Reading Guide: Absolutely Normal Chaos

Answer all questions on separate paper and using complete sentences!

Dear Mr. Birkway (Introduction)

1. Why would a student ask a teacher not to read the assignment (journal)?
2. What could Mary Lou have meant when she said, “. . . Carl Ray would come
to town and turn everything into an odyssey”?
3. Predict what the title of the book means.

Tuesday, June 12th (pages 3-6)

4. Explain the hints on the first page that imply the chaos of Mary Lou’s life.
5. There are no chapters, but the book is organized by dates. What conclusion
can be drawn about this novel?
6. Identify and explain the oxymoron (contrasting ideas or terms are combined)
on page 4.
7. What are Mary Lou’s conflicting feelings and thoughts concerning Alex
Cheevy? Give one example of how these conflicting feelings and thoughts
are reflected in the real world.

Wednesday, June 13 (pages 6-10)

8. Explain Mary Lou’s conflicting thoughts/feelings about Beth Ann Bartels.
9. Explain what Mary Lou meant when she said, “You wait and wait and wait for
something, and then when it happens you feel sad” (p. 8).
10. Why does Mary Lou repeat “and wait”?
11. Identify and explain the metaphor (a comparison of two things that does not
use “like” or “as”) on page 8.
12. Find two to three examples of “voice” (the speaker’s personality expressed
through word/phrase choice) in this journal entry.

Thursday, June 14 (pages 10-14)

13. What news did the family receive at the dinner table?

Friday, June 15 (pages 14-18)

14. Explain what Mary Lou meant when she described the Robert Frost poem
“Out, Out—“ and she said, “at the end of it no one seemed to care about this
boy dying. They just went on their business.”
15. Identify and explain the sarcasm (taunting, cutting remark) on p. 17.
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Saturday, June 16 (pages 18-22)

16. Identify and explain the hyperbole (exaggeration) on p. 20.
17. Explain Mary Lou’s method of describing Carl Ray on p. 20.
18. What conclusion(s) can be made about Carl Ray from Mary Lou’s comments?
19. What conflict began at the end of this entry?

Sunday, June 17 (pages 22-31)

20. How are Carl Ray and Maggie going to drive Mary Lou crazy?
21. Identify and explain the sarcasm using in this entry (pages 25, 26).
22. What happened to cause Mary Lou to have been labeled a “wild girl” (p. 29)?
23. Why did Mary Lou’s mother have difficulty explaining why “you have to be
careful about kissing” (p. 29)?
24. Mary Lou has kissed a boy, so why would she ask Beth Ann what a kiss
“tasted like” (p. 30)?

Monday, June 18 (pages 31-38)

25. From the discussions on pp. 32-33, explain Carl Ray’s attitude about finding a
job.
26. Identify and explain the simile (a comparison of two things using “like” or
“as”) on p. 36.
27. Find the example of typical sibling commentary on pp. 36 and 37.
28. Identify and explain the metaphor on p. 37.

Tuesday, June 19 and Wednesday, June 20 (page 39)

29. Explain Mary Lou’s reaction/comments about Beth Ann’s soon-to-be date.

Thursday, June 21 (pages 40-44)

30. According to Maggie (on p. 40), what did her dad do?
31. Why was Maggie’s life “ruined” (pp. 40-41)?
32. Identify the onomatopoeia (imitating the natural sound) on p. 41.
33. By the end of the entry, what had Maggie accomplished?

Friday, June 22 (pages 45-47)

34. Identify and explain the hyperbole on p. 46.

Saturday, June 23 (pages 47-51)

35. Why would Mary Lou say that writing the journal ”. . . makes it easier to go to
bed at night, for some reason” (p. 47)?
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36. Explain the allusion (an indirect reference) to “The Queen of Easton” (p. 47).
37. Explain Mary Lou’s comment: “. . . dropped like big bomb right on my head. I
didn’t think best friends did that sort of thing” (p. 49).
38. Explain the allusion, “Carl Ray kept starring at her as if she was some sort of
goddess or something” (p. 51).

Sunday, June 24 (pages 51-53)

39. Explain the allusion of Mary Lou referring to Maggie as “Cinderella” (p. 51).
40. Why would Beth Ann exaggerate her description of Derek?
41. At the end of the entry, why would Mary Lou say, “I felt a lot better today”?

