The Silent Boy

61 pages • 2 hours read

The Silent Boy

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2003

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Introduction

Before Reading

During Reading

After Reading

During Reading

Reading Questions & Paired Texts

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

PROLOGUE-CHAPTER 3

Reading Check

1. What profession did Katy “Docky” Thatcher know she wanted to have from the age of 13?

2. What is the name of the Thatchers’ private cook, whom Peggy is hired to assist?

3. In Chapter 3, Katy’s father heads to Schuyler’s Mill to treat a worker with what injury?

Short Answer

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

1. What object does Docky, mistakenly, think is called a “mazing”? Why does she believe this?

2. Who is “Evangeline Emerson”?

Paired Resource

“The Secret is There Are No Secrets: An Interview with Lois Lowry”

In this 2016 interview with Rookie, Lois Lowry discusses life, her writing, and “appreciating where you are right now.”
Lowry touches upon her writing The Silent Boy and discusses how the interplay between photography and memory greatly influenced the project.
How does photography influence Lowry as a writer, exactly? How is that evident in the opening chapters of The Silent Boy?

CHAPTERS 4-7

Reading Check

1. On the snow day in Chapter 5, Jessie Wood brings what toy to share among the children?

2. In Chapter 6, Katy reminisces about playing on the beach and seeing fireworks on what holiday?

3. From what book does Katy’s father read at the opening of Chapter 7?

Short Answer

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

1. When Peggy tells Katy about the kind of work Jacob does on the farm, why does Katy find this information both confusing and upsetting?

2. What superstition does Peggy believe about babies born with a “mark”?

Paired Resource

“The History of Child Labor in America”

The Saturday Evening Post gives an overview of how, at the turn of the century, many young children worked full-time in cotton mills, coal mines, and other industrial and/or farm settings.
Particularly for kids from poorer families, work was a central part of life for children in the early 20th century, thus emphasizing the connection between Education, Social Class, and Economic Advancement.
Compare Katy’s life to those of Peggy, Nell, and Jacob, in terms of the work they do. Which of the children are most reflected in this article?

CHAPTERS 8-10

Reading Check

1. Why is Katy’s father called to the asylum in Chapter 8?

2. In what city does Katy’s grandmother live?

3. Who is revealed to be a romantic admirer of Katy in Chapter 10?

Short Answer

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

1. What happens during Katy and Austin’s made-up game called “Tragedy and Disaster”? What does this game say about the nature of their friendship?

2. Why are Nell and Paul forbidden from dating?

Paired Resource

“History of Psychiatric Hospitals”

Penn Nursing provides a sweeping history of psychiatric hospitals in America, from the mid-1800s to the present.
The article touches upon the history of asylums specifically in the 1900s and reform during that period. Many individuals with psychiatric ailments, who communicated via nontraditional means of communication, were marginalized at this time.
Does Lowry’s portrayal of asylums align with the real-life history of these institutions? Why or why not?

CHAPTERS 11-13

Reading Check

1. What is the word game that Katy and Peggy play at the opening of Chapter 11?

2. What article of clothing does Katy usually see Jacob wearing?

3. Mrs. Bishop and Katy’s mother both think that Mr. Bishop is foolish for purchasing what expensive item?

Short Answer

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

1. What causes Katy, as described in Chapter 11, to suddenly decide she does not like Paul?

2. In Chapter 12, what happens that causes Jessie to wonder why Katy would consider Jacob her friend?

Paired Resource

“Women’s Suffrage in the Progressive Era”

The Library of Congress provides a summary of how, during the late 1800s and early 1900s, women’s organizations were actively campaigning for greater rights for women.
During this period, women were specifically fighting to elevate their social class in order to be afforded greater economic opportunities.
Is there evidence of changing attitudes around the role of women and/or gender norms in The Silent Boy?

CHAPTERS 14-16

Reading Check

1. What is the name of Katy’s third grade teacher?

2. What does Katy give as party favors for her 9th birthday party?

3. In Chapter 15, Katy awakens in the middle of the night to her father making a phone call, which strikes her as unusual. Who is her father calling?

Short Answer

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

1. How does Katy’s tone change in this section of the novel? What does this indicate, in terms of the book’s larger themes?

