Name _________________________________ Date: _____________

The Chrysanthemums

1. Describe the setting. Why was it a time of “quiet and waiting”?

2. Who is Elias Allen? What is she doing as the story opens? BE SPECFIC.

3. What statement does Henry make about Elisa’s talent for gardening, and how does he wish she might use her talents?

4. What business deal has Henry just made?

5. How does he plan to celebrate?

6. How does Henry joke with Elisa? What is her response?

7. Who arrives, and what is his mission?

8. What doe the author suggest when he says that the man’s eyes are full of “the brooding that gets in the eyes of teamsters and sailors”?

9. What is the tinker’s annual route, and how long does it take?

10. At first, Elisa is annoyed by and resistant to the tinker’s pitch. What does the tinker do to change her attitude?

11. Why does Elisa give the tinker a pot of chrysanthemum shoots?

12. Do you believe the tinker’s story about the other woman’s garden? Why or why not?

13. What effect does Elisa and the tinker’s discussion of flowers have on Elisa? Describe it.

14. Describe her reaction to the tinker’s visit as she prepares for her evening out.

15. Comment on the kind of communication that exits between Henry and Elisa based on his comments on her appearance. What is the dark speck in the road, and how does it get there?

16. What does Elisa realize when she sees the dark speck?

17. Elisa asks to have wine at dinner and suggests she might be wiling to go to the fights. Why does she do this?

18. Is Elisa aware of the importance of her need to communicate with her husband? If so, how does the reader know?