Wednesday, June 27 (pages 56-58)

42. What happened to Mr. Furtz?
43. Explain the courtesy that Mary Lou’s parents extend to Mrs. Furtz.
44. Explain Mary Lou’s concern about her mother and father at the end of this
entry. Is this concern justified?

Thursday, June 28 (pages 58-63)

45. Mary Lou added into this entry a summary of what she has read in The
Odyssey. Why did she decide, “It’s like a soap opera”?
46. How did Carl Ray surprise Mary Lou?

Friday, June 29 (pages 63-68)

47. Why did Mary Lou address Zeus at the beginning of the entry?
48. According to Mary Lou, what should the message in the cards at the funeral
say? Explain her thinking.
49. What thoughts did Mary Lou have concerning how Mr. Furtz feels? What
would be the source of those types of thoughts?

Saturday, June 30 (pages 68-72)

50. Why would Mary Lou make Carl Ray “sound almost exotic”?
51. Why would Beth Ann not tell Mary Lou what she and Derek do on their dates?

Sunday, July 1 (pages 72-74)

52. In “Snoring Through the Odyssey,” explain the relationship between Athena’s
comment about death and the death of Mr. Furtz.
53. In “Snoring Through the Odyssey,” explain the metaphors and personification
(giving human qualities to things that are not human) of sunrise.
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Wednesday, July 4 (pages 79-82)

54. Identify and explain the onomatopoeia on p. 80.
55. What did Mary Lou mean when she said, “He’s a strange one sometimes, that
Carl Ray”?

Thursday, July 5 (pages 82-86)

56. Explain Alex’s comments about being “adopted” on p. 83.
57. How did Mary Lou “see” Alex asking if she wanted to go swimming
tomorrow?
58. What was the mystery that surrounds Carl Ray?
59. Why would Mary Lou ask her mother if she is adopted?

Friday, July 6 (pages 86-96)

60. On page 88, what was Mary Lou “fishing for” with Beth Ann?
61. Mary Lou learned a difficult lesson about honesty in her talk with Beth Ann.
When should you “draw the line” with honesty?
62. In what way was Carl Ray’s life similar to Great Expectations?
63. What were the conditions that surrounded Carl Ray’s inheritance?
64. Who do you think is Carl Ray’s benefactor? Why?

Saturday, July 7 (pages 96-97)

65. What problems occurred because Carl Ray is looking through the Sears
catalog?

Sunday, July 8 (pages 97-101)

66. When did Mary Lou feel jealousy concerning Alex?
67. Why did Mary Lou figure out the mystery behind Alex’s phone message
instead of Alex?
68. Explain what caused Mary Lou to declare, “And I truly thought I was sitting on
Mount Olympus” (p. 101).

Monday, July 9 (pages 101-102)

69. Explain how successful Mary Lou was at “refusing to moon over Alex
Cheevy” (p. 102).

Thursday, July 12 (pages 103-106)

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70. Explain Mary Lou’s “newly found” understanding of Beth Ann’s hesitation to
talk about Derek.
71. Why has Carl Ray not told his parents about the money?

Friday, July 13 (pages 106-109)

72. What was Mary Lou surprised that Carl Ray would have red seats in his car?
73. What was Beth Ann’s tragedy?

Saturday, July 14 (pages 109-112)

74. Why would Carl Ray go with Mary Lou and Alex to the movies?

Sunday, July 15 (pages 112-116)

75. Explain Shakespeare’s “wheel of fortune” on page 113.
76. How was Beth Ann “driving Mary Lou crazy”?

Monday, July 16 (pages 116-120)

77. What was the GGP and why was Mary Lou bothered by it?
78. Explain the “discussion” about symbolism (something that stands for or
represents another thing) on page 119.
79. How do you feel about the symbolism in literature? Are there “keys” to
understanding it?

Thursday, July 19 (pages 120-123)

80. What assumptions had Mary Lou made about Derek?
81. What questions did Mary Lou have concerning kissing?
82. What was Beth Ann’s plan to “win back” Derek?

Sunday, July 22 (pages 123-134)

83. What did Carl Ray mean when he said, “Women turn men into pigs all of the
time” (p. 131)?
84. Explain the idea that The Odyssey is a metaphor.

