Name: __________________________________ Period: _____ Date: _____________________________
“Rikki Tikki Tavi”
Close Reading Guide
I.
Vocabulary: As you encounter the following vocabulary words in the text, write the
sentence each word is used in as well as the definition.
Word
Sentence in Story (with page #)
Definition
1. immensely
2. cowered
3. valiant
4. consolation
5. impotent
II.
Close Read: Re-read the story at a pace of one to two pages at a time, and look closely for
answers to the following questions. Write your answer in complete sentences. Be sure to
support your answers with appropriate text evidence, cited correctly!
Question
6. What is the first
conflict Rikki faces in
the story?
7. What does “eaten
up from nose to tail
with curiosity”
mean?
My Answer
Text Evidence
8. Retell the events
that brought Rikki to
his new home
(before he explores
it).
9. Look for the first time
the snake is
mentioned. What
effect does this
remark have on the
story?
10. What does the word
cultivated mean,
using context clues?
11. Who are Rikki’s
enemies? Who are
his helpers?
12. Retell what happens
when Rikki first meets
the snake.
13. How does the battle
with Karait build
suspense and
advance the plot?
14. Retell what
happened with the
conflict with Karait.
15. What information
does Chuchundra
indirectly reveal to
Rikki? How does this
information
advance the plot?
16. Find 2-3 examples of
foreshadowing and
explain what they
foreshadow.
17. What are some
reasons Nag and
Nagains plan to kill
the humans?
18. If Rikki is the one Nag
and Nagaina want
to be rid of, why
does Nag resist the
idea of hunting Rikki
on his own or with
Nagaina?
19. How does the
author slow the
pace of action and
build suspense in the
story?
20. Retell what happens
when Rikki sees Nag
poke his head into
the bathroom.
21. The narrator says
Darzee is very much
like a man. What
might this
comparison imply?
22. Why does Nag plan
to kill Teddy?
23. What is the meaning
of the word
cunningly, using
context clues?
24. Although everyone
seems frozen in time,
what conflicts are
going on as Rikki
and Nagaina talk?
25. Why does Rikki tell
Nagaina that he,
not the man, killed
Nag?
26. What character
traits does Rikki show
by chasing Nagaina
and following her
into her hole?
27. Retell what happens
when Rikki fights
Nagaina.
28. How is the conflict
resolved?
III.
True or False: Mark each question as true or false.
29. ______ The plot involves a mongoose who threatens humans.
30. ______ Nag and Nagaina plan to kill Rikki because he killed their young.
31. ______ The final battle occurs between Nag and Rikki.
32. ______ At the climax of the story, Rikki puts himself in mortal danger by following a cobra
into its hole.