Check Your Understanding "The Veldt"

At the beginning of the story, how do Mr. and Mrs. Hadley feel about the house and why?

• They are discontent, because they no longer feel needed or valuable to their family.

• They are fearful, because the lions are no longer contained to the nursery.

• They are jealous, because the children prefer spending time with the house over them.

• They are concerned, because they no longer have control of the technology in their home.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.8.3

The family originally bought the house because they believed that having everything done for them would make them happier.

Which piece of evidence best shows that the house has the opposite effect?

• “Oh, they look real, I must admit — Africa in your parlor — but it’s all dimensional, superreactionary, supersensitive color film and mental tape film behind glass screens." (Paragraph 37)

• “You look as if you didn’t know what to do with yourself in this house, either… You’re beginning to feel unnecessary too.” (Paragraph 58)

• “He chewed tastelessly on the meat the table had cut for him.” (Paragraph 67)

• “They went to the fuse box together and threw the switch that killed the nursery.” (Paragraph 220)

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.W.8.9A

How does the author's description of the lions in paragraphs 29-30 build tension in the story?

• The lions are so loud that they annoy George and Lydia.

• The lions are so strange that they confuse George and Lydia.

• The lions are so lifelike that they appear threatening to George and Lydia.

• The lions are so dirty that it suggests George and Lydia are careless home-owners.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.W.8.9A

In paragraphs 31-47, what causes the conflict between George and Lydia?

• George and Lydia do not see the same images when they look at the nursery wall.

• George and Lydia do not view the technology in the nursery in the same way

• George and Lydia do not notice one another’s reactions to the nursery walls.

• George and Lydia do not tell the truth about their feelings about the nursery.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.8.6

What can readers infer from the children's strong opposition to turning off the nursery?

• They fear that it may actually kill the lions.

• They are trying to upset their parents.

• They have given into the nursery and it controls them.

• They are more connected to the nursery than they are to their parents.

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RL.8.1

Which of the following literary devices is being used in the following quote?

"I don't imagine the room will like being turned off."

• Personification

• Simile

• Imagery

• Hyperbole

Tags

CCSS.L.8.5A

CCSS.RL.8.4

Which of the following literary devices are being used in the following quote?

The hot straw smell of lion grass, the cool green smell of the hidden water hole, the great rusty smell of animals, the smell of dust like a red paprika in the hot air. And now the sounds: the thump of distant antelope feet on grassy sod, the papery rustling of vultures.

• Imagery

• Simile

• Hyperbole

• Metaphor

Tags

CCSS.L.8.5A

CCSS.RL.8.4

What does George mean in paragraph 234 when he says that the family is “going to live”?

• They are going to turn off all their technology and experience life.

• They are going to travel instead of staying at home all the time.

• They are going to enjoy the nursery without the veldtland.

• They are going to turn the nursery off completely.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.8.4

The climax, or turning point, of the story occurs when ---

• Wendy offers Mr. McClean a cup of tea.

• the children lock George and Lydia in the nursery as the lions approach.

• The home makes dinner for George and Lydia.

• Peter and Wendy are hysterical over the nursery being shut down.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.3

Which one of the following is NOT an example of foreshadowing in the story?

• "They almost got us!" Lydia says when the lions run towards them at the beginning of the story.

• At dinner they ate alone, for Wendy and Peter were at a special plastic carnival.

• "Those screams- they sound familiar."

• "What is that?" Lydia asked. "An old wallet of mine . . . there were drops of saliva on it. . ."