Questions up to the point where Jack goes to bed in Wardrobe: 1. How do you know Old Nick hurt Ma the previous night? 2. Why does Jack ‘look all around Ma’s neck but not at it’? 3. Why is Ma in a bad mood when Jack wants her to read to him? 4. What is the purpose of the Keypad game?
5. How does Jack make sense of the man on the TV having the same bottle of painkillers as Ma?
6. How does Jack react when Ma tries to tell him that the things he sees on TV are real? Writing Task:
What signs are there that Ma is fi nding it increasingly diffi cult to cope? Why do you think it is becoming harder for her?
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Questions up to the point where Jack lies in bed with Ma, listening for Old Nick: 1. What does Jack mean when he says Ma is ‘Gone’? 2. Is this the fi rst time Ma has been like this? 3. Jack struggles to believe that what he sees on TV is real. How does he imagine the world?
4. Why do you think Jack tells all the things in the Room ‘it’s OK because Ma will be back tomorrow’?
5. How does Jack feel when he looks at the bruises on Ma’s neck? 6. What fears does Jack have at bedtime? Writing Task:
Jack is the narrator of the story, so we see everything from his point of view. Do you think this is an eff ective technique, based on what you have read so far? Explain your answer. ****************
Questions up to the point where Old Nick comes into Room:
1. Jack said earlier that he was born on Rug, but now he says there are marks on the mattress from where he came out of Ma’s tummy ‘the fi rst time.’ What do you think he means by this?
2. Do you think Jack’s reading level is normal for a boy of his age?