*Use the significant quotes that you marked to guide your responses:

Chapter 2: The Midwife

1. How does Westover portray the role of herbal remedies and home births as both empowering and limiting for her mother? In what ways does this reflect the family’s broader relationship to institutional authority?

2. Consider the language Westover uses to describe her mother’s work as a midwife. How does her framing complicate the idea of “expertise” and who has the authority to heal?

Chapter 3: Cream Shoes

3. Summarize the main differences in Tara's mother's and father's respective backgrounds.

4. How does Tara’s description of appearance, modesty, and clothing begin to shape her understanding of morality and identity?

Chapter 4: Apache Women

5. Explain the significance of the "Apache tears."

6. Tara describes her father’s reliance on herbal remedies and alternative treatments. How does this align with or challenge societal norms?

Chapter 5: Honest Dirt

7. By the end of Chapter 5, does Tara show any signs of internal conflict about her place in the family and the dangers of their lifestyle? What clues does the chapter give about her future trajectory toward questioning and seeking more?

8. In Chapter 5, Westover’s brother Tyler announces that he’s going to college, something none of her other siblings have done. (The two brothers who have left the mountain drive semis and weld scrap.) Why does Westover’s father, Gene, object to formalized education? How does Tyler’s leaving have an impact on Westover?

Chapter 6: Shield and Buckler

9. The chapter’s title, "Shield and Buckler," alludes to a biblical reference about protection. How does this metaphor apply to Tara’s father’s view of his role within the family? Do you think Tara sees him as a protector at this stage in her life?

10. In what ways do religious doctrine and survivalist ideology merge in Tara’s early life, and what does this reveal about the construction of truth and authority in her family?

2-Westover uses many variations of sensory imagery. When Tyler leaves for college, she describes her reaction in the following way: "I ran until the sound of blood pulsing in my ears was louder than the thoughts in my head; then I turned around and ran back, swinging around the pasture to the red railroad car" (51). Locate another strong example of sensory imagery in this section.

3-Westover uses repetition when she considers going to Arizona with her grandparents by saying 'I imagine" as she goes through the scenarios of how her family is going to react to her absence.

[Chorus 2]
Well, all these times, they come and go and alone don't seem so long
Over ten years have gone by
We can't rewind, we're locked in time
But you're still mine

[Outro]
Do you remember?