Coraline

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

Chapters 1-4

Reading Check

1. Who lives in the flat below Coraline’s flat?

2. What do the older women warn Coraline not to go near?

3. What is behind the wooden door in the drawing room?

Short Answer

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

1. What do the mice tell the old man about Coraline?

2. What is Coraline’s relationship with her parents like?

3. What do Coraline’s tea leaves tell the two older women?

4. How does the apartment on the other side of the brick wall compare to Coraline’s?

5. What do Coraline’s other parents say she must do to stay with them forever?

Paired Resource

"For Centuries, People Have Searched For Answers In The Bottom Of A Tea Cup"

• This article describes what tea leaf reading is and where it comes from.
• What is tea leaf reading? What cultures embraced tea leaf reading as a common practice? What era most embraced tea leaf reading? How is Coraline’s experience with tea leaf reading connected to the novel’s themes of The Importance of Having Allies and What It Means to Be Brave?

“Why Boredom Is Anything but Boring”

• This article describes ongoing research about boredom and what causes it.
• What are some of the consequences of boredom? Why are researchers interested in it? What often creates boredom? How might this article be related to the novel’s theme of The Drawbacks of Always Getting What You Want?

Chapters 5-7

Reading Check

1. Where does Coraline first see her parents after they have been missing?

2. What does the cat tell Coraline the other parents love?

3. Who are the other parents referring to when they say they have vermin problems?

4. What do the rats do for the other mother?

5. What is the other mother revealed to be?

Short Answer

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

1. What does the cat tell Coraline the other mother wants?

2. What does Coraline discover behind the mirror where the other mother has put her?

3. What does one of the voices instruct Coraline to do as she drifts to sleep?

Paired Resource

“7 Ways to Feel More Courageous”

• This article describes the role of fear and how to cultivate bravery.
• What does the author suggest people should do to overcome fear? Why can fear be an obstacle? How can people cultivate courage? What are the benefits of fear, and how is it connected to courage? What can someone do to feel more courageous? How is this article related to the novel’s themes of What It Means to be Brave?

Chapters 8-10

Reading Check

1. Where does Caroline find her first soul?

2. What is the man in the upstairs flat made of?

3. Who brings Coraline the final soul?

4. Where does Coraline believe her parents are?

Short Answer

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

1. In the game Coraline and the other mother agree to, what must Coraline do to win her freedom?

2. Why was the other father banished to the basement?

3. How does Coraline defeat the other father?

4. What does the man in the upstairs flat try to convince Coraline to do?

Paired Resource

"The Importance of an Unhappy Adolescence"

• This 6-minute video makes an argument for how an unhappy adolescence might be beneficial in the long run.
• Why is an unhappy adolescence important? How can suffering benefit teenagers? Why do adolescents make life better through the hardship of their experiences? How are complicated relationships with parents and children evidence of love? How is this video related to the novel’s themes of The Importance of Having Allies and The Drawbacks of Always Getting What You Want?

Chapters 11-13

Reading Check

1. What does Coraline have for dinner when she returns from the other world?

2. What does Coraline place under her pillow?

3. What does the other mother send to Coraline’s world to look for the key?

4. What does Coraline return to Miss Spink and Miss Forcible at the end of the novel?

Short Answer

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

1. How does Coraline trick the other mother in the other world?

2. What do Miss Spink and Miss Forcible find in Coraline’s tea leaves?

3. How does Coraline set a trap for the other mother's appendage?

Recommended Next Reads 

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

• This novel is about a young man who wrestles with his mother’s terminal illness, all while being visited by a tree monster at night.
• Shared topics include mythology, English tales, and loneliness.
• Shared themes include What It Means to Be Brave and The Importance of Having Allies.
• A Monster Calls on SuperSummary

Un Lun Dun by China Miéville

• This novel is about a young girl who has been chosen to battle dark forces in a parallel universe.
• Shared topics include parallel worlds, wit, and perseverance.
• Shared themes include What It Means to Be Brave and The Importance of Having Allies.
• Un Lun Dun on SuperSummary