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Copywork
About This Passage
Three short sentences carry the moral weight of the whole chapter. Mrs Fox chooses her children's slow suffering over their quick death, because she refuses to hand Boggis, Bunce, and Bean what they want. The verbs 'snapped' and 'refuse' show how sharply Mrs Fox speaks when her children's lives are on the line.
'No chance at all,' snapped Mrs Fox. 'I refuse to let you go up there and face those guns. I'd sooner you stay down here and die in peace.'
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Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell Chapter 9 in your own words. Include how long the siege has lasted, what the Small Foxes ask their father to do, why Mrs Fox refuses a dash to the surface, and how Mr Fox finally gets his family to believe in a new plan.
Discussion Questions
- Mrs Fox tells the Small Foxes, 'I'd sooner you stay down here and die in peace' than run up into Boggis, Bunce, and Bean's guns. Is Mrs Fox's choice right, or does a parent owe her children a different answer in a crisis?
- Mr Fox pretends his idea won't work because the family is too weak. What does this act of pretending reveal about how Mr Fox leads the Small Foxes?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
Staying in place until something expected happens.
Item 2
Dying slowly from lack of food.
Item 3
To firmly say no to something.
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Critical Thinking
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