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78 pages 2 hours read

Neil Gaiman

The Graveyard Book

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2008

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Essay Topics

1.

Bod learns history and lore from the ghosts, who regale him with stories of their lives in past centuries. What’s lacking in this education, and how do Bod and Silas fill that gap?

2.

What is the Sleer, and what does it want? Explain why Bod and Scarlett aren’t afraid of it using citations from the text.

3.

What makes Bod vulnerable to the ghouls? How does he help in his own rescue from the ghoul Hell? Describe what he learns about Miss Lupescu in the process.

4.

Explain why Liza Hempstock has no gravestone, and why might this be unfair. What does Bod do that endears him to her, and how does she repay him?

5.

Bod dances the Macabray with the queen of the ghosts, the Lady on the Grey. She promises him that he can ride her giant grey horse, but not right away. Why must Bod wait, and where would the horse carry him?

6.

Bod terrorizes and threatens Nick and Bo. Describe briefly how he does this to each of them and explain how his own acts of intimidation are morally different from the intimidating acts of the two bullies.

7.

Who are the Jacks of All Trades, and why do they want to kill Bod? How does Bod win the battle against them without killing anyone?

8.

Bod saves Scarlett’s life, and she promptly rejects him as a “monster.” Why does she do this? What does Silas do to resolve the conflict? Why does he do this?

9.

What types of creatures are Silas and Lupescu? What makes them good instead of bad?

10.

Something happens to Bod’s abilities that tells Silas the boy is ready to move to the outside world. What is this change, and why is it an indicator? What is Bod’s new purpose?

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