Chapter 7 Vocabulary Words

• Devour- v. to swallow or eat up hungrily, voraciously, or ravenously
• Sentence- Dave devoured the food that was in front of him.
  

• Morsel- n. a bite, mouthful, or small portion of food, candy, etc
• Sentence- I took a morsel of food when I was on my break.
  

• Despised- v. to regard with contempt, distaste, disgust, or disdain; scorn; loathe.
• Sentence- I despised looking at nasty looking soup.

• Cringed- v. to shrink, bend, or crouch, esp. in fear or servility; cower.
• Sentence- I cringed from the pain of a stomach ache.

• Magnitude- n. size; extent; dimensions
• Sentence- Seismologists use a magnitude scale to express the seismic energy released by each earthquake

• Vile- adj. foul; filthy
• Sentence- The old house smelled so vile.

• Snobbery- n. snobbish character, conduct, trait, or act.
• Sentence- The boy walked away in a snobbery way.
  

• Provoke- v. to anger, enrage, exasperate, or vex
• Sentence- I spoke to the secretary in a provoke way.
  

• Instinctively- adj. prompted by or resulting from or as if from instinct; natural; unlearned
• Sentence-The little girl instinctively love her doll.

• Ruthless- adj. without pity or compassion; cruel; merciless
• Sentence- Mother ruthlessly spanked her son.
  

Chapter 6 Vocab Words

• Disposal- n. power or right to dispose of a thing; control
• Sentence- The trash disposal was still in front of my house which means the trash man hasn't come yet.

• Pathetic- adj. causing or evoking pity, sympathetic sadness, sorrow, etc
• Sentence- Mother made her son feel like he was a pathetic child so he started to cry.
  

• Lenient- adj. agreeably tolerant; permissive; indulgent
• Sentence- The lenient law to encourage take away guns from the streets decreased violence.

• Morbid- adj. suggesting an unhealthy mental state or attitude; unwholesomely gloomy, sensitive, extreme, etc
• Sentence- My morbid neighbor started to cry, because she was traumatized of her childhood experience.
  

• Deteriorated- v. to make or become worse or inferior in character, quality, value, etc.
• Sentence- The patients condition deteriorated overnight.
  

• Instinctively- adj. of, pertaining to, or of the nature of instinct
• Sentence- Mother instinctively grabbed the knife from the kitchen counter.
  

• Dignity- n. bearing, conduct, or speech indicative of self-respect or appreciation of the formality or gravity of an occasion or situation.
• Sentence- I lost my dignity of self respect from most people.
  

Chapter 7 Questions The Lord's Prayer

• · What did Dave start to believe about a month before he entered the fifth grade? A month before Dave entered 5^th grade, he believed that there was no god.

• · When he was given the luxury of food he… When Dave was given the luxury of food, he ate like a homeless dog.

• · During all the years Dave’s prayed to god, how many times did he answer his prayers? The only time God answered his prayers was just that one time.

• · What had he asked god for when god answered his prayer? Dave prayed to god that he would get mother sick so she wont have to hit him anymore. Surprisingly the next day Dave found his mother was sick.

• · Why does he call himself a robot? Dave called himself a robot, because he was the slave of the family.

• · How does David begin to change? Dave began to change when things started to get more severe. He started changing when he became suicidal.

• · How does he feel about life and everything around him? Dave’s soul became so cold, that he started to hate everything, everything that was around him. He even hated the presence of the sun since he can no longer enjoy its warmth.

• · How does he feel about mom, dad and brothers? Dave hated his mother so much that he hoped she was dead. Not only did he hate his father, but he also hated his father. He was aware of how his life was, but he didn’t have the courage to save him in his misery like what he promised to back then. Dave stopped treating his brothers like his brothers.

• - How does he feel about himself? Dave hated himself more than any thing. He believed that everything that was happening to him was his own fault.

• · Who is Aggie? Aggie was a tormentor. She would always tell David to drop dead almost each and everyday.

• · What did Aggie tell him to do when they went on the trip? During the trip, Aggie startled Dave telling him to jump! Off the boat and drown. As quoted in the book, “I said you should go ahead and jump. I know all about you Pelzer and jumping is your only way out.”

• · Why did Mr. Ziegler make a special effort to start treating Dave as a normal kid? Mr. Ziegler made a special effort to start treating Dave as a normal kid after the nurse had informed him why he had stolen food and why was he dressed the way he did.

• · What did his mother say to him about how he could impress her? What did she consider him? Mother told Dave that he could not impress her. There was no way he could get anything or do anything just to impress her. Dave was a nobody to her. Dave was an “it” to her.

• · How did he begin to purposefully irritate his mother? Dave began to carelessly do his chores. He made sure he forgot to wipe the bathroom floor. When he went to go wash the plates he made sure there were bits if food left on the plates.

• · Why did his mother pack his fathers stuff? Mother packed Dave father’s stuff, because he was no longer to live in the house. He couldn’t take it no longer.

