A Separate Peace​ by John Knowles Summer Reading Assignment
Ms. Kaufman, 8th grade
We will be discussing​ A Separate Peace ​in the FIRST WEEK OF CLASS. This will be your first
grade for the school year, so it is very important that you come prepared by having read the
novel, and answering the questions below. At the end of this packet is some information about
the author to better help you understand the novel. MAKE SURE TO READ THE WHOLE
PACKET BEFORE YOU BEGIN!
VOCABULARY
Chapters 1-5
1. ​anarchy​ n. disorder; absence of rules
2. ​enfeebled​ adj. weakened; depleted
3. ​indulgent​ adj. permissive
4. ​inure​ v. to become used to something unpleasant
5. ​inveigle​ v. to entice; to trick into something
6. ​nondescript​ adj. uninteresting; drab
7. ​sedate​ adj. calm; serene
8. ​tacit​ adj. unspoken
Chapters 6-10
9. ​extrovert ​n. outgoing person who enjoys the company of other people
10.​ funereal​ adj. solemn as befitting a funeral
11. ​gullible​ adj. easily tricked; naive
12.​ idiosyncratic​ adj. peculiar; eccentric
13. i​mplausibility​ n. unlikeliness; unbelievability
14. ​sinecure​ n. position, usually salaried, that requires little or no work
15. ​sultriness​ n. humidity; heat
Chapters 11-13
16. ​forlornly​ adv. miserably; desolately
17. ​impervious​ adj. resistant; inaccessible
18. ​incarnate ​adj. in the flesh
19. ​incomprehensible​ adj. not understandable; mysterious
20. ​incongruity​ n. inconsistency; disharmony
21. ​latent ​adj. potential; inactive
22. ​timbre​ n. the quality of a sound; tone
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER AS YOU READ
Directions: You will be asked about some of the following questions when we return to school.
You do NOT need to answer them now, but they will be very important to our class discussions,
so think about all of them as you read.
What causes jealousy between friends?
What factors seem to be a threat to friendship?
Is war a necessary evil?
Is sin inevitable?
Is redemption possible?
How should we deal with guilt?
Does competition bring out the best or worst in people?
Is the loss of innocence inevitable?
What does the author’s attitude toward war seem to be?
What does the author’s attitude toward human nature seem to be?
How do the effects of war on this generation compare to the effects on the boys in the novel?
Do we need to accept the reality of evil in the human heart & world to survive?
READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
Directions: Answer all of the 26 questions in complete sentences. Write your answers on this
paper. If you need more space, you can attach extra paper, just make sure to clearly label the
questions.
Ch. 1
1. How long ago did the narrator attend the Devon School? What is the mood/atmosphere when
he returns?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Who jumps from the tree?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Ch. 2
3. What does Finny use for a belt ? What does this say about his attitude towards school?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. How does Finny save the narrator’s life at the end of the chapter?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Ch. 3
5. How often does the Super Suicide Society meet? How does Gene really feel about it?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
6. What is the narrator’s first name?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Ch. 4
7. What causes the narrator to fail his trigonometry test? Why or why not is he being fair about
who to blame?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
8. What causes Finny to fall from the tree?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Ch. 5
9. What was Finny’s injury after falling from the tree?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
10. According to Dr. Stanpole, what is finished for Finny? What are some possible impacts of
this?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Ch. 6
11. What job does Gene apply for? Why is this significant?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
12. Who calls Gene on the telephone at the end of the chapter?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Ch. 7
13. What are the two things the students do to help the war effort? How has the war changed the
environment of the school?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
14. Whom does the narrator find in his room when he returns?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Ch. 8
15. Why are there no maids at Devon when Finny returns? What message does this send?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
16. Where do the narrator and Finny go when they cut class?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Ch. 9
17. What causes Leper to enlist?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
18. What is the name of the celebration Finny organized?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Ch. 10
19. Where is the narrator going when he leaves Devon?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
20. Why does Gene tip Leper’s chair over? What does this show about Gene’s character?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Ch. 11
21. When Gene returns from Vermont, what does he find Finny doing?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
22. What happens to Finny when he runs out of the room? Do you think was an accident? Why
or why not?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Ch. 12
23. What does Finny accuse the narrator of when he comes to the window? Explain why you
agree or disagree with Finny.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
24. How does Finny die?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Ch. 13
25. What are the soldiers carrying in their Jeeps as they arrive on the Devon campus?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
26. Who does Brinker say is the cause of the war? What is the significance of his statement?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
THREE JOURNAL ENTRIES - on the following pages
Directions​:
1. Write a one-paragraph response to ONE question from each set of chapters (3 in total). This
paragraph should be at 5-7 sentences in length (MINIMUM). Write as much as you need to fully
answer the question.
