78 pages • 2 hours read
Kate DiCamilloA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
“There is just no predicting what kind of sentence you might say.”
The Power of Words is a central theme of Flora and Ulysses, which is evident within the first few pages. Here, Flora thinks about the fact that life is amazingly unpredictable, that people sometimes experience or say things they never expected: In this quote, she is yelling at her neighbor Tootie, warning her that she is about to vacuum a squirrel.
“It was as if the several doors in the dark room of his self (doors which he hadn’t even known existed) had suddenly been flung wide. Everything was shot through with meaning, purpose, light.”
After Ulysses is sucked up by Tootie’s vacuum and saved by Flora, he finds that he is no longer an ordinary squirrel. Everything seems more meaningful, beautiful, and important than it was before. As Ulysses develops a bond with Flora, he comes to love the world for all its joys and flaws, illustrating the novel’s theme, Becoming Illuminated.
“Alfred sheds light into the darkest corners of the universe. He can fly. Also, he visits the elderly. And that’s what a superhero is. And I think you might be one, too.”
Alfred T. Slipper is Flora’s fictional hero. When Alfred isn’t helping people as Incandesto, he is a janitor whose only loyal companion is his bird, Dolores. Flora knows a great deal about superheroes from reading Incandesto comics, and is certain that she’s found a real-life version of Incandesto in Ulysses. Incandesto is an embodiment of the novel’s theme,
By Kate DiCamillo
Because of Winn-Dixie
Kate DiCamillo
Beverly, Right Here
Kate DiCamillo
Raymie Nightingale
Kate DiCamillo
The Beatryce Prophecy
Kate DiCamillo
The Magician's Elephant
Kate DiCamillo
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
Kate DiCamillo
The Tale of Despereaux
Kate DiCamillo
The Tiger Rising
Kate DiCamillo
Action & Adventure
View Collection
Animals in Literature
View Collection
Family
View Collection
Friendship
View Collection
Juvenile Literature
View Collection
Laugh-out-Loud Books
View Collection
National Book Awards Winners & Finalists
View Collection
Newbery Medal & Honor Books
View Collection
Popular Study Guides
View Collection
Required Reading Lists
View Collection
School Book List Titles
View Collection