Extra Credit Extended Response Options for The Westing Game
1) The Westing Game was written during the bicentennial celebration of the United States. Explain
how the book exemplifies the idea of America as a “land of opportunity.”
2) Grace Wexler is trying to make Angela lead the type of life at which she herself has been
unsuccessful. Many of Grace’s unpleasant characteristics are her own responsibility, but some result
from circumstances beyond her control. How does Grace’s situation improve and how does she
overcome some of her faults over the course of the novel?
3) How does the chess game contribute to the plot and theme of the story?
4) Sam Westing turns out to be a man with many different identities. What five different names and
identities does he use? What was the purpose of each identity?
5) The Westing heirs are asked two times in the story to give their signatures and titles on a receipt.
Compare the original titles of the heirs in Chapter 7 to the titles they give later in Chapter 23. How do
the titles change, and what does this show about what each heir is experiencing?
6) Each heir learns something about life, relationships, and love from their partner and the game.
Chose two people and explain what they learned from the game and how they developed into a better
person.
7) People make their own happiness. How does this theme fit with The Westing Game.
8) Ellen Raskin believes in the redeeming power of love and second chances. How does she show this
in one of her characters in The Westing Game?
9) Each heir that played in the game changed in ways that might be unexpected. Analyze how each
heir changed over the course of the game. How did working on the puzzle, working with the partner
they had, and having the $10,000 at their disposal bring about certain changes? (You can reference
one character to answer this question.)
10) Research what was happening in 1977 when this book was written. How does a reader “know” the
book is happening in the 70s based on the character’s actions, the environment, and the plot? Write a
three-paragraph essay on how the reader sees elements of the 70s in the book and why patriotism
would have been such a hot topic at the time.