind a sea of dust,
waves and
waves and
waves of
dust,
rippling across our yard”

What does the phrase sea of dust describe about the dust?

RL.6.4
L.6.5.a
4.

How does Billie Jo’s response to the dust storm change over the course of the last stanza?

RL.6.3