IMPORTANT: Comprehension questions will be in chronological order as you read through the story. Page numbers are approximate, and will vary with different editions of the book.
Section 1: Chapters 1-7
Vocabulary
- adept: very skilled at a craft
- antagonist: a person who actively seeks trouble
- apothecary: a person who manufactures and sells medicine
- countenance: ones facial expression
- expedient: convenient but lacking quality
- infuse: to fill something
- unsavory: foul to the senses
Vocabulary Usage in the Book
- It was an awkward system, and it took me a full year to become reasonablyadept, and another year before I could set down every word without begging him to speak more slowly. (Ch. 1, pg. 5)
- There was a moment’s heated discussion, then one of the antagonists stalked from the room, wearing a grim look. (Ch. 6, pg. 40)
- But they gave me a comfortable place to sleep at one end of the apothecary, the room where the doctor prepared his medicines and infusions. (Ch. 1, pg. 5)
- The long and short of it is, it was an institution, and institutions are governed by expediency. (Ch. 1, pgs. 3-4)
- But they gave me a comfortable place to sleep at one end of the apothecary, the room where the doctor prepared his medicines and infusions. (Ch. 1, pg. 5)
- Those trees, I’d heard, concealed every unsavory brigand and every ravenous beast of prey in the shire – until nightfall, when they ventured out upon roads such as these, in search of victims. (Ch. pg. 18)
Comprehension Questions
- Widge expected a royal and loving family but was adopted by a cold and unloving doctor. (Ch. 1, pg. 5)
- Widge discovers that Dr. Bright’s sermons were sometimes copied. (Ch. 1, pg. 6)
- Widge says that there were orphans who were unsound of body and mind who were still at the orphanage or who had died there. (Ch. 2, pg. 15)
- Widge doesn’t confront the stable boy because he knows that he is the new boy, and new boys don’t have any rights. (Ch. 4, pg. 27)
- Widge is surprised because his new master has a very mild appearance. (Ch. 4, pg. 29)
- Widge is incredulous when he finds out London has a curfew because London is a symbol of freedom. (Ch. 6, pg. 38)
- Widge needs to change his clothing in order to appear more like a Londoner and less like a country dweller. (Ch. 6, pg. 39)
- Widge passes the time waiting for Hamlet to be performed by watching the traffic on the street. (Ch. 6, pg. 41)
- The house Widge sees has a cross nailed to the door because it is a plague house. (Ch. 6, pg. 42)
- Falconer responds to Widge by saying he was only protecting his master’s investment. (Ch. 7, pg. 45)
- The words, totus mundus agit histrionem, were inscribed under Atlas’ feet, which translates to, “all the world’s a stage.” (Ch. 7, pg. 47)
- Widge’s most pressing problem while copying the play is assigning names to each player. (Ch. 7, pg. 49)
- Many people considered the world of theatre to be immoral, so women were forbidden to act on stage. (Ch. 7, pg. 49)
- Widge became so enthralled in the play that he only cared about whether Hamlet avenged his father’s death. (Ch. 7, pg. 50)
Section 2: Chapters 8-14
Vocabulary
- curfew: a law that requires people to remain indoors during night
- daunting: appearing impossible to complete or achieve
- emphatic: expressing something with force
- furtive: hiding from something, usually from trouble
- innocuous: peaceful, not harmful
- melancholy: a feeling of uncaused sadness
- wince: to jump in anticipation of something painful
Vocabulary Usage in the Book
- Separately, each would have been daunting; together they were terrifying. (Ch. 13, pg. 97)
- I shook my head emphatically, too intimidated to speak. (Ch. 8, pg. 57)
- As we passed the stage, I glanced furtively about for the incriminating table-book. (Ch. 11, pg. 74)
- The thoroughfare onto which I turned seemed innocuous enough at first, but after a time I noticed that each clock was bit more dismal-looking than the last. (Ch. 13, pg. 96)
- “…As you may have noticed, Hamlet is a very master of melancholy.” (Ch. 8, pg. 56)
- Wincing, I nodded. (Ch. 9, pg. 60)
Comprehension Questions
- The thought of having to fend for himself in London, and the reward he was promised both made Widge reconsider running away. (Ch. 8, pg. 52)
- Falconer knocks the gravedigger from the play into the drainage ditch. (Ch. 8, pg. 54)
- Widge’s favorite parts of the play are the fencing fights. (Ch. 8, pg. 55)
- Falconer and Widge lose their lodgings because Falconer killed one of the other lodgers in a duel. (Ch. 9, pg. 58)
- Widge escapes from the playhouse when his chasers have to leave to put out a fire. (Ch. 9, pgs. 62-63)
- The fire at the theater is extinguished when the sky opens up and rains on it. (Ch. 9, pg. 64)
- Widge is recognized when he runs into the second gravedigger from the play. (Ch. 10, pg. 67)
- Widge says that he came to London to become a player. (Ch. 10, pg. 70)
- The cannoneer and the boy named Nick were the only two members of the company opposed to taking Widge on. (Ch. 10, pg. 72)
- Sander doesn’t mind Widge joining his room because he says it will give him someone to talk to and study his lines with. (Ch. 11, pg. 75)
- Mr. Shakespeare had apprenticed as a glover. (Ch. 11, pg. 77)
- Mr. Shakespeare plays the ghost of Hamlet’s father in the play. (Ch. 11, pg. 80)
