The Red Pyramid

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

Chapters 1-2; Chapters 3-6

Reading Check

1. What does Julius Kane want to examine at the British Museum?

2. How do Carter and Sadie get from London to New York?

3. What kind of foods does Amos eat?

Short Answer

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

1. Why does Carter say that his “home is a suitcase”?

2. What consequence does Inspector Williams decide on for Sadie and Carter?

Paired Resource

“Why Siblings Can Be So Different, According to Science”

• This article from the Washington Post discusses the role of nature versus nurture and how siblings, even when raised by the same family, can still be different.
• This connects to the theme The Flexibility of Family Structure.
• Given what we know about why siblings can be different, how much of Carter and Sadie’s differences are a result of their different upbringings (nurture) and how much might be due to their inherent personality traits (nature)?

Chapters 7-9; Chapters 10-14   

Reading Check

1. Where does the shabti in the library get the Narmer Palette?

2. What does Zia use to try to imprison Serqet?

Short Answer

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

1. How does Bast spread the news that Sadie and Carter are in danger?

2. Why does Bast tell Carter to cut the carriers into small pieces?

3. Why does Zia say that the ba must have “bad eyesight”?

Paired Resource

“Shabti Dolls: The Workforce in the Afterlife”

• This article from the World History Encyclopedia discusses the purpose of shabti in ancient Egypt.
• How would you describe the original purpose of shabti in ancient Egyptian culture? How does this compare with the role they play in the novel? Given that some shabti—like Doughboy—are sentient, is it ethical to use shabti to carry out tasks?

Chapters 15-18; Chapters 19-22  

Reading Check

1. What language does Set speak in Carter’s vision?

2. What animal do Sadie and Carter turn into?

Short Answer

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

1. Why is Sadie jealous of Carter’s life?

2. What does Nut ask Sadie to consider?

Paired Resource

“Ancient Egyptian Magic”

• This article from the BBC describes the different aspects of magic in ancient Egyptian religion and society.
• What are the different ways that characters use magic? How do they use magic to gain or balance power? How does the depiction of magic in the novel compare to the role of magic in ancient Egyptian society?

Chapters 23-25; Chapters 26-27

Reading Check

1. What physical ingredient do the Kanes need to destroy Set?

2. What does Shezmu offer Sadie a sample of?

Short Answer

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

1. How does Sadie motivate herself to become human again?

2. Why is Thoth impressed after Sadie and Carter come back from Elvis’s tomb?

Chapters 28-29; Chapters 30-33

Reading Check

1. What does Horus give unwanted tips on?

2. What order does Zia give her column of fire?

3. What food do Carter and Sadie trick Sekhmet into eating?

Short Answer

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

1. Why doesn’t Anubis want to give the feather of truth to Sadie?

2. Why is Nephthys’s voice distant?

Paired Resource

“The War Goddess of Ancient Egypt: Sekhmet the Bloodthirsty”

• This article describes the attributes and myths associated with the goddess Sekhmet.
• This connects to the theme People Are More Than One Thing.
• How does Sekhmet demonstrate the theme that People Are More Than One Thing? Why do you think that the Egyptians had a god that embodied both healing and warfare?

Chapters 34-36; Chapters 37-39  

Reading Check

1. What information does Zia have?

2. What does Carter turn Set into?

Short Answer

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

1. Why could Zia have said, “I told you so”?

2. How does Amos try to warn Carter and Sadie?

Chapters 40-41

Reading Check

1. What is Carter’s new amulet in the shape of?

Short Answer

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

1. What does Set swear to Sadie?

Recommended Next Reads

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

• This novel by the same author is the first novel in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. It follows Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon, as he embarks on a quest to return Zeus’s stolen lightning bolt.
• This series revolves around Greek gods but takes place in the same universe. There is a passing mention of the other gods in Chapter 5.
• Shared topics include mythology and discovering divine heritage.   
• The Lightning Thief on SuperSummary

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

• This children’s novel follows four gifted children who are recruited by the mysterious Mr. Benedict to go undercover at a boarding school and uncover a plot by a mastermind known as Ledroptha Curtain.
• Shared themes include People Are More Than One Thing.
• The Mysterious Benedict Society on SuperSummary