Autobiographical Writing: Roald Dahl's 'Boy' 3 Worksheet

This worksheet is based on Roald Dahl's autobiography Boy. To complete this worksheet you need to read the chapters called 'The Great Mouse Plot', 'Mr Coombes' and 'Mrs Pratchet's Revenge'. When you have read these chapters you can answer the questions.

What do the boys find under the floorboards?

a dead bird

a dead rat

a dead mouse

What does the young Dahl decide to do with the dead mouse?

bury it

put it in a sweet jar at Mrs Pratchet's shop

hide it in a teacher's desk

When the boys return to the sweet shop the day after hiding the dead mouse, what do they discover?

All the jars of sweets have gone.

The shop is closed and the smashed gobstopper jar is on the floor.

The shop is open as usual.

What do the boys think has happened to Mrs Pratchet?

Mrs Pratchet has gone to the police.

Mrs Pratchet has died from shock.

Mrs Pratchet has gone on holiday to get over the shock.

Roald Dahl then gives the reader a vivid description of his Headteacher, Mr Coombes. Read the description carefully and select the three correct details that describe Mr Coombes.

He was a tall man.

He was a small man.

He wore a black suit with a waistcoat.

He wore a tweed suit with a black gown over.

He had a fat face.

He had a skinny face.

Roald Dahl uses similes and metaphors to describe Mr Coombes. From the descriptions below tick which one is the metaphor.

His face was like a ham.

He was a giant of a man.

He was like a judge at a murder trial.

He was like the angel of death.

What punishment do the boys get?

detention

writing lines

the cane

Roald Dahl's mother is so angry that he has been hit that she goes to see the Headteacher. What does she do?

calls the police

takes Dahl away from the school

writes to the governors

It is now illegal for teachers to hit children with canes in British schools. Hitting children in school is called corporal punishment. Read the arguments for and against hitting children in schools and select the two arguments that are AGAINST corporal punishment.

It sets a bad example to children that violence is a solution to problems.

It can act as a deterrent to some children.

It is a form of abuse.

Teenagers are getting harder to teach so teachers need power.

At the end of the chapter young Roald Dahl suddenly learns that he is to be sent to a boarding school. Why does Dahl end the chapter in this way?

to end the chapter on a cliff-hanger as the reader wants to find out what happens at boarding school

so the reader can decide whether to continue reading about boarding school

to give the chapter a sense of an ending

ANSWERS

Question 1

What do the boys find under the floorboards?

CORRECT ANSWER

a dead mouse

EDDIE SAYS

The boys find a dead mouse under the floorboards.

ANSWERS

Question 2

What does the young Dahl decide to do with the dead mouse?

CORRECT ANSWER

put it in a sweet jar at Mrs Pratchet's shop

EDDIE SAYS

The young Dahl decides to put it in a sweet jar at Mrs Pratchet's shop.

ANSWERS

Question 3

When the boys return to the sweet shop the day after hiding the dead mouse, what do they discover?

CORRECT ANSWER

The shop is closed and the smashed gobstopper jar is on the floor.

EDDIE SAYS

The boys return to the shop to discover that the shop is closed and the smashed gobstopper jar is on the floor.

ANSWERS

Question 4

What do the boys think has happened to Mrs Pratchet?

CORRECT ANSWER

Mrs Pratchet has died from shock.

EDDIE SAYS

The boys believe that Mrs Pratchet has died from shock.

ANSWERS

Question 5

Roald Dahl then gives the reader a vivid description of his Headteacher, Mr Coombes. Read the description carefully and select the three correct details that describe Mr Coombes.

CORRECT ANSWER

He was a tall man.
He wore a tweed suit with a black gown over.
He had a fat face.

EDDIE SAYS

Mr Coombes was a tall man who wore a tweed suit with a black gown over and had a fat face.

ANSWERS

Question 6

Roald Dahl uses similes and metaphors to describe Mr Coombes. From the descriptions below tick which one is the metaphor.

CORRECT ANSWER

He was a giant of a man.

EDDIE SAYS

The metaphor is: 'He was a giant of a man.' because it does not use 'as' or 'like'.

ANSWERS

Question 7

What punishment do the boys get?

CORRECT ANSWER

the cane

EDDIE SAYS

The boys get hit with a cane.

ANSWERS

Question 8

Roald Dahl's mother is so angry that he has been hit that she goes to see the Headteacher. What does she do?

CORRECT ANSWER

takes Dahl away from the school

EDDIE SAYS

Roald Dahl's mother takes him away from the school.

ANSWERS

Question 9

It is now illegal for teachers to hit children with canes in British schools. Hitting children in school is called corporal punishment. Read the arguments for and against hitting children in schools and select the two arguments that are AGAINST corporal punishment.

CORRECT ANSWER

It sets a bad example to children that violence is a solution to problems.
It is a form of abuse.

EDDIE SAYS

Two arguments against corporal punishment are that it sets a bad example to children that violence is a solution to problems, and it is a form of abuse.

ANSWERS

Question 10

At the end of the chapter young Roald Dahl suddenly learns that he is to be sent to a boarding school. Why does Dahl end the chapter in this way?

CORRECT ANSWER

to end the chapter on a cliff-hanger as the reader wants to find out what happens at boarding school

EDDIE SAYS

Roald Dahl ends the chapter by having his young self suddenly learn he is to be sent to boarding school because it ends the chapter on a cliff-hanger as the reader wants to find out what happens at boarding school.