Inkheart

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 1-10

Reading Check

1. Which mysterious character appears in Meggie and Mo’s rainy garden in Chapter 1?

2. Whose home do Meggie and Mo flee to?

Short Answer

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

1. How are Meggie and Mo established as book lovers in the opening chapters?

2. How is Elinor initially characterized?

Paired Resource

“Full Fire Eating Tricktionary”

• Watch a clip of expert fire eaters.
• Imagine you are Meggie watching Dustfinger perform these tricks in the darkness of Elinor’s garden. How do Capricorn’s men sneak into Elinor’s home?
• How does this relate to the novel’s theme of The Complexities of Loyalty?

Chapters 11-20

Reading Check

1. Where did Meggie’s mother go nine years earlier?

2. Why does Capricorn think that having Meggie present will be helpful?

Short Answer

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

1. How does Dustfinger elicit readers’ anger in these chapters?

2. How does Dustfinger elicit readers’ sympathy in these chapters?

Paired Resource

“15 Ghost Towns in Italy”

• Capricorn’s village has a sinister atmosphere. View the images in the webpage, which depict abandoned Italian villages.
• Which image best represents how you imagine Capricorn’s village? Discuss your reasons.
• How does viewing the images and comparing them with what you imagined relate to the theme of The Power of Literature?

Chapters 21-30

Reading Check

1. What is the first clue that Meggie shares her father’s talents of reading objects, scents, and characters from books?

2. What does Meggie discover about Dustfinger’s fate in Inkheart?

Short Answer

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

1. Why is it significant that Elinor feels lonely on her drive home?

2. How does Capricorn’s revenge on Elinor show his cruelty?

Paired Resource

“A Brief History of Book Burning”

• Burning books has a grim history. It is often enacted by the most oppressive regimes as an act of claiming power and suppressing dissidents.
• How does Capricorn’s burning books further his character development? How does this relate to the novel’s theme of The Power of Literature?

Chapters 31-40

Reading Check

1. Which character does Meggie accidentally read from Peter Pan?

2. Which character does Capricorn want Meggie to read from Inkheart?

Short Answer

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

1. What clues does the reader receive in these chapters that Resa is Meggie’s long-lost mother?

2. Why is Capricorn happy to hear that Meggie shares her father’s talents? What does he plan to use her for?

Paired Resource

“What Are Pinch Points and Where Do They Go?”

• Pinch points, or low points, are plot moments where protagonists are suffering at the mercy of a powerful antagonist. All seems lost in these moments, and protagonists often feel deflated and overwhelmed.
• How does Meggie’s predicament in Chapter 40 function as a pinch point that illustrates Capricorn’s fearful power? Furthermore, if this is the second pinch point, can you identify the first pinch point, which also occurred in Capricorn’s village?

Chapters 41-50

Reading Check

1. What is Elinor’s plan to help the situation?

2. Where does Mortola keep the last copy of Inkheart?

Short Answer

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

1. How does the note that Resa passes to Meggie via Dustfinger characterize Resa as loving and loyal?

2. What does the police response suggest about Capricorn’s power and influence in the area?

Paired Resource

“Monomyth: The Hero’s Journey”

• This Berkely ORIAS article lists and defines common story tropes in a classic hero’s journey, which apply to a variety of literary traditions.
• How is Meggie characterized as heroic? How does Meggie’s journey relate to the novel’s theme Maturing Through the Hero’s Journey?

Chapters 51-59

Reading Check

1. Who starts the fire in the village?

2. What does Dustfinger steal from Mo’s jacket?

Short Answer

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

1. Where does Fenoglio go and why?

2. Who lives in Elinor’s home at the end of the novel? How is this significant or meaningful?

Recommended Next Reads 

Inkspell by Cornelia Funke

• This sequel to Inkheart was published in 2005; Meggie, Mo, Resa, Elinor, Farid, Basta, and Dustfinger are brought together a year after the events of Inkheart. Dustfinger is read into the book by another reader; Farid—wanting to join Dustfinger in the Inkheart world—seeks out Meggie and her family to help him.
• Shared themes include The Power of Literature and Maturing Through the Hero’s Journey.

Beauty and the Beast by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve

• Book-lover Belle is imprisoned in the castle of the mysterious and infamous Beast. She begins to understand that there is more to the Beast than meets the eye; he is under an enchanted curse.
• Shared themes include The Power of Literature and The Complexities of Loyalty.
• Beauty and the Beast on SuperSummary