Classroom Resources
grades 4-7
by Michelle Isenhoff
Cover painting by Willem Van de Velde;
The English Ship Hampton Court in a Gale
Copyright, 2012 by Michelle Isenhoff at Smashwords
Smashwords Edition License Notes:
This free edition may be copied, distributed, reposted, and shared, provided it appears in its entirety without alteration and the reader is not charged to access it. To make print reproductions of any portions, please purchase the paperback edition.
A paperback edition with
printable, reproducible pages for classroom use is
available at http://www.michelleisenhoff.com
or http://www.michelleisenhoff.wordpress.com
For use with middle grade fantasy novel,
by Michelle Isenhoff
A Note to Teachers:
Thank you for choosing to use The Quill Pen in your classroom. Well-written fiction provides a powerful teaching platform, not only to improve reading and comprehension, but to create better writers by providing the opportunity to study composition and literary techniques. I’ve drawn on my education background to create what I hope will be a useful tool for getting the most mileage out of my novel in a classroom setting.
Sincerely,
Michelle Isenhoff
Meeting GLCE’s and Common Core Standards
Meeting Grade Level Content Expectations
and Common Core Standards
with The Quill Pen
The Quill Pen contains a wealth of material useful for meeting the Grade Level Expectations and Common Core Standards. Of particular value is the figurative language which characterizes my writing. Creative similes, metaphors and powerful imagery details work to develop vivid settings. They also build unforgettable characters who grow and mature and change. The contrast between these characters creates conflict that drives the plot. Together these elements provide an excellent opportunity for readers to engage in advanced thinking.
I have created a list of high-level study questions, organized by chapter and including vocabulary, to help make full use of The Quill Pen’s strengths in order to meet a wide variety of the required mastery skills. Some of the things students are asked to do include:
*comparing and contrasting characters and settings
*making predictions
*analyzing story structure and giving examples of rising action, climax, and falling action
*making inferences and supporting them with text
*summarizing text
*deciding how word choice affects meaning and mood
*identifying figurative language and explaining how it builds settings and characters
*responding to conflict and explaining how it moves the plot forward
*finding examples of sensory details
*identifying other literary devises such as foreshadowing, alliteration,
anthropomorphism, stereotypes, and paradoxes
*responding to the opinions and actions of characters and connecting them to the real
world
*identifying point of view and using examples to explain how it develops characters and
influences text
*identifying themes
*identifying and responding to universal truths conveyed within the story
*defining vocabulary words which are organized by chapter
In addition, The Quill Pen has three major themes worth highlighting. The first, that of a timid young man trying to find the courage to break away from his overbearing father, provides a framework for interpersonal conflict and for the evolution of the main character. The second, interracial conflict which results in social injustice, offers readers a way to make important connections with today’s real world. And finally, through the use of captivating fantasy, The Quill Pen works within the natural laws of life and death and explores the tragedy of eternal life outside those perimeters. Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt, would make an excellent companion volume for comparing and contrasting texts with a similar theme.
The Quill Pen has a lot to offer educators and their students. And it’s fun and exciting to read! In fact, it just might help students achieve even that most elusive goal, the one teachers find so difficult to develop in their students, that of being excited about reading.
Chapter One
Vocabulary – scuttle, feisty, tresses, furled, craggy, interrogator, exotic, apparel, sojourn
1. Why did the author include the italicized opening scene? What information does it give? What questions does it create?
2. Foreshadowing is when an author plants clues into the text to help the reader predict what might happen later in the story. Can you find an example of foreshadowing in the first non-italicized paragraph? What general predictions can you make based on this clue?
3. Where is Micah and what is he doing as the book opens? Give details of the setting.
4. Does this story take place in the past, present or future? How can you tell?
5. Describe Gabby. How is she different from most girls Micah knows? Why do you do you suppose Micah doesn’t want them seen together?
6. Contrast Micah’s and Gabby’s thoughts about the stories surrounding the Parsons property.
7. What further questions does this chapter leave you with?
Chapter Two
Vocabulary – intricate, medieval, sequins, capital
1. Compare and contrast the old and new sections of town.
2. Compare and contrast Micah and his father, Gerald.
3. What are Gerald’s expectations for Micah? Are they the same as Micah's expectations for himself? If not, how are they different?
4. How does Micah feel about his father? How do you know? What are his feelings compared to? Make a prediction based on this tension between them.
5. Alliteration is a literary technique that involves repeating consonant sounds to create melody or rhythm, create a mood or call attention to important words. Alliteration is used in “melancholy of the marshes,” “wild call of woodlands” and “satisfaction in the strength of the tides.” What sounds are repeated? Why do you think alliteration is used here?
