Winter's Bone

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Stone Fences”

In this activity, students will create artifacts of fences using textual details and symbolism.

Reflect on the stone fences Ree ponders as she travels looking for her father. Create a fence using details from the novel and symbolism to represent large ideas in the book.

• Re-read the scenes in the novel focusing on the fences. Notice specific details and what the fences mean to Ree.
• Sketch your plans for your project. What will your fence look like? What materials will you use? How will you incorporate symbolism?
• Create your stone fence.
• Plan to present your project in our class gallery walk.

Present your project and view those of your peers in our class gallery walk.

Write a journal about an idea from the novel that this activity made clearer for you.

Teaching Suggestion: It might benefit the class to discuss what they think of when they consider fences in general and the different functions of fences. Re-reading scenes from the novel together and stopping to discuss can provide students with some shared background and additional opportunities to learn from each other. This activity offers connections to the following themes: Nature/Environment and Escapism. Students might have time after creating their plans for their projects to meet in pairs or small groups to get feedback before creating their final versions. Alternatives to the gallery walk could be individual presentations to the class or in small groups or simply displaying the projects in class.

Differentiation Suggestion: For advanced learners, one option could be to expand this project to include a written analysis. Students might analyze the scenes in the novel and/or analyze their projects.

Paired Text Extension:

Reading “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost at some point during this activity would offer an opportunity to make connections between texts.

Teaching Suggestion: Students could stop and sketch or annotate in another way as they read the poem. They could discuss what Ree or another character might say about the poem, specific images or ideas the characters might comment on, and sections that seem to support or contradict ideas in the novel.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Teardrop lives by a unique set of values that guide his actions.

• What are some of Teardrop’s beliefs and priorities that inform his behaviors? (topic sentence)
• As you craft your response, incorporate at least three quotations and other specifics from the novel to support your analysis.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain how Teardrop’s values affect Ree’s life.

2. A central theme of the novel is Escapism, and Ree frequently feels compelled to escape into her own imagination.

• Why does Ree feel the need for escape so strongly? (topic sentence)
• Include textual evidence from two or three points in the book in which Ree escapes into her mind to support your analysis.
• In your conclusion, evaluate how successful Ree is in finding the escape she seeks.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by textual details, and a conclusion.

1. Consider the place and time of the novel. How does the setting reveal Ree’s character? What is the impact of the time of year and weather? How much time passes from the first chapter to the last? Where does Ree live and what details elaborate on her home? Write a 3- or 5-paragraph essay analyzing how the time and place illuminate who Ree is. Incorporate connections to the theme of Nature/Environment and any of the other themes.

2. Ree reflects that her family follows rules outside the law. What are these rules and how important are they to the family? When do characters follow the rules despite negative consequences? What happens when characters act out of accordance with the rules? Write a 3- or 5-paragraph essay analyzing the family rules, their role and purpose, and what they reveal about the family.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following most develops the theme of Escapism?

A) Ree’s visit with Teardrop before going to Thump Miller’s

B) Gail and Ree’s conversation with April

C) The music Ree listens to as she chops wood

D) The carcasses of meat hanging in the trees

2. Why did Ree and Connie fight for Harold’s name?

A) His name symbolizes a choice and possibilities beyond what the family usually had.

B) The name his father wanted to choose represented law enforcement.

C) The other names were not on the list of baby names they had found and liked.

D) His name represents loyalty to the family and determination to follow rules.

3. Why is Gail important to Ree?

A) Gail offers more unconditional love and kindness than Ree gets from others.

B) Gail watches Ree’s child, allowing Ree to search for her father.

C) Gail provides money for Ree through her job at a local school.

D) Gail reminds Ree how much she wants to get married and settle down.

4. What is the basis of Gail and Floyd’s marriage?

A) They married out of deep love that had grown over the years.

B) They married because Gail got pregnant out of wedlock.

C) They married to move away from the Ozarks.

D) They married after Teardrop gave them an ultimatum.

5. Which best describes the significance of “Beelzebub’s fiddle” that Ree occasionally hears?

A) It reminds her of her childhood with Uncle Teardrop.

B) It shows she is escaping into a relaxed state of mind.

C) It foreshadows Ree’s final acceptance of failure.

D) It symbolizes the hopelessness of poverty.

6. Why does Ree make the dangerous decision to visit Thump Miller?

A) She hopes he will help her enter the family’s drug empire.

B) She decides the danger is worth it to find her cousin and bring her home.

C) She is determined to find Gail and help her leave Floyd.

D) She needs to find her father or the family will be destitute.

7. Which of the following best describes how Ree feels about her mother?

A) Sympathetic, responsible, and desperate not to become like her

B) Angry, spiteful, and hoping to get her to move out

C) Inquiring, wondering, and interested in learning how to cook from her

D) Disinterested, accepting, and mostly wanting to forget her

8. What causes Merab Thump to help Ree find her father?

A) Merab has cared deeply about Ree her whole life.

B) Merab learns Ree can help her family become wealthy.

C) Merab hopes Ree will come to work for her afterward.

D) Merab wants to stop others in the family from disparaging her.

9. Which literary strategy does the following quotation employ?

“She wiped the mist that felt like tears on her cheeks and pulled her hood tight” (69).

A) Simile

B) Irony

C) Hyperbole

D) First-person narration

10. What does spending a night in a cave demonstrate about Ree’s character?

A) She is unaccustomed to living in nature and feels fear.

B) She resents the cave, the weather, and her bad luck.

C) She is strong and deeply connected to nature and her ancestors.

D) She hopes to move out of her current home farther into the forest.

11. How does Ree respond to the news about her father’s looming court date?

A) She realizes she is powerless to improve the situation.

B) She immediately goes inside to call and hire a lawyer.

C) She feels desperate but hides it and vows to find her father.

D) She consults her mother on the best next steps to take.

12. What do stone walls symbolize in Winter’s Bone?

A) The accepting nature of the forest and hope for the future

B) The long history of Ree’s family and the harsh impacts of time

C) Ree’s decision to leave for the city and college

D) The impenetrable boundaries of members of her community

13. Read this excerpt from the novel:

“Where the stream ran from the pool the water was so clear she could appreciate individual rocks on the bottom, clumps of green that swayed, skittish tiny fish facing upstream” (157).

Which type of figurative language does this quotation include?

A) Metaphor

B) Onomatopoeia

C) Imagery

D) Understatement

14. What can be most reasonably inferred about Teardrop’s fate at the end of the novel?

A) He will succeed in the police academy.

B) He will try to avenge his brother’s death.

C) He will turn over the information he has to the FBI.

D) He will move away from the Ozarks.

15. Which is the accurate chronological order of events?

A) Ree proves to the police her father is dead; Teardrop tells Ree he knows who killed his brother; Ree visits Thump Miller’s home and is badly beaten; Ree learns she might lose the family home

B) Ree learns she might lose the family home; Ree visits Thump Miller’s home and is badly beaten; Ree proves to the police her father is dead; Teardrop tells Ree he knows who killed his brother

C) Ree visits Thump Miller’s home and is badly beaten; Ree learns she might lose the family home; Teardrop tells Ree he knows who killed his brother; Ree proves to the police her father is dead

D) Teardrop tells Ree he knows who killed his brother; Ree learns she might lose the family home; Ree proves to the police her father is dead; Ree visits Thump Miller’s home and is badly beaten

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating textual details to support your response.

1. How does Ree’s relationship with Teardrop shift?

2. What does Ree decide about her future at the end of the novel?