Name: __________________________________ Date: ___________________ Period: ______

Close Reading Organizer - Chapter 3

Directions: Read each summary entry and think about which themes listed in the
Themes Key apply to it, then color in those themes in the Theme Tracker. Next, write a
few sentences of Analysis to explain how the themes you chose apply to each summary
section.

Themes Key
1 Racism
2 Gender and the Home
3 Social Class
4 Help vs. Hypocrisy
5 Writing, Storytelling, and Freedom

Summary Theme Tracker Your Analysis

Minny narrates this chapter.

Celia Foote’s large mansion is
way out in the country. Celia
wears a lot of makeup and
Minny thinks she looks like
Marilyn Monroe. Celia invites
Minny to sit at her table so she 1 2 3 4 5
can bring her a cold drink. A
white woman has never done
this before and Minny,
suspicious of Celia, refuses the
drink and asks to see the house
instead.

After showing her around, Celia

offers Minny the job, but
doesn’t know how to go about
hiring her. Minny has to tell her
what questions to ask. Unlike
most housewives, Celia gives
Minny the freedom to pick what 1 2 3 4 5
days she would like to work and
what time she’d like to arrive
and leave. Celia offers her two
dollars an hour – twice as much
as she was paid at Miss
Walters’.

1
Name: __________________________________ Date: ___________________ Period: ______

Minny remembers when she

was fourteen and her mother,
who was also a maid, explained
the rules of housekeeping at a
“White Lady’s.” Her mother said
that a maid must keep her
complaints to herself, keep out 1 2 3 4 5
of the family’s business, use her
own silverware, and, most of all,
must not sass. On the first day
of her first job, Minny talked
back to the woman of the house
and was fired five minutes later.

Celia’s home is a mess – dirty

clothes everywhere, rust under
the carpets, tons of dust. Celia is
friendly, but Minny, suspicious
of a white woman’s friendless,
bristles at her kindness. At
Celia’s request, Minny teaches
her how to cook for her husband
– it’s the first time she’s ever
told a white woman what to do.
A good cook, Minny takes pride
1 2 3 4 5
in the food she makes and
refuses when Celia suggests she
burn some of the food so that
her husband doesn’t get
suspicious why the food tastes
so good. Without telling Minny
her reasons, Celia keeps the fact
she hired a maid a secret from
her husband, but she agrees to
tell him about her before
Christmas day.