Anastasia Krupnik by Lois Lowry
1. What did you like best and least about the book?
2. Were there any words you didn’t understand? If so what were they and did you
look them up?
a. Platonic - of, relating to, or having a close relationship in which there is
no romance or sex
b. Hubbard squash - an often large variably green winter squash
c. Mutant – of, relating to, or produced by mutation (a change in the genes
of a plant or animal that causes physical characteristics that are different
from what is normal; a new form of something that has changed)
d. Hieroglyphics - written in, constituting, or belonging to a system of
writing mainly in pictorial characters
e. Ostentatious - displaying wealth, knowledge, etc., in a way that is meant
to attract attention, admiration, or envy
f. Jocund – cheerful
g. Pensive – quietly sad or thoughtful
h. Offensive – rude or insulting; very unpleasant
i. Dichotomy - a difference between two opposite things: a division into
two opposite groups
j. Salient – very important or noticeable
k. Futility – a useless act or gesture
l. Disdain - a feeling of strong dislike or disapproval of someone or
something you think does not deserve respect
m. Grotesque - very strange or ugly in a way that is not normal or natural
n. Traitor - a person who is not loyal to his or her own country, friends, etc.
o. Indefatigable - able to work or continue for a very long time without
becoming tired
p. Repulsive - causing strong dislike or disgust
q. Exhaustive – including all possibilities; very thorough
3. Do you have siblings? How do you feel about them?
4. How did you feel about Anastasia’s father letting her name the baby? What do
you think would have happened if she had gone with One Ball Reilly?
5. Do you make lists? If so, why? (To help you figure things out)?
6. Why does she keep having cross outs on her list? What does that say about her?
7. What does the word hate mean? Hate may mean you want something bad to
happen to them. Do you think she felt that way? Is there a better word to use?
8. Do you agree with Anastasia that youare dumb if you don’t feel the way
everyone else does?
9. What did you think about Anastasia’s wish to become a Catholic? Why did she
decide not to?
10. Did you ever consider running away? Why? What did you and your parents do?
11. How did you feel about Anastasia’s crush on Washburn Cummings? What did
you think of him?
12. What did you think of Anastasia’s poem and how Mrs. Westvessel graded her?
Let’s read those pages – 11-14
13. Could you understand how Anastasia felt being with her grandmother? What
changed her feelings?
14. Was does it mean when she says, “my heart hurts”?
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15. Did you understand the Wordsworth poem? What does the inward eye mean?
(pg. 66); (memory). How did Anastasia understand the inward eye in relation to
her grandmother?
16. Do you have an inward eye? What are your memories?
17. Did your feelings about Mrs. Westvessel change? If so, when and how?
18. What did Anastasia mean that she had a mercurial temperament? Do you
sometimes feel that way? About what?
Activities:
Make a list of the things you love and the things you hate and share them.
Read the poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” and discuss it.
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
I WANDERED lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and
hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of
golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars
that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They
stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
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Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads
in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be
gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but
little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
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They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss
of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
By William Wordsworth 1888
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