Section 1: Chapters 1-3
Vocabulary
- amiable: having or displaying a friendly and pleasant manner
- consolation: comfort received by a person after a loss or disappointment
- contemptuous: to show scorn
- docile: ready to accept control or instruction; submissive
- inconsequential: not important or significant
- speculation: the forming of a theory without firm evidence
- vagrant: a person without settled home or regular work who wander from place to place and lives by begging
Comprehension Questions
- The possession that Will’s father treasures is a wristwatch. (pg. 2)
- Will tries to avoid a wrestling match with Henry because wrestling would mean using two hands and he didn’t want the wristwatch to be seen. (pg. 6)
- One of the things that attracted Jack and Will to the ruins was a rusted metal sign that warned of danger. (pg. 9/10)
- The words “LECT CITY” might mean “ELECTRICITY.”
- The trouble between Henry and Will arose mainly from Will’s constant need to get a rise from him. (pg. 11)
- When Jack had gone to visit his Aunt Matilde he had seen the ruins of a large city and the hulk of a rusting ship that was larger than the village. (pg. 15)
- After Jack is capped he is no longer interested in the things made before the Tripods and thinks it was all nonsense. (pg. 20/21)
- Once Jack is capped Will cannot help thinking that once he is capped he will be like Jack and his old self will be gone. (pg. 23)
- Will’s father tells him to stay away from the vagrants because it will cause people to gossip, but Will suspects it is because his father’s brother had become a vagrant and he feared Will’s interest was a sign his capping would fail. (pg. 29/30)
- Will learns several things from Ozymandias about the Tripods. First they may have come from another world; second they might be vehicles for other creatures and finally, the caps controlled the minds of people. (pg. 37)
- Ozymandias poses as a vagrant when he travels so that he can convince those who do not want to be capped to make the difficult journey to the White Mountains where they can live as free men. (pg. 41)
- The Tripods hadn’t destroyed all men because they needed some to mine metal for them, others were used as animals and were hunted. (pg. 44)
- Will waits longer than a week to leave for the White Mountains because the moon was new and didn’t give enough light to travel by. Also his aunt, Henry’s mother died unexpectedly and Henry came to stay with them. (pg. 46)
- Will allows Henry to run away with him because he doesn’t want Henry to raise the alarm that he has left and he assumes he can lose him before he reaches the port. (pg. 52)
Section 2: Chapters 4-5
Vocabulary
- complacent: showing smug or uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one’s achievements
- deteriorate: becoming progressively worse
- ludicrous: so foolish, unreasonable or out of place as to be amusing
- oblique: neither parallel nor at a right angle to a specified or implied line; slanting
- predicament: a difficult, unpleasant, or embarrassing situation
- speculate: form a theory or conjecture about a subject without firm evidence
- vigilant: keeping careful watch for possible danger or difficulties
Comprehension Questions
- Nobody in Rumney pays attention to Will and Henry because it is a town and unlike in village the people do not expect to recognize everyone they see. (pg. 63)
- When Will is caught in the tavern, Rowley knows he is not from Rumney because he has a country accent. (pg. 66)
- Captain Curtis doesn’t want the crew to know that Will and Henry are aboard the ship because he doesn’t want to explain why they are taking a one-way voyage. (pg. 67/68)
- The Tripods come close and circle the ship several times, this was a common occurrence and no-one knew why they did this, perhaps it was a joke. (pg. 71)
- After Zhanpole helps Will and Henry to escape they decide to take him with them because he is resourceful, knows the country and language. (pg. 80)
- The men from the tavern had captured Will and Henry because they thought they were responsible for the damage done to some of the boats on the shore. (pg. 82)
- Will thinks that Zhanpole’s aunt and uncle may have been a little afraid of him as he had an incredible brain and was always inventing and experimenting with new contraptions. (pg. 83)
- Zhanpole is worried about being capped because he fears it will prevent him from inventing things. (pg. 84)
- Will believes they have travelled less than a hundred miles on the Schmand-Fair because they have not reached the landmark on the map of a ruined city. (pg. 90)
- Will, Henry and Zhanpole are afraid to go through the ruined city because the capped and the Tripods said not to approach the big cities. (pg. 91/92)
- While exploring the city Will is awed by the a small shop that holds jewelry and watches. (pg. 95)
- In the underground railway car Henry finds a large iron eggs with a square grooved surface, hand grenades. (pg. 102)
- While sleeping in the ruined city Will dreams of life back in village before he worried about being capped, the Tripods or of traveling. (pg. 111)
- Upon reaching the orchard and farmhouse Will, Henry and Zhanpole disagree on whether to stay and wait for darkness to pick some of the fruit or go on in hopes of finding something better to eat. (pg. 116/117)