6. How does the italicized section at the end of the chapter build suspense? What questions does it prompt?
Chapter Three
Vocabulary – austere, rampant, preamble, squeamishness, hoarded
1. Do you like Micah’s father better now, or worse? Give some examples of his words or actions that prompt your response.
2. How do you feel when Micah is left in the widow’s yard? Give specific details and word choices that contribute to that feeling.
3. Describe Mrs. Parsons. How does Micah feel about her? How does she feel about Micah? Cite text to support both answers.
4. Authors often use figurative language, or word pictures, to help get an idea across. A simile is a word picture that makes a comparison using the words “like” or “as.” For example, Mrs. Parsons is described as being “prickly as a sea urchin.” How does this description help you understand her better? Can you find another simile in this chapter?
5. Micah is intrigued by the stories in the widow’s attic. Can you think of any personal items that might tell a story about your family? How would feel if a stranger was digging through these things? How do you suppose Micah feels in the widow’s attic?
6. Where did Micah find the quill pen? Why do you suppose Micah came back for a closer look?
Chapter Four
Vocabulary – filaments, privateer, veranda, queue, jackanapes, elixir, diphtheria, indistinguishable
1. Would you rescue the pen from the fire? Why or why not?
2. How did the widow change after Micah returned to the attic from saving the pen?
3. Point of view refers to the perspective from which a story is given. The Quill Pen is written in the third person. That means it is told by an outsider who does not participate in the action, but this narrator lets us know exactly how the main character is thinking and feeling. What does the narrator tell us about how Micah feels about running the store? Give examples. What do Micah’s own actions and dialogue tell us? Give examples.
4. A metaphor is a word picture that makes a comparison without using “like” or “as.” Often, but not always, it includes a form of the verb “is.” “My hands are ice” is an example of a metaphor. Notice how it differs from the following simile: “My hands are like ice.” Now find the paragraph in which Captain Reece first speaks (midway through chapter four). What metaphor does he use to describe Mrs. Parsons? What character traits do you assume about her after hearing her described in such a way?
5. Based on what you know about Captain Jeb Reece, give an approximate year for the story. What details helped you decide?
6. In ancient Roman mythology, Neptune was the god of the sea. What do you think is meant by “there’s not a family in this village that hasn’t sacrificed to Neptune”?
7. Where do you think the bonnets came from? Why?
8. Has the italicized section begun to answer questions, or does it create more? What questions are created or answered?
Chapter Five
Vocabulary – genuine, chronicle, estuary, dispense, accustomed, cultivated
1. Predict. Do you think the pen will prove magical? Why or why not?
2. Describe Nancy, the serving maid. How is she different from what Micah expects a girl to be like? In what ways is she typical of a girl from this time period? How is she different from Gabby?
3. How are Nancy and Micah alike?
4. Why was Judge Ruby chosen to be honored by the town? Is it fair for the town to treat Judge Ruby and Captain Reece differently? Why or why not? Think of an example of when unfair treatment still occurs in the world today.
5. Compare and contrast Judge Ruby and Captain Reece.
6. Describe Sanjay Ramesh. What is on his leg?
7. Why does Gabby grow herbs?
Chapter Six
Vocabulary – vocation, scripture, jurisdiction, inconspicuous, esteemed, pompous, obese, plagued, incriminating
1. What sits on the corner where the old and new sections of town meet? What specific details are used to describe it?
2. Father Holcomb asks Micah what vocation he would choose. How does Micah respond? What do you think Micah would be good at? Why? Give example from the text to support your answer.
3. What simile is used to describe Father Holcomb’s eyebrows?
4. Describe Magnus McKinley. Would you want to be friends with him? Why or why not?
5. In this chapter, we receive a lot of information regarding the characters of Judge Ruby and Jeb Reece. How has this information affected your opinion of each of them?
6. How have Mrs. Parsons’ actions affected your opinion of her?
Chapter Seven
Vocabulary – bureau, schoolmarm, combatants, placard, conspiratorially
1. Micah knew he could not move the bureau down the stairs. Why did he try? What consequence did his choice have? What choice should he have made? How do you think his father would have responded?
2. How did Gerald respond when Micah dropped the bureau? How did this make Micah feel? Cite text to support your answer. How should Gerald have responded when Micah dropped the bureau?
3. What danger can you foresee when poor choices allow conflict to remain and grow in a relationship?
4. Do you think Mrs. Parsons knows Micah stole the feather? Why or why not?
5. A stereotype is a character that conforms to common expectations. For example, you might expect a football player to be a large person, though not all of them are. Mr. DeWitt is a stereotypical character. How does he fit a stereotype? Give examples.
