Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
Novel Study Overview: On days we don’t have high school information sessions, we will be reading two chapters per day aloud as a class. There will be some days in which you will have to read the chapter(s) at home. You will be earning a grade for completing the study guide questions at the end of each chapter (writing grade) and for taking annotations as we read (reading grade). You are to annotate in your Reading Response Journal. You will be allowed some time to work on this assignment in class but you will have to finish all assignments at home. ALL assignments are due on the following day (use class time wisely). This assignment counts both for reading (annotations) and writing (answering the study guide questions).
Study Guide Directions: All questions should be answered on a separate sheet of paper in an organized thoughtful way. Use complete sentences to earn full credit. Quote the text whenever possible.
Annotation Directions: Use your Reading Response Journal, enter the date, title of the book, pages and annotate (record) your thoughts, reactions, connections (to text, self, world), identify any figurative language you stumble upon (show off your knowledge of figurative language, story elements, and author strategies).
Week 1 Assignment:
Friday May 16th: Pass out books, pre-Reading activities, begin questions
Homework: Finish questions due Monday (May 19)
Monday May 19th (H.S.): read chapter 1, annotate, begin questions
Homework: Finish questions due Tuesday (May 20)
Tuesday: Go over questions, Read Chapters 2-3, annotate, begin questions (all due tomorrow)
Homework: Finish questions due Wednesday (May 21)
Wednesday: Chapter 4-5, annotate, begin questions (all due tomorrow)
Homework: Finish questions due Thursday (May 22)
Thursday: Chapter 6-7,annotate the chapter, begin questions (all due tomorrow)
Homework: Finish questions due Friday (May 23)
Friday: Chapter 8-9, annotate the chapters, begin questions due Tuesday (May 27)
Week 2 Assignment:
Tuesday May 27: Chapter 10-11, annotate the chapters, begin questions (all due tomorrow)
Go over annotations and questions from Friday (May 23)
Homework: Finish questions due Wednesday (May 28)
Wednesday: Read Chapter 12 & 13, annotate, begin questions (all due tomorrow)
Homework: Finish questions due Thursday (May 29)
Thursday (H.S.): Chapter 14, annotate, begin questions (all due tomorrow)
Homework: Finish questions due Friday (May 30)
Friday (H.S.): Chapter 15,annotate the chapters, begin questions (all due on Monday)
Homework: Finish questions due Monday (June 2)
Week 3 Assignment:
Monday June 2: look over chapter 16, annotate the chapters, begin questions (all due on Monday)
Homework: Finish questions due Tuesday (June 3)
Tuesday: Go over questions, Read Chapter 17-18, annotate, begin questions (all due tomorrow)
Homework: Finish questions due Wednesday (June 4)
Wednesday: Go over questions, Read Chapter 19, annotate, begin questions (all due tomorrow)
Look over final project options
Homework: Choose a project for final project
Thursday June 5 (H.S.): Look over study guide for final exam
Friday June 6th (H.S.): MovieMonday June 9: FINAL EXAM
Killing Mr. Griffin Study Guide
Name: ______
Killing Mr. Griffin Question Guide
Pre-Reading Activity: Answer each of the following questions in an organized, thoughtful way. Be sure to use complete sentences.
- What is peer pressure? Give an example of peer pressure you felt in middle school.
______
- Describe a time when you did or were tempted to do something you knew was wrong because of peer pressure. Try to analyze what you thought about as you were trying to decide if you would go along with your friends. If you did choose to do what they wanted, tell how you felt about it afterwards.
______
- Can peer pressure be positive as well as negative? Give some examples to support your opinion.
______
4. List three negative things a teenager might be pressured by to do. Tell how you would handle each situation, assuming you do not want to go along with the group.
______
______
______
Name: ______
Killing Mr. Griffin Question Guide
Activity: Answer each of the following questions in an organized, thoughtful way. Be sure to use complete sentences and quote or paraphrase the text. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.
CHAPTER ONE
1. Briefly identify the children in the McConnell family.
2. What does Susan mean by “someday”?
3. Who is David Ruggles? How does Susan feel about him?
4. Several other students of Room 117 are introduced. Briefly identify them.
5. In the classroom scene, what emphasizes Susan’s feelings of being an outsider?
6. Two teachers are introduced. Briefly identify them.
7. Mr. Griffin is very strict and stern with the students. Do you think these qualities make
him a good teacher? Briefly explain your answer.
8. An allusion is when a writer refers to a person, place, poem, book, or movie that the
reader, is expected to recognize. Find an example of allusion in this chapter.
9. In what ways does Susan think she and the dying female in Hamlet are similar?
10. A metaphor is a comparison of two things that are basically unlike, in order to create a
sharp picture. In this first chapter find the metaphor involving a bird that helps the author
define how Susan is feeling about her life.
11. Jeff says, “That Griffin’s the sort of guy you’d like to kill.” Why doesn’t Susan think he is serious?
12. Frequently, objects which seem inconsequential when first mentioned become an important part of the plot later. In the last six paragraphs do you notice any object that might be foreshadowed?
