Cinder Reading Comprehension Questions
Please Answer in your NOTEBOOK under MISCELLANEOUS. These questions must be answered prior to the Cinder
final test, answered completely. They will be worth a test/project (50%) grade.
You do not need to write the questions, but you need to number and label by chapter.
Pre-reading and Chapter 1
1. Who is the protagonist? (pg. 1)
2. So far, what “classifications” of living people/objects are in New Beijing? (pg 1)
3. What does Cinder do as a job? (pg. 1)
4. Define what an android is (pg. 2)
5. Predict what society may find wrong with her (pg. 2)
6. What is ironic about the plague and the time period, based on what you may think of the futuristic setting
(pg. 4)
7. Why might the Prince assume that Cinder is a man (pg. 8)
Chapter 2
8. Which sister is more accepting of Cinder?
9. What other drafts have we seen in history- why were they necessary?
10. Where does the story take place?
Chapter 3
11. Why does Cinder not want to go to the ball?
12. Define “precarious”- Why does Cinder describe her fantasy as such? (pg. 33)
13. What is the setting at the end of Chapter three? Identify where they are, and describe it.
Chapter 4
14. “It’s prejudice not to let androids in” (pg. 40). What other prejudices have we seen so far in the book?
15. Who is Queen Levana and the Lunars? (pg. 42-43)
16. When the girls discover an old car, Iko says, “It looks more like a rotting pumpkin.” (pg. 47) This is an
allusion to what?
17. Peony has developed a rash at the end of chapter 4. Predict what you think may happen to her.
Chapter 5
18. Who catches the plague? Would you give fault to Cinder for the person catching it, or is it just
fate?
19. At the end of the chapter, does Cinder go with Peony?
Chapter 6
20. “Cinder slinked through the balmy night, the sound of her boots shuffling across the concrete, as
if both legs were made of steel” (pg. 58). Pick out the descriptive imagery.
21. Do you think it’s right for Adri to be able to give Cinder over to plague testing if she is also part
human? Why or why not?
Chapter 7
22. Who is Dr. Erland, what do you think his significance in the book will be?
23. Why does he let the 32 year old cyborg go from being tested?
24. They mention a ratio detector; what do you think this device does?
Chapter 8
25. Why does she see victims in her dream now, rather than being alone, like before?
26. Dr. Erland calls Cinder “Juliet,” making a reference to Shakespeare’s play. Why might he be
making this reference RIGHT after she awakens again?
27. What is the ratio given for Cinder- How “not-human” is she?
28. What sickness in our society today is the plague most comparable to? What are the similarities
and differences between the sickness in our society (2014) and the plague in Cinder’s society
(future)?
Chapter 9
29. What does Dr. Erland discover about Cinder after they inject her with the plague?
30. Predict: Reading through the book at this point, there is much about the future we don’t know
yet. What do you think Dr. Erland means when he describes “little green fireflies” in Cinder’s
immune system—What are the green “fireflies”?
Chapter 10
31. Describe the setting of chapter 10. Where do they take Cinder?
32. When the orange light flicks on in Cinder’s eyesight, she is detecting someone lying. What could
Dr. Erland be lying about?
Chapter 11
33. Cyborgs are considered low in society- how does Cinder respond to Dr. Erland calling her
“valuable”
34. Why do you think there is such discrimination for Cyborgs in this futuristic society?
35. Who is promised the first antidote?
Chapter 12
36. Whose death is foreshadowed throughout Chapter 12? In what ways is their death
foreshadowed?
37. Give “thaumaturge” a defined job description.
38. Who is the rightful heir to Luna?
Chapter 13
39. How long does it take for the disease to work out of Cinder’s system?
40. Can being a cyborg change your DNA? (pg. 119)
Chapter 14
41. Who is with Dr. Erland and Cinder at the beginning of Chp. 14? Where are they at?
42. What does Dr. Erland do to cover up his robotic experiment on Cinder?
43. What lie does Cinder tell Kai (there could be more than one) pg. 124-126
Chapter 15
44. Where does Cinder go when she leaves the hospital
45. Why doesn’t Cinder want Adri to know she’s immune?
Chapter 16
46. What is Prince Kai too late for?
47. Finish the sentence: “All that had just been lost, taken so quickly. Not just his father. Not just the
emperor. His _______. His ______. What is ironic about this statement?