6. Why might Mr. Randall want Micah to attend the Fremantle Boys’ Academy? Why doesn’t Micah want to attend?
Chapter Eight
Vocabulary – commissioned, relics, nautical, figurehead, vestiges, scrimshaw, cicadas, tranquility, brigantine, desolation
1. Why does Sanjay think meddling with the future is a bad idea?
2. How could tampering with something you don’t understand be dangerous? Can you think of another example from real life?
3. Sanjay uses the simile “that lake is like our world.” Give details to explain what he means.
4. Summarize Sanjay’s legend. Does Micah believe it is true?
5. At the end of the chapter, what does Micah admire about Sanjay? Why does Micah find this admirable? Cite text to support your answer. Is the text you used narrative or Micah’s own words or actions?
6. Compare and contrast the Randall family with the Ramesh family. What family would you rather be a part of? Why?
7. A cliffhanger is extreme suspense at the end of a chapter. Explain how this particular cliffhanger effects a reader.
Chapter Nine
Vocabulary – vixen
1. Why does Magnus dislike Micah?
2. Conflict creates interest in a plot and keeps it moving forward. How does this conflict between Micah and Magnus contribute to the plot? Predict what might happen later in the plot because of this conflict.
3. Identify and summarize some of the other major conflicts within this story.
4. How did you feel when Gerald reprimanded Micah for visiting Gabby? Who is right in the conflict, Micah or Gerald? Why? Should Micah stand up to his father? Why doesn’t he?
5. Use examples from the text to explain how Sanjay might feel about the townspeople. Now think about his decision to live there anyway. When you consider his perspective, what do you understand about his character?
6. Throughout the book, fire is used as a metaphor for Micah’s anger toward his father. What is fire capable of? Make a prediction based on this foreshadowing.
Chapter Ten
Vocabulary – incessant, comrade
1. How does the uncertain weather build expectancy in the story?
2. Authors sometimes choose a specific word to help convey a meaning or a mood. Explain how the word “wavered” adds to the meaning and mood in the following sentences: “Hot, bright days held on, refusing to tilt downward into the chill of autumn. The longer they wavered, the more the town seemed to hold its breath, watching, waiting expectantly.”
3. Does Micah prefer the past, or does he embrace change? How can you tell? How is this different from his father? Who are you more like?
4. How has the job of a barber changed since the 1800’s? How has it remained the same?
5. When Buddy Lincoln, the barber, lived in his father’s house, his situation was much the same as Micah’s. How?
6. How was Buddy ill-suited for his first job? Why was he teased? Why is he no longer teased?
7. Action verbs bring movement and variety to a story. Explain how verbs like “lurched”, “skimming”, “tickled” are more effective than passive verbs such as “is” and “are”. Find five more action verbs in this chapter.
Chapter Eleven
Vocabulary – chagrin, malarkey, skepticism, pyre, Phoenix, mythology, indiscretion, provocation, fraternize
1. What did Micah say he would use the pen to wish for? What do you think he would really wish for? What did Gabby say she would wish for? What do you think this means? What would you wish for?
2. How would you describe courage? How does Gabby describe it?
3. Explain the simile “secrets that stand like glass walls between people.”
4. What is a Phoenix? What is a pyre? What does it mean to “rise like a Phoenix out of Ruby’s pyre”?
5. Why does Mrs. Parsons want a “burying suit”? Why does Micah laugh after she leaves? How has he changed toward her? What has brought about this change?
6. At the end of the chapter, a conflict arises between Gabby and Gerald. Micah is caught in the middle. What does his father want him to do? What does Gabby want him to do? What does Micah do? What predictions can you make based on his choice?
Chapter Twelve
1. Find a metaphor in the first paragraph of the chapter. How does it help you understand how the character is feeling?
2. Where do you think the quill pen came from? How do you suppose it acquired its powers?
3. What negative consequence came about because Micah used the pen to write a letter to Gabby? What other negative consequences have resulted from other uses?
4. Predict. Do you think Micah will use the pen again? Why or why not?
5. What internal battle does Micah wage in the doctor’s office? How is the conflict shown? Cite text. Is the text you chose narration or Micah’s words and actions?
6. How does the ongoing conflict with his father increase Micah’s appreciation for the pen?
7. Story structure refers to the way a story is built. The plot can be broken down into complete episodes, or scenes, which are sequenced in order to move the story to its conclusion. Sometimes shorter scenes are grouped together in a chapter. Other times a chapter may be one complete scene. In this case, chapter 16 is one long scene. Explain why chapter 16 is complete to itself. Why wouldn’t any of its content be included in the scenes that occur before or after it? Why is it placed between these two scenes?
