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"Just beyond Chamberlain, Gramps took a detour to the Missouri River. He parked the car beneath a tree overlooking a sandy bank. Gram and Gramps kicked off their shoes. It was quiet hot, hot, hot. All you could hear was a crow calling somewhere up river and the distant sound of cars along the highway. The hot air pressed against my face, and my hair was like a hot, heavy blanket draped on my neck and back. It was so hot you could smell the heat baking the stones and dirt along the bank... I gazed down at the river. Not a soul in sight. The water looked cool and clear. Gram and Gramps sat there in the river, grinning away. I waded in and sat down. It was nearly heaven, with that cool water rippling and a high, clear sky all around us, and trees waving along the banks (89-90)."

This quote does a really good job of describing the weather near the Missouri River and how relieving it was to get into the cool river. It describes the setting where Gram gets bit by the snake. From then on, Gram's health starts to decline until she eventually dies. This quote shows the reader how hot it was in Missouri and also shows how tempting the water was to jump in to. The Missouri River is where Gram gets bit by the snake, which impacts Gram, who gets weaker and sicker, and Gramps and Sal, who have to witness her decline in health. This stops them from enjoying their trip as much as could have if they weren't worried about Gram. Also, when Gram dies, it makes both Sal and Gramps really sad, and makes Gramps think that it might have been his fault that she died, since he wanted to stop at the river. It is always very tempting to get into cool water or into an air conditioned room when it is really hot, like it was in Missouri. Many times, people will just jump into water without knowing what might be in the water or underneath the water. This can cause injury and death in some instances.

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“The bus lay on its side like an old sick horse, its broken headlights staring out mournfully into the surrounding trees. Most of the huge rubber tires were punctured and grotesquely twisted on their axles. I climbed up onto the bus’s side, hoping to make my way down to an open window, but there were two enormous gashes torn into the side, and the jagged metal was peeled back like a sardine tin. Through a smashed window behind the driver’s seat, I saw a jumbled mess of twisted seats and chunks of foam rubber. Everything was dusted over with fuzzy, green mold (259-260)."

This is the first time that Sal sees the wreckage of the bus accident that killed her mother. She had been wanting to see the crash site for a long time, and she finally got to see it. This quote shows the reader how determined and brave Sal is to go down a hill and climb towards a place that most people would never want to see or maybe even hear about. This trip obviously meant a lot to Sal. Sal had been imagining how the scene might have looked like for over a year. Knowing how it actually looked, all twisted and crooked, she sees how terrible it must have been. This was one of Sal’s goals throughout the whole book: to see her mom and the bus. She had finally been able to achieve her goal. When people get into car accidents, many times they do not want to see the car, but need to see it to understand what went on, and how badly the car was damaged. This is probably like what Sal must have been thinking. She probably didn't really want to see the wreckage, but needed to see it to understand the situation her mom was in when she breathed her last breaths.

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“I asked if I could sit there for a little while, because I wanted to memorize the place. I wanted to memorize the grass and the trees, the smells and the sounds. In the midst of the still morning, with only the sound of the river gurgling by, I heard a bird. It was singing a birdsong, a true, sweet birdsong. I looked all around and then up into the willow that leaned toward the river. The birdsong came from the top of the willow and I did not want to look too closely, because I wanted it to be the tree singing. I kissed the willow. ‘Happy birthday,’ I said (263).”

This quote shows the first time that Sal sees her mother’s grave, and shows the significance of the spot her mother rests in. She wants to remember every last detail of her mother’s grave, so that she never forgets the spot. This quote shows the reader how attached Salamanca is to nature, because she not only wants to remember her mother’s grave, but the nature around her mother. Sal is finally content once she has seen her mother’s grave. She comes to the realization that her mother is gone, and that Sal won’t be able to save her or bring her back. This is hard for Sal to face, but she feels a sort of burden lifted off her shoulders knowing that she cannot do anything about her mother’s situation. This shows a sort of historical context because after World War II, and all the wars, bodies were sent to graveyards to be buried. Many family members probably couldn’t believe that their loved ones had died until they saw their grave. After that, they knew there was nothing they could have done to bring them back. This provided Sal with a sense of closure.

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“Then it was like the radiator boiling over or the tea kettle blowing its top. Old Faithful hissed and steamed. A sudden spout of water shot out, maybe three feet tall… More steam, boiling and hissing, and a huge jing-bang spray of water surged out, climbing and climbing, and then more and more, until it looked like a whole river of water was shooting straight up into the air… The warm mist blew toward us and people started backing away. All except Gram. She stood there grinning, tilting her face up to the mist, and staring at the fountain of water (218).”

