book

Chasing Vermeer

By Blue Balliett

Chapter 19 - 20
Before you read the chapters:

In Chapter 19 Petra and Calder go to Delia Dell Hall. In real life Delia Dell is called Ida Noyes Hall.
You can view pictures of the facility at websites such as
http://www.chicagobooth.edu/phototour/facilities/idanoyes/ . What is your personal impression of Ida
Noyes Hall from these photographs?

Vocabulary:

Antonyms are words with opposite meanings. Draw a line from each word in column A to its antonym
in column B. Then use the words in column A to fill in the blanks in the sentences below.

Column A Column B
elaborate calm
aware
idyllic oppose
obvious assist
oblivious plain
menace
collaborate disagreeable
overwrought ambiguous

1. When the museum caught fire and the exhibits were destroyed, the curator was
_____________ with grief.

2. The Garden of Eden was a most ___________ place.

3. Who would have imagined that Mr. Hanby would be such a _____________ to the public?

4. President Roosevelt seemed _________________ to the criticism that surrounded him.
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5. Hal David and Burt Bacharach were known to ______________ on the writing of many popular
songs.

6. General Patton planned an ____________ ruse before sending in his troops.

7. Her disdain for pomp and ceremony was ___________ to everyone who knew her.

Questions

Indicate whether the following statements are True or False. T or F

1. King Hall was used only for college classes and offices and was dead T or F
compared with Delia Dell.
T or F
2. On the first floor of Delia Dell there was a huge ballroom space where a
Pilates class was in session. T or F
T or F
3. The Delia Dell library was dedicated to the life of women at the University
of Chicago. T or F
T or F
4. The picture in Chapter 19 reveals a backward P pentomino. T or F

5. When exploring Delia Dell, Petra makes a sudden connection between T or F
the setting and something said by Ms. Hussey. T or F

6. When taking a bath, Petra envisioned as rectangle inside a triangle.

7. Petra imagined trees giving intricate messages to their branches.

8. At the breakfast table the next morning, Calder's parents were reading
an article about the Vermeer paintings in the Chicago Tribune.

9. The picture featured in Chapter 20 reveals a hidden F pentomino.

10. According to the newspaper article, the advertisement sent to the Chicago
Tribune had been mailed from Florence, Italy and the letter received
yesterday had been mailed from Washington D.C.

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Language Activities

A. Find three examples of the following parts of speech from these chapters.

Nouns Verbs Adverbs

B. Imagine you are a newspaper reporter at the time of the Calder and Petra's

adventures. You decide to write a story briefly relating to your readers their exciting
adventures to this point of the story. You may wish to include a brief interview of
either Calder or Petra (or both) to get a personal perspective.

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C. The author, Blue Balliett, enjoys using a variety of literary devices in this novel. One such device

is onomatopoeia. An example is “zap” - when Petra describes the feeling which came with her
connection of Mrs. Sharpe's words with Delia Dell. Define onomatopoeia, and use your imagination to
think of one more example of this device. [Bonus if you can find another example from the novel.]

For an excellent Vermeer website check out:
http://www.essentialvermeer.com/index.html

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Chasing Vermeer

By Blue Balliett

Chapter 21 - 22

Before you read the chapters:

Writers of fiction are warned against relying on coincidence in their stories. In the final four
chapters there are a number of examples of possible coincidences which may leave you
scratching your head. See if you can spot two glaring coincidences in the final four chapters
of the novel and record your choices below.

1)

2)

Vocabulary:

Analogies are equations in which the first pair of words has the same relationship as the second pair of
words. For example, stop is to go as fast is to slow. In this example, both pairs of words are opposites.
Choose the best word from the word box to complete each of the analogies below.

decisive precarious miraculous confident methodically
vigorous cavernous chasm rhombi dormitory

1. Abyss is to as brilliant is to dazzling.

2. Stable is to as foreign is to native.

3. Uncertain is to as gorgeous is to hideous.

4. Astonishing is to as gleaming is to glistening.

5. Barracks is to as sharp is to acute.

6. Deliberate is to purposeful as parallelogram is to .

7. Lovely is to ghastly as indefinite is to .

8. Distasteful is to delicious as lethargic is to .

9. Boisterous is to loud and deliberate is to .

10. Dishonest is to untruthful as huge is to .

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Questions

1. Why did Calder and Petra assume that Mrs. Sharpe did not send the letter to the National
Gallery of Art?

2. Mrs. Sharpe told Petra, "Just be careful. Looking and seeing are two different things." How
would you interpret this advice?

3. Where had they seen the man with the German accent before?

4. When Petra began suspecting her dad of being involved in the art theft, what did she find
troubling about his earlier statement, "Aren't you glad you aren't responsible for saving one
of the world's masterpieces from a maniac".

