The Witch of Blackbird Pond

In chapter 12, Kit tells Nat that she feels like she doesn’t fit in since moving from Barbados, the tropical island where she grew up and had a lot of freedom, to the Puritan community of...

Kit is surprised that people didn’t think she would be able to swim and annoyed at Nat for jumping in after her. When Prudence Cruff drops her doll in the water, Kit thinks nothing of jumping in...

I think the main external conflict in the book is the conflict that exists between Kit and the Puritan society in general. Kit comes to Connecticut from Barbados where she was used to a certain...

Reverend Bulkeley is a staunch loyalist who believes that the colonists should give their total allegiance to the Crown and its appointee, Governor Andros. He gets into a heated argument with...

Kit grows up significantly throughout the book, learning to survive in a different culture. Kit Tyler goes from being a sheltered rich girl to a generally successful Puritan over the course of the...

When Kit meets William Ashby, she is surprised that he does not regard her with the suspicion everyone else does. Instead, he seems pleasingly intrigued by her, and she smiles at him, making him...

Kit considers marrying William so she can fit in, because he is rich. William Ashby was originally interested in Judith, Kit’s cousin. However, when Kit comes to town he seems to become interested...

Three most important events of Witch Blackbird Pond. Kit’s arrival in New England would the first, and this even would include her reactions to the place, meeting her new family, trying to share...

Kit traveled to Wethersfield, Connecticut to flee an impending marriage. In the story, Kit confesses to Mercy that she had another reason to leave Barbados after her grandfather's death. She...

I take it you are referring to when Kit arrives at her Aunt and Uncle's house without informing them that she was planning on staying with them for good. The answer to your question can be found in...

Nat and his friends illuminated William’s house with jack-o-lanterns because he was jealous. Kit’s uncle tells her that William has been the victim of an “insulting prank.” He tells her that...

The reference to this question can be found in Chapter Four. We are not actually given the name of the elderly man that offered to marry Kit back in Barbados. We are merely told the following...

There are many themes in The Witch of Blackbird Pond. There are themes of friendship, as Kit befriends outcast Hannah Tupper. Themes of loyalty are shown throughout the story, as Kit reveals...

The climax of this moving and incredibly powerful book undoubtedly comes in Chapter 19, when Kit is tried for supposedly being a witch. When we look back at the rising action, however, we see that...

Hannah says she first met both Nat and Kit crying in the meadow. Kit and Nathaniel Eaton are both good friends of Hannah Tupper, the supposed witch of Blackbird Pond. They do not realize this at...

True historical events referenced in Elizabeth George Speare's The Witch of Blackbird Pond concern the charter of the Connecticut colony.In Chapter 7, while engaged in a political quarrel with...

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Nat is, in fact, actually punished in Chapter 16, well before the aforementioned threatened punishment (Chapter 19). He is one of "a rowdy band of rivermen from a...

Kit has come to realize that her Uncle Matthew is a good and sincere man who possesses "a sort of magnificence about him, even without the fine uniform that made Governor Andros so...

There are at least two reasons for Nat's mocking and angry attitude. First, Nat thinks that Kit is engaged to William Ashby, and this makes him feel jealous. In turn, his jealousy makes him...

The central conflict of this story is Kit's conflict against herself. She is the protagonist of the story, so it is her tale. Her problem is that she doesn't know how to fit into her new society....

In a word, Kit is shocked at her uncle's announcement that William Ashby has asked to call on her. She has actually only seen him once, "for a moment after Meeting", although her uncle...

Readers can learn about the governor and the charter in Chapter 15. We actually learn about the event after it occurred. William comes to tell Uncle Matthew that the charter is safe. The charter...

In Chapter 16, Hannah warns Kit that, without love, she will discover that marrying William will prove a fruitless escape from her uncle's house. Hannah is implying that Kit will not have improved...

At the time of the story, 1687, both Barbados and the Connecticut Colony, where Weathersfield is located, are under British rule. Aside from that, there appear to be more differences than...

Kit is strong-willed, independent, and used to getting attention. She becomes jealous when she feels that someone else is receiving attention that she expected to obtain for herself, particularly...

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare, Katherine Tyler, known as Kit, leaves Barbados in 1687 to live with her aunt in Puritan Connecticut. When her boat, the Dolphin, docks...

In Chapter 15, the historical incident involving the disappearance of the Connecticut Charter is described. The Charter was a document obtained from England by the Connecticut Colony which...

Judith has a tendency towards vanity. She shows this when, after trying on one of Kit's beautiful and stylish dresses, she exclaims, "Just wait till I walk into Meeting in this on Sunday...

John Holbrook leaves at the very end of chapter 16. Kit is shocked to hear this, because she can't believe that John would leave to go and fight as a soldier. She then learns that John went with...

There were three members of the Cruff family. Kit first observed "a shabby, dour-looking man and wife" and their young daughter (The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Chapter 1). Kit thought that Goodman...

In these chapters, Kit gets an education about the ways of Wethersfield. The most significant event from these chapters is that Kit goes to visit Hannah, because she tells John Hollbrook about it...

Nathaniel Eaton in The Witch of the Blackbird Pond is often referred to as simply "Nat" and is a very important secondary character in regards to the varied plot of the story. Nathaniel Eaton is...

In accordance with the time and the culture, William is courting Kit. His unspoken intentions are not immediately known to Kit. Judith has to explain them to her. When he mentions the work on his...

Judith resents the fact that Kit has fancy dresses. The relationship between Judith and Kit is a complex one. Early on, Judith is fascinated with Kit. Remember, Kit does not understand the ways...

The people of Weathersfield are afraid of Hannah Tupper because they are extremely superstitious people, and Hannah Tupper is different. In general, I think the people are afraid of Hannah Tupper...

Chapter 19 is the climactic court trial sequence that sees Kit on trial for being a witch and wreaking havoc upon the community. She is accused of witchcraft, being friends with Hannah Tupper, and...

Clearly, any good work of fiction is going to use many metaphors and similes as examples of figurative language and aids to their descriptions. Metaphors and similes help create pictures in the...

There are many things that can be compared and contrasted with this book. An obvious choice is Mercy and Judith Wood. As sisters that have a lot in common as shown through their devotion to...

Chapter 9 Kit and Mercy are teaching school in the kitchen. Mercy teaches the ones who are only just beginning to read, and Kit teaches the ones who are reading primers. Kit entertains the kids...

At the story's end, Kit and Nathaniel are reunited. Although the story ends before they are actually wed, there is no doubt that their marriage is imminent.Nat had asked Kit to go with him before,...

Although his viewpoint is somewhat different from that of the Connecticut colonists who want to rebel against the British Crown's attempt to take away their Charter, Nat is sympathetic to the...

On All Hallows Eve, sailors play a stunt on William Ashby, placing jack-o'-lanterns at his house. The perpetrators are put in the stocks; one of them is Nat Eaton. Nat is defiant, saying the...

On All Saints' Day, which the Puritans regard as a pagan feast, according to Matthew, Nat places lanterns in the windows of William Ashby's house. The windows do not yet have panes, and Nat and two...

If you are looking for metaphors and other examples of figurative language, a great place to start is the description provided of the changing seasons in America. The author uses a number of...

The broad overall charge brought against Kit in chapter 19 of The Witch of Blackbird Pond is witchcraft and consorting with the devil. "Katherine Tyler, thou art here accused that not having the...

Matthew Wood and Reverend Gershom have polar opposite feelings about King James and his ruling decisions regarding the colony. Chapter 6 has a great scene in which these two men heatedly face off....