Half Broke Horses

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.

“Rosemary’s Narrative”

In this activity, students will write a creative piece of fiction from the perspective of Rosemary.

Jeannette Walls’s texts The Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses represent different points in the history of the author’s family; The Glass Castle is a nonfiction memoir of Walls’s own upbringing, while Half Broke Horses is a fictional, first-person account of her grandmother’s life.

For this activity, write a creative piece of fiction from the perspective of Rosemary, Lily’s daughter and Walls’s mother. Using text and characterization details from both The Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses, be sure to maintain the characterization developed in Walls’s text, while also adding in creative plot elements.

• Read an excerpt or summary of The Glass Castle to understand the ways in which Walls characterizes the figure of Rosemary.
• Determine a point or event in Rosemary’s life to write about.
• In your brief scene or story, you may want to follow a basic plot structure: exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution.
• After drafting your piece, share your creative writing with the class. In a brief, reflective paragraph, compare your peers’ representations of Rosemary to your own.

Teaching Suggestion: This activity invites students to consider the perspective of Rosemary in the Walls’s family tree. Please see the Differentiation Suggestion below for an activity that does not involve references to Walls’s The Glass Castle.

Differentiation Suggestion: For a creative writing approach that does not involve Walls’s The Glass Castle, students might instead write a narrative in which a young Rosemary reflects on her relationship with her mother. Be sure to maintain the characters’ integrity of Half Broke Horses while adding creative plot points and elements.

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. At the end of the novel, Lily tells Rosemary, “Life’s too short, honey, to worry what other people think of you.”

• Which character or event in the narrative best represents the meaning and influence of this advice? (topic sentence)
• Considering the beginning, middle, and end of the narrative, select the strongest examples of character actions or plot details to make a case for your choice. Analyze and discuss these examples with text evidence and at least one quotation, appropriately cited.
• In your concluding sentences, evaluate the worth of this advice in the context of Lily’s and other characters’ choices. Briefly comment on whether the advice is helpful and sincere, or ironic; explain your reasoning.

2. In Chapter 1, Lily’s father tells her, “The most important thing in life is learning how to fall.”

• How does this quote represent the overall tone of the novel? (topic sentence)
• What is the literal meaning of this quote? What is the metaphorical meaning? In support of your topic sentence, chronicle Lily’s most significant “falls” and explain how her understanding of herself grows and changes with each one.
• In your concluding sentences, paraphrase Walls’s larger message regarding Learning How to Fall and summarize how Lily’s life serves as a representation of this theme.

3. The title of the novel, Half Broke Horses, appears several times in the narrative.

• What is the significance of the phrase “half-broke horses”? (topic sentence)
• Identify 2-3 examples in which a character in the novel uses this phrase as a descriptor. Analyze and discuss the deeper meaning involved with each example, and the ways in which the theme Half-Broke Horses is developed as a result.
• In your concluding sentences, summarize the multiple meanings of the phrase and evaluate the phrase’s effectiveness as the title of the novel.

Full Essay Assignments

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

1. Consider Lily and Rosemary’s relationship. In what ways is Rosemary like a wild horse that needs to be broken? To what extent does her wild spirit disappoint Lily? How might Lily have been influenced in her parenting by her own mother? In a 3- or 5-paragraph essay, analyze and discuss the complex and possibly cyclical mother-daughter relationship in the novel. Use text details to explore your points and appropriately cite any quotations.

2. The setting of American Southwest plays an important role in this story. Consider the time period of the American West and frontier on the lives of the characters. How does the land affect the story and the characters? In which ways are their lives bound to the land? In a 3- or 5-paragraph essay, explain and analyze the ways in which the characters’ connections to the setting affect their emotional, financial, and spiritual welfare. Use examples and details from the story to substantiate your ideas and appropriately cite any quotations.

