| Introduction to TCIOTDITNT |
The Curious Incident - Key Characters
In table groups, you will be given one of the following words:
- Curious
- Incident
- Dog
- Night-time
Once we have collated them, individually, you will need to respond to the questions below:
- What do you think of this title?
- Does the title make you want to read the book? Why?
- What predictions can you make about the book or about the genre? Is it easy or hard to do this? Why?
The novel has had several covers. It has been marketed for both teenagers and adults.
In your table groups have a look at the cover pictures below and try to answer the following questions, then feed back as a class.
- Which cover do you think would appeal most to adults? Which to teenagers? Which do you prefer?
- Do the cover pictures help you to add anything to your predictions about the book?
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Read through the first section of the text (pages 1 - 20) that has been photocopied for you or in your own book.
Highlight anything that stands out to you as interesting in one colour.
In another colour, highlight what you believe to be important or significant quotes.
In a third colour, highlight anything that we find out about Christopher in this section.
You may also annotate and highlight for any literary devices that you can identify, as well as the big ideas of:
- honesty & lies
- family
- perception of the world
- communication
Click on the button below and make your own copy of the KWL chart to complete after reading the first section.
You are to create a Google Doc as a Reading Journal for this text. Share this Doc with Ms Wood, Mrs Fenwick and Miss Stonehouse.For each of the sections listed below, you need to answer the questions as we go through the text in class and as you finish the text over the holidays. We will keep adding sections as we go!
SECTION 1 (Pages 1 - 20)
- What is unique about the way Christopher views the world? How it is similar or different to the ways YOU view the world?
- What is unique about the way Christopher interacts with other people? Do you think he likes people?
- Do you think his reaction to finding the dead dog is normal? What would your reaction be?
SECTION 2 (Pages 21 - 44)
- What do you think of Christopher’s strategies as a detective? Is he effective in his work?
- Does Christopher’s system for deciding what kind of day it will be make sense to you? What signs or symbols do you believe in?
- How does Christopher feel about his mother?
SECTION 3 (Pages 45 - 61)
- Why do you think Christopher’s father forbid him from doing any more detective work?
- What does it show about Christopher that he finds a way around his father using logic?
- Do you think it was appropriate for Mrs. Alexander to tell Christopher what she did?
SECTION 4 (Pages 62 - 82)
- Why does Christopher like the Monty Hall problem?
- Why does Christopher describe his memory as working “like a film?” What advantages and disadvantages does this give him in life?
- Why is Christopher’s father so angry when he finds out that Christopher is still doing his detective work?
SECTION 6 (Pages 105 - 124)
- What does Christopher’s mother reveal in the letters to her son? Do you approve of her choices?
- How about the decision Christopher’s father made to hide the letters? What arguments could be made both for and against his choice?
- When Christopher’s father tells him who killed Wellington, how does Christopher react? Do you agree with how he feels?
SECTION 7 (Pages 125 - 155)
- Do you agree with Christopher’s process of elimination about where he should go to live?
- Why does doing math problems in Christopher’s head calm him down?
- Why is it so hard for Christopher to be in a new place?
SECTION 8 (Pages 156 - 178)
- Why does Christopher like timetables so much? Why does he feel that “time is not like space?”
- Why does Christopher say that the creation of life on earth was a “very special kind of accident?” Do you think he values life?
- Why is being in the underground station so stressful for Christopher, and how does he cope?
SECTION 9 (Pages 179 - 202)
- How does Christopher eventually manage to get on the train? What strategies does he use?
- How do mother, father, and Mr. Shears each react to what Christopher has done?
SECTION 10 (Pages 203 - 220)
- Why does Christopher dream of most people getting a virus and dying? What does his people-free world look like?
- Do you think the adults in this story are acting rationally? More or less rationally than Christopher?
