Preview
Copywork
About This Passage
These four sentences are doing one of the strangest things in children's literature. The first three sentences are normal and warm. The fourth sentence is impossible and terrible. Notice how Dahl tells you a sad thing in a calm matter-of-fact voice, the way grown-ups sometimes deliver very hard news to children. The matter-of-fact voice is part of how Dahl makes hard things bearable for young readers — by treating them as just ordinary parts of a story instead of as moments to cry about.
Up until the age of four, James Henry Trotter had a very happy life. He had a mother and a father who loved him, and he lived by the sea. Then one day, his mother and father went to London to do some ...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Tell someone what happens in this chapter in order. When you get to the most important part, slow down and tell it carefully — what happened, why it mattered, and what you think about it.
Discussion Questions
- James's parents die in a way that is sad and also impossible. Why do you think the writer made the way they died so STRANGE? Is the strange way easier to hear, or harder?
- James loses his parents at four years old. What kind of feelings would a small child have after that? Are those feelings the same as what an older person would feel?
+ 2 more questions in the complete study guide
Critical Thinking
+ 4 more questions in the complete study guide
Get the complete study guide — free
Sign up and get your first book with every chapter included. Copywork, discussion questions, vocabulary, and critical thinking.
Sign up free