Echo Mountain Flashcards
When is this story set?
During the great depression
How did Ellie revive Quiet?
Dunking him in water
What is the first figure Ellie finds?
A Lamb
What is the name of the boy who gives Ellie the gifts?
Larkin
Why is Ellie’s dad in a coma?
A tree fell on him
What is the name of Cates dog?
Captan
What is Ellie’s real name?
Leigh
Why did they move to echo mountain?
They had no money after the Great Depression
What month was it when they moved into the house?
June
Who was the woman in the clearing?
Larkins mom
What does Ellie think is the worst punishment of all?
Giving up on what she started
What did Ellie name the dog she saved?
Quiet
What were the five other names Ellie considered naming the dog?
Shadow, Possum, Boy, Beauty, and Tipper.
What did Samuel call the name Ellie chose?
A heartbeat name.
What was the name of Quiet’s grandmother?
Capricorn.
What jobs did her parents have before they moved?
Her mother was a music teacher and her father was a tailor.
How many families had settled nearby Ellie’s family?
Four families.
Where did Ellie hide the wooden lamb?
The toe of her church shoe.
What did they live on for the first few weeks?
A watery soup of beans and salt.
Who else in Ellie’s family loved the woods?
Her father.
Did Father Awaken?
Yes
Where did Ellie find the second gift?
In her jacket pocket.
Who made Ellie’s jacket?
Her father.
What was the second gift Ellie was given?
A wooden snowdrop.
When did Ellie and her family move out of the tent and into the cabin?
When the first room was finished.
How many rooms did their cabin have?
Four
How old is Samuel?
Six years old.
What did Ellie’s family use to pay for the venison the other families gave them?
Cream, butter, potatoes, carrots, beets, onions, turnips, parsnips, and rutabagas.
Were there children besides Esther, Samuel and Ellie among the five families?
No
When did Capricorn die?
A year after they moved into the woods.
How many puppies did Capricorn give birth to?
Four puppies.
What was Maisie’s original name?
Willow.
Where did Ellie find the carving of Maisie?
Next to Maisie’s water bow
What did Ellie do in the hopes that the carver would come back? Did it work?
She hung her jacket on a tree branch. No.
How long was it before she found another gift? What was it and where did she find it?
A month. It was a full-moon face, left by the brook.
Where did Ellie start hiding the carvings?
A high shelf in the woodshed.
Where did Ellie find the carving of herself?
The stump of the tree that had nearly killed her father.
In what month had Ellie’s father been hurt?
January.
Is Ellie the oldest, the youngest, or the middle child?
The middle child
What did Samuel think of the puppies?
they were ugly
Who went to fetch the doctor for Ellie’s father?
Mr. Peterson
How long had it taken for the doctor to arrive?
one day
What state of consciousness was Ellie’s father in?
a comma
What resulted from Ellie’s father lying in bed for so long?
Leaking bedsores.
What did they clean the sores with?
Vinegar.
What flowers did they put in her father’s room once spring came?
Jonquils, crocus.es, and snowdrops
What would Ellie’s mother play for her husband?
The gramophone.
What was the first thing Ellie did to try and wake her father?
She poured water on his head.
How did Ellie’s father react to the cold of the water.
His hand twitched.
What did Ellie have to eat for lunch as punishment for dumping the water on her father?
Gruel.
How much older than Ellie is Esther?
three years older
Where is the spot in which Ellie does her best thinking?
It’s an abandoned, dilapitated cabin atop boulders.
Which gift did Ellie find in this spot?
A fat chickadee.
What is balsam fir used for?
Head colds, sores, cuts, and more.
What is jewelweed used for?
Ivy poison.
What is barberry used for?
Scurvy.
When is barberry typically used?
In the winter.
What is mustard plaster used for?
clear lungs
What is mud used for?
Bee stings and spider bites.
What are onion and garlic used for?
Things coiled in a gut.
What is vinegar used for?
The gut and festering cuts.
What did Ellie forget to retrieve for her mother?
The venison from the Petersons’.
What two places did Ellie’s father tell them to fear?
The river and the part of the mountain above where the families lived.
What state does this story take place in?
