The Witches

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Who Is Grandmamma?”

In this activity, students will write a creative story in which they explore the narrator’s grandmother’s past involvement with witches.

In Dahl’s novel, the narrator’s grandmother has many unresolved questions about her past. In this activity, write a creative backstory explaining some of the unresolved questions related to the narrator’s grandmother’s affiliation with witches. Consider the following questions as you formulate your story:

• Did the grandmother have prior involvement with witches? If so, how?
• How did the grandmother lose her thumb?
• Why is the grandmother so interested in witches?

Before you begin writing, create a list of text details to keep in mind so that your backstory complements the novel with regard to plot, characterization, and voice.

After drafting your piece, share your story with the class. In a post-presentation discussion, consider how your classmates’ pieces included the novel’s themes of The Importance of Family, Teamwork, and Love; Good Versus Evil; and Appearances And The Fluidity Of Identity.

Teaching Suggestion: Students might keep the same narrative style of Dahl (third-person), or they might choose first-person narration from the grandmother’s point-of-view. Classes might complete the list of text details together so that all writers begin by keeping in mind Grandmamma’s established character traits, manner of speech, existing clues to her background, and other logical details.

Differentiation Suggestion: Students with interests in drawing, sketching, comic/graphic story art, video, or art software might convey Grandmamma’s backstory in one of these visual forms. The activity may also lend itself to script or screenplay writing with the possibility of student performance for peers.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1.  The boy and his grandmother have a close bond.

• How does Dahl’s novel emphasize their close bond with one another? (topic sentence)
• Identify 3 instances that exemplify their closeness. What actions, words, or choices show their care and concern for one another?
• In your concluding sentences, explain how the relationship between the boy and his grandmother helps to develop one of the novel’s themes.

2. In the novel, the narrator experiences a significant metamorphosis.

• Which of his traits helps the boy the most in adapting to a new identity? (topic sentence)
• Identify and discuss 3 key moments or scenes in which the boy demonstrates this trait in a way that is helpful to his mouse state.
• In your concluding sentences, explain which theme connects to the boy’s transformation and provide a rationale for this choice.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. The members of the witch community are represented without many distinguishing characteristics; they are not shown to have any traits that individualize them or balance their “bad” qualities. What is the likely purpose of this one-sided characterization? In a 3-paragraph essay, explain with supporting details why the author presents the witches as altogether bad.

2. Think about the storytelling style in The Witches. Is the tone upbeat and exuberant, or sad and mournful? What kind of readers would most enjoy a story told with the kind of wording, pacing, dialogue, and mood as The Witches? In a 3-paragraph essay, explain how the style of storytelling in The Witches keeps readers interested and engaged. You might include ideas about the story’s point of view, tone, grammar, and literary devices like figurative language in your essay.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which phrase best defines the purpose of Chapter 1?

A) Describing a type of person

B) Explaining a moment in history

C) Advising on issues related to children

D) Creating a new form of poetry

2. According to the narrator’s grandmother, what is a good way for a child to protect himself or herself from witches?

A) Bathe less often

B) Wear a wig

C) Learn to speak English

D) Sing in Norwegian

3. What does the narrator’s grandmother like to do while she speaks about witches?

A) Recite Swedish poetry

B) Drink a glass of milk

C) Smoke a cigar

D) Hum a traditional tune

4. Which statement best describes how the narrator feels about being a mouse?

A) He enjoys it.

B) He does not like it.

C) He is saddened by it.

D) He ridicules it.

5. Which of the following features are not changed after the narrator becomes a mouse?

A) His hands

B) His voice

C) His feet

D) His nose

6. Which phrase best describes the manner in which Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins treat the narrator’s grandmother?

A) With respect

B) With courtesy

C) With interest

D) With scorn

7. Which group enjoys the sudden increase of mice in the dining room?

A) The witches

B) The old men

C) The young women

D) The children

8. Which statement is true about witches, according to the novel?

A) They are all women.

B) They must be over 50 years old.

C) They adore children.

D) They only eat mice.

9. Which belief does the narrator hold by the end of the novel?

A) One’s appearance is their most important quality.

B) Women play an important role in society but cannot be trusted.

C) Receiving love is more important than being beautiful.

D) Animals are vile, and it is important to keep them far away.

10. After the narrator’s grandmother reveals she made a call to the Chief of Police in Bournemouth, England, this dialogue exchange occurs:

“‘Now hang on a sec, Grandmamma,’ I said. ‘There’s no way an English policeman is going to believe that you are the Head of the Norwegian Police.’

‘I am very good at imitating a man’s voice,’ she said. ‘Of course he believed me. The policeman in Bournemouth was honoured to get a call from the Chief of Police for the whole of Norway.’” (Chapter 22)

Which of the following ideas is implied in this passage?

A) That the grandmother was not allowed to make a call

B) That men only speak to younger women

C) That women cannot be the chief of police

D) That the narrator does not understand Norwegian

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. What are the different settings of the novel, and what are the main events that happen in each place?

2. Which characters in the novel represent acceptance and flexibility, and which characters represent inflexible and stubborn thinking? Supply reasons for your choices.