Preview
Copywork
About This Passage
This is the moment Bean invents the starvation plan. Trailblazers should copy the passage and notice two things: how Dahl uses the grotesque detail of Bean's mouth (scarlet gums, fewer teeth than gums) right before Bean announces the plan, and how the short sentences in the plan itself — 'We starve him out.' — make the idea sound final. The body describes the man and the sentences describe the mind; both are spare and cold.
Bean made a sickly smile. When he smiled you saw his scarlet gums. You saw more gums than teeth. 'Then there's only one thing to do,' he said. 'We starve him out. We camp here day and night watching t...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell Chapter 7 out loud to a grown-up. Begin with Boggis, Bunce, and Bean climbing down from their tractors at six o'clock, and end with the farmers sending down to their farms for tents and sleeping-bags. Make sure to include Bean's new plan and the oath the three farmers swear.
Discussion Questions
- At the start of the chapter, Boggis, Bunce, and Bean are 'tired and stiff' and 'also hungry' — yet they do not go home. What does it tell you about the three men that their bodies are telling them to quit, but they refuse? How does this compare to how Mr Fox leads his family?
- Bean calls Bunce 'you miserable midget' and tries to send Bunce down the fox hole. What does this reveal about the way Boggis, Bunce, and Bean really feel about each other? Is the oath they just swore a sign of friendship, or something else?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
A heavy farm vehicle with large wheels, used for pulling plows and other equipment.
Item 2
Hard to bend or move freely, especially after sitting or working in one position too long.
Item 3
A large, bowl-shaped hole in the ground, like the one left by a volcano or deep digging.
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Critical Thinking
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