Tuck Everlasting
By Natalie Babbitt
Blog: kidblog.org/MrsHofmeister/
( log in top right corner)
(first name last initial)
(bluejay)
Look up the word everlasting. What does it mean? What do you think the story is about base on its title
alone?
Prologue
Group/Partner discussion: “The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer.”
Chapter One
Vocabulary:
TrodTangentAmbledTranquilBovineOppressiveMeagerForlornGallowsImmense-
Group/Partner discussion:
1) Page 7: “Nothing ever seems interesting when it belongs to you- only when it doesn’t.”
2) “Touch-me not cottage.”
Blog: Describe the setting. What is odd about it?
Chapter Two
Vocabulary:
MelancholyRueful-
Group/Partner discussion:
1) Page 10: How would you describe Mae? How does the author describe Mae, quote from the
text?
2) Why do you think Mae never goes anywhere without her music box? Do you have an item you
never go anywhere without?
Blog: Describe Tuck and Mae’s life. Tuck dreams that his family is “in heaven and never heard
of Treegap?” Why do you think he has this reoccurring dream?
Chapter Three
Vocabulary:
BristlyExasperated-
Group/Partner discussion:
1) Page 15: What line supports how the frog and Winnie would be alike if Winnie kept him as a
pet?
2)Why are animals good to talk to?
Blog: Winnie talks to a toad about her life. What does she tell it? Winnie also makes a
decision when talking to the toad. What is the decision? Why do you think she makes it? Do
you think she will really do it? Why or why not?
Chapter Four
Vocabulary:
JauntyDeprecationRetorted-
Group/Partner discussion:
1) What does the stranger want?
2) How might the stranger be connected to Mae?
3) Where does the grandmother think the music is coming from? Where do you think the music
is coming from?
Blog:
Describe the man that approaches Winnie. What does he talk about? What do they hear as he
is leaving?
Chapter Five
Vocabulary:
Galling:
Idly:
Irrelevantly:
Primly:
Solemnly:
Group/Partner Discussion:
1) How do you know Winnie has fallen for Jesse? Use evidence from the chapter to support
your answer? (page 25)
2) “Well boys,” she said, “here it is. The worst is happening at last.” What does Mae mean
here? What is she referring to as the worst? (page 30)
Blog:
When in the woods Winnie thinks, she sees an elf. What does she meet instead? What do they
talk about?
Chapter Six
Vocabulary:
SeizedPerverselyDismay-
Group/partner discussion:
1) How is Winnie reacting to being kidnapped? Is this the typical reaction you’d expect from a
10 year old being taken by strangers? Why is this?
2) Who did they see along the road?
Blog:
If you were taken by strangers, how would you react?
Chapter 7
Vocabulary:
Peculiar:
Gypsies:
Group/partner discussion:
1) Does the Tuck family agree with each other that drinking from the spring was a good thing?
2) Cite specific evidence about the events that happened that made them begin to realize that
something had changed in their lives.
Blog:
Summarize the story that was told to Winnie in four sentences or less.
Chapter 8
Vocabulary:
Scornful:
Elated:
Receded:
Group/partner discussion:
1) How do the Tucks feel now that they have told someone their story?
2) The stranger was hiding in the bushes and heard the Tuck’s story. Make a prediction of the
stranger’s intentions.
**Evidence on how Miles feels about immortality page 43.
** Evidence on how Jesse feels about immortality page 42.
** Characteristics of the Tuck family page 44.
Blog:
How has the knowledge of the Tuck’s story changed Winnie? Reference information you’ve
learned in the chapter.
Chapter 9
Vocabulary:
Vivid:
Broiling:
Vanity:
Brink:
Colander:
Group/partner discussion:
How does Angus Tuck react to Winnie knowing their story?
What was Winnie’s first impression of Angus? How did this change?
How has Winnie’s feelings changed throughout the story so far?
** Characteristics about the Tuck’s home page 48.
Blog:
Would you drink from the spring? Why or why not?
