By Katherine Paterson

Comprehension Questions

Comprehension Questions
(and who NOT to?)
A. Jess wants to show his dad., but he doesn’t want to show it to
May Belle.
(Although May Belle would laugh at the joke, he’d have to explain it first.) (p14)

Comprehension Questions
Q4. Why didn’t Jess show his drawings to his dad?
st

Comprehension Questions
Q5. Did anybody like his drawings?

Comprehension Questions

Comprehension Questions

Comprehension Questions
A. Miss Edmunds is from the suburbs so she seems different compared to the people in Lark
Creek, and therefore many people call her a ‘hippie’.

Comprehension Questions
A. Leslie suddenly talks to Jess when he is training, and when he sees her sitting on the fence he couldn’t decide if she was a boy or a girl, because of what she was wearing.


Examples that show how much
Jess likes to draw;
• Milks Miss Bessie a couple of hours later than he should
• He would buy by stationery for his drawings


• e.g. Rooster, dad not around
↓

• The only person he can pick on
• Aware of it being unreasonable


•
•
•

Chapter Three
Q2. Why does Mrs Myers get angry at Jess during class?
A. He was drawing during class, and was trying to come up with a name for a whole book of his drawings.
Then Gary Fulcher looked in and
Jess stomped on his foot, making
Gary yelp out loud.

Chapter Three
Q2. Write an example of how Lark
Creek never seems to have enough money.
A. The children ate lunch at their desks. They still don’t have a lunchroom although the county had been promising Lark Creek one for 20 years.

Chapter Three
Q4. Why does Leslie ‘belong’ to the upper field? Why was it strange that Leslie came down from the upper field to where Jess was?
A. Leslie belongs to the upper field, just because she was a girl.
No girl played or raced in the running races with the boys.

Chapter Three
Q4. Why was Leslie able to run in the race?
A. Gary was making fun of Jess about Leslie because he had made a fair decision and given advice about the previous heat. Jess also wanted to prove he was tough in front of all the boys so he asked Leslie if she wanted to take part and she agreed.

Chapter Three
Q4. Why wasn’t Jess going to feel sorry for
Leslie anymore?
A. He had felt sorry about everyone treating her like an outsider, and allowed her to take part in the race.
Unfortunately she won the running race in Jess’s heat and the effort put in during summer seemed wasted.

1.
•
•
The running contest ends
Not fun anymore
Leslie always wins
2. The Music Class
– Jess has special feelings for Miss Edmunds
(p44)
– Jess makes up with Leslie
3. Comparison of the suburbs and Lark Creek
*Leslie hates being at Lark Creek (p47)
She used to have lots of friends and a gym…

* The reason Leslie came to Lark Creek
- Her parents were reassessing their value structure.
i.e. They wanted to think about what’s important in life.
→ Jess thought this was ridiculous.
- Leslie agreed about coming but didn’t think it would be this bad.
- “Money” is not a problem for Leslie’s family.
= they have plenty of money.
- Leslie’s parents are both writers (p67)
* No television set

4. Bus
- Janice Avery
- Leslie suggests spending an afternoon with Jess
5. “Terabithia”
- the secret land Jess and Leslie made
- Somewhere like Narnia
- Jess and Leslie become close friends
At first they avoided each other at school but eventually started to not care about what others think and say.

6. Leslie had become a special person for Jess
(p69)
- nobody else understood
- Jess got up everyday with something to look forward to (for the first time in his life)
- Leslie was part of him, “a more exciting self”
- Terabithia was a place for just the two of them

 1. solemn → e. serious
 2. suspend → d. cease
 3. reject → b.
deny
 4. plunged → c. dove
 5. crimson → a. red

 1. plunged
 2.suspend
 3.reject
 4.solemn
 5.crimson

 Q. Why didn’t Leslie want Jess to fight Janice Avery?
Why did she think the letter would be a better way to get even?
 A. Leslie didn’t want Jess to fight
Janice Avery because she didn’t think that was the best way to get revenge, and she didn’t want Jess to be beaten up in return. Leslie realised that the letter, which would cause Janice to be humiliated, was a more exquisite form of punishment.

