Tuck Everlasting

Tuck Everlasting Prologue-Chapter 4

by Maggie Cole

​Prologue

​Babbitt begins Tuck Everlasting mysteriously, describing the time, location, and events that created the setting, and makes references to some characters, but with the vague details, we're left wanting to know why what we just read matters.

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​Prologue & Chapter 1: Time

​​''The First week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning.''

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​We know that for whatever reason, the fact that it's the heat of summer, in August specifically is going to matter to the story.

​Prologue & Chapter 1: Location

​The story will be set in and around Treegap, a town that has a house on the edge of it, owned by the Fosters. They own the woods surrounding their house and the town.

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Babbitt writes about the events leading up to the plot, saying, ''The wood was at the center, the hub of a wheel.'' She compares the wood to a Ferris wheel hub and the sun and says these ''Fixed points'' are responsible for holding things together. So we know that the woods are going to be the main location for events.

​Prologue & Chapter 1: Events

​We know that the story is taking place in 1880, and that Winnie Foster, who will be our main character was born in 1870, making her 10 years old.

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​Babbitt also describes three things that happen that at first appear to have no connection, but will collide the different parts of the story.

​1)Mae Tuck is traveling in the woods to meet her sons Jesse & Miles

​2)Winnie runs away

​3)A stranger shows up to the Fosters home

Multiple Choice

In what month does Tuck Everlasting begin?

• May

• August

• April

• November

Multiple Choice

Which character is not mentioned in the Prologue of Tuck Everlasting?

• Winnie Foster

• Argus Tuck

• Mae Tuck

• Jesse Tuck

Multiple Choice

What is the central location of the Prologue of Tuck Everlasting?

• London

• Woodland

• Treegap

• Gretna

Multiple Choice

In what year do the events of the Prologue of Tuck Everlasting take place?

• 1870

• 1776

• 1948

• 1880

Multiple Choice

What is the general 'vibe' people get from "the wood"?

• They are a fun place to hike

• Nothing, they're just woods

• It's a popular place to visit

• There is something unsettling there, people seem to avoid them

​Chapter 2: Expecting Company

​Mae and Angus Tuck (Just called "Tuck") live in isolation on the edge of the town Treegap. Mae is planning on leaving to meet her sons and bring them home. They haven't seen their sons in 10 years.

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​Mae wakes up her husband, Tuck. He seems grumpy, stating Mae woke him up from his favorite dream. "I was having that dream again, the good one where we're all in heaven and never heard of Treegap," said Tuck.

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At this point we don't know why he's so unhappy, but Mae tells him there's no use hoping for things that won't happen.

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​Chapter 2: Heading to town

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​As Mae gets herself ready, she dresses herself in her old, weathered clothes. She puts her music box, which is the only really beautiful thing she owns, in her pocket, as she keeps it with her always.

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Mae does not need to look at herself as she places her hair in a bun because 'Mae Tuck, and her husband, and Miles and Jesse, too, had all looked exactly the same for eighty-seven years.'

​Chapter 2: Tuck Family-What we know so far...

​Mae Tuck: seems very maternal and a realist (down to earth)

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​Angus Tuck (just called 'Tuck'): seems grouchy, worries about Mae going to town.

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​Miles Tuck: one of the sons coming to visit

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​Jesse Tuck: with his brother, coming to visit his parents.

Multiple Choice

How often does Mae Tuck visit her sons, according to the Prologue of Tuck Everlasting?

• Every 10 years

• Never

• Every year

• Everyday

Multiple Choice

Which character dreams of heaven in the second chapter of Tuck Everlasting?

• Angus

• Mae

• Miles

• Jesse

Multiple Choice

Why does Angus think that going into town is a bad idea in the second chapter of Tuck Everlasting?

• There is too much work to do at home.

• Someone could recognize them.

• The woods are dangerous.

• The town is too far away.

Multiple Choice

How long has it been since Mae last went to Treegap in the second chapter of Tuck Everlasting?

• Eighty-seven years

• One year

• Ten years

• Five years

Multiple Choice

What does Mae take with her everywhere she goes in the second chapter of Tuck Everlasting?

