A Thousand Acres | Teaching Setting, Symbolism and Objects

Object Descriptions

This section provides a short description of all the major objects in the book. This can be printed out as a study guide for students, used as a "key" for leading a class discussion, or you can jump to the quiz/homework section to find worksheets that incorporate these descriptions into a variety of question formats.

Objects

Zebulon County - This is a fictitious county in the American heartland, which contains two fictitious towns, Cabot and Pike. Beyond them are two real Iowa cities, Mason City and Des Moines.

Larry Cook's 1000-Acre Farm - In 1890, Ginny's grandmother Edith's parents bought 80 acres, sight unseen, in rural Zebulon County: their land was a marsh which, when drained, revealed the fertile soil underneath. When Ginny's grandfather John Cook married Edith, aged 16 at the time, his 160 acres were merged with her 80, making the farm 240 acres. After Edith's death...
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