 Q. What immediate evidence did Jess and
Leslie have that Janice believed the contents of the letter?
 A. It was clear that Janice believed the contents of the letter because right after school Jess and Leslie could see Janice in a huddle with her friends, presumably boasting about the letter.

 Q. Why did Jess compare his feelings toward Janice Avery to Leslie’s feelings about killer whales?

Leslie said that killer whales needed protection. Jess thought that
Janice was like them because they both seem like dangerous animals, but also need to be protected.

 Q. Why was this chapter called “The Giant
Killers”?
 A. This chapter was called “The
Giant Killers” because Jess and
Leslie stopped Janice being the bully. Janice was the giant and Jess
 and Leslie were the giant killers.
→ A connection between Terabithia and the real world.

Chapter Six: The Coming of Prince Terrien
 Vocabulary
 1.
Obsessed
→ e. preoccupied by one thought
 2.
Speculation
→ c. guess
 3.
Surplus
→ a. excess
 4.
Foundling
→ b. abandoned infant
 5.
Jester
→ d. clown; fool

Chapter Six: Vocabulary 2
 1. speculation
 2. foundling
 3. jester
 4. surplus
 5. Obsessed

 Q. Why did Jess fantasize that he was a foundling?
 A. Jess fantasized that he was a foundling because he felt alienated from his sisters and his family. He never felt that his father was proud of him and he felt that he could never please him.

 Q. Who was Prince Terrien?
Why was this a good gift?
 A. Prince Terrien was the name of the puppy that Jess gave to Leslie.
This was a good gift because it made
Leslie happy, it was something she wouldn’t have bought for herself, and it was fun to play with.

 Q. Contrast what Jess received for Christmas from
Leslie and what he received from his father. Which gift was more appropriate? Why?
 A. Leslie’s gift was a box of watercolours, three brushes, and a pad of heavy art paper. His father’s gift was a set of electric trains which were hard to operate. Jess loved Leslie’s gift because it was something he wanted and would use for his special drawings. Leslie knew Jess so well that she understood what he wanted; his father didn’t appreciate Jess’s preferences and therefore gave him an inappropriate present.

 Answers would vary!

Chapter 7: The Golden Room
~Antonyms~
 1.
Reluctant
→ d. eager
 2.
Exiled
→ f. returned
 3.
Garish
→ e. tasteful
 4.
Anxiety
→ g. calmness
 5.
Hostile
→ a. friendly
 6.
Comprehend
→ c. misunderstand
 7.
Weird
→ b. normal

Chapter 7: The Golden Room
~Vocabulary~
 1. weird
 2. exiled
 3. anxiety
 4. comprehend
 5. garish
 6. hostile

Chapter 7: Q1
 Q. Compare and contrast Leslie’s relationship with her father with Jess’ relationship with his father.
 A. Leslie had a warm and close relationship with her father based on mutual trust and need. Jess had no feelings of warmth toward his father and felt that he could never please him.

Chapter 7: Q2
 Q. What did Jess mean when he said that the
Burkes were smart in a way he had never known real live people to be?
 A. Jess only knew people who had common sense, knowledge and practical values until now. Jess meant that the Burkes were collegeeducated and knowledgeable about music, art, and literature.

Chapter 7: Q3
 Q. What was the “sacred place”? What was its significance to Jess and Leslie?
 A. The pine grove was a “sacred place.” It was important because it was a secret place where Jess and
Leslie could be true to themselves, a place where no one would intrude on their lives.

Chapter 7: Q4
 Q. What unwritten code of behaviour did
Janice break? How did Leslie console her and what advice did she offer?
 A. Children protected their parents’ reputations; Janice had betrayed her father by telling her friends that he beat her. Leslie told Janice how she had been teased; she advised her to pretend that she didn’t know what her tormentors
(her
“friends”) were talking about.

Chapter 7: Q5
 Q. How did Jess react when MayBelle told him she knew where he went with Leslie? Why did he react this way?
 A. Jess was furious that MayBelle knew about his secret place. He worried that she would tell his mother who would tease him and forbid him to go to Terabithia. He was also angry that the place was no longer a secret.