5. What was unusual about Petra and Calder's birthdays?

6. How did they know which panel the painting was hidden behind?

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Language Activities
A. Beside each of the following words from these chapters, write its root word.

shopping pausing
stepped preoccupied
flipping unfriendly
patted
closest

B. Observation Chart

Chasing Vermeer is a novel filled with sights and sounds. Look back over
the novel and get as many examples of the five senses, listing them in the
chart below with a brief description about where each was found. You may
wish to choose your examples from one particular scene, or include a
number of different scenes.

Sight Sound Touch Taste Smell

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C. The Five W’s Chart

Choose a major event from the novel, then complete the following
chart with the important details.
What happened?

Who was there?

Why did it happen?

When did it happen?

Where did it happen?

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Chasing Vermeer

By Blue Balliett

Chapter 23 - 24
Before you read the chapters:

Predict what you think will happen in the final two chapters. After you have read the selection
come back and see how close your prediction was.

Vocabulary:

Draw a straight line to connect the vocabulary word to its definition. Remember to use a straight edge
(like a ruler).

1 emerge a. recover
2 indulgent b. unsociable
3 distract c. credit
4 retrieve d. divert
5 idealistic e. guess
6 reclusive f. desirous
7 attribution g. appear
8 passionate h. intimate
9 speculate i. visionary
10 confide j. easygoing

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Questions

1. The climax of a novel or short story is the decisive moment in the story, bringing the events
to a head and leading to the conclusion. What do you consider to be the climax of this novel?

2. Were you satisfied with the ending of the novel. Give reasons for your response.

3. Write a brief synopsis of Calder and Petra's flight from their pursuer in Chapter 23.

4. What prompted Petra to check the Castiglione's tree house?
5. Describe Fred's role in the art heist and his fate.

6. Chapter 24 is what is known as a denouement in literature. Define denouement and
describe how Chapter 24 is a denouement.

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7. How are the numbers 1212 significant in the story?

Language Activities

A. Try to reassemble the word parts listed below into ten compound words found in these chapters.

Be careful - one or two are quite tricky!!

trap play piece proof any under police one her prints
weather ground stand some man way self door foot master

1. 6.
2. 7.
3. 8.
4. 9.
5. 10.

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B. Lights, Camera, Action!

[A movie version of Chasing Vermeer was planned for release in 2011, but unfortunately it
never made it past the pre-production stage.]
You are the casting director for a project designed to put together a movie version of Chasing
Vermeer. Who would you cast for the principal roles:

1 - Petra –
2 - Calder –
3 - Ms. Hussey –
4 - Mrs. Sharpe -
5 - Fred –
6 - Denise –
7 - Petra's dad –
8 - Petra's mom
9 - The Policeman –
10 - The man with the bushy eyebrows -
11 - ____________________ -
12 - ____________________ -

You may wish to choose Hollywood actors for this task, or for some fun, limit your choices to
people in your school (teachers and students). Beside each selection write a brief explanation
for your choice.

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C. Book Cover

Create a book cover for Chasing Vermeer. Be sure to include the title,
author, and a picture that will make other students want to read the novel.

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D. A Book Review

Now is your chance to share your own reactions to the novel with others. Write a
review of the book, describing in no more than one paragraph an outline of the
plot, and then in another paragraph how you enjoyed the novel (or didn’t) and
why. (Please don’t give away the ending!) This review can be posted to a website
like www.amazon.com for others to enjoy.

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E. Sequence Chart

List the main events of Chasing Vermeer in the order in which they occurred.

Chasing Vermeer

First

Next

Next

Next

Next

Next

Next

Next

Last

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Answer Key

Chapter 1-2

Vocabulary:
1. collaborate 2. pretentious 3. ample 4. extraordinary 5. mediocre
6.discriminating 7. gullible 8. intriguing 9. labyrinth 10. convention

Questions:

1. 1- discriminating eye 2 - intelligence 3 - ability to think outside of convention.
2. Setting: Hyde Park, a neighborhood of Chicago. Present day.
3. She perceived it to be a threat from her past.
4. If you show this to the authorities, you will most certainly be placing your life in danger.
5. She didn't follow the prescribed curriculum but looked to the students to provide direction in deciding what

relevant projects they would study.
6. Four of: numbers, pictures, talking, petroglyphs, stone tablets, symbols, sign language. Answers will vary.
7. Ask an adult to tell you about a piece of mail that changed their life. Write me a letter I won't be able to

forget.
8. Answers will vary.
9. What had she started indicates that Petra's interaction with Calder in the bookstore may have started

something which she is already regretting.