Name: ______
Killing Mr. Griffin Question Guide
Activity: Answer each of the following questions in an organized, thoughtful way. Be sure to use complete sentences and quote or paraphrase the text. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.
CHAPTER TWO
1. Why does Mark say the following? “Jeff’s done a neat job of lining us up for a mass flunkout.”
2. Explain Mark’s special dislike of Mr. Griffin.
3. “Jeff had seen that look before, and it always meant something.” What look does Jeff see? What does Jeff think it means?
4. Why do Jeff and Betsy go along with Mark’s plan to kidnap Mr. Griffin?
5. Why does Mark believe Dave will go along with the plan?
6. What does Mark know about Susan that makes him think she will be their decoy?
7. A flashback is a scene that interrupts the ongoing action to show an event that happens
earlier. Briefly describe the flashback in this chapter. Explain why the author chooses to
include it.
8. What is implied, but never stated, about Mark’s “transformation”?
Name: ______
Killing Mr. Griffin Question Guide
Activity: Answer each of the following questions in an organized, thoughtful way. Be sure to use complete sentences and quote or paraphrase the text. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.
CHAPTER THREE
1. The members of David’s family are introduced. Briefly identify them.
2. Why does David think he needs a good education?
3. Find the metaphor in this chapter that helps illustrate the emptiness of David’s life.
4. Support or refute the following statement:
David goes along with Mark because he dislikes Mr. Griffin and needs a better English
grade to get into law school.
Name: ______
Killing Mr. Griffin Question Guide
Activity: Answer each of the following questions in an organized, thoughtful way. Be sure to use complete sentences and quote or paraphrase the text. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.
CHAPTER FOUR
1. Why are Saturday’s special for Susan?
2. Find a quotation in the chapter that illustrates the idea that Susan feels a part of the picnic
group.
3. Who is Lana?
Mark's ex girlfriend.
4. How does Susan feel about Mark before the picnic?
5. A symbol is an object, person, or place that has a meaning in itself and that also stands
for something larger than itself. How may the eyeglasses be a symbol in this chapter?
6. Foreshadowing is also used to create interest and build suspense. Since this is a mystery
story, there are many examples of foreshadowing. Find an example of foreshadowing in
this chapter that lets the reader know Susan is going to have problems.
Name: ______
Killing Mr. Griffin Question Guide
Activity: Answer each of the following questions in an organized, thoughtful way. Be sure to use complete sentences and quote or paraphrase the text. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.
CHAPTER FIVE
1. How does the author illustrate Kathy Griffin’s stubborn personality?
2. Briefly explain Mr. Griffin’s reason for leaving Stanford to teach high school.
3. What does Mr. Griffin think about Susan?
4. Why is Kathy Griffin upset by her husband’s description of Dolly?
5. How does her husband make her feel better?
6. Why does Mrs. Griffin want Brian to compliment Susan on her writing?
7. Find an example of foreshadowing in this chapter.
8. Why do you suppose the pills are mentioned again? Why does the author bother
mentioning his tie?
9. We learn that Mrs. Griffin is pregnant. How does she hope having a child will change her husband? Why might the author have added the pregnancy into the story.
CHAPTER SIX
1. What little things go wrong with the kidnapping?
2. With David’s alibi?
3. With Betsy’s alibi?
4. In what way does Mr. Griffin earn the respect of his kidnappers?
5. Why is Susan especially upset about her part in the kidnapping?
6. Why does Betsy say the following to Susan? “Honestly, I don’t understand you.”
Name: ______
Killing Mr. Griffin Question Guide
Activity: Answer each of the following questions in an organized, thoughtful way. Be sure to use complete sentences and quote or paraphrase the text. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.
CHAPTER SEVEN
1. What do Mr. Griffin and Mark have in common?
2. Find a flashback in this chapter. What important facts about Mark do we learn?
3. What mistake(s) does Betsy make with the police officer?
4. Why do you think Betsy participates in the kidnapping?
5. Why do you suppose the incident with Shauna Berman is included?
6. Who finds the container of pills? Where?
7. How does Mr. Griffin’s tie appear here?
8. What does Mr. Griffin think of his kidnappers?
9. What question does David ask him?
10. How does it feel to be on the ground?
11. Who wants to let Mr. Griffin go? Why don’t they?
CHAPTER EIGHT
1. Explain, with examples from the story, how David begins to see Susan as a real person.
2. Why does David doubt that Mark and Jeff are going to release Mr. Griffin after the game?
3. How does David know Mr. Griffin is dead?
4. What is the implied but never stated cause of Mr. Griffin’s death?
Name: ______
Killing Mr. Griffin Question Guide
Activity: Answer each of the following questions in an organized, thoughtful way. Be sure to use complete sentences and quote or paraphrase the text. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.