• A locket

• A rabbit's foot

• A photo

• A music box

​Chapter 3: Winnie Foster

​In chapter three of 'Tuck Everlasting' by Natalie Babbitt, we learn about Winnie Foster. Winnie is an independent girl who feels trapped in her home.

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​Winnie feels confined by her overprotective family.

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​Winnie is also very frustrated when we meet her. She throws a pebble at a frog that is staring at her. Then she starts talking to it. This shows she's lonely.

​Chapter 3: Winnie Foster

​Winnie tells the frog, "I will, though. You'll see. Maybe even first thing tomorrow, while everyone's still asleep."

-At this point we don't know what is making Winnie so unhappy she wants to run away.

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​We learn that Winnie comes from a loving home, but they're a little smothering. Her mother and grandmother seem to do everything for her, but they nag her, and her grandmother worries she'll get grass stains if she goes outside while her mother worries about her being in the heat.

​Chapter 3:Winnie Foster

​Winnie thinks that if she had a sibling her parents would give her peace because there would be someone else for them to worry about. The book says, "If I had a sister or a brother, there'd be someone else for them to watch. But, as it is, there's only me. I'm tired of being looked at all the time. I want to be by myself for a change."

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​Winnie doesn't seem to know what she would do with freedom, just that she wants it.

Multiple Choice

What does Winnie think it would take to make her life better in Chapter Three of Tuck Everlasting?

• a sibling

• a friend

• a pet

• school starting

Multiple Choice

With whom does Winnie share her frustrations in Chapter Three of Tuck Everlasting?

• her best friend

• her grandmother

• her mother

• a frog

Multiple Choice

What does Winnie think that she needs to do to help herself in Chapter Three of

Tuck Everlasting?

• go to college

• study

• learn to cook

• run away

Multiple Choice

Why does Winnie's grandmother tell her to come inside in Chapter Three of Tuck

Everlasting?

• So she can do her chores

• So she can do her homework

• So she won't ruin the grass

• So she won't stain her clothes

Multiple Choice

Why is Winnie frustrated in Chapter Three of Tuck Everlasting?

• She is bored.

• She is having trouble in school.

• Her family is overprotective.

• She had an argument with a friend.

​Chapter 4: The Stranger😳🚩

​A man in a yellow suit shows up at Winnie's house.

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​*Stranger Danger!*

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​Winnie is back outside catching fireflies when this man approaches her from the other side of the fence. Winnie assumes he wants to talk to her dad, but the man says he wants to talk to her first. 🚩😳🚩

​Chapter 4: Searching for a Family

​After Winnie explains that her grandmother was born in that house, the man shares that he is looking for a family that lives nearby.

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​After he doesn't want to talk to her father, thankfully her grandmother comes outsider and sees a STRANGE MAN talking to her granddaughter.

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​Winnie's grandmother is clearly upset as she's trying to get Winnie back in the house.

​Chapter 4: Grandmother's Elves

​Just as Grandmother is getting Winnie to come in, they stop at the sound of a noise, Grandmother says, "Did you hear that, Winifred? That's it! That's the elf music I told you about. Why, it's been ages since I heard it last. And this is the first time you've ever heard it, isn't it? Wait till we tell your father!"

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​This catches the stranger's attention, he's curious about her having heard it before. Winnie on the other hand suggests it sounds more like a music box than elves, which Grandmother all but ignores.

Multiple Choice

What is Winnie doing at the beginning of chapter four in Tuck Everlasting?

• arguing with her mother

• talking to a frog

• catching fireflies

• throwing pebbles

Multiple Choice

What is grandmother anxious to tell Winnie's father in chapter four of Tuck Everlasting?

• New neighbors have moved in.

• The elves are back.

• Winnie has gotten herself filthy.

• Winnie is talking to strangers.

Multiple Choice

What is the stranger looking for in chapter four of Tuck Everlasting?

• treasure

• an old friend

• a family

• elves

Multiple Choice

Why is grandmother upset when she comes outside in chapter four of Tuck Everlasting?

• It is too hot for Winnie to be outside.

• Winnie has missed her bedtime.

• Winnie is talking to a stranger.

• Winnie is dirty.

Multiple Choice

What interrupts grandmother's conversation with the stranger in chapter four of Tuck Everlasting?

• a phone call

• the dinner bell

• Winnie's father

• music