Chapter 3-4

Vocabulary

A T W CA LDER P

PEN T OM I NOE S EE

H D A S L MOME N T

YEARS E L DR

S L TORNADO SWA D

W I PERS ER R H I E

CE S SATURN N

I NST I T U TE N S I

S RI AUGUS T E S

S TUPEND OUS E EH OE

U TMA A SPY I NG

P ETROG L Y PHS O N I L E

E E R E O N GLEE

R ARES T S AUSAGE L

Questions:

1. Her home was a tornado - noisy and messy. She wished it was more orderly and quieter.
2. stone - Jordan. physicist - university. India - Canadian
3. Answers will vary.
4. Answers will vary (i.e. she is mean and a bully).
5. She thought it was pretty gross.

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6. Answers will vary.
7. They were to choose one item in their home that they felt was a work of art.
8. Denise -deliberately stepped on it, then kicked it under Ms. Hussey's desk. Petra - Told Denise that she

stepped on it because her feet were so big.
9. Answers will vary (i.e. it was quite strange).

Investigation:
B. Bonus: the bright shout of red hair
C. walking - was - water - window - wished - words - works - wouldn't - writer - writing

Chapter 5-6

Vocabulary:
1. innocuous 2. periwinkle 3. stubborn 4. enchanted 5. contemplate 6. fortuitous
7. unprecedented 8. justified.

Questions:

In the book called Lo! by Charles Fort, Petra found quotes from journals and newspapers from around
the world. The book told the story of hundreds of bizarre happenings. Apparently the author had spent
years going through old newspapers in libraries. The author's premise seemed to be depending on how
you looked at things, your world could change completely. He thought that people liked to see what
they were supposed to see. Petra wondered why they didn't spend more time in school studying things
that were unknown or not understood. Another terrific sentence that Petra found was, We shall pick up
an existence by its frogs. When Petra was almost asleep she seemed to be looking at a young woman.
Pentominoes always helped Calder think. Ms. Hussey was always telling her students to listen to your
own thinking. Art for Calder was something puzzling, but it was something that gave him a fresh way
of looking at things. In the picture on the box, the cupboard had the word "Meer" written on it. Calder's
grandmother had given him the box. The sun coming in through the leaded glass window in the living
room reminded Calder of taking a rainbow bath. Calder discovered that Mrs. Sharpe had fallen outside
his house and Ms. Hussey had stopped to help her. A coded letter from Tommy informed Calder that
the kid next door to Tommy named Frog had disappeared. Tommy's mother had returned last year from
Bermuda with a husband called Fred.

Activities
A. taper - cradle - react - bleat - veins - moor

Chapter 7-8

Vocabulary:
1 – e 2 – h 3 – a 4 – j 5 – b 6 – i 7 – c 8 – d 9 – f 10 - g

Questions:

1. Denise ridiculed her writing. Calder was impressed.
2. Calder lunch box collided with the back of a chair sending his baloney sandwich flying. Petra had

just been reading about loud noises and things falling from the sky.
3. Answers will vary.
4. She had been the one who had fallen outside his house. She had previously owned the Charles Fort

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book.
5. She was brusque and demanding.
6. Codes involved repetition, and there was alot of that in his paintings. There was also geometry and

symmetry.

A. Johannes Vermeer

a) The Milkmaid b) The Music Lesson c) The Astronomer d) Girl With a Pearl Earring

Chapter 9-10

Vocabulary:
1 – existed 2 – transferred 3 – dramatic 4 – determination 5 – philosophy
6 – suspicious 7 – investigate 8 – distracted 9 – guild 10 - superstitious

Questions:

1. "I wonder if paintings that float in your mind on their own are kind of like flying frogs or disappearing
people."

2. He said that they kind of talked to him. When he got the feeling that they wanted to tell him something
he grabs one and a word will pop into his head.

3. Answers will vary (i.e. Petra thought outside the box.)
4. Jansz - Baltens - innkeeper - weaver - Bolnes - 11.
5. Answers will vary (i.e. he didn't become famous until long after his death, and the deaths of his

immediate family and friends).
6. To see if A Lady Writing was there. He was afraid it might have vanished.
7. It was in Chicago at a show called "Writer's in Art".
8. If he had used more red in them.

Activity
A. Petra and Calder decided to go the National Museum.

When did Chicago last win the Stanley Cup?
I doubt very much that Sally, Wendal and Jeremy will attend Sunset Park Public School.