 1. pew
Chapter 8: Easter
→ c. bench in church
 2. complacent
→ e. unbothered; untroubled
 3. sanctuary
→ d. church or other sacred place
 4. numb
→ b. lacking emotion or feeling
 5. congregation
→ a. assembly of persons together for religious worship
 6. unison
→ f. producing the same sound at the same time

Chapter 8: Easter
 Q1. Why did Easter Sunday become a problem for Jess’s family?
 A. Easter Sunday was a problem for
Jess’s family because Jess’s father was laid off and the girls could not afford to buy new outfits. They balked about going to church dressed in their old clothes.

Chapter 8: Q2
 Q.
Why did Jess’s mother hesitate about taking Leslie to church? What was her main concern about her own family’s appearance that day?
 A. Jess’s mother was reluctant to take
Leslie to church because she was afraid
Leslie would not wear a dress. She knew that Leslie’s family had more money and education than she did and did not want Leslie sneering at her. She wanted her family to have new clothes.

Chapter 8: Q3
 Q. Why did Leslie want to go to church?
 A. Leslie wanted to go to church because she thought it would be a new and interesting experience.

Chapter 8: Q4
 Q.
What were Leslie’s opinions about the Bible? How did this set her apart even more from the other people in Lark Creek?
How was Jess affected by her opinions?
 A. Leslie thought the Bible was a beautiful and an interesting story. She didn’t believe in being damned to hell as the rest of the people in Lark Creek believed. She caused Jess to begin to question some of his own beliefs.

Chapter 9, 10
Synonyms and Antonyms
→ synonym → antonym
 1. mournfully
→ gloomily → joyously
 2. emerge
→ rise → submerge
 3. sodden
→ soaked → dried
 4. sporadic
→ occasional → continuous
 5. vanquished
→ conquered → victorious
 6. scrawny
→ thin → plump


vanquished
Chapter 9, 10
Vocabulary

sodden

scrawny

mournfully

sporadic

emerge

Chapter 9, 10
 Q1. What did Judy mean when she said, “I’m stuck”?
 A. When Judy said that she was stuck she meant she had a writer’s block, a time when she couldn’t think of anything to write.

Chapter 9, 10: Q2
 Q. Why did Jess and Leslie visit Terabithia even though the weather was so bad?
 A. Leslie and Jess visited Terabithia because they were bored and had nothing else to do.

Chapter 9, 10: Q3
 Q. Why wouldn’t Jess tell Leslie that he would not go to Terabithia?
 A . Jess didn’t tell Leslie that he would not go to Terabithia because he didn’t want her to know that he was afraid; in fact, he didn’t want to be afraid.

Chapter 9, 10: Q4
 Q. Why didn’t Jess ask Miss Edmunds if Leslie could go along with them to Washington?
 A. Jess didn’t ask Miss Edmunds to take Leslie along because he didn’t think of it in the rush to go, and then he was happy to be alone with Miss
Edmunds.

Chapter 9, 10: Q5
 Q. Why did Miss Edmunds take Jess to the
National Gallery?
 A. Miss Edmunds took Jess to the
National Gallery because she knew that he loved to draw and suspected that he had never been there.

Chapter 9, 10: Q6
 Q. Why was this visit such a special treat to
Jess?
 A. Jess enjoyed seeing the pictures in the gallery, enjoying their colour and form and hugeness. Jess had never seen real paintings, but he had dreamed of becoming an artist himself.

Chapter 9, 10: Q7
 Q.
How did Jess know something was wrong when he returned from Washington? Why was his family so upset?
 A. Jess saw his father’s truck at home unusually early in the day and his family gathered together not even watching television. They were upset because of
Leslie’s death and they thought Jess might have died, too. Obviously, Jess’s mother did not recall Jess’s request to go to Washington while she was still drowsy.

