42 pages • 1 hour read
Rob BuyeaBecause of Mr. Terupt
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2010A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 1, Chapters 2-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 1
Part 1, Chapter 2 Summary: “october”
The second chapter takes place in October, the second month of the school year. Peter’s voice is first again: “I never ever had something in school excite me before, but the plant unit we did with Mr. T. had me fired up” (25). The plant experiment gives students the freedom to feed their plants anything they want, and Luke creates a smoking concoction of household ingredients that sets off the fire alarm. Luke is sure he’s in trouble for the incident, but Mr. Terupt takes the blame in front of the principal and the fire marshal.
Jeffrey’s perspective focuses on the fire alarm incident and on the aftermath when the fire marshal orders Mr. Terupt to remove student art from the walls. Mr. Terupt defends keeping the artwork on the walls. Jeffrey witnesses the exchange and appreciates that Mr. Terupt stands up for his students and their work: “Our hard work mattered to Terupt—even mine” (33).
Anna’s voice turns attention to her home life and drama among the female students again. Anna is concerned about potentially hurting her plant during the science project, but Mr. Terupt assures her that having Danielle as a partner will be helpful. Anna doesn’t know much about Danielle, other than she’s friends with Alexia, and Anna makes a point of avoiding Alexia and her drama. Danielle has avoided befriending Anna because of her family situation: Anna was born to a teenage mother, and her father is absent. Anna’s mother, Terri, became pregnant with Anna in high school and still faces ostracism a decade later.
Jessica recognizes that Alexia is a bully towards other girls, so she decides to talk to Danielle herself. Danielle confesses that Anna is the only person who’s nice to her, but Danielle’s family won’t allow her to be friends with Anna. Danielle’s family, especially her grandmother, fear that Anna’s mom, having been a pregnant teen mother, is a bad influence. Jessica responds to this information matter-of-factly: “None of that’s her fault” (40). Danielle isn’t eager to press the issue, so Jessica turns her attention to playing with Danielle and the two girls bond over Jessica’s book.
Alexia notices Jessica and Danielle bonding and becomes jealous. She confronts Jessica and knocks the book from Jessica’s hands. Jessica initially dismisses Alexia’s dramatic reaction but acknowledges, “I had no clue how bad things would really get” (42). Alexia confronts Danielle as well, leaving Danielle confused and unsure of who she can trust as her real friend.
Part 1, Chapter 3 Summary: “november”
The action in November spurs from a math project and a reading project that incorporates visits to the school’s Collaborative Classroom. This time, Luke’s voice is first. He breaks down the steps in the math project designed to estimate how many blades of grass are on the school’s field. During the project, Peter throws materials at Lexie for the sake of getting a laugh. Mr. Terupt reprimands Peter for misbehaving and warns him that someone could have been hurt.
Jessica is distracted by the girl war and feels comforted by her books. Mr. Terupt’s newest assignment involves a reading project and draws Jessica’s attention back to school. Mer Terupt assigns the class a book that features a character with Down Syndrome, and they visit their own school’s Collaborative Classroom as an accompanying experiential learning assignment. Peter bluntly asserts that the Collaborative Classroom is “where the retards go” (59), and Mr. Terupt responds by gently hoping that the learning experience will change the way Peter views and talks about students with special needs.
Jessica, Jeffrey, and Anna are the first to visit the Collaborative Classroom, where Jeffrey bonds with a student with special needs. Jeffrey recognizes autism and feels protective of the students in the Collaborative Classroom, and his narrative reveals that this connection is because Jeffrey had an older brother named Michael, who died. Michael also had special needs, but this is not something Jeffrey’s classmates know. Jessica senses that Jeffrey is holding back a secret, and she tries to connect with him by sharing about her own family situation. She confides that her father has a new girlfriend, and that’s why she moved from California to Connecticut with her mom. Jessica confesses that it feels like her dad has dumped her along with her mom, and Jeffrey relates to that feeling: “I knew what it was like to have a parent that didn’t talk to you. I had two” (65). He doesn’t know how to respond to Jessica, but the recess bell saves him from the moment.
Danielle notices that Alexia changes when she’s with students in the Collaborative Classroom–Alexia drops her bullying and even shows patience with the students. Danielle finally confronts Alexia: “Why do you always have to be so mean? You’re nice in the room with them. Why do you have to be mean now?” (71). Danielle then runs away from Alexia and finds Jessica, to whom she apologizes and now recognizes as her true friend. Danielle and Jessica make up with a hug. Alexia, though, notices that Danielle is getting brave in confronting her and realizes she needs to get their relationship back in order (73).
Part 1, Chapters 2-3 Analysis
The narrative style continues with each of the seven students offering perspective and reflection on featured class projects, as well as commentary on one another. Foreshadowing continues when Mr. Terupt takes the blame for Luke’s smoking science experiment: “I wish Mr. Terupt hadn’t trusted us so much. Maybe it was because he was a first-year teacher and didn’t know better” (31). This assertion that Mr. Terupt should take a more authoritative stance with his students is echoed in the second part of the novel, when the adults blame Mr. Terupt for the accident in the schoolyard. Mr. Terupt foreshadows Peter’s actions hurting someone when he says, “Someone could have been injured. You’re lucky you didn’t hit anyone in the eye” (54). Later in the novel, Peter throws a snowball that unintentionally hits Mr. Terupt in the face, leaving Mr. Terupt in a coma.
While the style of narration still depends on each student offering their individual voice and perspective, “november” marks a change in the structure in that Peter’s voice interrupts Luke’s: The chapter opens with Luke’s narrative, then quickly shifts to Peter’s perspective. This shift from one student voice to the next is typical, although it’s been Peter opening the first two chapters, and this time, it’s Luke setting the stage for the month. However, instead of moving on to another student after Peter, the narrative shifts back to Luke in this chapter, as though Peter’s antics interrupt Luke’s telling of the story. The break in the organizational pattern here foreshadows the further loss of control Mr. Terupt will have over the class in the critical chapter where he a snowball hits him, and he falls into a coma.
The girls’ narratives continue following the pattern of taking attention away from classroom lessons and focusing instead on interpersonal drama. Jessica’s response to Danielle’s revelation about Anna’s mother sets the foundation for the theme of blame and forgiveness in the novel. Jessica recognizes that Anna has no control over her mother’s decisions. She’s curious to know more about Anna’s story, but not in a judgmental way. In many regards, Jessica has a mature outlook, but her narrative focus reveals that the “girl war” really does occupy a significant amount of her attention.
Characters again foreshadow what’s to come with warnings in their narratives; this time, it’s Jessica whose narrative warns readers that Alexia’s drama is going to become worse. Before Alexia’s drama gets worse, though, Danielle and Jessica solidify their friendship with a hug. This is an early instance of hugs symbolically and physically bringing people together in the novel, and it continues with more frequency in the falling action of the plot later in the novel.
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By Rob Buyea
