The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

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

CHAPTERS 1-4

Reading Check

1. What branch of science is Flavia interested in?

2. What is the name of the de Luce family’s gardener and handyperson?

3. What modern convenience does Flavia’s father dislike so much that he rarely allows anyone to use it?

Short Answer

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

1. Why do the de Luce girls have so little parental nurturing?

2. When Flavia passes through the kitchen in the middle of the night, what does she notice is missing, and why does this strike her as strange?

3. What topic is Mrs. Mullet discussing when Mr. de Luce faints?

Paired Resource

“How to Fund a British Stately Home in the 21st Century”

• This CNN article discusses the fate of many English country homes as modern times impact the British class system that once kept these mansions operating.
• This resource relates to the themes of How the Past Affects the Present and Social Class and Interpersonal Relationships.
• What does the setting of Buckshaw convey about the de Luce family? What does it convey about the British class system in the 1950s? How might the financial pressures this house represents interact with Colonel de Luce’s grief over Harriet? How much insight does Flavia have into her father’s withdrawal from family life? How much does she seem to understand about what Buckshaw represents?