Maine
What year does this story take place in?
1934
What did Ellie’s mother compare Samuel to?
A little bull
When could Ellie hold Quiet again?
As soon as Maisie said so.
How many milk cows do they have?
Two
What were the names of their two milk cows?
Venus and Jupiter
When did they let the cows out in the woods?
Every morning
When did they herd them back into their stable?
At dusk
What was in the stable besides the cows?
A net of hay and a trough of water.
When carrying the milk to the Petersons’, Ellie kept her eyes on the ground until she reached what?
A big old balsam fir.
How did Ellie clean her knife after getting the sap from the balsam fir tree?
She plunged it into the dirt and scraped it over and over on a rock.
What had glued the tip of Ellie’s mother’s finger back on?
The sap from the balsam fir tree.
What had Ellie’s mother almost cut the tip of her finger off with?
A carving knife.
Why was there no jewelweed yet?
The spring was too fresh for that.
When did Ellie first meet Captan?
On the way to the Petersons’
What did Ellie first think Captan was?
A coyote.
Why could he not be a coyote?
He was too big
What was the second thing Ellie thought Captan was?
A wolf
Why could he not be a wolf?
He was too blunt; he didn’t have enough snout.
What three colors was Captan’s fur?
Brown, grey, and red
What would Ellie have named Captan if he was her dog?
Ghost
What was the name of the workhorse Mr. Peterson and Samuel were looking at?
Scotch
Why was Scotch’s hoof lame?
There was a thorn in it
What did Ellie give Mr. Peterson to help Scotch’s hoof?
The balsam sap.
What is Mrs. Peterson’s first name?
Molly
What did the Petersons give to them when they gave them the meat?
Deer tallow
What was Ellie’s mother going to bring up to the Petersons’?
Potatoes
What was the puppies’ nest made of?
Straw
Where could deer be found?
Wherever fire had left a clearing.
Where could coyotes be found?
Wherever there were deer
What did skunks hunt for?
Grubs, worms, and frogs
What did skunks love most of all?
Eggs
Where had the egg come from?
Mrs. Anderson’s Rhode Island Reds
What did Mrs. Anderson’s Rhode Island Reds feast on?
Marigolds and wheat berries.
Who did Ellie end up giving the egg to?
Maisie.
What creature found Ellie when she was gathering balsam from the tree in the evening?
The big dog (Captan).
Who called for Ellie when she was with Captan for the second time?
Her mother
What did Ellie tell her mother she was doing?
just walking
What was in the kettle that they stirred the tallow into?
lye water
Did Mr. Peterson know the dog (Captan)?
no
Where was Cate when Ellie’s father found her?
in her yard
What was Cate doing when Ellie’s father found her?
skinning dear
What did Cate say to Ellie’s father?
“You need a leech on that ear. Then honey if it’s hot.”
How had Ellie’s father hurt his ear?
He had fallen
Did Ellie’s father listen to Cate?
No
What did he do to fix his ear instead?
Ellie’s mother lanced it, and then they put honey on the open cut.
Who did Ellie think might have carved her gifts?
The hag
Why could the hag not have been the carver?
She was too old
What was Esther doing on the day that their father had been hurt?
Gathering kindling.
What was Ellie’s mother doing on the day that their father had been hurt?
Making stew inside.
What was Ellie doing with her father the day he had been hurt?
clearing trees with her father
Why were they clearing trees?
So that they could plant more beans, peas, and squash in the spring.
Why had Ellie run in the way of the tree?
To save Samuel, who was chasing a rabbit.
When did Esther become aware that there was trouble?
When Ellie raced into the cabin yelling for their mother.
What did they use to make the hammock for Ellie’s father?
An old blanket
Who was Ellie supposed to fetch when her father was hurt?
The Petersons
Why did Ellie not tell her family what had happened?
She didn’t want to do that to Samuel and Esther.
Did Ellie think it would be worse to pass the blame or to shoulder it?
She thought it would be worse to pass the blame.
What were the first three things Ellie put in her jar?
Her tears, dew from the grass, and the balsam.
What month was it when Ellie first filled the jar?
April
Where did Ellie put the jar?
The high shelf in the woodshed where she kept the carvings.
