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Copywork
About This Passage
Dahl stages the chapter's turning point in a close-third POV through Mrs Fox. The recovery of Mr Fox's mind is shown before it is spoken: silence, stillness, then a stir, then a spark 'dancing' in the eyes. By the time Mr Fox opens his mouth in the next paragraph, the reader has already been told — by the image, not the dialogue — that the siege has been broken internally, and that a plan now exists.
Mrs Fox knew that he was trying desperately to think of a way out. And now, as she looked at him, she saw him stir himself and get slowly to his feet. He looked back at his wife. There was a little sp...
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Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Summarize Chapter 9 in one tight paragraph. Include the duration of the siege, the Small Foxes' plea for a dash to the surface, Mrs Fox's refusal, Mr Fox's long silence and the spark in his eyes, his pretended failure of nerve, and the Small Foxes' insistence that pulls the plan back into motion.
Discussion Questions
- Mrs Fox snaps 'I refuse to let you go up there and face those guns. I'd sooner you stay down here and die in peace.' Analyze the moral logic of a parent who chooses slow death over fast death for her children. Where does this logic break down, and where does it hold?
- Mr Fox pretends his idea is 'no good' and 'won't work after all.' Identify the textual evidence that this is a deliberate maneuver rather than a real loss of nerve, and explain what Mr Fox is trying to produce in the Small Foxes.
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
With urgent, nearly hopeless effort.
Item 2
A lively stirring of feeling, often anticipatory.
Item 3
A tiny flash of light or energy; a beginning sign of something larger.
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Critical Thinking
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