The Time Machine by H. G. Wells

Chapters 1 and 2

• What, specifically, is the setting of the first chapter. Be as exact as you can by finding clues in the reading.

• How does the Time Traveller (TT) explain the Fourth Dimension?

• According to the Medical Man, how is the Fourth Dimension different from the other three?

• Which character is the argumentative redhead?

• How large was the first time machine shown to the men? What happened to it?

• Which character, besides the TT is late for dinner? Why do you think that was accepted?

• How do the other characters know that the TT has been detained?

• What kind of food does the TT crave? Any thoughts on WHY?

• What are the three conditions the TT sets before he will tell his story?

• Why do you think the men do not have specific names, but are called the “medical man,” the “newspaperman”, etc?

Chapters 3 and 4

• What happens when the TT finally stops the machine?

• Where did he land?

• Describe the weather as the TT “lands”?

• What did the TT do to be sure that the little people would not tamper with or damage his Time Machine?

• In approximately what year had the TT landed?

• Describe the little people and their appetites, appearances, etc.

• After eating dinner, what did the TT attempt to learn about his hosts?

• On his after dinner walk, what did the TT notice about his surroundings?

Chapter 5

• Returning from his long walk, what causes the TT to panic? Why?

• What does the TT think as he bangs his fist on the pedestal of the Sphinx?

• How does the TT make a new friend? Who is this friend?

• What lesson does the TT learn from his new friend?

• What does the T call the people from the lower world?

Chapters 6 & 7

• Describe the TT's descent into the well. Try to use all the senses.

• What does he do when he realizes that a soft hand is touching him?

• Why is the TT unable to speak to the Morlocks using the language that he has learned from Weena?

• Explain how the TT makes the realization that the Morlocks are carnivorous.

• What piece of equipment does the TT wish he had thought to bring with him into the future? Why would that have helped him?

• Faced with the Morlocks, what does the TT decide he needs to make and/or find for himself?

• Where does the TT decide to go after he returns to Weena? Why?

• Reclining under the stars, what realization does the TT make about the relationship of the Eloi and the Morlocks?

For students to use while reading the novel. It keeps students focused and provides good review questions for overall novel evaluation.