Chapter 11-12

Vocabulary:

ELB AUCLACN I A

IU

C ONS ER VATOR D

CD I

IS VERMEERB C

R I S L Y EO

EN CE T TI

HI R I IN

P SN RI R SC

ST S O B U II

O E P ETR A ACRUD

MR A I B CE

T R N AOLXN

AU CF EC

C PURS U I T E

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Questions:

1. An N (on the triangle of the house on the left).
2. Answers will vary.
3. Pay attention and keep our heads.
4. painting - Petra's dad - Tommy - Ms. Hussey
5. Only 26 of the 35 Vermeer paintings were actually done by Vermeer - the rest by imposters.
6. Helping in identifying a crime which has wronged one of the world's greatest painters.
7. She might have some insights into the disappearance of the Vermeer painting.
8. Answers will vary.
9. a) His line was disconnected. b) He wouldn't tell Petra's mother where he was going.
10. Dark wood was rich, so he surmised that dark wood equals fancy places, therefore the painting must be

in a rich place like a mansion.

Chapter 13-14

Vocabulary: Answers will vary.

Questions:

1. Answers will vary (i.e. hire a private detective).
2. Answers will vary.
3. Answers will vary (i.e. to throw the police off his trail).
4. Answers will vary (i.e. perhaps she had nothing to hide).
5. Sold brownies on Harper Avenue to raise money to bring Tommy and his mother home.
b. Tommy's stepfather had deserted them and left them destitute.
6. She notified the police. Answers will vary (She was possibly frightened).
7. Her husband had been a Vermeer expert who had been murdered.

Activities:

B. filled - said - quickly - worked
D. thieves - feet - authorities - boxes - people - histories - women - decades - brownies - cities

Chapter 15-16

Vocabulary: 6 - grope
1 – coincidence 2 – exception 3 – conspicuous 4 - research 5 – gargoyles
7 - dispense 8 - turret 9 - reminisce 10 - irritated

Questions:

1. She was arrested as a suspect in the theft. Her class was out of control.
2. She thought she heard Ms. Hussey say that the painting was hidden in the school.
b. Ms. Hussey began to weep while on the phone.
3. understand - under - University School
4. keep her here
5. They pretended they had been given the assignment of mapping the school.
6. They found a small package wrapped in brown paper and didn't want the principal to see them take it out

of the supply room.
7. The painting from the supply room wasn't the masterpiece by Vermeer, but one which looked like it have

been done by a second grader.
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Chapter 17-18

Vocabulary:
1–b 2–d 3–a 4–b 5–c 6–a 7–d 8–c

Questions:

1. W (near bottom on sidewalk).
2. Answers will vary.
3. Calder - prey. Petra - pray.
4. So that anyone with an interest in Vermeer and in this painful situation might be able to afford to

buy the book. It sold thousands of copies.
5. Answers will vary.
6. Answers will vary (i.e. one of the characters of the novel will have a bad fall. Who?).
7. She asks him to mail a letter to Ms. Hussey. They want to open it to see what the letter is about. They

drop the letter and someone mails it before they can stop him.

Chapter 19-20

Vocabulary:

Column A Column B
elaborate plain

idyllic disagreeable
obvious ambiguous
oblivious
menace aware
collaborate assist
overwrought oppose
calm

1 – overwrought 2 – idyllic 3 – menace 4 - oblivious 5 – collaborate 6 – elaborate 7 - obvious

Questions:
1 - T 2 - F 3 - T 4 - T 5 - F 6 - T 7 - T 8 -F 9 - F 10 - T

Chapter 21-22

Vocabulary:

1 – chasm 2 – precarious 3 – confident 4 - miraculous 5 – dormitory 6 – rhombi
7 - decisive 8 - vigorous 9 - methodical 10 - cavernous

Questions:

1. She was in the hospital and the letter had been sent from Washington, D.C.
2. Answers will vary.
3. At the post office.
4. She wondered if her dad considered himself responsible for saving it.
5. They were both born on December 12th.
6. They used Petra's clue about a rectangle inside a triangle to identify the place, and then counted to the 12th

rectangle, using their birthdays (12-12) and the T (for "twelve") pentomino that Calder pulled from his pocket.
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Language Activities
shop - step - flip - pat - pause - occupy - friend - close
Chapter 23-24
Vocabulary:
1 – g 2 – j 3 – d 4 - a 5 – i 6 – b 7 - c 8 - f 9 - e 10 - h
Questions:
1. Answers will vary (i.e. when Petra discovers Calder and the painting in the tree house).
2. Answers will vary.
3. Answers will vary.
4. She knew that the Lady was nearby and was scouting about the neighborhood when she thought she would

check the little-used tree house.
5. He was an art expert and professional thief who had been hired to steal the painting. He died of a massive

heart attack and was found the next morning.
6. A denouement is a series of events which follows the climax of a story. Chapter 24 consists mainly of an

explanation of the series of coincidences contained in the plot to this point.
7. The names of all the 12 major characters have 12 letters, as does A Lady Writing. The number was scribbled

in Mrs. Sharpe's husband's date book on the day of his murder.
Language Activities
A. understand - playground - anyway - policeman - herself - weatherproof - someone - trapdoor -
footprints - masterpiece

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