 1. swerved
 2. dredge
Correction → The lawyer tried to dig up secrets about the defendant ’s past as he questioned him before the trial.
 3. leaped
 4. flung
 5. douse

Chapter 11:
 Q1.
Why do you think Jess denied Leslie’s death when he first heard the news?
 A. ~Answers will vary~
 Make sure you include that…
“It’s important for people to deny tragedy even in the face of its inevitability. “
 e.g.
I think Jess denied Leslie’s death when he first heard the news because he didn’t want the days which he looked forward to disappear. It was something that he could not predict, and did not want to happen

Chapter 11:
 Q2.
Why did Jess imagine himself apologising to
Leslie for not including her in the trip to
Washington?
 A. The apology was an expression of his feelings of guilt. In his imagination he concluded that Leslie would still be alive if he had invited her to come along to
Washington.

Chapter 11:
 Q3.
How did Jess’ parents show Jess that they loved him and had sympathy for him?
 A. Jess’s father did the milking chores, his mother made him a special breakfast, and stopped the older girls from taunting him. His father offered him physical affection as consolation for his anger.

Chapter 12
 Q4.
How did Jess react when he saw Leslie’s grandmother and Bill in tears? p143
 A. Jess thought it was weird that the adults were crying, especially when he wasn’t.
 Q5.
Why was Jess angry that Leslie had been cremated? p145
 A. Jess felt resentful about Leslie’s cremation because he couldn’t see Leslie for one last time and no one had consulted him.

Chapter 11 & 12
 Q6.
Why did Jess compare himself to an astronaut wandering about on the moon? P146
 A
Jess felt abandoned and lonely like an astronaut on the moon.

Chapter 11 & 12
 Q7.
Why did the Burkes give P.T. to Jess? Why did
Jess’s parents allow him to have a dog for the first time? P148-9
 A. The Burkes gave P.T. to Jess because they were going to Pennsylvania and needed someone to take care of their dog. Jess’s parents allowed their son to have the dog because it would provide him some comfort, since it was the only remaining link to his friend, Leslie.

Chapter 11 & 12
 Q8.
At what point did Jess’s numbness end? What emotions took its place? p146
 A. Jess began to react emotionally to the tragedy by throwing away the paints,
Leslie’s gifts to him. His reactions ran the gamut from hatred and anger, to sadness, and finally acceptance.

Chapter 11 & 12
 Q9.
Do you think that Jess’s reaction to the death of his best friend normal? Why do you think he didn’t cry at Leslie’s house?
 Make sure that you can write your own opinion here. Do not forget to write WHY.

Chapter 11 & 12
 Q10.
Leslie Did Leslie’s death surprise or disappoint you? Why do you think the author have
Leslie die and not Jess?
 Make sure that you can write your own opinion here. Do not forget to write WHY.

Chapter 13: Vocabulary
 1. traitorous
→ d. disloyal
 2. fragile
 3. chaos
→ c. delicate; easily broken
→ a. state of utter confusion; turmoil
 4. constriction
→ b. tightness or inward pressure
 5. procession
→ e. act of moving along in an orderly manner

Chapter 13: Vocabulary ②
 1. fragile
 2. chaos
 3. traitorous
 4. procession
 5. constriction

Chapter 13:
 Q1.
Why did Jess want to return to his milking chores? What did this reveal about his state of mind?
 A. Jess wanted to milk the cows early so that he could feel life was returning to normal. This suggests that Jess was getting ready to get on with his life.

Chapter 13:
 Q2.
What did Jess do when he returned to
Terabithia? Why?
 A. When Jess returned to Terabithia, he made a funeral wreath and went with P.T. in a procession to the sacred grove and then to the castle.
 The reason why would vary… but should include the idea that Jess was paying his respect to Leslie.

Chapter 13:
 Q3.
In what ways did Leslie still have a strong influence on Jess? P152-3
 A. Jess adopted Leslie’s language and her attitude when he offered his tribute to her at Terabithia. He helped May Belle overcome her fear the way Leslie helped
Janice Avery.

Chapter 13:
 Q4.
H ow did Mrs Myers surprise Jess on the day he returned to school? p158
 A. Jess, who had always assumed
Mrs Myers to be a heartless woman, was astonished by her deep feelings for Leslie and her sympathy for him.

Chapter 13:
 Q5.
Why did the Burkes take P.T. back?
 Do you think she (they) was (were) unkind?
 A. The Burkes took back P.T. because the dog was a living reminder of Leslie.
 Answer would vary

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