2. Why does Katy defend Jacob after the death of Nellie’s baby? What does she believe is the truth of what happened?

CHAPTERS 17-20

Reading Check

1. In Chapter 18, a family friend thinks they spy Nellie bartending in what city?

2. How many children do Peggy and Floyd end up having?

3. Katy and Austin’s parents buy them what property as a wedding gift?

Short Answer

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

1. Chapter 17 is a summary of Paul’s life after boarding school. What happens to him?

2. How does the ending of the novel, particularly for Katy and Peggy, question the rigidity of social roles?

Recommended Next Reads

The Giver by Lois Lowry

In this Newbery Award-winning dystopian novel, 12-year-old Jonas’s world is seemingly idyllic, until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory.
When Jonas takes on the Receiver of Memory role, he experiences a loss of innocence, such as in the theme Animals, Innocence, and Human Violence.
Like Katy, Jonas’s world is profoundly shaken by dark, tragic knowledge, which forces him to grow up.
The Giver on SuperSummary

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Number the Stars is historical fiction set during World War II, when 10-year-old Annemarie Johansen must take in her Jewish best friend to save her from Nazi persecution.
Life-changing divides in terms of racism and social class are explored in the novel, such as in The Silent Boy’s theme of Education, Social Class, and Economic Advancement.
Though set in another period, Lowry once again sets a coming-of-age tale in a deeply difficult moment in history, as told from the first-person perspective of a young girl.
Number the Stars on SuperSummary

Reading Questions Answer Key

PROLOGUE-CHAPTER 3

Reading Check

1. A doctor (Prologue)

2. Naomi (Chapter 2)

3. A cut hand (Chapter 3)

Short Answer

1. Docky mistakenly thinks Austin’s go-cart is called a “mazing.” She thinks this because she overhears her mother calling the go-cart “amazing.” (Chapter 1)

2. It is the name that Nell has selected as her stage name, which she hopes to someday use when she becomes a film star. (Chapter 2)

CHAPTERS 4-7

Reading Check

1. A sled (Chapter 5)

2. Fourth of July (Chapter 6)

3. David Copperfield (Chapter 7)

Short Answer

1. Peggy tells Katy that Jacob must sometimes kill kittens, as part of his duties on the farm. This confuses Katy because she thinks of him as a soft, sweet boy—one who is good and kind to animals. (Chapter 4)

2. Peggy believes that if a pregnant mother hears distressing news, the baby will be born “damaged.” She tells Katy that birthmarks are the result of a pregnant mother seeing something horrifying. (Chapter 7)

CHAPTERS 8-10

Reading Check

1. To treat a patient’s stomachache (Chapter 8)

2. Cincinnati (Chapter 9)

3. Floyd Lehman (Chapter 10)

Short Answer

1. In the imagination game, Katy and Austin will act out tragedies and disasters, including things like shipwrecks and the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Austin and Katy get lost in their games together; this shows they have a very strong friendship based on shared interests and big imaginations. (Chapter 9)

2. They are from different economic classes: Nell is considered low-class and Paul has a higher social standing. Mingling between rich and poor in that way is frowned upon in society. (Chapter 10)

CHAPTERS 11-13

Reading Check

1. Love, Hate, Friendship (Chapter 11)

2. A cap (Chapter 12)

3. A new automobile (Chapter 13)

Short Answer

1. Katy recalls stumbling upon Paul and Nell in the barn together. She knew that what they were doing was romantic, but only in retrospect did she realize they were likely having intercourse. Upon making that realization, she decides she does not like Paul. (Chapter 11)

2. On the ride to Mrs. Shafer’s, Katy and Jessie pass Jacob while he is working in the field. Katy tells Jessie that Jacob is her friend; however, when Katy waves at him, Jacob doesn’t wave back or say hello. Based on his non-reaction, Jessie wonders why Katy considers him a friend. (Chapter 12)

CHAPTERS 14-16

Reading Check

1. Ms. Moody (Chapter 14)

2. 2 big cat’s-eye marbles (Chapter 14)

3. The Bishops (Chapter 15)

Short Answer

1. Katy’s tone seems less childlike in this section of the novel. Her voice matures. It is as if she views this dark, difficult period from an adult’s consciousness; it emphasizes the traumatic nature of the death of Nellie’s baby. (Chapters 14-16)

2. Katy knows that, at his core, Jacob is a good boy. He meant no harm. Katy believes that Jacob did not mean to kill the child; he brought it to Mary’s nursery to attempt to have Mrs. Thatcher care for the rejected child. (Chapter 16)

CHAPTERS 17-20

Reading Check

1. Baltimore (Chapter 18)

2. Three daughters (Chapter 19)

3. Schuyler’s Mill (Chapter 20)

Short Answer

1. After graduating from boarding school, he goes to Princeton and then law school. During WWI, he joins the Marines and is killed in battle outside of Paris (Chapter 17)

2. Katy defies her role as a woman. She sets out to do everything she aspires to, rather than limiting herself to being solely a mother or a doctor. She accomplishes everything she dreamed of as a girl: marrying her love, becoming a doctor, traveling, and having children and grandchildren. Meanwhile, Peggy finds similar success as she creates the life she dreamed of as a young girl. (Chapters 17-20)