The Body Study GuideLiterature and Film
By Stephen KingW. Nugent
Multiple Choice. (35 points)
- What town does The Body take place?
- What state does The Body take place?
- How old are the boys when they go on their adventure?
- Why do the four friends go on an adventure?
- What was Ray Brower doing the day he died?
- How does Ray Brower die?
- Who is Vern's older brother?
- How did Vern hear about Ray's death?
- Where did the friends tell their parents they were going?
- When the friends are on their adventure, what do they do?
- Which friend admits he likes his home life? (Kind of a trick question ;)
- Which friend is physically hurt by their father when returning from the war? How?
- What does Gordie say about his feelings for his own father? (353)
- What is a goocher? And what does it mean?
- What was Gordie’s “first lesson in the vast difference between myth and reality”? (hint: The Dump)
- Who is from a family that is regarded as white trash and is judged by others because of them?
- Compared to his brother, how does Gordon feel?
- What happens to the milk money that Chris stole, and then later returned?
- According to Chris, what is “asshole about wanting to be with your friends”?
- In Gordie’s dream that night around the campfire, what happens to Chris? (390-391)
- According to Gordie, what was “the best part of the trip, the cleanest part…”? (393)
- In the novella, who pulls a gun during a fight?
- Who backs down from a fight when a gun is drawn on them?
- Who beats up their own brother as punishment for their actions?
- What do readers find out about the four friends at the end of the story?
- Who applies themselves in school and wants to go to law school?
- What do Teddy and Vern do when the four friends begin to separate?
- What do we know about Gordie’s adult life? (394)
- How does Teddy die?
- Who dies in a knife fight?
- Where is Chris when he dies?
- Who dies in a fire?
- What happens right before the fire starts?
- Whose prediction comes true in the end?
- What does Gordie say about the most important things in life? (293 and 394)
Essay Question (15 points)
Write a 3 paragraphsdiscussingONE of the prompts below:
- “The rite of passage is a magic corridor and so we always provide an aisle—it’s what you walk down when you get married, what they carry you down when you get buried. Our corridor was those twin rails, and we walked between them” (King 402).
Discuss the boys’ “fallfrom innocence” and how those “twin rails” served as their “magic corridor”. Be sure to include significance of the events that involve the processes separation, initiation, and return. (The Hero’s Adventure) OR
- Discuss the fidelity of the film, Stand by Me, to its original source, The Body, by Stephen King. Focus on 3 of the most significant differences, and explain the effects of these changes on King’s theme and characters.