Chapter Thirteen
Vocabulary – fatigue, demeanor, tapestry
1. Do you think Gabby believes Micah when he insists the pen is magic? How can you tell?
2. Why does Mrs. Parsons tell Micah about axes and flint? Who does she mean is the ax? How so? Who does she mean should be the flint? How so? How does this word picture help a reader understand Mrs. Parsons’ meaning?
3. Now do you think Mrs. Parsons knows Micah stole the pen? Why or why not? Have your thoughts on this changed since you were asked the same question earlier?
4. Summarize the startling family history Mrs. Parsons shared with Micah.
5. Why do you suppose Magnus is at the widow’s house?
Chapter Fourteen
Vocabulary – progressive
1. What is significant about the church’s physical location in the town? What metaphor is used? Explain it. What does Micah wish would happen to the old and new sections of town?
2. Give some negative effects of the gossip and speculation in the churchyard. Can such things have negative effects in real life?
3. Why was the Ramesh family singled out in the gossip? Did they deserve, or not deserve, the negative gossip? Why or why not?
4. How has Gabby changed since the last time she discussed the pen with Micah?
5. What does Gabby mean when she compares her father’s secret to an elephant crashing around in the next room? Find the passage. Is this a simile or a metaphor?
6. How do Gabby and Micah know Gabby shares her father’s secret? How is this a problem?
Chapter Fifteen
Vocabulary – alibi, kerosene, paradox, minstrel show
1. What are your thoughts about Magnus getting hired on at the store? Predict whether this will result in a negative or positive outcome. What might happen? How does the ongoing conflict with Magnus influence your prediction?
2. What might be Magnus’ reason for taking the job? What makes you think so?
3. How has the conflict with Gerald intensified in this chapter?
4. Did Micah handle the argument with his father wisely? Did Gerald handle it wisely? How does each of them feel afterwards? Cite details to support your answers. Are they narration, words or actions?
5. What does Micah overhear around town? Where does he overhear it? What does he fear?
6. A paradox is when two opposite things are true at the same time. For example, Charles Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities begins with the paradox, “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” In this chapter, Micah says Mrs. Parsons is a host of paradoxes. Can you think of two opposite character traits found in Mrs. Parson at the same time?
7. How do you think the italicized scenes will merge with the main story line? Have any of the questions the italicized scenes created (which you wrote down earlier) been answered? What are some of the questions and answers?
Chapter Sixteen
Vocabulary – wake, posse, vigilante
1. How has the town been unfair to the Ramesh family at the funeral?
2. Imagery is description using details that make use of our senses. Reread the paragraphs describing the clearing in the swamp as Micah waits for something to happen. List some of sensory details. How many senses are represented?
3. Predict. Who do you think is the leader of the mob? Why do you think so?
4. What is Sanjay’s secret?
5. Gabby also has a tattoo. Predict what negative consequences the last use of the pen might have.
6. Sanjay risked his family’s safety. In your opinion, was the risk worth it, or was this a foolish move? Why?
7. What is pride? When can it be good? When can it be bad?
Chapter Seventeen
Vocabulary – panoramic, presumably
1. The first half of chapter sixteen is almost all dialogue between Gabby and Micah. Explain how this dialogue carries the story forward with minimal narration.
2. How does this scene fit into the overall structure of the story? (In other words, how does it fit between the scenes that take place before and after it?)
3. What are Gabby’s fears about her secret?
4. Would you want to live forever? Why or why not?
5. Summarize Micah’s new dilemma.
6. Was Sanjay right about meddling with the future? Should Micah use the pen again? Would you? Why or why not?
7. How has Mrs. Parsons changed? What has prompted the change?
8. What is significant about the inscription on the painting? What does this discovery mean?
Chapter Eighteen
Vocabulary – insubordination, censure, incongruous
1. How is the weather odd? How is it similar to the storm in Sanjay’s legend?
2. When Sanjay and Micah walk by the ocean, the crashing waves are used as a metaphor for Micah’s life. Explain what this metaphor means.
3. Explain where the pen come from. How can it be destroyed? Summarize how Sanjay learned of it.
4. How is Mrs. Parson’s curse related to Sanjay’s? How did each come about?
5. What new danger is Micah in?
6. You have learned how stories are structured out of scenes and chapters. These episodes can be grouped into larger categories. Rising action includes all the action (starting at the very beginning) that builds up to a main confrontation. This confrontation, or the most exciting point in the story, is called the climax. Events that occur after the climax and work to conclude the story are called falling action. In this chapter, the plot builds significantly. Give two examples of rising action.