What was the song Ellie made up to sing to Maise full of?
Barn cats, field mice, and goldenrod bowed down with yellow.
What did Ellie decide to go for when Maise returned from outside?
Honey and river water
What did Ellie bring with her when she set off for the river?
Her father’s fishing gear, the medicine jar, oilcloth for wrapping her catch, a pair of work gloves, some tinder, and the pack on her shoulder.
How did Ellie’s mother usually prepare fish?
She fried it and served it with pickles and cream.
What was always one of Ellie’s wishes?
To keep Samuel near.
Where did Ellie find the carving of the honeybee?
On a white rock at the edge of the trail to the river.
What was the honeybee made of?
Wood and something Ellie couldn’t name.
What was the river named?
Androscoggin.
What made the perfect place to drop her fishing line?
A flat rock above a deep pool at the edge of the current.
What does Samuel not like?
Things that are slimy.
What does Samuel not like very much?
Fish
What does Ellie not like very much?
jerky
What was Ellie not fond of using for bait?
slugs
What did Ellie not like to use for bait?
salamanders
What type of fish will take a slug?
trout
What part of fishing had Ellie never done before her father fell into a coma?
beat the fish to death
What did Ellie wrap the fish in?
Oilcloth.
What did Ellie wrap the mud pie in?
Her kerchief.
What was the mud pie for?
The bee sting that was sure to come
What is not a great thing when a person wants honey?
The hive being wide awake
When had Ellie found her flint spearhead?
When she and her farther were planting potatoes
Why don’t they use matches anymore?
they cost money
Who taught Ellie how to make a fire?
her father
What was one of the hardest lessons Ellie had ever learned?
The fact that bees die when they sting you
What were Ellie and Samuel going to trade to Mrs. Anderson for some eggs?
one of the fish they had caught
What were they going to trade Maisie’s puppies for?
A milk cow
Who were they going to trade the puppies to?
Mr. Anderson.
How long was the snake Ellie found in the washroom?
As long as she was
What did the snake look like?
It was black and shiny.
What kind of snake was the snake in the washroom?
A black racer
Is a black racer a poisonous snake?
No
What was Ellie’s first thought when she saw the snake?
Stomp on the floor and let it escape down the drain.
What was Ellie’s second thought when she saw the snake?
trap it
What was one of the reasons Ellie loved Esther?
She always checked on their father if no one had been with him for a while.
Who did Ellie know would be the one to find the snake?
Esther
What had the snakeskin Esther had plucked out of Ellie’s hair and thrown into the fire smell like it burned?
lightening
What kind of trees surrounded Cate’s cabin?
Red ceders
What carvings were on the windowsill by the door in Cate’s cabin?
a fawn, a mouse, a squirrel
Was Cate’s hand hot or cold?
hot
What was feasting on Cate’s leg?
maggots
What did Ellie’s mother’s kind of courage have very little of?
wild
How large was the tick hanging from Captan’s eye?
as big as a lima bean
What was the first thing Cate said to Ellie?
“You didn’t knock.”
What color were Cate’s eyes?
Blue
What did Ellie think Cate was instead of a hag?
a witch
What is the hag’s name?
Cate
What is Cate short for?
Cathrine
How did Cate hurt her leg?
a fisher cat got her
What had Cate tried on her leg?
Burdock root and pepper.
What does Cate think will save her leg?
Honey and grubs
Where was the spring that Ellie got water for Cate from?
Just past the biggest spruce at the far edge of the clearing.
Does Cate have a privy?
no
How long had Samuel been missing when Ellie got back from visiting Cate for the first time?
two hours
Where did Ellie find Samuel?
In the woodshed, huddled in a corner behind the manger.
Who was in Samuel’s arms?
Quiet
What was in the bundle of food that Ellie’s mother gave her?
A dried apple, a biscuit, and cold venison scraps for Maisie.
How did Ellie’s father react to being fed the contents of the jar?
His eyes rolled beneath their lids, stopped, and then rolled again.
Was Cate alone when Ellie went to see her the second time?
No
What did Larkin look like?
Thin, winter-pale, with hair as thick and black as a bear’s.
