Ms Paine INSTRUCTIONS:
Year 10 English 2016 1. Answer each question as instructed, as these will help you create an
effective set of notes for upcoming summative tasks.
2. Don’t worry if we do not go through every answer in class.
Name: ________________________ 3. Use quotations and specific references to events in the text to support
your answers. Take note of the page numbers.
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
READING JOURNAL QUESTIONS
CHAPTER 1 Pages 1 - 52
1. Compare Jasper and Charlie in relation to their home life and personality (pages 5 - 15).
2. Why did Charlie go with Jasper, even though he only knew bad things about him?
3. What is the purpose of the use of short sentences on page 17?
4. Two figures well-known for their wisdom are the biblical Solomon and the protagonist of To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus
Finch. Why are these two mentioned on page 23?
5. ‘We owe her the truth.’ (p 25) Is Jasper going to find a murderer for Laura’s sake or his own?
6. Comment on some of the imagery used by Silvey on page 30 to explain the turmoil that Charlie is now experiencing.
CHAPTER 2 Pages 53 - 98
7. What do we learn of Charlie’s parents between pages 55 and 59? How would you describe the different relationships in
this family? What evidence do you have for your assertions?.
8. Jeffrey and Charlie discuss the differences between Superman and Batman extensively. (pages 66-71)?
i. What qualities do each superhero have?
ii. How might these qualities reflect the personalities of Charlie and Jeffrey?
iii. What is the purpose of such an allusion in the text?
9. Charlie ponders the inconsistencies of racism (pages 77-80). How would you explain the different attitudes that people
have towards Jeffrey and Jasper?
10. A feature of Silvey’s narrative style is his use of similes. Find three from this chapter and comment on the impact and
effectiveness of each.
CHAPTER 3 Pages 99 - 144
11. Silvey mentions many figures who he just assumes the readers ‘know’. Google each person and write a short description
of them.
• Errol Flynn (page 101)
• Jack Dempsey (page 107)
• Audrey Hepburn (page 114 & 117)
• Norman Mailer (page 123)
• Atticus Finch (page 136)?
Why include such details in the text? How do they help you understand Charlie’s character and the historical context of
the story?
12. What is the narrative purpose of the stories about Eric Edgar Cooke and Sylvia Likens (pages 105-113) in the story?
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13. ‘He should have been a lawyer like Atticus Finch. But he’d have to stand up for something then.’ (page 136) What does
this statement reveal about Charlie’s attitude towards his father?
CHAPTER 4 & 5 Pages 145 - 207
14. The Vietnam War is in its early stages (historically). How does the war become a reality for Corrigan? Give at least three
examples from the novel.
CHAPTER 5 Pages 164 - 207
15. Jasper is mercilessly beaten by both the police sergeant and Laura’s father, the Shire president, much to Charlie’s shock
(page 179). What does this reveal to Charlie about the world of adults? How does it contribute to the reader’s
understanding of his character?
CHAPTER 6 Pages 208 - 277
16. How appropriate is the simile used for Charlie’s mother ‘who looked like a snake poised to strike’? (page 211) What
impression does the reader have of Ruth Bucktin by now?
17. How does the author create a sense of tension during Jeffrey’s first cricket match, even when readers might not know or
understand the game?
18. What are some of the ways in which the author creates humour immediately after the cricket match and during the car
ride home?
19. The attack on An Lu’s garden, and on himself raises many issues:
i. Why did the men call him a ‘red rat’? (page 267)
ii. Why did the attack occur, just after Jeffrey’s success on the cricket field? What effect does this have on
you as a reader?
iii. How do you account for some townsmen attacking but other neighbours intervening to help An Lu?
After all, they’re all inhabitants of Corrigan.
CHAPTER 7 Pages 278 - 369
20. Silvey continues to make great use of similes, clichés, metaphors and puns. Find one or two examples of each in the first
dozen pages of this chapter and comment on their effective use.
21. How did the myth of Jack Lionel being a ‘madman’ begin? Why are we only finding this out now?
22. Charlie catches his mother in a car with a strange man (page 322). Are you surprised? Can you recall any hints from
throughout the novel that she may be having an affair? What effect does this have on Charlie? How does it contribute to
his increasingly mature understanding of adults, and their motives?
23. What secrets are revealed when Eliza and Charlie visit the glade?
24. Explain why the author has joined the words ‘Thisiswhathappened’, ‘Whathadjusthappened’ and ‘That’swhathappened’
between pages 229and 341.
CHAPTER 8 Pages 370 - 376
25. How does Ruth’s departure benefit Charlie’s relationship with his father?
CHAPTER 9 Pages 377 - 394
26. What is the purpose of the bet with Warwick Trent?
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