This quote is significant because the Old Faithful Geyser is one of the last places Gram gets to go to, and enjoy. It is kind of like her last wish. This quote shows the reader how much Gram loves the geyser, and how content she was being sprayed by the warm water of Old Faithful. Gram finally gets to see Old Faithful, which she had always wanted to see. This is one of the last times that Grams says, “Huzza, Huzza,” and it is great for both Gramps and Sal to see her so happy. It is a memory that they will always have of Gram. I think that this quote shows real-world context because many people don’t know how much time they are going to have with their loved ones, so they have to treasure every moment, just as Sal and Gramps are doing with Gram.

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Badlands National Park, South Dakota, USA

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Badlands National Park, South Dakota, USA

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Badlands National Park, South Dakota, USA

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“After driving for so long through the flat South Dakota prairie, it was a shock to come upon the Badlands. It was as if someone had ironed out all the rest of South Dakota and smooshed all the hills and valleys and rocks into this spot. Right smack in the middle of flat plains were jagged peaks and steep gorges. Above was the high blue sky and below were the pink and purple and black rocks. You can stand right on the edge of the gorges and see down, down into the treacherous ravines, lined with sharp, rough outcroppings. You expect to see human skeletons dangling here and there (138).”

This quote shows how scary tall, jagged mountains are to Sal. Just the idea that she expected to see skeletons dangling from the rocks, shows how paranoid she was. It was probably hard for Sal as well, because she knew that her mother had stopped at the Badlands. Just thinking about her mother all alone in the same place as her made her sad, and probably kind of scared. This probably made Sal think even more about her mother, which added suspense and sadness to the story. The Badlands is a real place, and is probably a very scary, and unknown place to many people. This may be why the mountains are called the Badlands.

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“Everyone descended on the table in a chaotic flurry, knocking over glasses and sending forks onto the floor and picking plates (which did not match, Phoebe pointed out to me) and saying, ‘That’s my plate. I want the daisy plate,’ and ‘Give me the blue one! It’s my turn for the blue plate’ (151).”

This quote shows what Phoebe and Sal witnessed about the way that the Finney’s eat, and live, when they went over their for dinner. The way they behave is almost exactly opposite of the way the Winterbottoms live and eat. This quote shows the reader how ill-mannered the Finneys family is at dinner, and paints a picture of chaos in the reader’s mind. It also demonstrates how picky and agitated Phoebe was feeling, because she was being so judgmental about the Finneys household. In the book, Sal says that the Finneys remind her of her family dinners at her Gram and Gramps’ house. She gets homesick thinking about the loving confusion that was in Bybanks. This quote shows real world context because many families do behave as the Winterbottoms do, and other families act as the Finneys do. When they meet, both are astonished at the other’s behavior.

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“Just then, the road curved (it actually curved-- this was a shock), and off to the right was a huge jing-bang mass of water. It was as blue as the bluebells that grow behind the barn in Bybanks, and that water just went on and on--it was all you could see. It looked like a huge blue pasture of water (35-36).”

This quote does a really good job of explaining how lakes look in a country-style way. It explains the surprise Sal experiences when she sees Lake Michigan. It is significant because it shows that Sal has never seen a large body of water before, and it explains Sal's process of trying to figure out a way to understand the lake. This quote lets the reader know that Sal probably hasn’t traveled very much, and that travelling makes her realize the beauty of things that she has never seen. This reveals a real world aspect of the story because many people have never seen a large body of water such as Lake Michigan, and could be confused when they do come across one. People try to compare things that are unfamiliar to them with things they know well, and understand.

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“Tiny, squirt trees. Little birdhouses in a row--and one of those birdhouses was ours. No swimming hole, no barn, no cows, no chickens, no pigs. Instead, a little white house with a miniature patch of green grass in front of it. It wasn’t enough grass to keep a cow alive for five minutes (9-10).”

This quote shows how Sal feels about her new home in Euclid, OH when she first sees it. The quote helps the reader to imagine what Sal’s new house looked like through Sal’s eyes. It also helped the reader to imagine Sal’s old home in Bybanks, Kentucky. This quote shows the reader that Sal is not pleased with her new home, and misses her old home, which continues to be a problem throughout the whole story. Having to move to a different home that she does not like, makes Sal want to leave, which is part of the reason why she wanted to see her mother so bad in Lewiston, Idaho. This quote reveals the real world context of how some houses are built very small, and identical to the houses next to it. Sal had never seen this before, which made her perplexed.