Fantastic Mr. FoxBy Roald Dahl

Study Guide

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Before You ReadMost good stories have a character or two known as the antagonist—someone who makes life difficult for the hero of the story. In this story there are three antagonists. Think of a favorite book, movie or television program that had a “bad guy”

(antagonist) that you didn’t like. Who was this and why did you feel this way about him/her?

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Write what you already know about foxes on the line below.

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Chapter One and Two

1. In Chapter One the author introduces us to the three farmers, Mr. Bunce, Mr. Boggis and Mr. Bean. Using the chart below write two things about each of these men.

Mr. Bunce Mr. Boggis Mr. Bean

2. Why do you suppose the author chose such unusual names for these men?

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3. Why do you suppose that Bunce kept on eating such disgusting food when it made him so sick?

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4. Describe the setting of the story.

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5. Why do the farmers hate Mr. Fox so much?

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6. Describe how Mr. Fox avoided being caught by Mr. Boggis when he raids his chicken house.

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7. How did the farmers plan to catch Mr. Fox at the end of Chapter Two?

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Language Activity

As we know, Roald Dahl likes to play around with words. In this story we can see a lot of alliteration—a literary device where the author repeats the same sound at the beginning of several words. An example from this chapter is “Boggis and Bunce and Bean.”Using your imagination, create your own example of alliteration from the following topics. Each example must contain a minimum of three words.

The sound a chicken makes:

The bubbling sound of something boiling on the stove:

Vocabulary

lurk- decent-

smother- dumplings-

blighter- enormous-

beastly- disgust-

Chapter Three

1. What did Boggis smell like?

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2. What did Bunce smell like?

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3. What fumes were hanging around Bean?

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4. What does the word “cocky” mean? Describe a time when you felt cocky about something.

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5. What happened to Mr. Fox when the farmers shot at him?

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6. Predict what you think will happen next.

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Chapter Four

1. Why couldn’t Mr. Fox sleep?

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2. Personification is when a writer gives a human quality to something that is not human. How did the author use personification on pages 16 and 17?

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3. What was Mr. Fox’s plan?

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4. Define panting and write the sentence from the book in which it was used.

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5. Why does Mrs. Fox say, “Your Father is a Fantastic Fox”?

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Chapter Five

1. Define cross as you see best fits the way it’s used in context and write the sentence from the book in which it was used.

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2. Do the farmers still think digging was a good idea? How do you know?

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3. What was the new plan?

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4. Describe the appearance of the machines.

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5. The author uses personification “Machines biting huge mouthfuls of soil out of the hill.” How is this personification?

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6. What did Mrs. Fox think the noise was?

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Chapter Six

1. Who was racing?

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2. Define keen and write a sentence from the book in which it was used.

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3. Why didn’t the farmers stop for lunch?

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4. Define dervish and write the sentence from the book in which it was used.

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5. The author uses a simile comparing the hole to a __________ ? How do you know that this is a simile?

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6. What made the farmers even angrier?

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Chapter Seven

1. What time did Farmer Bean and Farmer Bunce switch off the motor to the machines?

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2. Define rage and write the sentence from the book in which it was used.

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3. Does Farmer Bunce have a dirty mouth? How do you know? Use an example from the book in which it was used.

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4. What is a solemn oath? Write the sentence from the book in which it was used.

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5. Define scarlet and write the sentence from the book in which it was used.

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Chapter Eight

1. What did each farmer eat for dinner?

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2. How did the farmers divide up the watch duty?

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3. Define flicked and write the sentence from the book in which it was used.

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Chapter Nine

1. What were the farmers planning on doing with the 108 men that work on their farms?

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2. How long has the waiting game been going on?

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3. What does Mr. Fox mean when he says, “I don’t want to raise your hopes.”?

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4. Define murky and write the sentence from the book in which it was used.

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Chapter Ten and Eleven

1. The Foxes reach wooden planks. Where does Mr. Fox think they are?

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2. Define shriek and write the sentence from the book in which it was used.

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3. Define teeming and write the sentence from the book in which it was used.

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4. Why were the foxes prancing and dancing for joy?

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5. Where do you think they’re going to dig next?

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Chapter Twelve

1. Irony is the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning: the irony of her reply, “How nice!” when I said I had to work all weekend. What is ironic about what’s happening in the story?

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2. Who did the foxes meet?

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3. Who does the badger say is suffering from the farmers chaos caused by Mr. Fox?

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4. Why does Mr. Fox invite all the diggers over for the feast?

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Chapter Thirteen and Fourteen

1. Define gaped and write the sentence in the book from which it was used.

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2. Where are the animals now? (pg. 52)

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3. Why does Mr. Fox want to be clean and tidy?

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4. Define steep and write a sentence from the book in which it was used.

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5. The author uses a simile comparing “their eyes like __________________”? What does this mean?

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6. Where do you think they’re going next?

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7. Badger is worried that they are all doing something wrong by stealing. How does Mr. Fox justify this?

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Chapter Fifteen

1. Why was it easy for Mr. Fox to loosen the bricks?

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2. Who did Mr. Fox meet when they entered the cider cellar?

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3. What did Mr. Fox say that scared the rat away?

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4. Define accustomed and write the sentence from the book in which it was used.

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5. What was different about this cider that made it different from the one you can buy from the grocery store?

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6. Write 2 similes that the author uses to describe the cider. (pg. 65)

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7. What happened to Badger and rat after they drank the cider?

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Chapter Sixteen

1. What did Farmer Bean promise Mabel?

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2. What does Mrs. Bean promise Mabel and what does she say she say she could do with it?

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3. Why didn’t Mabel see the foxes?

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4. Why should the rats be scared and run from the cellar?

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5. Synonyms are words that mean the same for another word. Example: Big and Grand are synonyms because they mean the same thing. According to page 71, what are three synonyms for thieves?

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Chapter Seventeen and Eighteen

1. Define impudent and write the sentence from the book in which it was used.

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2. What was the “wonderful and amazing sight”? (pg. 74)

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3. Name all of the animal families that make up the animals attending the feast.

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4. Define ravenous and write the sentence from the book in which it was used.

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5. Define succulent and write the sentence from the book in which it was used.

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6. Why did the other animals start laughing when Mr. Fox was giving his speech?

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7. What does Mr. Fox mean when he uses the simile, “And everyday we will eat like Kings.”?

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After ReadingNow that you have read the entire book please answer the following questions.

Please give three character traits that you think best define Mr. Fox.

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If you could be any character in this book, who would you want to be? Explain why.

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If you could change one thing that happened in this book, what would it be? Why?

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Roald Dahl’s Wonderfully Wild and

Wacky Words_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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