53 pages • 1 hour read
Half Broke Horses
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During Reading
Reading Questions & Paired Texts
Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.
CHAPTERS 1-3
Reading Check
1. Which unusual animal overruns Lily’s family property?
2. What is an attribute that Lily decides she “admired most in people” (Chapter 1)?
3. What does Lily’s father believe is important for every person to “achieve” in life?
4. What book does Lily’s father begin to write about grammar?
5. What does Lily’s father spend her tuition money on?
6. What does Lily decide to do to her hair after Minnie’s death?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Describe Lily’s living situation. How did her family choose to settle in Salt Draw?
2. What do Lily and her mother believe regarding God and religion? Summarize which event Lily highlights as an example for their thoughts regarding God.
3. Why do Lily and her family leave Salt Draw? Where do they go and how is their life different there?
4. Summarize the circumstances surrounding Lily’s job offer in Arizona. How does she get there and what are some of the obstacles she experiences?
5. Describe Lily’s first years as a teacher. How does her employment come to an end and with what advice does Superintendent MacIntosh leave her?
6. Summarize the reasons for Lily’s move to Chicago. Whom does she eventually marry and what surprise does she learn after tying the knot?
Paired Resources
- This collection of images from the National Archives spans the second half of the 19th century.
- The themes Learning How to Fall and Half-Broke Horses can be discussed in connection with these images.
- Compare the images with Walls’s description of Lily’s life in Texas and New Mexico. Which elements of life stand out to you most?
- These images and trailers provide visuals and a preview of director Destin Cretton’s 2017 film adaptation of Walls’s first publication, The Glass Castle.
- This narrative shares the themes “Life’s too short, honey, to worry what other people think of you,” Learning How to Fall, and Half-Broke Horses.
- Based on the text as well as the film images and trailers, how does Walls seem to characterize different females in her family?
CHAPTERS 4-6
Reading Check
1. What moniker does Lily receive after moving to Red Lake?
2. With what activity does Rooster request Lily’s help?
3. In what item does Lily bury Helen?
4. What words does Lily vow to never tell Rosemary?
5. What natural resource does Jim refer to when he says, “Always cherish it. Always beware of it” (Chapter 5)?
6. What type of car does Lily convert into a school bus in Peach Springs?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What opportunity does the president of Lily’s college share with her? How does she respond to the decision?
2. With what activities does Lily become involved during her time in Red Lake? Describe her acquaintances and what type of community she forms.
3. Summarize the circumstances surrounding Helen’s time in Red Lake.
4. Describe the connection that Lily makes between Helen’s death and Lily’s marriage to Jim. How does her marriage transform her daily life?
5. How does the Great Depression affect Lily and Jim’s financial life? What employment decisions are they forced to make as a couple?
6. What major financial purchase do Lily and Jim decide that they want to make? Summarize the steps they take in order to fulfill their dream.
Paired Resources
“Grandmother With a Heap of Gumption”
- The New York Times discusses Half Broke Horses in this 2009 article. (Subscription may be needed to view.)
- The ideas in the article connect with the themes “Life’s too short, honey, to worry what other people think of you,” Learning How to Fall, and Half-Broke Horses.
- Analyze the methods that Walls used in order to weave her grandmother’s story within her family’s history.
- The Arizona Museum of Natural Museum provides this overview of this Indigenous tribe.
- Describe Lily’s interactions with the Hokoham ruins in Arizona.
CHAPTER 7- EPILOGUE
Reading Check
1. What does Lily tell Rosemary and Little Jim that she does not want them to do at school?
2. What does Lily’s father leave to her in his will?
3. How do Lily and Jim “splurge” after moving to Phoenix?
4. What is “Agnes Weeps” and to what does Jim say the name should be changed?
5. What activity does Rex suggest that he and Lily do together as an apology?
6. What does Lily compare Rosemary and Rex to as the narrative concludes?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What major decision does Lily make about her education? Describe what commitment she makes, as well as what she decides to do for her children.
2. How does Lily summarize life for Rosemary on the ranch? What are some of the aspects with which Rosemary particularly struggles?
3. How do Rosemary and Lily settle into their new life in Phoenix? How does the historical climate affect Rosemary’s mood overall?
4. With what task does Lily require Rosemary’s help? Describe how this action helps the family collectively decide their future.
5. Who is Rex? How do Lily and Jim react to him, and what do they caution Rosemary to do?
Recommended Next Reads
Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls
- Walls’s 2023 novel follows protagonist Sallie as she navigates a family dispute during the Prohibition era.
- Shared themes include “Life’s too short, honey, to worry what other people think of you,” Learning How to Fall, and Half-Broke Horses.
- Shared elements include strong female protagonists, an early 20th-century setting, and dysfunctional families.
- Hang the Moon on SuperSummary
A Lost Lady by Willa Cather
- Cather’s 1923 novel, which is often thought to have influenced F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (1925), explores the decline of the American West and pioneer era.
- Shared themes include “Life’s too short, honey, to worry what other people think of you.”
- Shared topics include the American West, turn-of-the-century setting, and families with financial struggles.
