67 pages • 2 hours read
Rodman PhilbrickThe Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg
Rodman PhilbrickFiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2009A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
During Reading
Reading Questions & Paired Texts
Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.
CHAPTERS 1-5
Reading Check
1. What is Homer’s uncle named?
2. How much is Homer’s uncle paid by the man who wants someone to enlist in the army in his son’s place?
3. What is the name of the horse that Homer escapes with?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What incident causes Homer’s uncle to become so angry that he gathers a group of men to kill Homer and Harold?
2. What happens to Harold after the magistrate arrives at the farm?
3. How is Homer nearly caught by Corny when he is escaping from the root cellar?
Paired Resource
- This 2-minute NBC News Learn video explains how many wealthy and privileged people got out of serving in the Civil War, even when drafted.
- This resource relates to the themes of Purpose and Duty and The Search for Safety and Freedom.
- What did some people see as unequal and unfair about the rules for being drafted into the Union Army? If there is a draft, do you think that all citizens have an equal duty to serve in the military? Does having a draft go against the idea that people have a right to be safe and free in their own country? Does Homer think that his brother has a duty to serve, or does he feel that something unfair has happened to Harold? What do you think?
CHAPTERS 6-13
Reading Check
1. What is the name of the man with the missing eye?
2. When Jebediah Brewster enters the kitchen, whom does Homer think he looks like?
3. What does Jebediah Brewster have hidden in his basement?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How does Homer convince the men not to kill Samuel Reed?
2. What information does Homer learn about Samuel Reed from Jebediah Brewster?
3. After Homer and Samuel return to Brewster’s house, what does Mrs. Bean say confuses her about Homer’s character?
Paired Resource
“How I Became a Pathological Liar”
- This thought-provoking New York Times opinion piece shares the author’s experiences with learning and unlearning the habit of lying.
- This resource relates to the theme of Truth and Lies.
- What does the author believe led him to become a habitual liar? Do you think the author is a bad person? How are his experiences related to Homer’s lying? What would you tell Mrs. Bean about why Homer can be both a good person and a good liar?
- This brief PBS article explains why Quakers have historically been involved with human rights issues.
- This resource relates to the themes of Purpose and Duty and The Search for Safety and Freedom.
- What is the main belief that drives Quakers to participate in human rights campaigns? How is this belief reflected in Jebediah Brewster’s actions and words?
“Frederick Douglass: First African American Nominated for Vice President”
- This 3-minute video from Biography discusses the accomplishments of Frederick Douglass.
- This resource relates to the themes of Purpose and Duty and The Search for Safety and Freedom.
- Why would Frederick Douglass have been so inspiring to Jebediah Brewster? How does Douglass’s life illustrate Brewster’s idea that people have to choose between doing something and doing nothing?
CHAPTERS 14-19
Reading Check
1. Who travels with Homer when Homer leaves Jebediah Brewster’s home?
2. What item of Kate Nibbly’s does Homer drop in the gutter?
3. Who rescues Homer from the pig crate?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. On the morning after Homer’s escape from Stink and Smelt, how does Jebediah Brewster demonstrate generosity toward Homer and concern for his safety?
2. Given the different ways Homer and Mr. Willow react to Kate and Frank Nibbly, what is ironic about Mr. Willow’s role as guardian?
3. Given the choice Mr. Willow makes after Kate Nibbly boards the ship, what is ironic about his chosen profession?
Paired Resource
- This is a translation of Hans Christian Andersen’s version of the traditional folk tale about an emperor fooled by con artists.
- This resource relates to the theme of Truth and Lies.
- Why are the adults in the story fooled, while the child is not? What does this say about our willingness to participate in our own deception? How does the moral of this folk tale relate to what happens between Mr. Willow, Kate and Frank Nibbly, and Homer?
CHAPTERS 20-28
Reading Check
1. What does Professor Fleabottom tell Minerva he is eager to leave the area to avoid?
2. What instrument do Professor Fleabottom and Minerva play for the troops at the beginning of the show?
3. What method of transportation does the Union spy Dennett Bobbins use?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What deal does Professor Fleabottom offer Homer?
2. When the ferry reaches the New Jersey dock, what upsetting information does Homer learn?
3. What disagreement do Homer and Professor Fleabottom have about Professor Fleabottom’s elixir?
Paired Resource
“Traveling Medicine Shows of the Old West”
- This article describes the phenomenon of traveling medicine shows and offers a few illustrative photographs. Note that this resource mentions drugs such as heroin and cocaine as ingredients in the “medicines” these shows offered.
- This resource relates to the theme of Truth and Lies.
