Tuck Everlasting
by Natalie Babbitt
Name__________________________
Date____________________
Dear Reader,
These are the thoughts and questions that I had as I read Tuck Everlasting. Answer the questions the best you can. You don’t have to answer my
wonderings, though. They’re in italics. Have fun reading! Mrs. Preece
Prologue
What is the metaphor the author uses to describe August and the year?
What's your metaphor for describing the year?
What three people are mentioned at the end of the prologue?
Chapter 1
tranquil
contemplation
meager
gallows
bovine
oppressive
forlorn
isolation
What's an example of personification in chapter 1?
What's an example of a simile at the end of chapter 1?
Chapter 1 ends with a cliffhanger, alliteration, onomatopoeia or foreshadowing?
Chapter 2
melancholy
tolerantly
Who do we meet in chapter 2?
What kind of relationship do they have?
Chapter 3
stationary
intrusions
resentful
hysterical
grimace
exasperated
What does the author mean when she writes about a "stationary cloud of hysterical gnats?"
Why does Winnie run away?
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Chapter 4
jaunty
remnants
Make some inferences after reading this chapter. Who is the stranger? What does he want?
What other book(s) does this book remind you of?
Where did the music come from?
What did Winnie's grandmother think made the music?
Chapter 5
galling
venture
interlacing
irrelevantly
disheartened
consolingly
solemnly
bleak
Where do you think the story takes place?
In approximately what year do you think the story takes place?
Draw a picture, using color, of the woods the author describes as Winnie walks through it.
How does Winnie feel about Jesse Tuck when she first meets him?
How old is Winnie?
How old is Jesse Tuck?
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Chapter 6
seized
troupe
perversely
bridle
disconnected
Now who do you think the stranger in the yellow suit is?
Make another inference. Why did the Tucks take Winnie away from the water by the tree?
Chapter 7
What led the Tucks to believe it was the water in the well beneath the tree that was
responsible for their not aging?
Chapter 8
elated
Make an inference. What is the man in the yellow suit looking for?
Make an prediction. Will Winnie ever drink from the well?
Chapter 9
vanity
brink
reservoirs
vigorous
hoarding
enveloped
What questions do you have about the story?
The Tucks seem like nice people. What would have happened if evil people had found the
well?
Why is Tuck so happy to see Winnie?
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Chapter 10
pitiless
indomitable
perilous
dimensions
camphor
parlor
emerging
fortress
eddies
varying
cavernous
mirage
hastily
Compare Winnie's home to the Tuck's home.
I'm wondering where the boys are living. What are you wondering about?
What are Mae's and Angus's hobbies?
How do they make money?
Have you ever seen light reflected off water? If yes, does the author do a good job of
describing it in your opinion?
How can a thought be revolutionary? (Winnie has two thoughts about why the Tucks live in
a messy house. One was revolutionary.)
My wonderings: Will they ever die? If you put the water on a wound, would it heal?
Chapter 11
What are you wondering?
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Chapter 12
My wonderings: Why all the frogs and toads? Do they symbolize something like the cycles of
nature?
In the prologue, the author compared the year to a ferris wheel. What is another "wheel" or
cycle that Angus talks about to describe life to Winnie?
Chapter 13
Why were the Foster's lights still on at midnight?
Chapter 14
Wow! What do you think of Jesse's suggestion at the end of the chapter? Do you think she'll
do it? Make a prediction.
Chapter 15
illiterates
ordeal
constable
Describe the difference in the emotions of the people in the Tuck's home compared to the
people in the Foster's home.
So what do you think of the stranger now?
Chapter 16
roust
Why didn't the Fosters tell the constable about the stranger blackmailing them?
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Chapter 17
No questions.
Chapter 18
Just enjoy it.
Chapter 19
How does the stranger know about the Tucks?
Oh no! What's going to happen to the Tuck's now? Make a prediction.
Chapter 20
unflinchingly
What simile does the author use to describe the man in the yellow suit at the beginning of
chapter 20?
Why was Tuck staring at the stranger "like a starving man looking through a window at a
banquet?" And, by the way, what kind of figurative language is that?
I'm wondering...Would Mae Tuck be in pain and unable to breathe if she were hanged?
Ew...yucky thought!
Chapter 21
The rocking chair soothes Winnie at the beginning of chapter 21. What soothes you?
Winnie has changed. I get the feeling her family had never talked to her about death before
this because her father wasn't able to say, "...if he dies." However, Winnie was able to say
it. Has your family had the occasion to talk about death?
What is "heat lightning?"
Uh oh! Now what's going to happen to Mae? Make a prediction.
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Chapter 22
I'm still wondering what the significance of the toad is. Is it her only friend (until she meets
the Tucks)?
Winnie is so clever! What's her part in the plan to help Mae escape from jail?
Winnie keeps talking about how she wants to make a difference in the world. How is helping
Mae escape going to make a difference to the world?
Chapter 23
ponderous
plaintive
remorseless
prostrate
I'm still wondering if Winnie will drink the water when she's 17. Actually I'm not because I
just read the last two pages of the book. But DON'T do it! Don't ruin the surprise!
Chapter 24
accusations
exultant
receded
I'm wondering...Where does the poem come from?
Chapter 25
constricted
staunchly
revulsion
accomplice
indefinitely
Did you notice how the author began the last chapter of the book like she started the book?
Cool, huh?
This whole book makes me think about seasons. Not only the seasons of the year, but the
season and cycles of life.
What did Winnie do with the water Jesse gave her?
Epilogue
What year is it in the epilogue?
What year was it in the story?
Wow. Good book.
So did Winnie do what you thought she was going to do?
What are some pros and cons to living forever?
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