Name:_______________________________________________________ Period:___________
Clay’s Quilt Webquest
Go to:
Click on the first link to start the webquest: www.southernscribe.com/zine/authors/House_Silas.htm
1. List five pieces of information you learn in the first two paragraphs.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
2. What was House’s occupation before becoming a published writer?
3. How do you think this would affect his writing?
4. What is the setting (where AND when) for Clay’s Quilt?
5. What is the premise of Clay’s Quilt?
6. How does House combine 19th and 21st century Appalachia in his novel?
7. What is the purpose of this article?
8. What would you say is the main idea of this article?
9. The author of this article is Linda Scott DeRosier. What do you learn about her in this article?
Go back to the webquest. Click on: Atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/content?oid=oid%3A15956
10. What is the title of House’s third novel?
11. How is the book connected to the two previous novels?
12. What was an important influence on House’s writing?
13. In your own words, describe how House views Appalachia.
Go back to the webquest homepage. Click on www.polarinertia.com/jan06/coal01.htm
Strip mining is an extremely controversial issue in many Appalachian states. You can have any opinion
you choose on this issue, but your opinion should be grounded in facts. Look into this issue more.
14. In your own words, explain what strip mining is.
15. How much coal is mined from Eastern Kentucky each year?
16. How do the coal truck drivers communicate with one another and know when to expect blasts?
17. Why is strip mining an efficient and economical way to remove coal?
18. How are coal trucks allowed to be on the road without covering the coal with tarps?
19. How are the truck drivers paid?
20. How is coal graded?
21. After seeing these photos, why do you think people would object to strip mining in Eastern
Kentucky?
Go back to the webquest homepage. Click on Pronunciation Quiz
22. Take the test! What was your result and were your surprised by it?
23. How aware of your accent are you?
24. Can you ever think of a time when you felt out of place with your accent or were made to feel
embarrassed by your accent? Tell about it below.
25. Why do you think people are made to feel this way about their accent?
26. Why do you think many people from Appalachia are especially attached to the place they grew up?
Your choice—look up any 2 (or more) of the sites linked on the home page/online classroom. You
should research two of the articles there and fill in the information below. If you select a longer
article, you only need to read that one article—as long as you actually read it. You should fill in 10
pieces of information from that one article.
ARTICLES
Author and/or organization responsible for article:__________________________________________
Title:______________________________________________________________________________
Web address: _______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
When was it written: ______________________________
What did you learn from the article?
List five pieces of information or observations that made an impression on you.
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If you are continuing a long article, write “continuation” below. Otherwise, begin the information
for your second article here.
ARTICLES
Author and/or organization responsible for article:__________________________________________
Title:______________________________________________________________________________
Web address: _______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
When was it written: ______________________________
What did you learn from the article?
List five pieces of information or observations that made an impression on you.
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Coal in Clay’s Quilt—What does Silas House say about coal in the novel?
1) Write a coal-related quote from page 14.
2) Write a coal-related quote from page 122.
Consider the combination of these two quotes. What do you suppose House is trying to say about
coal and mining? Explain how these quotes relate to your inference.
ARTICLES
Article: “Death of a Mountain: Radical strip mining and the leveling of Appalachia"
Link: http://www.wesjones.com/death.htm This was written by a Kentuckian and gives his personal
reaction to seeing MTR. (This article is long and can count as both of your independent searches).
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/razingappalachia/mtop.html This site lists several statistics.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/MountaintopRemoval/ This is from NASA and provides images
and information.
http://mountainjustice.org/kentucky/water.php This tells why people in the Bluegrass (particularly
Lexington) should be concerned about MTR.
http://www.coal-miners-in-kentucky.com/Index.html This site is run by the son of a coal miner. He says
that the site is “dedicated to paying tribute to the coal miners of America.” (If you explore the sites and
write about several of the different links on the site, this can count as both of your independent
searches).
http://www.grist.org/article/reece/-- This is written by a Kentuckian. It tells about several real people’s
experiences. (This article is long and can count as both of your independent searches as long as you
read several people’s stories).
http://www.grist.org/article/caskey/-- This shows pictures and gives brief biographic information of
people impacted by mining.
http://www.grist.org/article/moore2-- This was written by a Kentucky attorney who was representing
someone against a coal company.
http://windpub.com/mtr2.htm This shows satellite pictures of Knott and Perry Counties after
mountaintop removal began there.
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/Mine/story?id=1475697
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10326/1105187-455.stm Silas House called this “An excellent article
that gets at some of the complexities of being an environmentalist in Appalachia. Every so-called ‘treehugger’ I know respects and honors coal miners; they just want MTR stopped because it's too destructive
AND because it actually takes jobs away...” (This article is long and can count as both of your
independent searches).