The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Guided reading questions
In groups, read the pages specified and answer the questions that follow:
Page 1
1)
2)
3)
4)
This is the opening chapter of the book. However, it is labelled as Chapter 2.
Why do you think that the author has done this?
Reread the opening paragraph. Discuss the length of the sentences. How
does the length of sentences affect the tone of the opening paragraph?
How old do you think the narrator is? Why do you think this?
How is this opening chapter similar to other detective stories? How is it
different? You may wish to look at some examples of detective stories to help
you with this task.
Pages 2 and 3
1)
2)
3)
What more do you learn about the narrator’s personality in this chapter?
Why do you think Christopher doesn’t understand some of the smiley faces but
does understand others?
How are the sentences similar to those in the first chapter of the novel?
Pages 7–10
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Discuss the writer’s use of dialogue on page 7.
Why does Christopher hit the policeman?
Why doesn’t Christopher like the policeman touching him?
Read page 10 again. Why doesn’t Christopher understand the joke?
How can you tell after reading page 10 that Christopher is a very logical
person? How does the writer convey this?
Pages 14 and 15
1)
2)
3)
Why does Christopher like prime numbers so much?
How are prime numbers similar to Christopher’s life?
Skim through the novel and find some other examples of Christopher being
logical. These are often in chapters of the book that contain diagrams or
symbols. Why do you think the author has used diagrams or symbols to convey
Christopher’s logical nature?
Pages 38–41
1)
2)
How is Christopher similar to other detectives and how is he different?
What do we learn about Christopher’s father in this chapter?
Pages 59–61
1)
2)
3)
4)
What behavioural problems does Christopher have? Why do you think
Christopher has these problems?
How are these problems listed?
Why are footnotes included in the chapter? How do the footnotes reflect
Christopher’s state of mind?
Why doesn’t Christopher like some of the furniture to be moved?
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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Guided reading questions
Pages 78–82
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Discuss the ‘Monty Hall Problem’. What is it?
Christopher understands the problem. Do you? Explain it to each other.
Why do you think that the author has included this problem in the chapter?
Read the next chapter. What do we learn about Christopher’s thought
processes here?
Do you think that Christopher is a visual, auditory or kinaesthetic leaner?
Pages 88–93
1)
Discuss what you have read of the novel so far. How is it similar and how is it
different to The Hound of the Baskervilles? You may need to find a copy of
The Hound of the Baskervilles to help you with this.
Pages 114–124 and pages 129–144
1)
2)
3)
What do we learn about Christopher’s parents in these two chapters?
Why do you think that it takes Christopher so long to work out what has
happened to his mother?
How is the tone and style of Christopher’s mother’s letters different from the
way Christopher communicates? What do we learn about Christopher’s mum
from her letters?
Pages 158–173
1)
2)
3)
How does Christopher plan his trip to London?
What difficulties does Christopher have getting to the train station? How does
he overcome these difficulties?
Discuss the use of visual images and diagrams in this chapter.
Pages 179–191
1)
Discuss the conversation that Christopher has with the policeman? What
difficulties do both characters have understanding each other? How does the
author convey this?
Pages 221–241
1)
2)
3)
What does Christopher do when he reaches the underground station? How do
the other characters react to him?
How does Christopher manage to find his mother’s house?
How do Christopher’s parents talk about him? Is it in an affectionate way? Do
you think that his parents are overprotective of Christopher?
Pages 245–268
1)
2)
What do you think will happen to Christopher in the future? Do you think that
he will have a successful life?
Do you think that this final chapter is like the end of a detective story, or was
that mystery resolved earlier in the novel? What elements has this novel got
that are similar to a detective story?
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5659.doc
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