The Rocking Horse Winner

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

Reading Check

1. Which “unspoken phrase” haunts the family’s home?

2. What does Paul command of his rocking horse?

3. How much is Paul betting on Daffodil?

4. Where does Bassett suggest Paul got his unique ability?

5. Which holiday does Paul plan for his mother to receive money?

6. Which important detail does Paul’s mother reveal about her family history?

Short Answer

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

1. How does Paul’s mother define luck? Does she believe their family is lucky? Why or why not?

2. Who is Bassett? How does this person affect Paul’s life, and how does Uncle Oscar respond to this relationship?

3. Where does Uncle Oscar take Paul? Describe Paul’s experience of this outing.

4. What is Paul’s motivation to continue his luck? How does Uncle Oscar respond to this admission?

5. Compare and contrast Paul’s mother’s presumed response with her actual response to the letter from the lawyer. What does Paul’s mother request, and how does Paul respond?

6. What is Paul’s “secret of secrets”? How is this object crucial to the climax and the denouement of the story?

Paired Resource

“Crockford’s Club: How a Fishmonger Built a Gambling Hall and Bankrupted the British Aristocracy”

• This Smithsonian Magazine article discusses a fishmonger who made his fortune bankrupting the Victorian upper class.
• The article’s discussion of gambling relates to the themes of Luck: Fortune and Providence and The Malignant Insatiability of Greed.
• Based on the above resource, who primarily benefited from gambling practices in Victorian England?

“The D.H. Lawrence We Forgot”

• This New Yorker article from 2020 gives an in-depth background on D.H. Lawrence.
• The article touches upon Lawrence’s exploration of The Unhealthy Relational Dynamic of Emotional Incest and The Malignant Insatiability of Greed within his various works.
• Based on the text as well as the above resource, how did Lawrence’s background shape the content of his works?

Recommended Next Reads 

Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence

• Lawrence’s 1913 novel follows the members of the Morel family as they navigate familial and external relationships with unhealthy attachment styles.
• A shared theme is The Unhealthy Relational Dynamic of Emotional Incest.   
• Shared topics include the Oedipus complex, Victorian England, and a protagonist named Paul.
• Sons and Lovers on SuperSummary

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

• James’s 1898 novella centers on a young governess who, in her attempts to save orphaned children from potential predators, uncovers a mystery that blurs the lines between reality, imagination, and the otherworldly.
• A shared theme is The Unhealthy Relational Dynamic of Emotional Incest.
• Shared topics include Freudian psychoanalysis, Victorian England, and the desire to satisfy others.
• The Turn of the Screw on SuperSummary