CHAPTER NINE
1. Betsy and Susan both have fathers to turn to for help. Why do you suppose Susan wants
to go to her father for help, but Betsy doesn’t suggest going to her father?
2. What two things does Mark say that they need to do to be safe?
3. How does Mark convince Susan they need to bury the body?
4. How does Mark’s father die?
5. What does David’s father have to do with his decision to go along with Mark’s plan to bury the body?
6. Why does Mark comfort Susan?
Name: ______
Killing Mr. Griffin Question Guide
Activity: Answer each of the following questions in an organized, thoughtful way. Be sure to use complete sentences and quote or paraphrase the text. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.
CHAPTER TEN
1. How do Mark’s aunt and uncle feel about him?
2. Why do you suppose Mark’s mother has a nervous breakdown and says she never wants
to see her son again?
3. What does David’s grandmother remember about the day before that upsets David?
4. In the conversation with his grandmother, what mistakes does David make that may hurt
his alibi?
5. Why does Lt. Baca ask Mrs. Griffin if there is trouble in their marriage?
6. What does Mrs. Griffin say that convinces Lt. Baca to begin searching for Brian?
Name: ______
Killing Mr. Griffin Question Guide
Activity: Answer each of the following questions in an organized, thoughtful way. Be sure to use complete sentences and quote or paraphrase the text. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
1. Why isn’t Susan surprised to hear her name over the loudspeaker?
2. Compare Susan’s attitude toward her family at the beginning of the story with her attitude
now.
3. Why does Susan agree to Mark’s lie?
4. Why does Mark want her to lie?
5. Do you think Mark really believes everything will be all right? Why?
Name: ______
Killing Mr. Griffin Question Guide
Activity: Answer each of the following questions in an organized, thoughtful way. Be sure to use complete sentences and quote or paraphrase the text. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.
CHAPTER TWELVE
1. What is the real reason Betsy says nasty things about Susan?
2. Find an example of allusion in this chapter.
3. Briefly describe Mark’s mood during the burial. Jeff? David? Betsy?
4. Why does David recite the Lord’s prayer?
5. Why does Mark keep Mr. Griffin’s credit cards?
6. Why does Mark tell them to leave the car unlocked with the keys in the ignition?
7. What mistakes do the four make burying Mr. Griffin?
8. What is the implied but not stated reason that the policeman recognizes Betsy at the
airport?
Name: ______
Killing Mr. Griffin Question Guide
Activity: Answer each of the following questions in an organized, thoughtful way. Be sure to use complete sentences and quote or paraphrase the text. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
1. What surprises Mrs. McConnell about Mrs. Griffin’s visit?
2. How does Mrs. Griffin surprise Susan?
3. Mrs. Griffin is certain Susan is lying about her teacher conference with Mr. Griffin. List
her reasons.
4. How do Susan’s parents react when Mrs. Griffin accuses her of lying?
5. What does Mrs. Griffin know about David? Mark?
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
1. Why does David’s Grandmother believe he is secretly seeing his Daddy? What proof do
you think she has?
2. Lana tells Lt. Baca about the turned-up ground and gives him the prescription bottle.
What else does she say to expose the kidnappers?
3. What new plans do they make for the car?
4. Why does Mark think the news report is false?
Name: ______
Killing Mr. Griffin Question Guide
Activity: Answer each of the following questions in an organized, thoughtful way. Be sure to use complete sentences and quote or paraphrase the text. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
1. Why does David take the ring?
2. The blowing wind may be a symbol of freedom in this novel. Explain its possible importance in the following events:
David and Susan’s first meeting
the picnic by the waterfall
the inscription on the ring
3. Why does the lady from the other house smile through the window at Susan?
4. What is Susan’s opinion of David’s grandmother?
5. Why does Susan call Jeff’s house?
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
1. In what ways do we see that the Garrett’s do not see their son Jeff as a real person?
2. Mystery stories rely on inference, the act of drawing a conclusion that is not actually
stated. Using inference, what information will Mrs. Griffin learn from the newspaper?
3. Why does David’s grandmother refuse to attend church?
4. Explain what David’s grandmother means in the following quotation. “The winds of
freedom are filled with laughter.”
5. What clue in the story reveals the identity of Irma Ruggle’s visitor?
Name: ______
Killing Mr. Griffin Question Guide
Activity: Answer each of the following questions in an organized, thoughtful way. Be sure to use complete sentences and quote or paraphrase the text. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
1. Why do Betsy and Jeff stop by to see Susan?
2. What is surprising about David’s grandmother’s death?
3. Do you think Betsy and Jeff believe Mark has killed the old woman?
4. The first paragraph of the chapter discusses the wind. Why do you suppose the author
writes about the wind blowing again at this point in the story?
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
1. What are the implications of Susan’s statement “I did that” on page 208?
2. What is Jeff worried about?
3. Why doesn’t Mark gag Susan?
4. How does Mark feel after he sets the fire?
5. How does Susan feel about Mark?