- A Lost Lady on SuperSummary
Reading Questions Answer Key
CHAPTERS 1-3
Reading Check
1. Peacocks (Chapter 1)
2. “[N]ever [feeling] sorry” for yourself (Chapter 1)
3. Their “Purpose in Life” (Chapter 1)
4. A Ghoti out of Water (Chapter 2)
5. Four Great Danes (Chapter 2)
6. She cuts it. (Chapter 3)
Short Answer
1. Lily’s parents moved to Salt Draw in Texas after her father was released from prison in New Mexico on a murder charge. The narrator, her siblings, and her parents live in “the dugout,” a house built in “a big hole on the side of the riverbank.” (Chapter 1)
2. Lily’s mother is religious and believes that God’s will is responsible for everything; this belief contrasts with Lily’s, who believes it is people, as opposed to God, who make the decisions. Lily uses the example of the caving dugout to show that while her mother says the destruction was God’s will, Lily feels that God gave them the tools to save the dugout and therefore the cave-in was preventable. (Chapter 1)
3. After a tornado causes destruction to their home in Salt Draw, Lily’s parents make the decision to move back to the Casey Ranch in New Mexico. This move leads to a more stable property, with larger resources and more management needed. (Chapters 1-2)
4. With Mother Albertina’s support, 15-year-old Lily registers for an exam to become a teacher, which she passes. She is assigned to a teaching post in Northern Arizona in order to fill the gaps left by the regular teachers’ involvement in World War I. She resolves to make the journey there on horseback with her mare, Patches, and makes the majority of the 28-day, 500-mile journey alone. (Chapters 2-3)
5. After her initial post in Red Lake, Lily is moved to various temporary posts since she does not have more than an 8th-grade education. At the end of the war, she is laid off, and the superintendent advises her to leave teaching, find “one of these soldier boys,” and get married. (Chapter 3)
6. After realizing her place is no longer working on the ranch, Lily moves to Chicago where she finds work as a maid and attends night school to earn her high school diploma. She eventually meets Ted and marries, only to find out that he is already married to another woman with children. (Chapter 3)
CHAPTERS 4-6
Reading Check
1. “[T]he mustang-breaking, poker-playing, horse-race-winning schoolmarm of Coconino County” (Chapter 4)
2. How to write his name (Chapter 4)
3. Lily’s red silk shirt (Chapter 4)
4. Lily vows that she “would never tell Rosemary she was beautiful.” (Chapter 5)
5. Water (Chapter 5)
6. A hearse (Chapter 6)
Short Answer
1. After Lily begins her college courses, President Gammage informs her that the town of Red Lake is once again looking for teachers. She decides to quit her courses since she does not have enough money to continue to pay the tuition; then she takes Patches again out to Red Lake to begin her post. (Chapter 4)
2. While in Red Lake, Lily begins to race the horse Red Devil with the help of her friend Rooster as well as play in local poker games. She also learns how to drive a Model-T car from Jim Smith, an older widower who Lily believes is interested in marrying her. (Chapter 4)
3. After Helen writes Lily a letter revealing that she is pregnant and too scared to get an abortion, Lily invites her to stay with her in Red Lake until they can figure out a plan. Once the townspeople see that Helen is pregnant, however, they pressure Lily to make Helen leave; as a result, Helen hangs herself. (Chapter 4)
4. After her pregnant sister’s death, Lily has the urge to quit her job as a teacher and have a child, and she realizes that the best way forward is with a man she trusts. She asks Jim to marry her; they move to a house on Route 66 and open a garage together, and she quickly becomes pregnant. (Chapter 5)
5. At the beginning of the Great Depression, Jim and Lily own a car garage on Route 66; however, with increasing financial pressures and debts, the family moves to a nearby ranch to act as managers for international owners. Lily ensures that they are strict with finances, such as cleaning house and washing clothes themselves, to make sure that they stay within the budget. (Chapter 5)
6. Lily and Jim decide that they want to purchase the second ranch they manage, Hackberry; however, in order to save up for the purchase, they need to save most of their income and take second jobs. Lily creates new ways to make money, including collecting cans, starting teaching again, and learning how to fly so she can eventually become a pilot. Lily is able to secure teaching posts even when she is removed from a school with a large Mormon population due to her disagreement with the Mormon community’s beliefs. (Chapter 6)
CHAPTER 7-EPILOGUE
Reading Check
1. Making friends with the other children (Chapter 7)
2. The Salt Draw property (Chapter 7)
3. Getting their teeth pulled and buying dentures (Chapter 8)
4. The road to Horse Mesa, which Jim suggests they rename “Lily Sings” (Chapter 9)
5. Flying a plane (Chapter 9)
6. “[A] couple of half-broke horses” (Chapter 9)
Short Answer
1. Lily enrolls in college courses in order to get her degree, and she enrolls her children in boarding school. She reflects that her children struggle with adapting to the life in religious boarding school, particularly Rosemary as she is much rougher than the other girls. After she finishes her own degree in two years, she unenrolls her children at their schools and returns to the ranch. (Chapter 7)
2. Although Rosemary says she wants to live on the ranch and become an artist, Lily sees that she struggles with some of the emotionally difficult tasks, such as caging the animals and skinning the steer. (Chapter 7)
3. While Lily initially enjoys the modern amenities and conveniences of an urban lifestyle, Rosemary is homesick for the ranch and despises living in Phoenix. She also is particularly affected by the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and, despite her mother’s urges to forget about the tragedies, she begins to turn inward and draw more. (Chapter 8)
4. Lily becomes suspicious of Jim’s possible infidelity with a coworker, so she orders Rosemary to follow him at lunch. Jim becomes aware of his wife’s failed investigative attempts; the couple decides that life is not working for them in the city and that they need to move elsewhere. (Chapter 8)
5. Rex is one of Rosemary’s suitors who shows determination in marrying her. Although Lily and Jim are skeptical of Rex’s unpredictable behavior, Rosemary disobeys her parents’ wishes and marries him, eventually having several children with him, including the author Jeannette Walls. (Chapter 9 and Epilogue)
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