2. Your paragraph should follow this format:
A. Begin with a topic sentence. This ONE sentence should give a brief answer to the
question.
B. Next, develop at LEAST three explanatory sentences. These sentences should support
your topic sentence with examples and further explanation.
C. Finally, have ONE concluding sentence that effectively closes your paragraph.
3. As this is your first writing assignment, I expect that you will work to clearly respond to the
question. These paragraphs may require some further revising or editing when you return to
school in August.
4. Write your responses on the lined spaces. If you need more space, you can attach extra paper,
just make sure to clearly label the questions.
Ch. 1-5​: Answer ONE of the following questions using the paragraph format above.
1. Evaluate Finny’s response to his injury and Gene’s revelation. Is the response believable? Is it
consistent with Finny’s previous attitudes and behavior? Support your opinions with evidence
from the novel.
OR
2. List some pros and cons of competition. Considering your list, do you think competition is
healthy or unhealthy?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Ch. 6-10​: Answer ONE of the following questions using the paragraph format above.
3. In this section, what details does the author use to show the ways in which war is changing the
atmosphere at Devon?
OR
4. In his notes to Gene, Leper pleads, “I have escaped and need help...” Why is Gene, who is on
the brink of adulthood, unable and unwilling to feel sorry for leper? What might Gene not wish
to hear? In a paragraph, evaluate Gene’s response to Leper’s breakdown, and explain what the
response suggests about Gene. Be sure to support your opinions with examples from the text.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Ch. 11-13​: Answer ONE of the following questions using the paragraph format above.
5. How did you feel about what happened to Finny? Describe the emotions you experienced as
you read.
OR
6. What does Gene mean when he says, “Phineas, you wouldn’t be any good in the war, even if
nothing had happened to your leg?” What qualities make Finny a poor candidate for military
service?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
AUTHOR BACKGROUND
All of my books are based on places, places I know very well and
feel very deeply about. I begin with that place and then the
characters and the plot emerge from it. . . A Separate Peace
began with a playing field at Exeter Academy​. —John Knowles
John Knowles was born in 1926 in Fairmont, West Virginia, deep in the heart of coal-mining
country. Although some of his works reflect his West Virginia roots, Knowles’s best-known
works are set in New England.
His father and mother were originally from Massachusetts, and the family often spent summer
vacations there. Knowles’s love of New England stems from his experiences as a student. At the
age of fifteen, he was accepted to an elite New Hampshire boarding school, Phillips Exeter
Academy. At first, Knowles felt out of place. He has said that his classmates seemed “too eastern
for me, too Yankee, too tough,” and that he found the New Hampshire winter “breathtakingly
cold.” Moreover, his grades were not the best. He admits: “It quickly seemed probable that I
would flunk out. Then somehow or other I knuckled down, learned by myself how to study,
discovered I had a brain which had more potential than a knack for writing, and by the end of
that first term, I was passing every course comfortably. Meanwhile, I was falling in love with
Exeter.” Knowles’s affection for the school is reflected in his first—and most famous—novel, ​A
Separate Peace​.
Shortly after Knowles entered Exeter, the United States declared war on Japan and entered
World War II. Knowles went into the military after he graduated from high school. He trained to
be a pilot in the United States Army Air Force, but when the war ended he decided to go back to
school. He attended Yale University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in 1949.
During his twenties, Knowles traveled and earned a living as a freelance writer. Knowles then
took a job as an associate editor of a travel magazine. Early each morning, before going to the
office, he worked on ​A Separate Peace​. The novel, which was first published in England in 1959
and the United States in 1960, proved to be a success—so much that Knowles was able to resign
from his job and devote his time to writing and to travel.
Since then, Knowles has written a variety of novels, a short story collection, a travel book, and
several essays. None of these works has been as successful as ​A Separate Peace​, but the fact
does not seem to trouble him. He says that because he does not write with a particular audience
in mind he is delighted that he has found any audience at all.
Knowles passed away in November, 2001.