Chapter 10
Vocabulary:
Indomitable:
Perilous:
Parlor:
Cavernous:
Camphor:
Disarray:
Hastily:
Group/partner discussion:
1) Describe the Tuck’s house in your own words.
2) Compare the Tucks to the Fosters.
** Characteristics about the Foster’s page 50.
Blog:
A new theme is beginning to develop in the novel. Loneliness. How are the Tuck’s lonely
(evidence from Chapter 10, pages 53-55) How is Winnie lonely (Chapter 3, pages 13-16)
Chapter 11
Vocabulary:
Elation: happy and overjoyed
Group/partner discussion:
1) Describe how Winnie feels about the meal in the beginning? Cite evidence that supports how
she feels.
2) Winnie speaks “unsteadily” when she asks to go home. What does this word tell the reader
about how Winnie feels?
3) The author is giving clues that something might happen in the following chapters. What
might the author want the reader to be thinking is coming up?
Blog:
Page 58: Angus Tuck says, “I got a feeling there ain’t a whole lot of time.” Jesse laughs and
says, “Seems to me like time is the only thing we have a lot of.” These statements contradict
each other. What does each character, Angus and Jesse, mean by their statements?
Chapter 12
Vocabulary:
Silty: sand, earthy material
Silhouette: outline of an object
Anguish: grief, suffering, pain
Group/partner discussion:
1) Personification is when an author gives nonhuman objects human characteristics. Find the
personification at the bottom of page 60.
2) Angus says on page 61, “But it’s always there, always moving on.” He is talking about the
water but what can this statement be a metaphor for?
**Page 62, 63, 64 shows Angus’s opinion on how life should be. (put on chart)
Blog:
Angus refers to the wheel four times in this chapter. Use your book and cite two references.
Explain what you think it means.
Chapter 13
Vocabulary:
None!
Group/partner discussion:
1) Who stole the horse?
2) What do you think his intentions are?
Blog:
No blog! 
Chapter 14
Vocabulary:
Lingered: staying in one place longer than necessary
Group/partner discussion:
1) Cite evidence from the text: How do you know that the Tuck’s do care about Winnie?
Blog:
If you were to choose to drink from the spring, what age would you chose and why?
Chapter 15
Vocabulary:
Illiterates: cannot read or write
Ordeal: difficult test or event
Constable: officer of the peace
Group/partner discussion:
1) What does the stranger want in exchange for telling the Fosters where Winnie is?
Blog:
Reading about the stranger’s actions, what kind of person is he? Use a complete sentence.
Chapter 16
Vocabulary:
Roust: to cause to get up or start moving
Cahoots: conspiring or planning together
Accommodations: arrangements or compromise
Gander: look at
Grudgingly: reluctant or unwilling
Gallows: hanging
Group/partner discussion:
1) What would a constable be considered in today’s time?
2) What is the constable’s impression of the stranger?
Blog:
Write a brief job description for the constable. Describe what his duties are and what
qualifications he should have.
Chapter 17
Vocabulary:
Stern: back part of a boat
Queer: strange, odd
Peril: immediate danger or threat
Teeming: full of, swarming
Blotter: used to absorb moisture
Group/partner discussion:
1) Who took Winnie fishing?
2) What did Miles say that finally made Winnie understand that people should not drink from
the spring?
**Page 85 Miles makes a statement about how it would be if everyone was immortal- put it in
your chart.
Blog:
An internal conflict is a conflict with you and your emotions. What internal conflicts in Winnie
battling?
Chapter 18
Vocabulary:
Content: satisfied with
Group/partner discussion:
1) What does Winnie’s stomach fluttering at the thought of Jesse tell you?
2) What is Winnie considering, and how would that change the story?
Blog:
How do you know that the stranger in the yellow suit knows the Tuck family? What evidence at
the end of the chapter suggests this?
