1. In chapter 10, Celia locks herself in the bathroom and yells at Minny when she comes to change the bedsheets. What does this and other odd behaviors say about Celia?

2. What does Aibileen ask of Skeeter during their sixth session together working on Skeeter's book?

3. What worries Minny about the day that Celia Foote will tell her husband that she has hired a maid? How does Johnny Foote finally find out about Minny?

4. Why does Skeeter begin visiting Aibileen at Mrs. Leefolt's house? What does Skeeter talk to Aibileen about?

5. What are the interviews like between Skeeter and Minny? Who does Minny refuse to allow Skeeter to place in her book?

6. Who is Skeeter Phelan? How does she know Hilly Holbrook? What did Hilly threaten to do in the beginning of chapter 5 to Skeeter?

7. What does Aibileen write in her small notebook? How did she get into this habit?

8. How does the first interview between Skeeter and Aibileen go? What does Skeeter think will happen next?

9. What was Treelore hoping to do before his death? How did Aibileen feel about this?

10. What does Hilly Holbrook complain about at Elizabeth Leefolt's? How does this lead to the Leefolt's building a new bathroom in the carport of their home?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Who is Aibileen? What does she mean when she says that she has raised seventeen children? Why does Aibileen not remain with these kids until adulthood? What changes in the children that Aibileen finds hard to deal with? How could this frequent change in employment lead to trouble for Aibileen? What happened shortly before Aibileen went to work for the Leefolts? How did this tragedy come about? How has it impacted Aibileen? How did this tragedy make Aibileen more open to falling in love with Mae Mobley? How does Mrs. Leefolt treat her only child? What causes this? What does Aibileen do about it?

Essay Topic 2

Who is Minny Jackson? What does she do for a living? Why does she find herself searching for a job in the early chapters of the novel? What trouble does she run into while looking for a job? Why is this? Why does Minny blame herself for much of her job hunting trouble? Is Minny really to blame for her inability to find a job? Who does Minny serve the Terrible, Awful thing to? Why does she call it the Terrible, Awful? What did Minny do? Why did she do this? What was the consequence of this action? How does Minny feel about what she has done?