• · How does his brother contribute to David’s abuse? Dave’s brothers took turns hitting him. When they we re in the car, each of the boys took turns stomping him with their feet for mouthing off to them and mother.

• · What kept him sane? Why? The only thing that kept Dave sane was his baby brother Kevin. He was a beautiful baby and he loved him so much.

• · What would you do to keep yourself sane if you were in his shoes? If I were in his shoes, my baby brother would keep me sane. Just by looking at him makes me happy. Not only that but his smile and laugh. He was the only person who hasn’t been brainwashed yet since he’s still a baby.

• · What happens to father towards the end? How does David feel about him? Father started packing his belongings since he can longer take Mother’s actions and attitude anymore. He was fed up with everything.

• · What was the last thing he smelled from him? The last thing that Dave smelled from was the smell of alcohol or liquor.

Chapter 6 Questions

1. What would Dave’s father often tell him? In the story, Dave's father would often tell him to don't worry, because someday they're going to get away from the house away from Mother.
2. 2.During one period of time how long did his mother go without feeding him? Dave's mother never fed him for up to 10 days. This was another form of her punishment that she had made. Dave could last up to not eating for 3 days, but 10 days was so unbearable for him. He was terribly suffering from his hunger.
3. 3.What would his mother say to him sarcastically? As quoted in the story, mother would often say ,"Oh, poor little baby" to Dave when she sees him suffering.
4. 4.What did Dave want more than anything? The thing that Dave wanted more than anything was to at least get something to eat. According to the story, since he was so hungry he could actually care less what it was going to be.
5. 5.Why does father the protector even if he doesn’t do anything? father was still his protector even though he doesn't do anything, was because he got along more with his dad and the only person who was really nice to him was his dad.
6. 6.How many days does he go without food? Dave went for 10 consecutive days without food.
7. 7.What were some of mother’s favorite games? In this chapter, mother's favorite game was telling Dave that he has 2 minutes to eat. Then right when he picked up the fork and was going for the food, she quickly snatched it away.
8. 8.What did the bucket have inside of it? The bucket had ammonia mixed with Clorox. The two chemical mixtures gave Dave a hard time to breathe. The gases were so strong that his throat began to hurt and he began to feel weak.
9. 9.Where did she get the idea for the game? Mother got the idea of the game in the newspaper.
10. 10.What did Dave cough up for over an hour? After the painful time of being in the bathroom, Dave coughed up blood for over an hour.
11. 11.A few times his mother whooped him with what? At times Mother would whoop him with the dogs chain and stick of the broom on the back of his leg.
12. 12.What job does mother make him do? Mother made Dave go door to door asking neighbors if he can mow the lawn for money so he can give the money he earned to his mother.
13. 13.Why doesn’t any of his brothers help out? His brothers wouldn't dare to help out, because they were scared that mother would treat him like Dave if she see them help Dave out. So then they act like they don't care about Dave and mother brainwashed them that the only reason why shes terrible to Dave was because he was a very bad boy.
14. 14.Who was the first to treat him with respect? The first person who ever treat him with respect was his substitute teacher who he had a crush on.
15. 15.In the last week of October what was the tradition at his mother’s house? On the last week of October, carving out the pumpkins was a tradition at mother's house.
16. 16.Where did his mother decide to let him sleep? Out of nowhere, mother let Dave sleep in his dad's room on his nice cozy bed.
17. 17.What happened on a Sunday the last month of summer? Mother told Dave that she was terribly sorry for treating him badly in the past few days.
18. 18.What did he get for Christmas and why? On Christmas, Dave received a pair of roller skates. Sooner did he found out that the roller skates weren't given to him for a good cause, but he was suppose to use the roller skates so he can go around the neighborhood and mow peoples lawns.
19. 19.When did he feel like he was back in the family? Why? Dave felt like he was back in the family, when she said sorry to him and that she regret what she did to him. She didn't know what got into her and why she treated him like that.
20. 20.Who was Shirley? Shirley was the neighbor and the person who treated Dave and his brothers like they were her own. Shirley then became a good friend of mothers.
21. 21.How did mom act when Shirley was around? When Shirley was around, mother acted fake. She acted like she was a nice caring woman.
22. 22.Describe what happens p.123 how does mom change? Mother asked Dave to sit down on the corner of the bed.She told him how she was tired of living the life they are living now. She told him that she was sorry and that she wanted to make up all the bad times that she treated him. The times when she didn't spend any good times with him. When they both hugged each other, they both then began to cry.
23. 23.Did she return to her normal mean self? Dave found out his mother was being fake when a social security came to visit their home. After the social security left, Mother came back to her old self again.
24. 24.Why do you think David believes her? I think Dave believed mother's apology and "confessions" , because he had never heard her say those words before.
25. 25.what were her reasons for her kindness? The reason for mother's kindness so she wouldn't look bad when the social security came to visit their home.