Name______Date______
A Separate Peace – Chapter Questions
Chapter 1
- Identify where and when the novel begins.
- The narrator returns to visit two places - the tree and the stairs.
DESCRIBE what he says about each place.
Tree –
Stairs -
Chapter 2
- Finny gets away with TWO rebellious acts. What are they?
- How does Gene FEEL about Finny’s ability to get away with things?
- How does Finny save Gene’s life?
Chapter 3
1. Explain the significance of the following and state its importance to character and/or plot development:
- Super Suicide Society
- Blitzball
- A. Hopkins Parker, 1940
2. Why does Gene continue to jump from the tree when he actually detests it?
Chapter 4
- Why does Gene take the bike ride to the beach when he feels he has logical reasons to remain at school?
- Finny explains to Gene, “You can’t come to the shore with just anybody and you can’t come by yourself, and at this teen-age period in life the proper person is your best pal, which is what you are.”
- What motivates Finny to say this to Gene?
- How does Gene react to this statement? What does this reveal about Gene?
- Up to this point, Gene believes there is a rivalry between Finny and him. What makes him change his mind?
- While Finny is on the tree limb, what does Gene do? Why?
Chapter 5
- Describe the significance of the pink shirt.
- When Gene talks to Finny at the hospital, what are Finny’s recollections about the fall and his thoughts about Gene?
- Later, at Finny’s home, Gene tries to explain what happened in the tree. What was Finny’s reaction to this?
- What might Gene mean when he says, “I was injuring him again…?”
Chapter 6
- Why does Gene apply for assistant Crew Manager?
- Why does Finny say, referring to Gene’s visit at Finny’s home, “You talked to crazy here…?
Chapter 7
- What happens in the Butt Room when Brinker takes Gene there?
- What does Leper do instead of helping to shovel out the troop train? Why do you think?
- What decision does Gene make about the war? Why do you think?
Chapter 8
- What argument does Finny use in defending his statement that there isn’t any war?
- Why do you think Finny chooses to believe there isn’t a war?
- Why does Finny start training Gene as a runner? Why does Gene agree?
Chapter 9
- Why does Leper enlist in the army? (What does he believe it to be?)
- What is the Winter Carnival?
3. Who sends Gene a telegram at the end of this chapter? Why?
Chapter 10
- Why has Leper escaped from the army?
- Why does Leper call Gene a “savage”?
- What do Leper’s hallucinations at the end of the chapter tell you about the war?
Chapter 11
- Why does Brinker take Gene and Finny to the Assembly Room?
- Why is Leper called in?
- Why does Finny hurry from the room?
Chapter 12
- What happened to Finny? Describe his injury.
- We learn why Finny has been denying that the war exists. What is the reason?
- What happens to Finny in the operating room?
Chapter 13
- Gene says, “My schooling was over now.” Beyond the literal meaning of his formal education, what else is he referring to?