The Dark Is Rising

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

Part 1, Chapters 1-4

Reading Check

1. Whom does Will see on the road to farmer Dawson’s farm?

2. What does farmer Dawson tell Will to do with the iron ornament?

3. What stops Will from getting the second sign from the Walker?

4. Whose voice does Will hear calling for him from outside the hall?

5. What does Will do that allows Maggie to find him?

Short Answer

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

1. Why does Will feel afraid when he goes to feed the animals?

2. Why is it important that it begins to snow on the night before Will’s birthday?

3. Why does Will tell the smith that he must go on foot to find the Walker?

4. How does the Dark finally trick Will into opening the doors?

5. What two things saved Will from the witch-girl?

Paired Resource

“Weland’s Sword” from Puck of Pook’s Hill by Rudyard Kipling

• Puck of Pook’s Hill is a collection of short stories and poems related by the fairy Puck to two children. “Weland’s Sword” gives readers a history of the character on which Wayland-Smith is based.
• Connects to the theme of The Reality and Timelessness of Myth
• How is this character similar to or different from Wayland-Smith in The Dark is Rising?

Background and History of Merlin/Merriman

• A brief history of the character of Merlin as he appears in history, fiction, and poetry from his first appearance in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain (1136)
• Connects to the theme of The Reality and Timelessness of Myth
• How is this character similar to or different from Merriman Lyon? What role do you think Merriman might be going to play in Will’s story?

Part 2, Chapters 5-8

Reading Check

1. What is missing from the box of ornaments?

2. What does Merriman take from the clock in the library?

3. Which of the Signs does Will find at Huntercombe Manor?

4. Whom does Will see talking to Hawkin at the Christmas party?

5. How is the Rider, Mr. Mitothin, able to enter Will’s house?

Short Answer

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

1. Why might the Dark have wanted Will’s Christmas tree ornament?

2. Why is it significant that Will is the seventh son rather than the sixth?

3. Why is the Sign of wood made from rowan rather than oak, which wouldn’t have to be renewed every hundred years?

4. Why did Merriman make it so that he could only take the Book of Gramarye out of the clock if he was touching Hawkin?

5. Why is the Dark able to get into the church even though it is supposed to be a holy place?

Paired Resource

“Mithotyn”

• Brief description of the relationship between Mithotyn (thought to be an alternate name for the trickster god Loki) and Odin
• Connects to the theme of The Reality and Timelessness of Myth
• Why might the author have named the Dark Rider after Mithotyn/Loki?

“Cerunnos”

• Overview of the Celtic god of wild animals—an inspiration for the mask Will receives for Christmas
• Connects to the theme of The Reality and Timelessness of Myth
• Based on what you know about Cerunnos, what might be the significance of Will’s mask? Assuming Cerunnos is associated with the Light, what does that suggest about the nature of the Light?

Part 3, Chapters 9-13

Reading Check

1. What is Miss Greythorne doing when Will and his father arrive at the Manor?

2. What stops the Walker from calling the Dark?

3. What does the Rider have that he is using to control Mary?

4. What is the tree where the Hunter waits for Will and the white horse?

5. What are the two gifts that Miss Greythorne gives to Will and Paul?

Short Answer

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

1. Why does Will’s father not want to go to the Manor with everyone else?

2. What is the significance of the scar on Will’s arm?

3. Why does Will refuse to give the Signs to the Rider in exchange for Mary’s life?

4. Why does the Rider throw Hawkin down from his horse?

Recommended Next Reads 

The Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper

• This five-book series traces the finding of the four great objects of power that will allow the Light to finally expel the Dark from this plane of reality.
• Over Sea, Under Stone on SuperSummary

The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander

• The five books of this series are set in the fictional fantasy land of Prydain, which is built around the earliest folklore of Wales. The story is a bildungsroman (a novel about the growth and education of a young person).
• Connects to the theme of Coming-of-Age As a Leap Into the Adult World
• The Book of Three on SuperSummary

King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green

• Retellings of some of the most famous and influential stories from Arthurian legend
• Connects to the theme of The Reality and Timelessness of Myth
• King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table on SuperSummary