Chapter 1-2 for Killing Mr. Griffin

Chapter One
1. Briefly identify the children in the McConnell family.

• Susan, Melvin, Francis, Craig

2. What does Susan mean by "someday"?

• she wants everything to be normal and exactly the way she wants her life to be.

3. Who is David Ruggles? How does Susan feel about him?

• The president of the senior class. She has a huge crush, and dreams about him.

4. Several other students of Room 117 are introduced. Briefly identify them.

• Betsy Cline, David Ruggles, Mark Kinney, Jeff Garrett

5. In the classroom scene, what emphasizes Susan's feelings of being an outsider?

• She feels so alone, sickened, alienated, and afraid. She doesn't fit in with her classmates.

6. Two teachers are introduced. Briefly identify them.

• Mr. Griffin, Mrs. Dolly Luna

7. Mr. Griffin is very strict and stern with the students. Do you think these qualities make him a good teacher? Briefly explain your answer.

• Probably not, because he gives no student extra credit, and most of all he gives them so many F's for a late paper. making them fail a lot.

8. An allusion is when a writer refers to a person, place, poem, book, or movie that the reader, is expected to recognize. Find an example of allusion in this chapter.

• Susan's song she wrote.

9. In what ways does Susan think she and the dying female in Hamlet are similar?

• She didn't do her best in her work. Felt so depressed that she cried, and felt so ashamed.

10. A metaphor is a comparison of two things that are basically unlike, in order to create a sharp picture. In this first chapter find the metaphor involving a bird that helps the author define how Susan is feeling about her life.

• She had a sudden, irrational urge to put her head down on the desk and weep for all of them, for the whole world, for the awful day that was staring so badly.

11. Jeff says, "That Griffin's the sort of guy you'd like to kill." Why doesn't Susan think he is serious?

• Because Jeff really hated Mr. Griffin so much that he had a plan to do that, but Susan thought that he was bluffing which he wasn't.

12. Frequently, objects which seem inconsequential when first mentioned become an important part of the plot later. In the last six paragraphs do you noticed any object that might be foreshadowing?

• Yes that Jeff explained to the gang how to kill Mr. Griffin by tying him with some rope, and blindfolding him.

Chapter Two

1. Why does Mark say the following? " Jeff's done a neat job of lining us up for a mass flunk out."

• Because Mr. Griffin keeps on giving Jeff F's all semester.

2. Explain Mark's special dislike of Mr. Griffin.

• He had to take the English course again for the second time, and he wanted to him since he came to Mr. Griffin class.

3. "Jeff had seen that look before, and it always meant something." What look does Jeff see? What does Jeff think it means?

• That killer look that Mark had when he wanted to do something for the pleasure of it. He really wanted to kill Mr. Griffin so badly.

4. Why do Jeff and Betsy go along with the plan?

• They were tired of flunking his class all the time, but they weren't trying to fail. They were trying to pass and get out of his class for good.

5. Why does Mark believe Dave will go with the plan?

• He likes a challenge, also Mark knows too much about David.

6. What does Mark know about Susan that makes him think she will be their decoy?

• Because she's Mr. Griffin's teacher pet, and plus on the mid- semester she made good grades in his class.

7. A flashback is a scene that interrupts the ongoing action to show an event that happens earlier. Briefly describe the flashback in this chapter. Explain why the author chooses to include it.

• It's how Susan and David met each other when they were in middle school. The humiliation that Jeff has been through, it was the first thing that the plan would work.

8. What is implied, but never stated, about Mark's "transformation"?

• He was sort of a psychic when he heard the call roll. He set a cat on fire, and he also had a special beauty, something too strange to explain about him.