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The Secret Life of Bees Study Guide
Character list: Directions: As you come across characters, write different aspects of their
characterization(what are they like?? What do they do??) and the page number from which you made
that conclusion.
1. T. Ray Owens
10. June Boatwright
2. Rosaleen Daise
11. April Boatwright
3. Lily Owens
4. Avery Gatson
12. Neil
5. Mrs. Henry
13. Daughters of Mary
6. Brother Gerald
14. Otis Hill
7. Deborah Owens
8. August Boatwright
15. Zachary Taylor
9. May Boatwright
16. Clayton Forrest
17. Jackson
20. Jack Palance
18. Eddie Hazelwurst
21. Judge Monroe
19. Willfred Merchant
22. Melvin Edwards
PART II:
Main theme throughout the text: Directions: What do you make of the following quote and when do
you see this to be true? (include page numbers for your answers).
“Most people don’t have any idea about all the complicated life going on inside a hive. Bees have a
secret life - we don’t know anything about” (148).
PART III:
Main TOPICS throughout the text: Directions: (Create Thematic Assertions) Numbers 1-10 are all topics
that are brought up in the text. What is the author telling us about each topic? After making a general
statement about each TOPIC, what textual evidence helps support your claim?
1. Coming of Age
2. Search for identity
3. Resilience of the human spirit
4. The role of writers
5. How death gives way to life
6. Motherhood
7. Bees and nature representing society
8. Coping Mechanisms
9. Discrimination/Race Relations
10. Ignorance versus Knowledge
Part IV:
Questions: Directions: Answer these questions as you move through the ENTIRE novel.
1. Connections: text to text, text to self, text to the world. Compare and contrast your book to
others you’ve read, to situations or people in your own life, to events in history or the news.
2. Social question: Look for race, gender, or class inequalities and injustices. Who has the power in
the story and how is it used? What do you think? Does it make you think or feel differently
about those of another race or gender than your own?
3. Setting: Is it realistic? Does it fi t the story?
4. Dialogue: Is it realistic? Can you “hear” the characters talking? Could you change the dialogue?
If you changed the dialogue, how would it change the story?
5. Emotions: How were you emotionally involved in the story?
6. Literary devices: How does the author use flashbacks, foreshadowing, and other literary
devices? Are they effective?
PART V:
Quotes: Directions: Quote analysis – who says it, what does it mean, why is it important?
Chapter One:
“People who think dying is the worst thing don’t know a thing about life” (2).
Chapter Three:
“I realized it for the fi rst time in my life: there is nothing but mystery in the world, how it hides
behind the fabric of our poor, browbeat days, shining brightly, and we don’t even know it” (63). What
is Lily referring to? How does this connect to your own life? What is meant by “mysteries of the
world?”
Chapter 5:
“The world will give you that once in a while, a brief time-out; the boxing bell rings and you go to your
corner, where somebody dabs mercy on your beat-up life” (82).
PART VI:
Vocabulary: Directions: Throughout the text the author uses some terms that may be difficult to
comprehend. On your own, choose 30 words that you find in the novel and define them below.
Word
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Definition
Possible Essay Topics:
What are some of the ways that bees serve as symbols in Lily’s life?
How does Lily’s idea of a mother change throughout the story?