48. How do you think Queen Levana finds out so quickly (what does she find out)?
49. What are two examples of disguises we have seen in the novel?
Chapter 17
50. To comm a hover in Cinder’s world would be to _______ in our world today?
51. What are the ID scanners responsible for? (What info do they hold)
52. Who does Cinder also see in the warehouse?
53. If the commonwealth is unable to identify the bodies, what do you think happens to their
identities?
Chapter 18
54. What is the symbolism of the Cherry Blossoms in Asian culture? (Research on own/use notes)
55. Why is “Buddha scanning visitors for weapons” ironic? (Research on own the principals of
Buddhism)
56. Define “conviction” (pg. 161) using a dictionary, or context clues
Chapter 19
57. What happens to med-chips in 3rd world countries
58. In what ways can Earthens be manipulated, from what we see in Chp. 19
59. Is there a connection between Lunars appearance and the theme of disguises we see in Cinder?
60. What is Cinder?
61. Why are Lunars immune to the plague?
Chapter 20
62. What does Queen Levana look like beneath the veil? What purpose does the veil serve?
Chapter 21
63. What do you think it means to “defrag” the mainframe of the house (pg. 189)
64. What is the 13th chip?
65. What does Cinder discover in Prince Kai’s android?
Chapter 22
66. What disguise does Queen Levana use on the population of New Beijing?
67. Define “Lunar Glamour”.
Chapter 23
68. What is agreement 54 T.E., Article 17?
69. Queen Levana expects the fugitives to be returned to Luna 1 moon cycle after the coronation.
How long is that?
70. What is ironic about Nainsi saying “My heart is broken from the news” (pg. 213)
Chapter 24
71. What are D-COMMs used for?
72. What information does Nainsi know?
Chapter 25
73. What is a bioelectrical security system (pg. 237)?
74. Give one example of prejudice seen in this chapter.
Chapter 26
75. Name all the Earthen countries. Draw out a map of what you assume the world’s different
territories look like. (pg. 247)
76. What new conflict is Queen Levana threatening the Earth with? Who else is a marriage
possibility for Queen Levana, and why won’t she marry him?
Chapter 27
77. What does Cinder bring to the warehouse, and who is she trying to locate?
78. At this point, what stage of the disease is Peony in?
79. Cinder does what to the android that comes to Peony’s bed-side; what does she do with Peony?
Chapter 28
80. “It falls on the 9th moon of each year.” When does the festival take place? What does it
celebrate?
81. Who put the mirror on the platter, why?
Chapter 29
82. How does Adri classify a human?
83. What happens to Iko?
Chapter 30
84. How is Cinder able to afford having the car fixed? Who puts the money into her account?
85. What does Prince Kai give Cinder as “payment” for working on Nainsi?
Chapter 31
86. How was the commonwealth founded, and when?
87. Is the war facing Earth tangible? Find a parallel in a war that we have in our society today.
Chapter 32
88. What may be the symbolism of Cinder finding her old foot that no longer fits her any longer?
How does this show her growth in the book? (pg. 315)
89. Why is the D-COMM chip programmed into one of the royal androids? (pg. 321)
90. Ultimately, what is Queen Levana’s plan, and how has she started executing “the plan” in
previous years? (pg. 322-323)
Chapter 33
91. “The silk dress felt like poison ivy sliding over Cinder’s skin,” (pg. 324), is an example of what
figurative language? What is being compared in the sentence?
92. “She was a walking disaster,” (pg. 325), is an example of what figurative language? What is being
compared in the sentence?
Chapter 34
93. Is Kai happy, or upset, that Cinder is at the ball? Why or why not?
94. Cinder mentions, on pg. 338, that it is not her fault she is a cyborg. Do cyborgs (or any being)
deserve the prejudice set on them, if there is no control in becoming one?
95. What is the miscommunication between Cinder and Prince Kai between pages 343 and 344?
Chapter 35
96. What does being a shell mean, and how does it become yet another subcategory of
discrimination, even among the Lunars? (pg. 352)
97. Why are “shells a plague, quite literally”? (pg. 356). How does this fit in to the man vs. nature,
man vs. society conflict?
Chapter 36
98. What is admirable about the two goals Kai wants to have as a political leader? (pg. 358)
99. In what ways does Cinder shatter the illusion of Queen Levana (pg. 361)
100.
Compare how Cinder’s body is telling her how she should feel and react to how she
actually feels. Why might she feel differently than how her programing tells her to feel?
There are no questions for Chapter 37/38