A Separate Peace

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Excerpt

Chapter One Questions and Vocabulary – A Separate Peace

I. Vocabulary: Define the following terms, found in chapter one.

a) tacit b) capacious c) cupola d) convalescence e) specters f) ramshackle g) salient h) mire i) artillery j) grandeur k) droll l) prodigious m) inveigle n) consternation o) galling p) seigneurs q) deigning

II. Questions for Review: Answer in complete sentences. You should use references from the text to support each answer.

• How does Gene feel about himself now, and about how he was as a student at the Devon School?
• Based on Gene’s descriptions of the school’s buildings and grounds, what kind of school do you think it was? In other words, what kinds of students attended that school, and what were they taught?
• List one example of a passage you think may include an element offoreshadowing. What predictions can you make about the rest of the book, based on that passage?
• Just before the switch in time, Gene says that he is “changed” after his visit to the tree. What do you think might have changed about him with his visit to the school?
• What was going on in the world during 1942?
• The school is preparing students for the world outside, which includes a world at war. In what ways are the students in training for the war while they are still in school?
• Compare and contrast Gene and Phineas. How does Gene feel about Phineas, at this point in the novel? How can you tell?
• On page 17, Gene asks himself, “was [Phineas] getting some kind of hold over me?” just before he jumps. Do you agree that Phineas has a hold on Gene, and if so, what kind?
• What does Gene mean when he says, “Finny trapped me again in his strongest trap, that is, I suddenly became his collaborator,”? (page 19)

For the teacher: Suggestions on Student Answers to Review Questions. NOTE: These are simply a guideline; individual student answers will vary.

• Gene talks about the changes he has been through. When he was a student, he felt fear all the time; ghosts walked the stairs with him. Now, as an adult, he sees that he has broken free of that fear, but there are still things about his life at the Devon School that he is afraid to remember.
• Gene says that the school was very academic and very athletic. Its emphasis on decorative architecture shows that it wanted to be impressive. Its location in New England suggests wealth (like Ivy League universities do). Its emphasis on sports shows that it wants to create well-rounded, physically fit students. Also, it appears they are training the boys to become good soldiers.
• Gene’s description of the fear he felt at school; the “crucial fact” that the stairs are very hard; the change the school has undergone and Gene’s hope for his own transformation; his reference to a violent death after visiting the tree; the implication of Phineas’s influence over Gene.
• Gene admits that he has grown up, and that he has overcome some fear. But in this passage, we see that the tree itself is significant to him somehow, and an important part of his growth.
• They should understand the background of the war in order to understand how the boys feel throughout most of the book.
• The seniors take rigorous courses in first aid and physical fitness; even the simple, playful act of jumping off the tree is preparation for future jumps out of aircraft.
• Gene looks up to Phineas in many ways. Phineas is just a little bit bigger, stronger, and wittier than Gene. There are several references to this the kids can use.
• Obviously, yes. The fact that Gene jumps at all is evidence that he wants to impress Phineas, and that means that Phineas will be able to convince Gene to do other dangerous or foolish things in the future.
• Stronger than a physical trap is the ability to convince someone to agree with your philosophies or ideas.

About

This is a set of vocabulary terms and review questions for students to answer about chapter one of A Separate Peace.