Monday, July 23 (pages 134-137)

85. How did Mary Lou get selected to travel with Carl Ray?
86. How did this “work out well” with Alex?

Tuesday, July 24 (pages 137-141)

87. What words were on Mary Lou’s “forbidden” list?
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88. How did Mary Lou come up with alternative words?

89. What did Mary Lou discover while snooping in Carl Ray’s room?
90. Relate Mary Lou’s thoughts on “The Dead” (p. 141) to yourself.

Wednesday, July 25 (pages 142-149)

91. Describe Alex’s parents.
92. In Mary Lou’s journal entry dated July 5, she stated that Alex wondered if he
had been adopted. Explain those thoughts in view of what you know about his
parents.
93. Explain the antithesis (the exact opposite) in the arrangement of the living
room.
94. In “Temptations and Choices,” explain the two metaphors.
95. In “Temptations and Choices,” Mary Lou discussed two different choices.
Give a real world example and explain it.

Thursday, July 26 (pages 149-152)

96. What was Carl Ray’s gift to Mrs. Furtz, and what was her reaction?

Saturday, July 28 (pages 152-160)

97. What was the evidence of the apparent conflict between Carl Ray and his
father?

Sunday, July 29 (pages 160-167)

98. What was the promise that Aunt Radene asked of Mary Lou?
99. What was the justification for this promise?
100. At the end of this entry, what reconnected Carl Ray with his father?

Tuesday, July 31 (pages 169-178)

101. What were some differences between what “city kids” were taught vs. what
“country kids” were taught?
102. Mary Lou’s cousins set her up for a “joke.” How did they “plant seeds of
fear” within her? How did they “fan the flames of that fear”?

Wednesday, August 1 (pages 178-184)

103. What did Mary Lou overhear her cousins telling Aunt Radene?
104. How did Mary Lou “show them”?
105. How was this conflict resolved?
106. Explain the longer lengths of Mary Lou’s journal entries while she’s visiting
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her family in contrast to when she is at home.

Thursday, August 2 (pages 184-187)

107. Explain Mary Lou’s allusion that Carl Ray is Telemachus.

Friday, August 3 (pages 187-195)

108. What caused the conflict between Carl Ray and his father (Carl Joe)?
109. What gifts arrived for Mary Lou and her family?
110. Who had given Carl Ray the ring which he gave to Mrs. Furtz?

Monday, August 6 (pages 199-209)

111. Carl Ray explained to Mary Lou the story of who he is, why he came to
Easton, the story of the ring, the money he has received, and how Mrs. Furtz
feels about him. Briefly explain each of these points.
112. What was the “Big Event” for Mary Lou?
113. Explain what Mary Lou meant by “a father is someone who raises you and
takes care of you” (p. 209).

Saturday, August 11 (pages 212-213)

114. What nickname did Alex and Mary Lou give to one another? Explain them.

Monday, August 12 (pages 213-213)

115. How had Mary Lou changed in her thoughts and feelings about Carl Ray?

Wednesday, August 15 (page 217)

116. What happened to Mary Lou so that she didn’t care about being a part of the
GGP?

Monday, August 20 (page 218)

117. What happened that Mary Lou believed that she and Alex had broken up?

Tuesday, August 21 (pages 218-219)

118. What did Mary Lou mean when she said, “Beth Ann wormed her way back
into Carl Ray’s heart” (p. 219)?

Thursday, August 23 (pages 219-220)

119. Alex sent Mary Lou a rose, so she knew that all was okay between them.
What was Alex’s explanation as to why he didn’t kiss Mary Lou the last time
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he saw her?
120. Why was his answer a stereotypical male response?

Sunday, August 26 (pages 221-222)

121. What happened to Carl Ray?
122. What were his injuries?

Monday, September 3 (pages 227-228)

123. Explain Mary Lou’s allusion to “our odyssey” (p. 228).

Wednesday, September 5 (pages 229-230)

124. Mary Lou writes that at the end of The Odyssey, “Athene tells everyone to
make peace. . .” Did that happen in this novel? Explain.

More Questions
125. What is important about his novel being written in first person narrative (a
character tells the story)?
126. Briefly explain Mary Lou’s journey in the novel (physical as well as
mental/emotional).
127. What was the main conflict (problem) in the novel?
128. How is the main conflict resolved?
129. Which characters in the novel are static (remain the same)? Which ones are
dynamic (change)?
130. Discuss at least two themes of this novel.