Three Skelton Key

Three Skeleton Key

Three Skeleton Key Review

Come on over for a visit!

Comprehension

1. Why does the narrator take the job at Three Skeleton Key?

a) He wants to set aside some money before he gets married.

b) He wants to protect the lighthouse.c) He wants to watch the ships sail in the

nighttime.d) He is sent there to find three escaped

convicts.

Be Afraid!

Plot

2. When people read a suspenseful story, they feel a) disappointed because the story is not believable.b) disturbed by the frightening, bloody details in

the story.c) uncertainty or anxiety about what will happen

next in the story. d) happy because events in the story are funny.

Plot Diagram

Exposition-Setting: time and place -Initial conflict

Climax

Resolution

Falling Action

Rising Action

Plot

3. The plot of a story isa) an idea about life b) a series of related events c) the place where the story occursd) the writer’s attitude toward the subject

Plot

4. A story’s most exciting moment, the highest point of suspense, is called:

a) the main ideab) foreshadowingc) the climaxd) its subject

Plot

4. In the resolution of a story, a) new characters are introduced. b) all the loose ends of the story are tied up.c) mysterious events occur. d) information about the author is presented.

Literary Terms

5. Each of the following sentences contains a simile except:

a) Sarah howled like a wolf.b) The clouds were as faint as dreams.c) Sally sells seashells by the seashore.d) Her face was as red as a beet.

Literary Term

6. We know this story is told from the first-person point of view because

a) of all the details included in the story.b) the narrator uses the pronouns they and he.c) the narrator uses the pronouns I and we.d) the person telling the story knows what

everyone is thinking.

Comprehension

7. How do the rats get on the key? a) They are native to the key. b) They are brought in with the supplies.c) They swim over from another islandd) A ship wrecks on the rocks and they swim

ashore.

Comprehension

8. The narrator’s descriptions of the window in the lantern room imply that the:

a) window will collapse. b) thick glass will keep the rats out.c) skeletons will open the window.d) rats will eat the glass.

Author

9. Who is the author of “Three Skeleton Key”?a) George Toudouzeb) Rudyard Kiplingc) Dr. Seussd) Charles Dickens

Comprehension

10. How do the rats first get inside the lighthouse?

a) They dig a tunnel under the lighthouse.b) They eat a hole through the door.c) The metal sheeting that was sealing the

window gives way.d) Crazed by the sight of the rats, Le Gleo

opens the door.

Literary Terms

11. When some rats return defeated from the attack on the patrol boat, the narrator says that the other rats greeted them with “shrill cries . . . with . . . a derisive note . . . .” The author is using

a) foreshadowing.b) personification.c) simile.d) alliteration.

Comprehension 12. All of the following strategies are used to

rescue the three men from the island except a) The crew tempt the rats onto a barge filled

with meat.b) The crew drench the barge with gasoline and

then set it on fire. c) The keepers set fire to the island.d) The crew shoot any escaping rats and leave

the rest to be eaten by the sharks.

Comprehension

13. What becomes of the three lighthouse attendants? a) One man returns to the key; two refuse to go back

to the lighthouse.b) Two men return to Three Skeleton Key; the third

man dies.c) One man returns to the key; one goes insane; one

dies.d) Two men return to the island; the third man is too

frightened to return.

Plot

14. What is the last stage of the plot called where the story ends?

a) expositionb) falling actionc) climaxd) resolution

Comprehension

15. Which of the following is an example of foreshadowing?

a) The narrator sees the Dutch ship heading for the island.

b) A man dreams of the three convicts’ skeletons.c) Some of the rats fall into the ocean and are

eaten by the sharks.d) The narrator sees a tug pulling a barge covered

with raw meat.

Literary Element

16. Which word means “the sequence of events in a story”?

a) plotb) conflictc) point of viewd) metaphor

Literary Terms

17. ‘Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers’ is an example of

a) simileb) alliterationc) foreshadowingd) personification

Plot

18. The beginning of a story that introduces the characters and explains the setting is called the _______________________.

Exposition

Comprehension

19. The two groups of characters in “Three Skeleton Key” are ________________ and ____________________.

rats and people

Plot

20. The setting of a story tells us the _______________ and ____________.

time and place

Plot

20. ______________ _______________is the term for events that move toward the climax of the story.

Rising action

Plot

22. ______________ _______________ is the term for events that take place after the climax. This is when the characters begin to resolve their conflicts.

Falling action