Entering 9th grade
REQUIRED READING: WATERSHIP DOWN
BY: RICHARD ADAMS
REQUIRED READING: A SEPARATE PEACE
BY:JOHN KNOWLES
All students entering 9th grade are required to read Watership Down and A Separate
Peace and then complete the following short answer questions on a separate sheet of
paper. All answers should be written in complete sentences and with skill level
appropriate word and sentence usage. Students should provide enough information to
completely answer the question.
Watership Down
Please write the following questions on a separate sheet of paper and answer each one.
Make sure you write your answers in complete sentences and write enough information
to answer the question completely.
1. What are the conflicts in Watership Down? What types of conflict (physical, moral,
intellectual, or emotional) do you see in this story?
2. How essential is the setting to the novel? Could the story have taken place anywhere
else?
3. How does the truth about Cowslip’s warren affect Hazel’s group?
4. How does Woundwort exhibit his military prowess during the chase?
5. What are some themes in the story? How do they relate to the plot and characters?
A Separate Peace
1. Gene states that the two places he wants to see at Devon School were “fearful
sights.” Why does he use this term? What is fearful about marble stairs? About a
tree? If they are “fearful,” why do you think Gene wants to see them?
2. What “courageous” thing does Finny admit to Gene before they got to sleep on
the beach? What is Gene’s response? What does this show about each boy?
3. What does Leper do while the other boys aid in the war effort? What could this
show about Leper?
4. What occurs that causes the “special and separate” peace of that afternoon to
drain away?
5. From Gene’s experience with his own “enemy,” what conclusions does he come
to about enemies in general? What do you think Gene is suggesting about
human nature in the last paragraph of the novel?