Christopher is still on the train hiding behind a piece of luggage, on a shelf beside the bathroom. He is trying to decide when he should get off the train. He needs know two things, one is if the policeman, who wants to return him to his father, is still on the train and the other is if the train has reached London. He tries to picture a map of Britain in his mind, to help him decide if the train has reached London. He decides, after a while, to try to leave the shelf, find his bag, and leave the train. He sees his bag is gone, as are all the people who were on the train with him; the only other person in the train car is a policeman, who is not the man who boarded the train looking for him. The policeman is looking under the seats of the train car. Christopher leaves the car undetected by the policeman and is thrust in among a large group of people in the train station. As he is walking towards a gate at the end of the track, he is stopped by a man who tells him the police are looking for him. Christopher walks away as the man is telling the police he has found him. This experience makes Christopher feel as if a balloon is inside his chest and it causes him pain. He can't deal with all of the sensory overload of the train station, so he covers his ears and groans to block out the sounds of the station. He tries to close his eyes to block out the sights, which cause his brain to work improperly, this helps him to refocus his mind. He eventually finds the information desk and is directed from there to the Underground system, which is a subway system. He hopes to find his mother, by using the Underground system, and once again feel safe. The problem is the underground system is confusing and noisy, which causes him to feel sick. He sits on a bench near the train track for five hours trying to cope with sounds of the trains, the crush of people, and his fear of trying something new. When he finally decides it is time to discover which train to take to reach his mother, he realizes Toby is missing from his pocket. He looks around and sees Toby on the train tracks. Christopher doesn't realize the tracks are dangerous, all he wants to do is retrieve his pet. He drops down from the concrete platform onto the tracks to reach Toby, who doesn't want to be caught. As he is trying to catch Toby, a man in a green raincoat sees him and tells Christopher to get off the tracks. Christopher ignores him, until he hears a train approaching. He has finally caught Toby, but can't pull himself off the tracks. The man reaches down and pulls him up to the platform; saving Christopher's life. His thanks for saving Christopher's life is Christopher screaming, because the man touched him.
After being saved, by the man in the green coat, Christopher boards a train and travels to Willesden Junction. There he asks a shopkeeper for directions to his mother's house, but instead the man sells him a book called LONDON AZ Street Atlas and Index, Geographer's A-Z Map Company. Christopher uses this book to map a route to his mother's home.
He arrives there only to find she is not at home, so he and Toby find their way into the alley next to her apartment building and wait for her to return home. She arrives back at the building at 11:32 pm, after Christopher has been sitting in the cold and rain waiting for her. She is stunned to find him there and her boyfriend, Mr. Shears, is not too happy to see Christopher, because he knows Christopher's father will probably arrive soon looking for Christopher. Christopher tells them he is afraid to live with his father, because he killed Wellington. Then he tells her and Mr. Shears he wants to live with them. He also informs his mother the reason he never wrote her is because his father told him she was dead. She is stunned by this piece of information and she is very angry with her husband. She manages to persuade Christopher to change into some dry clothes and eat tomato soup. While he is eating the soup, a policeman arrives at the apartment looking for Christopher. He wants to make sure he is safe and tells him his father wants him to come home. But Christopher tells him he will not go home, because he doesn't feel safe there. He states he wants to stay with his mother, after ascertaining his mother agrees to Christopher's plan, the policeman leaves. At 2:31 a.m. Christopher's father shows up at the apartment intent on taking his son home with him. But Christopher's mother will not let him take the boy and Mr. Shears tells Christopher's father to leave. The fight escalates between the two, as they try to decide who is the more involved parent. Christopher's father apologizes to Christopher, but he will not respond to him, because he is still frightened of him. Mr. Shears calls the police and they remove Christopher's father from the apartment. Christopher, for now is being allowed to stay with his mother. Christopher, though frightened and being sought by the police, manages to find his way to his mother's apartment. She is shocked to find he has thought she is dead. She and Christopher's father argue over who has taken more responsibility for Christopher, but in the end he stays with his mother. Christopher fights to overcome his fears to find his mother, who he feels is the one person he can count on to keep him safe.