- Nick says that “widge” means “horse” where he comes from. (Ch. 12, pg. 86)
- Mr. Shakespeare tells Sander to instruct Widge in laughing. (Ch. 14, pg. 106<)/li>
Section 3: Chapters 15-20
Vocabulary
- clamor: a loud noise from a crowd
- concoct: to devise a story or a plan
- cursory: hasty and lacking details
- formidable: forcing respect through power or strength
- shirk: to avoid a responsibility
- sullen: moody or bad tempered
- thwart: to prevent a plan from happening
Vocabulary Usage in the Book
- I lay in the grass for some time, my heart clamoring in my chest and my limbs weak as water, before I could compose myself enough to continue on to the playhouse. (Ch. 17, pg. 125)
- I was concerned with what I’d actually done, and he with the lie I’d concocted to cover it. (Ch. 19, pg. 142)
- Far from calm myself, I gave him a cursory look up and down. (Ch. 15, pg. 108)
- It would be the formidable and unreasonable Falconer. (Ch. 19, pg. 144)
- “…I don’t like it thought that I’m shirking me duties.” (Ch. 17, pg. 126)
- He gave us a sullen glance. (Ch. 16, pg 118)
- Julian slid closer to me and said confidentially, “I’ve heard it said he’s brooding on a thwarted love affair.” (Ch. 20, pg. 151)
Comprehension Questions
- Widge is irritated at having to help Sander because he has to set down his playbook. (Ch. 15, pg. 108)
- The sleeves are not sewn onto the costumes so that they can be reused in other plays. (Ch. 15, pg. 109)
- Sander thinks Nick is in no shape to be a part fo the play because he has a bit of a beard and his breath smells like beer. (Ch. 15, pg. 111)
- Jack takes the play book from Widge because he doesn’t trust him. (Ch. 15, pg. 113)
- Mr. Heminges suggests that he and Mr. Shakespeare trade jobs as he is going on stage. (Ch. 16, pg. 115)
- Chriss Beeston thinks Will Kempe left the company to sell Mr. Shakespeare’s plays to other companies. (Ch. 16, pg. 117)
- Widge’s training at the theatre company is different from that of his past in that he is treated as if he has some intellect. (Ch. 16, pg. 120)
- Widge and Julian find that both of their mothers died young, and that their fathers were both criminals. (Ch. 17, pg. 129)
- Widge believes he got all his lines out correctly, but can’t remember for sure. (Ch. 17, pg. 131)
- Mr. Heminges wants to see Widge in the property room to discuss the trouble he had with Thomas. (Ch. 19, pg. 141)
- The company got on the Queen’s bad side when they performed a play that showed a deposition of a ruler. (Ch. 20, pg. 156)
- Julian’s Identity is discovered when her shirt is torn, revealing a cloth wound around her chest. (Ch. 20, pg. 159)
Section 4: Chapters 21-27
Vocabulary
- countenance: ones facial expression
- doublet: a padded jacket worn from the 1300s to the 1700s
- exasperate: to irritate or frustrate someone
- fortnight: a period of time lasting two weeks
- rapier: a thin, lightweight sword with a sharpened point
- succumb: to give in to pressure
- sumptuous: appearing expensive
Vocabulary Usage in the Book
- Even had I not known the queen’s countenance from the likeness of her that hung in every in and shop, I could not have mistaken her. (Ch. 23, pgs. 181-182)
- Nick got unsteadily to his feet and reached across to tap the student on the front of his embroidered doublet. (Ch. 21, pg. 166)
- She gave me an exasperated shove. (Ch. 23, pg. 181)
- Within a fortnight, he was on his feet again – too late to be of any use in our command performance at Whitehall. (Ch. 22, pg. 170)
- The student’s hand went to the hilt of his rapier. (Ch. 21, pg. 166)
- I understood her feelings, the more so because I’d now succumbed myself to what Mr. Pope called “the siren call.” (Ch. 24, pg. 184)
- The moment I stood before that glittering crowd of sumptuously dressed courtiers, I lapsed into a sort of dream. (Ch. 23, pg. 180)
Comprehension Questions
- Nick is angry because he didn’t know he was fencing with a girl for such a long time. (Ch. 21, pg. 161)
- Nick fights the student when he jokes about Nick dueling with a girl. (Ch. 21, pg. 165)
- The two students run after the tavern owner threatened to call for the constable. (Ch. 22, pg. 170)
- The authorities felt that Nick had suffered enough, and took him to a hospital instead of prison. (Ch. 22, pg. 170)
- Nick is offered the part of Ophelia because Sanders has to focus on Nick’s part, and Sam and James were not old or experienced enough. (Ch.22, pg. 174)
- Widge is shocked when he arrives at Whitehall because there is no stage. (Ch. 23, pg. 179)
- Widge manages to survive because he says that he becomes Ophelia through some miraculous process. (Ch. 23, pg. 180)
- Widge is transformed through playing Ophelia in that it makes actually want to be a player. (Ch. 24, pg. 188)
- Widge discovers nick stealing a playbook from the Globe. (Ch. 24, pg. 191)
- Nick escapes being caught by tipping Widge’s boat, launching him into the water. (Ch. 25, pgs. 196-197)
- The beggar doesn’t want to be seen with Widge and Mr. Armin because nobody gives money to beggars with well-dressed friends. (Ch. 26, pg. 200-201)
- Widge fears what will become of him if Falconer wins the duel. (Ch. 26, pg. 205)
- Simon Bass and Mr. Armin know eachother because they were both members of the Chamberlain’s men. (Ch. 27, pg. 209)
- Julia goes to France because women are allowed to act on stage there. (Ch. 27, pg. 213)