Elephant Run

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Part 1, Prologue-Chapter 3

Reading Check

1. What is the name of the plantation house in Burma?

2. Which elephant was Nick’s dad capturing on the day of Nick’s birth?

3. What does Nick’s father give him that belonged to Nick’s grandfather?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Nick concerned about the attitudes toward the German Blitz in London?

2. Why does Nick feel like he never fit in in London?

Part 1, Chapters 4-6

Reading Check

1. Why is Hannibal violent?

2. Who takes Nick to the elephant camp?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What is unique about Hilltop’s relationship with the elephants?

2. Why do the men tell Mya she is not permitted in the camp, and why does Hilltop intervene?

Paired Resources

Musth

• This 3-minute video describes musth.
• Why do elephants change their behavior in musth? How is musth related to the novel’s theme of War and Violence?

A Day in the Life of a Buddhist Monk

• This 4-minute video describes the experience of one person in modern times as a Buddhist monk.
• What is Aria’s takeaway from being a Buddhist monk? What are the basics of Buddhist belief systems? How do you think Hilltop feels about War and Violence?

Part 1, Chapters 7-9

Reading Check

1. Which of the mahouts oversees Hannibal?

2. What does Jackson give Nick as a memento?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why are the Japanese killing monkeys around the plantation?

2. Why have the families of Mya and Nick decided to send them to Australia?

Paired Resource

Japanese Invasion of Burma

• This article provides an overview of major battles and audio clips from soldiers battling in Burma leading up to the surrender of the Japanese in 1944. (Content Warning: Some text and audio may include descriptions of wartime violence.)
• What were some of the difficulties facing soldiers and refugees in Burma after the Japanese invaded? Why did the Japanese surrender? How is this article related to the novel’s themes of Burmese Independence and Colonization and War and Violence?

Part 1, Chapters 10-12

Reading Check

1. Who appears when Nick is floating in the river?

2. What is found hanging above a porch in Hawk’s Nest Village?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What about Sonji’s character is surprising, given his role in Burma?

2. How does the Colonel relate to Jackson through Nick?

Paired Resource

“What Is a Haiku?”

• This 1-minute video describes what a haiku is.
• What is a haiku? What structure does a haiku follow? What purpose does the haiku serve in the novel? How are haiku related to the novel’s themes of War and Violence and Family?

Part 2, Prologue-Chapter 15

Reading Check

1. Where is Nick kept by the Japanese after his capture?

2. What was Sonji before the war?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What happened to Mya after she was captured by the Japanese?

2. What does the letter Mya gives Nick inform him of?

Paired Resource

Thai-Burma POW Camps

• This article describes what life was like for prisoners working on the Thai-Burma Railway.
• Why was life difficult for prisoners working on the railway? Why were the conditions on the railway life-threatening? How is this article related to the novel’s theme of War and Violence?

Part 2, Chapters 16-18

Reading Check

1. What does Hilltop reveal to Nick about the house his grandfather built?

2. What does Mya tell Nick to look for that marks the day of their escape?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What can you infer will happen to Nick if the Colonel’s son dies?

2. Why are some of the Burmese thinking of joining the British and American armies?

Part 2, Chapters 19-21

Reading Check

1. Whom does the Colonel blame for Nick’s escape?

2. Where do Mya and Nick hide for weeks before their escape from Hawk’s Nest?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What angers Nick while he is spying on the Colonel?

2. Why does Mya feel a sense of foreboding while she is in the library? Why do you think she feels this way?

Part 3, Prologue-Chapter 24

Reading Check

1. Who discovers Hilltop, Mya, and Nick in the passageways?

2. Which elephant do Hilltop, Mya, and Nick use to escape the plantation?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Hilltop blame himself for the presence of the Japanese on the plantation?

2. What does Nick plan to do to rescue his father? What does Hilltop offer as an alternative to Nick’s plan?

Paired Resource

“What Is a Monsoon?”

• This 7-minute video describes what a monsoon is and why it happens.
• What is a monsoon? Why do monsoons happen?

Part 3, Chapters 25-28

Reading Check

1. Whom is Kya Lei compared to?

2. Why does Kya Lei follow Nick and his camp?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How are the prisoners in the camp described in the novel?

2. What does Hilltop ask Sonji to do, and how does he convince him to do it?

Part 3, Chapters 29-32

Reading Check

1. Who saves Nick’s camp from Captain Moto?

2. Where is Nick living after his escape from Burma?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What plan did Hilltop and Sonji formulate to rescue Jackson?

2. Why does Jackson decide not to go back to Burma after the war?

Recommended Next Reads

An Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpurgo

• This novel is about a German family and their journey of survival in war-torn Germany during World War II.
• Shared topics include elephants, survival, and refugees.
• Shared themes include War and Violence and Family.
• An Elephant in the Garden on SuperSummary

Allies by Alan Gratz

• This novel follows six characters as they experience D-Day.
• Shared topics include World War II, war experiences abroad, and victims of war.
• Shared themes include War and Violence and Family.
• Allies on SuperSummary