Subject(s): Language Arts, Social Studies Grades(s): Grades 4-5
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Title – “The Well” by Mildred Taylor The Well — Discussion Questions
pp. 9-21 1. Who is telling the story? _________________________________________________ 2. What do you think the setting of the story is (place and time)? __________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 3. What evidence is there of the setting? ______________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 3. Who is Hammer? _______________________________________________________ 4. How does Hammer feel about Ed-Rose and Charlie getting water from the well? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 5. What is evidence of this? ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 6. Why is Ma is so insistent that Hammer get back inside the house? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 6. Why do you think Ma Rachel has so much anger toward white people? ___________ ________________________________________________________________________ 7. What trouble do you think there will be if the Simmses come back onto the Logan’s land to get water from the well? _____________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 8. Who are Halton, Mitchell, and Kevin? ______________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 9. Describe what you imagine the Natchez Trace to be like. ______________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 10. Why does Charlie Simms think the Logans are “uppity”? _____________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 11. What threat does Charlie make to the Simms’ well? ________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 12. Why was John Henry Berry worried about staying friends with Hammer? _________ ________________________________________________________________________ pp. 28-39 13. How would you describe David Logan’s character? ___________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 14. Site an example from the text that shows evidence of that. ___________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 15. Describe Mama’s character. _____________________________________________ 16. Site an example from the text that shows evidence of that. ____________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 17. What do you think Mama was doing when she “closed her eyes and her lips moved, but no sound came out”? ____________________________________________ 18. Why were Tom Bee, Joe McCalister and David all puzzled by Mama’s behavior before the sheriff came? __________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ The Well — Discussion Questions pp. 39-47
19. How are the stories between the Simms boys and the Logan boys different? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 20. Why does the sheriff feel he needs to take the Simms’ word over the Logan’s? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 21. Make a prediction about what you think will happen now that the Simms boys and their father, Old Man McCalister Simms, have arrived on the Logan’s land. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ pp. 47-56 22. Why does Mama ask where Ma Rachel is when the sheriff calls Mama over to talk to Old Man McCalister Simms? _____________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 23. Why do you think Charlie lied about both David and Hammer hitting him? ________________________________________________________________________ 24. Why is it so important to Old Man McCalister Simms that the Logan boys get whipped? _______________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 25. How would you describe Hammer’s character? ______________________________ 26. What is evidence of this character trait in Hammer? __________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ pp. 57-66 27. What does Hammer do that shows he really does care about his family? ________ ________________________________________________________________________ 28. Why do you think the importance of the molasses bread is? ___________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 29. What do we learn about Ma Rachel in this part of the story? ___________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 30. Why do you think Ma Rachel’s Mama refused to call Ma Rachel “Pansy” and continued to take the whipping? _____________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 31. Why doesn’t George Melbourne laugh along with Ed-Rose, Charlie, and Dewberry when Hammer is being taunted? ___________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 32. Why do you think Hammer pulled the skunk out of the sack? What do you think he will do with it? __________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ pp. 66-74 33. Why did Joe McCalister spend so much time at the Simms’ place? _____________ ________________________________________________________________________ 34. What does David and Hammer’s father mean when he says they need to learn to use their heads and not their fists?___________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ The Well — Discussion Questions pp. 74 – 82
35. What character traits does Paul-Edward Logan possess? _____________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 36. What evidence is there of this? ___________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 37. Why do you think Charlie Simms never told his father that Hammer knocked him down again after Paul-Edward left for the Natchez Trace? ________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ pp. 82-92 38. How did Old Man McCalister Simms know that Joe wasn’t lying about Charlie and Ed-Rose hunting expedition the night before? __________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 39. Why was Old Man McCalister so angry with his boys for poisoning the well? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 40. Did you like this story? _________________________________________________ 41. Why or why not? ______________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 42. If you could change anything about this story, what would you change? If not, why? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________
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