7. Conflict often grows along with rising action. How has conflict escalated in this chapter?
Chapter Nineteen
Vocabulary – tomfoolery, impetuous
1. Summarize Micah’s dilemma in the locked room.
2. Why do you suppose Nancy let Micah out?
3. Would you use the pen or destroy it?
4. What do you think happened to the pen?
5. We don’t know if Micah would have used the pen or destroyed it. What do you think he was going to do? Why?
Chapter Twenty
Vocabulary – prophetic, chastised, maliciously
1. What was Magnus after all along? Why? How did he know about it?
2. Why is Micah positive he is in danger from Mr. DeWitt? Who is Mr. DeWitt? What has he already done?
3. Summarize how Mr. DeWitt learned about the feather. How did Micah unwittingly help him?
4. Fire is one of the story’s ongoing metaphors. What has been compared to fire? How has this chapter fulfilled or finished that metaphor? When else has fire or flame been mentioned in the story?
5. How might Micah explain to Mrs. Parsons about her ruined house? How do you think she will react?
6. What new danger could Gabby be in after the pen burns?
7. In this chapter, the rising action finally reaches the climax. Summarize what happened in the climax.
Chapter Twenty-One
Vocabulary – capered, caustically
1. Give some examples of falling action in this chapter.
2. How is death a “blessed, comforting thing”?
3. How is the Ramesh family rich?
4. In the following sentence, explain why the author may have chosen the word “death-defying.” “The shabby house still listed to one side, a pile of burned rubble still marked the place where the shed had stood, and the garden with its death-defying herbs awaited harvest as it had moments before.”
5. Irony is when what actually happens differs from what might be expected to happen. Recall how, in chapter four, Gabby raised herbs to “cheat death” whenever she could. Then Gabby attains immortality. How was her response ironic?
6. When Micah speaks to his father, how has Micah changed? Has Gerald changed? How? What have they done wisely in this conflict?
8. Resolution is how the conflict, or problem, in a story is brought to an end. Resolution often occurs during the falling action. How are some of the conflicts resolved in this story?
Chapter Twenty-Two
Vocabulary – embellished
1. Do you think Mrs. Parsons died because the pen and her house burned, or from natural causes? Why?
2. Do you think she really knew her death was coming, or was she just eccentric? Support your answer.
3. Can you find a paradox near the beginning the chapter twenty-two?
4. Where did the Phoenix come from?
5. How is Nancy similar to Gabby?
5. A theme is the main idea of a segment of text. It can be a small segment, or an entire book. What is the theme of the fourth paragraph in this chapter? What is a theme of this book?
6. Themes often convey a universal truth, or something that is true about people or nature everywhere. Can you identify of any universal truths portrayed in this book?
These are also included in the study questions.
Chapter One
scuttle, feisty, tresses, furled, craggy, interrogator, exotic, apparel, sojourn
Chapter Two
intricate, medieval, sequins, capital
Chapter Three
austere, rampant, preamble, squeamishness, horded
Chapter Four
filaments, privateer, veranda, queue, jackanapes, elixir, diphtheria, indistinguishable
Chapter Five
genuine, chronicle, estuary, dispense, accustomed, cultivated
Chapter Six
vocation, scripture, jurisdiction, inconspicuous, esteemed, pompous, obese, plagued, incriminating
Chapter Seven
bureau, schoolmarm, combatants, placard, conspiratorially
Chapter Eight
commissioned, relics, nautical, figurehead, vestiges, scrimshaw, cicadas, tranquility, brigantine, desolation
Chapter Nine
vixen
Chapter Ten
incessant, comrade
Chapter Eleven
chagrin, malarkey, skepticism, pyre, Phoenix, mythology, indiscretion, provocation, fraternize
Chapter Thirteen
fatigue, demeanor, tapestry
Chapter Fourteen
progressive
Chapter Fifteen
alibi, kerosene, paradox, minstrel show
Chapter Sixteen
wake, posse, vigilante
Chapter Seventeen
panoramic, presumably
Chapter Eighteen
insubordination, censure, incongruous
Chapter Nineteen
tomfoolery, impetuous
Chapter Twenty
prophetic, chastised, maliciously
Chapter Twenty-One
capered, caustically
Chapter Twenty-Two
embellished
For additional novels and Classroom Resources
by Michelle Isenhoff please visit
http://www.michelleisenhoff.com
or http://www.michelleisenhoff.wordpress.com.