Section 3: Chapters 6-8
Vocabulary
- acquiesce: accept something reluctantly but without protest
- allay: relieve or alleviate pain, fear, hunger
- confluence: the junction of two rivers; a process of merging
- docile: ready to accept control or instruction
- largesse: generosity in bestowing money or gifts upon others
- repose: a state of rest, sleep or tranquility
- wary: feeling or showing caution about possible dangers or problems
Comprehension Questions
- The emergency plan that Beanpole has worked out if they get caught is for Henry and Will to pretend to be Beanpole’s deaf mute cousins so that no-one will know they cannot speak the language. (pg. 120)
- In his delirium Will accidently reveals the secret plan to act as deaf mutes to the Comtessse. (pg. 124)
- Will, Henry and Zhanpole plan to make their escape in a couple of weeks during the confusion and excitement of the tournament. (pg. 127/128)
- Once Will is well the Comtesse asks him if he would like to stay and be granted nobility. (pg. 139)
- While rowing Will’s watch kept slipping on his wrist and so he took it off and threw it to Eloise to hold for him, but she didn’t catch it and it fell into the river. (pg. 146)
- Will says he will stay behind because if he leaves before breakfast with Beanpole and Henry he will be missed and they will look for him, but that he will leave in a day or two and catch them up. (pg. 148)
- Will thinks Eloise will be Queen of the tournament because she is by far the most beautiful lady to be there. (pg. 149)
- Will is glad that on the second day of the tournament the weather is fine because it will be good traveling for Henry and Beanpole, but also for the choosing of the Queen of the tournament. (pg. 150)
- On the second day of the tournament Will is filled with fear and uneasiness when a Tripod attends the tournament and he is right underneath it. (pg. 153/154)
- Eloise goes to say goodbye to Will because she knows that as Queen of the Tournament she will go to serve the Tripods in their city and so will never see Will again. (pg. 156/157)
- The only thing Will remembers of his encounter with the Tripod is being plucked up into the air. (pg. 165)
- The thing Will remembers most clearly about his last visit with Eloise is the happiness she expressed in her face and words about going to serve the Tripods. (pg. 168)
- When Will catches up with Henry and Beanpole he decides to let Aristide go because Beanpole tells him that three boys on a horse would look strange to people they came across and could result in difficult questions being asked. (pg. 171)
- Beanpole doesn’t want to rest and stay in the hut they find near the vineyard because while they are there a Tripod appears and stops nearby and he is unsure if it is an accident it is there or if they are being followed. (pg. 183)
Section 4: Chapters 9-10
Vocabulary
- consolation: comfort received by a person after a loss or disappointment
- delirious: in a disturbed state of mind induced by illness or intoxication and characterized by restlessness, and incoherence of thought and speech
- enshroud: envelop completely and hide from view
- inkling: a slight knowledge, suspicion, hint
- reluctant: unwilling and hesitant; disinclined
- stoic: a person who can endure pain or hardship without showing their feelings or complaining
- traverse: to travel across or through
Comprehension Questions
- Beanpole and Henry discover that the Tripod has placed a metal button in Will’s armpit that is acting as a tracker. (pg. 195/196)
- After the discovery of what the Tripod has done to Will, Henry believes he is a traitor sending messages to the Tripod. (pg. 196)
- Beanpole does not think that Will is under the control of the Tripod because he willingly told them he had been captured by one of the Tripods. (pg. 197)
- Will’s initial solution to the tracker is that they should separate, he will take a different route and lead the Tripod away from Beanpole and Henry. (pg. 198/199)
- Beanpole’s solution to the tracker is to cut it out from under Will’s armpit. (pg. 200)
- As the Tripod discovers their hiding place Beanpole decides that they must fight it using the eggs they had found in the ruined city. (pg. 206/207)
- The Tripod is stopped when Will who is in one of the tentacles of the Tripod manages to throw an egg into the hole of the hemisphere and it explodes destroying the Tripod. (pg. 209/210)
- After the Tripod has been stopped Beanpole urges them to leave quickly because they have no way of knowing if the Tripod sent out a warning signal to other Tripods before it was destroyed. (pg. 211)
- Will, Henry and Beanpole hide from the Tripods in the crevice of a rock. (pg. 217/218)
- The boys have to hide for two days in the crevice of the rock. (pg. 219/222)
- The days following their hiding and near capture are hard for Will because his arm has become infected. (pg. 222)
- Beanpole manages to keep Will’s arm from being infected again by putting herbs and a bandage on the wound. (pg. 222)
- Will’s legs feel as if they would buckle when a Tripod’s tentacle landed a few yards from them but did not see them. (pg. 225)
- The two luxuries that Will, Henry and Beanpole find at the end of their journey are freedom and hope. (pg. 227)