A Separate Peace Chapters 1-5

What might this symbolize: "There was a fire. It was just a grass fire out behind our house. We...took some brooms and beat it. I guess what we really did was fan it because it just kept getting bigger."

• It symbolizes the anger inside Gene, and how instead of fighting it, he allowed it to grow into a threatening situation

• It represents the love and warmth that Gene's parents felt for him, which encouraged him to come clean to Finny

• It represents the destruction of Finny's former self, and that the new Finny will be angry and bitter

• It represents WW2 getting closer and closer to Gene and Finny--beginning to threaten their very lives

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CCSS.L.9-10.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

What does Gene offer to send Finny as a gift while he rests up?

• Flowers and books, which shows that Gene either does not know or does not care what Finny would really want

• Baseball cards, because he knows baseball in Finny's favorite sport and that he collects them

• Soup, because he knows Finny is probably cold and hungry

• Cookies laced with poison because he still wants Finny dead

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CCSS.RL.9-10.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

Why isn't Finny surprised to see Gene?

• Any normal best friend would stop by to visit a sick friend if he was passing through town; so he was expecting Gene to come

• Gene wrote him a letter in advance

• Finny was surprised to see Gene, especially after Finny told Gene never to speak to him again

• Finny's parents had called Gene's parents ahead of time and asked if Gene would come to cheer Finny up

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CCSS.RL.9-10.3

Why does Gene confess to Finny that he had hurt him on purpose?

• For two reasons: Gene wants to tell someone to make himself feel better; also, he knows that it will only make Finny more sad, and part of Gene still wants to hurt Finny more

• Gene knows that he will be arrested any day due to Leper's eyewitness testimony, so he figures he should go ahead and tell Finny

• Gene never confesses to Finny

• Gene is too drunk to lie convincingly

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CCSS.RL.9-10.1

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How does Finny react when Gene confesses the truth?

• Finny does not want to believe Gene and asks him to stop talking. He is briefly angry, but then carries on as if nothing happened

• Finny immediately calls the police on Gene and asks that he be arrested

• Finny tells Gene that he knew all along and forgives him; then invites Gene to pray with him

• Finny throws the flowers that Gene brought in his face and tells him to never come back to his house again

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Why is it important that Gene and Finny are 16?

• Boys can enlist at 17 or be drafted at 18, but since Finny and Gene are sixteen there is no pressure on them about the war

• Gene will have to be tried as a juvenile

• In the 1940s, 16-year-olds could not drive, so they have to take trains, buses, or bikes everywhere

• They are actually a year behind in school, and so they must attend this summer school to graduate by age 18

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CCSS.RL.9-10.3

Which character in the story is not athletic or popular, in fact is rather cowardly, so he refuses to play blitz ball or jump out of the tree?

• Leper

• Chet Douglas

• Gene

• Brinker

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CCSS.RL.9-10.3

Who else besides Gene and Finny was there when Finny fell?

• Leper

• Brinker

• The doctor

• Master Prud'homme

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CCSS.RL.9-10.1

CCSS.W.9-10.9

What is the name of Devon school in real life?

• Exeter

• Yale

• Wigging

• Hertfordshire

Which character lives in Boston?

• Finny

• Gene

• Chet

• Mr. Prud'homme