The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

Each chapter of the novel is preceded by a quote from Charles Darwin’s book, The Origin of Species. What purpose do these quotes serve? How would your reading of the novel change if the author were to exclude those quotes?

The protagonist’s name “Calpurnia” is shared by several significant female characters in classic literature. For example, Calpurnia is the name of Julius Caesar’s wife in one of Shakespeare’s works, and it is also the name of a kind of tree on the continent of Africa. Does the name Calpurnia fit the protagonist? Why does she go by the nickname “Callie,” and why does her grandfather emphasize the beauty of her full name?

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate is written in past tense as Callie tells her story from some point in the future. What does the past tense allow Callie to do as a narrator that the present tense does not? How would the novel be different if it was told in the present tense?