Whirligig

Ask questions about Whirligig here.


 * Chapter 1: //Party Time!//**

1. Look at the description of Brent on pages 5-6. Provide a physical description of him. Where is he from? 2. Because Mr. Bishop has moved his family around the country, Brent has been the “new kid at school” many times and is always in search of ways to be a part of the group. Discuss how Brent’s need to belong is a common need expressed by most teenagers. How do you know that Brent is concerned with social status? What are the things that Brent does to try to impress his peers?

3. Prediction: What do you think happens when Brent closes his eyes at the end of the chapter?

I predict that when Brent closes his eyes at the end of the chapter, he crashes his car. In doing so, he either hurts himself badly or hurts another person.

4. “He felt as if her were still onstage” (11). How does this statement characterize Brent? How does the statement connect to the end of the chapter?


 * Chapter 3: //The Afterlife//**

1. Who is Lea? How does her mother describe her?

2. How does the newspaper describe the crash?

3. Why does Brent choose to go on the journey?

4. Where does Brent go first? Who. Does he meet while camping, and how does his new friend influence Brent?

5. Where does Brent place the Whirligig?

6. “It was an interim identity, tied to his previous life. He would cast it off soon, but in favor of what? He was lodged in his own chrysalis, but had no idea what he was turning into” (43). How does this quotation relate to Brent’s journey, and how does it show Brent’s growth from the first chapter?


 * Chapter 5: //Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star//**

1. Why is Brent almost turned away from the hostel?

2. Why does he choose the hostel instead of a hotel?

3. With whom does he become friends at the hostel? Where is his friend from? Why does he impress Brent? What does he leave Brent?

4. What instrument does Brent start playing? Why?

5. “Brent was surprised at how much the other guests knew and cared” (71). How does this quotation help to describe Brent’s progress on his journey?


 * Chapter 7: //Apprentices//**

1. Where does Brent choose to build his whirligig? Who visits him while he is working? How does Brent treat his visitors?

2. How does Brent feel when he returns to the restaurant? How does he feel about his waitress? What does Brent’s behavior say about his character development?

3. “It came as a surprise to find himself harboring such feelings toward a tool” (94). How is this image a drastic change to how Brent felt at the beginning of his journey?


 * Chapter 9: “//Everybody Swing!//”**

1. What ideas does Brent get from the camp owner for his last whirligig? What ideas apply to life? How do these ideas enhance the whirligig?

2. Whom does Brent meet while he is looking for driftwood? Describe her. What does she tell Brent in the end that means so much to him?

3. To whom does Brent finally reveal his secret (the accident)? Why does he tell her? What does this revelation reveal about Brent’s journey and his “interim identity”?

4. “When they’d met, he was longing to be swallowed by the blackness. She’d set him in motion, motion that he was now transferring to others” (132). Explain the quotation. What does this quotation reveal about Brent’s development over the course of his journey? How is Brent’s journey like a whirligig?