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The Revealers
by Doug Wilhelm

Chapter Nine: Vulcanizing

"I got him into this, didn't I? This is just another total screwup by me. This whole, total disaster. It's my fault. I had to stop this from getting worse. I had to. No more stupid experiments. No more pretending we were scientists or something; it was like painting a bull's-eye on our faces, for some reason. Everyone was hurt, and hurt bad."

Answer the following two questions:
1. Vulcan (called Hephaestus by the Greeks) was the Roman god of fire (particulary destructive fire) and craftmanship. Vulcan made extraordinary weapons for both gods and heroes. What does the title of this chapter, "Vulcanizing," mean? Look up the word "vulcanize," in a dictionary and record your answer below.

2. Make a prediction as to what will happen in this chapter, based on the title and your knowledge of what the title means:

Answer two of the following questions:
3. What is a narrator? How is the narrator feeling in this moment? Have you ever felt the same way?

4. A similie is a literary device that compares two different things using the words "like," or "as." The phrase "life is like a box of chocolates," is a similie because it compares two different things ("life," and "a box of chocolates,") using the word like. Find the similie in this passage and circle it.

5. Who is "hurt, hurt bad?" Whose fault is it that they are "hurt?" Explain your answer in 1-2 sentences.