The Mysterious Benedict Society

What fears related to being alone and unwanted do Reynie and Sticky reveal when they are hooked up to the Whisperer? How does Mr. Curtain try to manipulate people by using their Fear against them? How does Reynie ultimately use his feelings about his friends to defend himself against the Whisperer? How does this show that Reynie and his life have changed since the beginning of the story? What does this suggest about how people in the real world can defend themselves against manipulation?

Teaching Suggestion: This prompt asks students to focus on how a key chapter in the text (“Stands and Falls”) illuminates character development and themes in the text as a whole. Then, it asks them to apply their prior knowledge about manipulation and their ideas about the text to a real-world context. You can consider making this prompt more challenging by asking for textual evidence from throughout the text to support students’ claims about Mr. Curtain’s manipulation techniques and Reynie’s growing confidence in and loyalty to his Found Family, or by asking students to extend their answers to the final question into a brief narrative that shows a character resisting manipulation by drawing on reserves of courage, self-confidence, and self-awareness.