Time Quintet (L'Engle) book discussion questions

QUESTION BY THEME IN THE TIME QUINTET

Good vs. Evil
In A Wrinkle in Time, Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which take Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace to the planet Uriel. There, as they see The Dark Thing, a shadow that is creeping over the cosmos, the children begin to understand the age-old struggle between the forces of good and evil. Have students make two columns on a large sheet of paper; one column should be labeled "good," and the other "evil." Beginning with Love and Hate, one in each column, ask students to list other characteristics of these forces.

In each of the novels, members of the Murry family learn important lessons when they encounter evil forces. Ask students to identify the conflict in each novel and discuss the overall theme of good vs. evil. How are these conflicts resolved? What does each Murry child learn about the power of love?

In A Wind in the Door, Charles Wallace is tormented by his classmates. Meg says, "It's not right in the United States of America that a little kid shouldn't be safe in school" (p. 47). Engage the class in a discussion about the safety issues facing public schools today, for example bullying, weapons, gangs, etc. How are these issues considered "evil" forces? 

Courage and Honor
In A Wrinkle in Time, Meg experiences various types of love throughout her adventure. When she returns to Camazotz for Charles Wallace, she learns that love can enable her to be brave in the face of danger. It provides her with the strength that she needs to overcome evil. Ask students to trace the development of Meg's understanding of the power of love and discuss or write about it in an essay format.

In some ways, Charles Wallace might be considered the most courageous Murry. Encourage students to compare and contrast his courageous journey in A Wind in the Door to his adventures in A Swiftly Tilting Planet.

The Murry twins, Sandy and Dennys, take their first time-travel adventure in Many Waters. As the "practical" members of the family, they are very frightened throughout most of their trip. Ask students to discuss whether it takes courage to be "practical" and "ordinary" in a family like the Murrys. How might being "practical" and "ordinary" cause anyone to be frightened upon entering a new experience? Do the twins become more courageous by the end of the novel?

Dealing with Giftedness
Charles Wallace realizes that he is different. While he is intellectually gifted, he lacks the physical ability to do things like the other boys in his class. Ask students to brainstorm characteristics of an intellectually gifted child. Make a chart for each of the Murry children and Calvin O'Keefe and cite evidence from the novels that indicates that each child might be considered gifted.

Family and Relationships
Have students study the Murry-O'Keefe family tree which can be found in the back of any of the 35th anniversary commemorative editions. Ask each student to select one person from the tree and design a page about that person's life and adventures to be included in a Murry-O'Keefe family scrapbook. Compile the pages and bind it. 

(From http://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/teachers-guide/96847/a-swiftly-tilting-planet/)

A WRINKLE IN TIME

1. A Wrinkle In Time is very much a novel about good vs. evil. Who in the book represents good? Who represents evil?
2. How does Meg feel about her father and his work?
3. Imagine living in a community that mistrusts and resents you. What is it like for the Murrys to live in a community that doesn't understand them?
4. How is Charles Wallace like Meg? How is he different?
5. How would you describe tesseracting? Would you want to do it?
6. What are Meg's faults? How do they help her in the end?
7. Meg experiences various types of love throughout her adventure. How does her understanding of love develop over the course of the novel?
8. Who is the most courageous character?
9. Would you define this story as fantasy or science fiction? What are the differences between these two genres?
10. If you had the opportunity to time travel, would you? If you could chose the time, what time period would you travel to? The past? The future?
11. Would you recommend this book to others?

A WIND IN THE DOOR

1. In Chapter 11, Senex says, "'It is only when we are fully rooted that we are really able to move."' (pg. 190) What does the author mean by this, and how might it apply to your life?
2. What clue does the author give at the end of the book to indicate that Proginoskes is really all right despite having Xed himself?
3. Why is it better to X oneself than to be Xed by the Echthroi? What is the difference?
4. Despite the fact that grown-ups have a harder time kything and may be slower at it than children, Calvin believes adults are able to go deeper than a child can once they get the hang of it. What does he mean by this? Can you give two examples from the story in which Mr. Jenkins proves that Calvin is right about this?

June 2018: Time Quintet by Madeleine L'Engle

For June 2018, I picked the Time Quintet by Madeleine L'Engle because I've been wanting to re-read them. Have fun!

The Time Quintet by Madeleine L'Engle consists of A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time.

ABOUT THE BOOKS
A Wrinkle in Time―One of the most significant novels of our time. This fabulous, ground-breaking science-fiction and fantasy story is the first of five in the Time Quintet series about the Murry family. A Wrinkle in Time is soon to be a major motion picture from Disney, directed by Ava DuVernay, starring Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling.
A Wind in the Door―When Charles Wallace falls ill, Meg, Calvin, and their teacher, Mr. Jenkins, must travel inside C.W. to make him well, and save the universe from the evil Echthros.
A Swiftly Tilting Planet―The Murry and O'Keefe families enlist the help of the unicorn, Gaudior, to save the world from imminent nuclear war.
Many Waters―Meg Murry, now in college, time travels with her twin brothers, Sandy and Dennys, to a desert oasis that is embroiled in war.
An Acceptable Time―While spending time with her grandparents, Alex and Kate Murry, Polly O'Keefe wanders into a time 3,000 years before her own.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 Madeleine was born on November 29th, 1918, and spent her formative years in New York City. Instead of her school work, she found that she would much rather be writing stories, poems and journals for herself, which was reflected in her grades (not the best). However, she was not discouraged.

At age 12, she moved to the French Alps with her parents and went to an English boarding school where, thankfully, her passion for writing continued to grow. She flourished during her high school years back in the United States at Ashley Hall in Charleston, South Carolina, vacationing with her mother in a rambling old beach cottage on a beautiful stretch of Florida Beach.

She went to Smith College and studied English with some wonderful teachers as she read the classics and continued her own creative writing. She graduated with honors and moved into a Greenwich Village apartment in New York. She worked in the theater, where Equity union pay and a flexible schedule afforded her the time to write! She published her first two novels during these years—A Small Rain and Ilsa—before meeting Hugh Franklin, her future husband, when she was an understudy in Anton Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard. They married during The Joyous Season.

She had a baby girl and kept on writing, eventually moving to Connecticut to raise the family away from the city in a small dairy farm village with more cows than people. They bought a dead general store, and brought it to life for 9 years. They moved back to the city with three children, and Hugh revitalized his professional acting career.

As the years passed and the children grew, Madeleine continued to write and Hugh to act, and they to enjoy each other and life. Madeleine began her association with the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, where she was the librarian and maintained an office for more than thirty years. After Hugh’s death in 1986, it was her writing and lecturing that kept her going. She lived through the 20th century and into the 21st and wrote over 60 books. She enjoyed being with her friends, her children, her grandchildren, and her great grandchildren.

Build a Board at Book Club

Inspired by this:

We made this:

Raise a mocktail!

Made some pretty delish non-al mocktails!