Name________________________
Summer Reading: Reading Response
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (Mark Haddon)
English 12; Levels: 3.0, 4.0, 5.0
Directions: Using the chart below, record at least twelve specific references from the novel that
align with the following themes. Be sure to give equal attention to all themes mentioned and
complete at least three quotations for each theme. This journal will be turned in the first day that
your English class meets in the fall. It will be awarded points for completion. Please note, your
summer reading work is an individual assignment that should be completed independently.
In addition to the journal, you will take a reading quiz on the text sometime during the first cycle
of the school year. The reading quiz will be worth 10% of your first marking period grade.
Themes:
1.) Loss of innocence
2.) Perception versus reality
3.) Fear of the unknown
4.) Isolation /alienation
Chapter &
Page Number
Quotation
Example for
The Curious
Incident…
Ch.83, pg. 50
“Sometimes when I want to
be on my own I get into the
airing cupboard in the
bathroom and slide in beside
the boiler and pull the door
behind me and sit there and
think for hours and it makes
me feel very calm.”
Explanation
Thematic
Category
Christopher physically isolates Isolation/
himself from others for long
Alienation
periods of time in an attempt to
calm down and possibly make
sense of the world around him.