- What are some of the reasons the people who bought medicines from the traveling medicine shows might have been willing to believe that the medicines were effective? How does this relate to what Professor Fleabottom is doing? Do you agree more with Homer or more with Professor Fleabottom about whether lying to people about the elixir is right or wrong?
CHAPTERS 29-36
Reading Check
1. What famous battle is underway when the wounded soldiers are brought into the barn?
2. Who is Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain?
3. With whom do Homer and Harold end up living at the end of the story?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How does Homer meet the newspaperman Jonathan Griswold?
2. How does Mr. Willow end up at the camp where Homer stays the night?
3. How does Homer accidentally wound Harold?
Recommended Next Reads
The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri
- This Newbery Honor book follows the adventures of young runaway Monkey as he travels the Silk Road with his conman master, Samir.
- Shared themes include The Search for Safety and Freedom, Truth and Lies, and Purpose and Duty.
- Shared topics include middle grade historical fiction, picaresque, journeys, adventure, and mentor figures.
The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood
- Young Widge has an unusual talent for shorthand—a talent that his master wants to exploit to steal the plays of popular playwright William Shakespeare.
- Shared themes include The Search for Safety and Freedom, Truth and Lies, and Purpose and Duty.
- Shared topics include middle grade historical fiction, picaresque, adventure, and mentor figures.
- The Shakespeare Stealer on SuperSummary
Reading Questions Answer Key
CHAPTERS 1-5
Reading Check
Short Answer
1. Homer eats a piece of bread Squint intended to feed the hogs, and when Squint tries to hit Homer, Harold grabs Squint’s fist to protect his younger brother. In the scuffle that follows, Squint falls into the pigsty. (Chapter 1)
2. Squint lies and says that Harold is 20 years old, and the magistrate orders Harold to join the Union army or be shot. Harold swears the oath and is led away by a Union sergeant. (Chapter 2)
3. Just as Homer escapes by digging himself out, Corny is getting ready to go home. As the drunken man stumbles around on his way to his horse, he nearly stumbles into Homer, who is crouched down in the dark. (Chapter 4)
CHAPTERS 6-13
Reading Check
Short Answer
1. He appeals to the men’s greed, reminding them that they cannot sell Samuel Reed into slavery if he is dead. (Chapter 7)
2. Samuel Reed is a conductor on the Underground Railroad. (Chapter 10)
3. Mrs. Bean is puzzled that Homer is such a good liar and yet still a good person. (Chapter 13)
CHAPTERS 14-19
Reading Check
1. Webster B. Willow (Chapter 15)
2. Her gloves (Chapter 16)
3. Professor Fenton J. Fleabottom (Chapter 19)
Short Answer
1. Brewster is concerned about Homer trying to travel alone to find his brother, and he offers to let Homer live with him. When Homer says he has to go look for Harold, Brewster arranges transportation and a temporary guardian to accompany Homer. (Chapter 14)
2. Homer quickly realizes that Frank and Kate Nibbly are trying to steal from Mr. Willow, but Willow himself—supposedly there to protect Homer—is unable to see that they are con artists. (Chapter 17)
3. Mr. Willow hopes to get a job as a Methodist preacher. But his choice to abandon his responsibility to a 12-year-old child as soon as he receives a better offer shows that he is unfit as a moral leader. (Chapter 18)
CHAPTERS 20-28
Reading Check
Short Answer
1. Professor Fleabottom says that since the Caravan of Miracles Medicine Show will be following the soldiers, Homer can work for the show and search for his brother among the troops as they travel. (Chapter 20)
2. Homer thinks that he sees his brother on the dock, but it is a soldier called Thomas Finch. Finch is from Massachusetts, not Maine, and he tells Homer that the soldiers from Maine have already departed. (Chapters 22 and 23)
3. Homer realizes that the elixir is just whiskey, and he thinks it is wrong to give to the soldiers because whiskey “makes men stupid.” (134) Professor Fleabottom points out that these men are afraid and many are going to their death and the whiskey will at least give them temporary courage. (Chapter 25)
CHAPTERS 29-36
Reading Check
Short Answer
1. As Homer flies over a battlefield, an explosion catches the balloon on fire and Homer jumps out. On the ground, he is captured by Jeb Stuart’s forces and thrown into a temporary prison, where he meets Jonathan Griswold, who has also been taken prisoner. (Chapter 30)
2. After being robbed by the Nibblys, Mr. Willow joined the Union Army to atone for his misdeeds. He heard that Homer was nearby and sought him out to beg his forgiveness. (Chapter 33)
3. Wanting his brother to get down on the ground to avoid enemy fire, Homer fires a shot, which is intended to scare Harold. The bullet strikes a rock and a chip from the rock lodges in Harold’s leg. (Chapter 35)
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