Guided reading Questions Breadwinner Due: May 17th, 2019

Breadwinner by: Deborah Ellis
Guided Reading Questions 

Please note that questions are to be answered in paragraph form and written in your Journal/ Cahier notebook.  All work is due May 17th, 2019 which is the date of our Guided Reading Test.

 1.   How long has it been since the mother and children, except for 

      Parvana, have been outside the house? Imagine you were not 

      allowed to leave your home. How do you think you would cope?

2.   When you are reading, what techniques do you use to figure out a  

      word you don’t know (e.g., read ahead and back to see if it is  

      defined; use the glossary; use context)? How does the author give  

      clues to a word’s meaning (e.g., how does “stretched out on a 

      toshak” help a reader understand what a “toshak” is)?

3.   What character strengths has Parvana shown in the novel so far?

4.   “Everybody leans on everybody in this family” (page 48). What does Parvana mean by this? Would you say this is true in your own family? How could you be a better support for family and/or friends?

5.   What are your first impressions of Mrs. Weera? Find two things she says or does that give you a strong sense of her character.

6.   How does Parvana feel when she is out in the market as a boy?

7.  Why do you think the author included the scene with Parvana reading the letter for the Talib?

8.  Nooria says that she had forgotten how good the sun feels on her face. Maryam has to be helped to walk down the stairs. If you were forced to stay indoors, what would you miss most about being outside? Why is it unhealthy to be indoors for so long?

9.  How are Parvana’s and Shauzia’s lives similar? How are they different? Explain using examples from the book.

10.  “Kabul has more land mines than flowers,” the father used to say  

       (page 109). Why do you think her father said this? Explain why.

11.  Why did Parvana end up telling her family about the bone-digging even though she had said she wouldn’t?

12.   Why did Parvana’s parents disagree about leaving Afghanistan?

13.  Parvana feels both relieved and sulky about not going to Mazar-e- Sharif. Describe a time you have felt any kind of mixed emotion.

14. Did you predict that the father would return? Why or why not?

15.  What do Parvana and Shauzia plan to do in twenty years? Do you think this plan will come true? Explain your reasoning.