Chapter 19
Vocabulary:
Petulance: being childish or bad-tempered
Ghastly: deathlike quality
Hoarsely: rough sounding
Ignorant: lacking awareness or knowledge
Group/partner discussion:
1) What are the stranger’s plans for the water?
2) How does he react when the Tuck’s refuse to help him?
3) Why do you think Mae acts the way she does? Do you think it is to keep the secret safe or
to keep Winnie safe?
Blog:
This chapter begins the downfall of the stranger. It introduces another theme of the story,
greed. How message about greed does this support?
Chapter 20
Vocabulary:
Entranced: filled with wonder or delight
Marionette: puppet controlled by strings
Group/partner discussion:
1) Idiom: page 103- The constable says if the stranger dies, the family is in a pickle. What does
this mean?
2) How do you know that Winnie now believes the Tucks? What phrase at the end of the
chapter supports Winnie’s thinking?
Blog:
Winnie says everything is going to be all right. Make a prediction. Why does Winnie think
everything is going to be okay?
Chapter 21
Vocabulary:
Insistent: to be persistent, or require attention
Sprawled: to sit or lie with body and limbs spread out awkwardly
Blanched: color drained out
Acrid: harsh taste or odor
Group/partner discussion:
1) What did Winnie say that shocks the family? Why do you think it was shocking?
2) Does Winnie think the stranger should die?
Blog:
The stranger dies. What effects may result from his death?
Chapter 22
Vocabulary:
Gingerly: very cautious or careful
Parched: lacking moisture
Group/partner discussion:
1) On page 111, the author describes the weather as the hottest day yet, heavy with
perspiration and exhaustion. How does this description of the weather connect to how Winnie
may be feeling?
2) When Jesse finds Winnie they are separated by a fence. What other invisible barriers are
there between Jesse and Winnie?
Blog:
What plan do Jesse and Winnie come up with? What gift does Jesse give Winnie?
Chapter 23
Vocabulary:
Ponderous: having great weight
Lapse: failure to meet an accepted standard
Prostrate: to lie or throw oneself on the ground
Group/partner discussion:
1) The weather is described as mindlessly hot, unspeakably hot, and too hot to even move or
think. How is this metaphoric for Winnie now?
2) The time ticking until midnight is the countdown till when Winnie goes to help the Tucks.
What else is it a countdown for?
3) Winnie puts the bottle of spring water in her dresser drawer. What does this action suggest
about what she believes or her decision?
Blog:
Winnie knows it is wrong to go help Mae. Why do you think she does it anyway?
Chapter 24
Vocabulary:
Group/partner discussion:
1) The drop of rain provides relief from the storm. What kind of relief is Winnie experiencing?
Blog:
Cite evidence from the text: How does the reader know Winnie’s feelings about sneaking out of
the house?
Chapter 25
Vocabulary:
Profound: going into great depth
Constricted: make smaller or narrow
Accomplice: a person who helps another person break the law
Staunchly: firm and loyal
Revulsion: violent dislike or disgust
Group/partner discussion:
1) Go back to the beginning of the book. August is at the top of the wheel, thus most intense.
Discuss how the last two weeks of Winnie’s life could be considered the most intense moments
of the year for her.
2) What actions signal the downward move?
3)
Blog:
1) How is Winnie’s response to the toad similar to her response and actions with the Tucks?
2) Winnie gives the toad her water, what does this tell the reader about Winnie’s decision?
Epilogue
Vocabulary:
Emerged:
Group/partner discussion:
1) Cite evidence: How does the reader know many years have passed since Mae and Angus have
last been to Treegap?
2) Cite evidence: How does the reader know Mae and Angus have not changed that much over
the years?
Blog:
An epilogue is a concluding statement or section added to a novel or play. Usually the epilogue
provides what happens to one of the characters later, or after the book.
In this epilogue, the reader finds out Winnie does not drink the water. Is this how you
predicted the story would end? Did you think Winnie would drink from the spring?