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

Multiple Choice

1. What does the incident with the flash flood reveal about Lily’s character?

A) That she lacks leadership abilities

B) That she believes in the power of God

C) That she prefers to watch and listen as opposed to act

D) That she knows how to take charge of a situation

2. Which of the following words best describes Lily’s father’s relationship with academics?

A) Intellectual

B) Illiterate

C) Inconsistent

D) Indifferent

3. Which of the following phrases best summarizes the situation between Lily’s father and Old Man Pucket?

A) An example of law enforcement in the West

B) A commentary on the relationships between workers and farmers

C) A manifesto on the necessity of egalitarian property ownership

D) An aside on the importance of better import-export tariff legislation

4. Which of the following words best describes Lily’s lifestyle after beginning work as a teacher?

A) Steady

B) Monotonous

C) Transient

D) Unfulfilling

5. Which of the following words best describes how Lily feels about the introduction of modern technology?

A) Fearful

B) Nonchalant

C) Intrigued

D) Disgusted

6. Which of the following phrases best describes Lily’s reaction to learning about Ted’s infidelity?

A) Calculated and determined

B) Unbridled and pleading

C) Mocking and resentful

D) Ashamed and fearful

7. In reference to Lily’s failed marriage, Lily’s mother tells her, “A package that’s been opened once doesn’t have the same appeal.” Which of the following literary terms does Lily’s mother use in this quote?

A) Allusion

B) Allegory

C) Adage

D) Anaphora

8. After learning how to drive, Lily makes the following realization: “I discovered that I loved cars even more than I loved horses. Cars didn’t need to be fed if they weren’t working, and they didn’t leave big piles of manure all over the place. Cars were faster than horses, and they didn’t run off or kick down fences. They also didn’t buck, bite, or rear, and they didn’t need to be broke and trained, or caught and saddled up every time you needed to go somewhere. They didn’t have a mind of their own. Cars obeyed you.” Which of the following literary terms does Lily use in her explanation?

A) Simile

B) Personification

C) Synecdoche

D) Paradox

9. Lily notes that, “One of the problems of the world today was all the muttonheads—like those Bolshies in Russia—going around convinced they were the only ones who had the answers and killing everyone who didn’t agree with them.” Which of the following historical events best aligns with Lily’s reference in this quote?

A) The start of World War II

B) The end of the Boer War

C) The Yalta Conference

D) The Communist Revolution of 1917

10. Which of Lily’s traits is exemplified by her decision to start selling bootleg liquor during Prohibition?

A) Financial shrewdness

B) Reckless alcoholism

C) Government hatred

D) Family apathy

11. Based on Lily’s interactions with Rosemary, which of the following statements would Lily most likely agree with?

A) Animals are not meant to be chained up.

B) People should always follow their dreams, no matter the consequences.

C) It is important to trust strangers.

D) Too much freedom can have negative consequences.

12. Which of the following statements best describes why Lily lost her teaching position in Main Street?

A) She was too focused on incorporating religion into the classroom.

B) She insisted that the boys and girls learn together.

C) She disagreed with the community on the content of the lessons.

D) She gained a reputation as an adulterous woman.

13. With which of the following matters is Lily preoccupied throughout the majority of the narrative?

A) The state of her children’s soul

B) The acquisition of KC Ranch

C) The state of her and her family’s finances

D) The possibility of finding an appropriate suitor

14. Which of the following phrases best describes Lily’s aside on Fidel Hanna’s future?

A) A depiction of the importance of Indigenous reservations in Western US states

B) An example of the difficulties Indigenous people experience in Western institutions

C) A commentary on the early woes of Communism in pre-Cold War Arizona

D) A reflection on the destruction of poverty on the family unit

15. Which of the following words best describes how Lily feels about Rex overall?

A) Delighted

B) Amused

C) Doubtful

D) Frightened

Long Answer

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

1. What is the narration style of the story? How does this narration style connect with the relationship of the author to the protagonist?

2. Is this text better classified as a novel or a memoir? Provide your reasoning.