Time Cat
By Lloyd Alexander
Genre: ______
Author’s Purpose
Slowly, the author reveals how Jason and his cat Gareth come to understand and appreciate some new facet about the nature of cats. At the same time, Jason also learns something about how the journey he has taken helps him and others to reach their potential.
Read Chapter 1 - 3
What makes Gareth special to Jason?
How do all the unfortunate events that happen to Jason in Chapter 1 set the stage for the rest of the book?
How does the author turn the saying, “A cat has nine lives” into a structure for the book?
How is Jason able to blend in to his surroundings in ancient Egypt?
Reread the “Hymn to the Great Cat.” Thoth, Atum, Ptah, and Osiris are the name of important Egyptian deities, or gods. What does the hymn reveal about the cat goddess Ubaste?
Reread the last paragraph on p. 15. Why is what Jason overhears humorous?
How does the author use this exaggeration to emphasize the Pharaoh's power?
What do Gareth and Jason teach Neter Khet about the nature of cats?
New Words Context Clues that help understand meaning
Idioms, Similes, Metaphors Found
Chapters 4 – 7
1. Why does the Centurion proclaim Gareth to be a legion cat when Gareth hisses and shows his teeth?
2. Reread p. 29 & 30. Then use context clues in the text to define the word omen.
3. As Gareth demonstrates, how are the Old Cats like a real cat?
4. How does the attitude of the Britons toward catamountains change as a result of Jason and Gareth’s visit?
5. Read the description of the catamountain’s kittens on p. 45. How does this information connect with Gareth’s statement in Ch. 1, that he can visit “nine different lives”?
6. Ireland in 411 A.D. is the third time period Gareth and Jason have visited. What does the conversation between Jason and Diahan reveal about how different cultures thought about cats through history?
7. Why does King Miliucc tell the magician Lugad “this little cat here has more power in one whisker than you have in that barrel of fat?
8. What does Sucat’s statement at the end of p. 70 suggest about one of Gareth’s “other past lives”?
New Words – context clues to meaning
Idioms
Similes
Metaphors