A Wrinkle in Time

By Madeleine L’Engle

Grades 4-8; Genre – Science Fiction; GRL W; AR pts: 7.0

Meg Murray, her little brother Charles Wallace, and their mother are having a midnight snack on a dark and stormy night when an unearthly stranger appears at their door. He claims to have been blown off course and goes on to tell them that there is such a thing as a "tesseract," which, if you didn't know, is a wrinkle in time. Meg's father had been experimenting with time-travel when he suddenly disappeared. Will Meg, Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin outwit the forces of evil as they search through space for their father?

Vocabulary Words

Writing Prompts

Comprehension Questions

Chapter 1

1. Describe Meg. A girl who had twin younger brothers; a younger brother named Charles Wallace who had an uncanny sense of knowing when she was sad and couldn’t sleep; she struggled in school; her father had left and she didn’t know where to; her bedroom’s in the attic; has a wild imagination p.1
2. Tell me about Charles Wallace. Really smart; doesn’t behave normally in front of other people; He spoke in full sentences when he began to talk; understands Meg and her mom;  doesn’t wiggle like other 5 year old boys p.5
3. Why did Mrs. Whatsit come to visit them? To tell Mrs. Murray there was such a thing as a tesseract p.12

Chapter 2

1. What do you think the feeling was that compelled Calvin to go over to the haunted house? listen to your child’s answers; intuitive; 6^th sense p.20
2. Why did Mrs. Who steal Mrs. Buncombe’s sheets? In case they needed ghosts for the charade of the haunted house p.21
3. What do you think Mrs. Who is talking about when she said Meg’s father needed their help? They are going to need to go and help him from the trouble he is in p.22

Chapter 3

1. Why did Calvin feel alone and why doesn’t he feel alone anymore? He doesn’t feel like his family cares about him and now that he’s met Meg and her family, he feels accepted and loved. P.27
2. Describe Meg and Calvin’s relationship? They’re good friends; they may like each other romantically p.30
3. What’s the story behind Meg’s missing father? He’s a physicist and began to travel doing a job that was classified. He wrote his wife every day, but then the letters stopped and they haven’t heard anything from him in a year. The government says he’s on a dangerous mission, but that he can’t communicate for a while and they’ll give any news as soon as they have it p.31

Chapter 4

1. Now that you know a little more about the three old women describe each of them. Mrs. Whatsit- is always bundled up to her head and has a hard time keeping it all straight wearing a man’s coat and multicolored scarves and shawls, she’s friendly and jovial, she is plump; Mrs. Who wear white robes and glasses, uses quotes in different languages to speak, she has a hard time coming up with words on her own, also jovial; Mrs. Which is what you think a witch would look like, black robe; black peaked hat; beady eyes; beaked nose; long gray hair; has a broomstick; she talks differently and has a hard time materializing into a solid form p.36
2. Describe the creature that Mrs. Whatsit transformed into. A beautiful marble white creature with rainbow wings; legs of a horse; upper body of a man p.39
3. How did the shadow make Meg feel? Dark and dreadful; it chilled her with fear that was beyond shuddering, crying or screaming, beyond the possibility of comfort; p.44

Chapter 5

1. Find a rope, string, or an object of your choice and demonstrate how Mrs. Who explained how they “tesser” or “wrinkle” through space.  Your child should find an object that can fold and explain that if a small insect were to travel from one end to the other it would take along time, but if the ends were brought together, it would be a shorter and much faster. p.47
2. Explain to me the different dimensions explained in the book. 1^st dimension- a line; 2^nd dimension- a flat square (like what you would draw on a paper); 3^rd dimension-a full square that wouldn’t be flat and where you could see the bottom, sides and top; 4^th dimension- you’d square the square which equals time; 5^th dimension- you’d square the fourth dimension which makes a tesseract p.48
3. Why was The Medium hesitant to show the children the planet earth in the crystal ball? The Dark Shadow was hovering over earth and it is the Powers of Darkness; it’s evil p.54

Chapter 6

1. How can the Darkness be overcome? Light; a star gave up its life in battle with the Thing p.57
2. Describe what the children saw as they entered the town on Camazotz? The town was laid out in harsh angular patterns; the outside of the houses were exactly alike; in front of all the houses children were playing, skipping and bouncing in rhythm at the same exact moment; everything was in rhythm, all identical. P.65
3. Why did the children think the people on this planet could be robots? Because they move jerkily; they have done everything in unison; the men and women going into the building looked straight ahead, paying no attention to the children p.70

Chapter 7

1. After the children went into the building, how did they get past the empty fourth wall? A man turned them in so he wouldn’t get in trouble p.74
2. How was the man on platform talking to the children? Through their minds; telepathy p.75
3. When the man was reciting multiplication problems, why did the children shout out rhyme’s and a speech? So they wouldn’t be hypnotized p.77

Chapter 8

1. When Charles Wallace was under the influence of the man with the red eyes, what did he tell Meg? To relax, that Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which were wrong; that their troubles are over and that this planet is a wonderful place and is in perfect order; the man with the red eyes is their friend p.86
2. What are the benefits of living on Camazotz? There is no sickness or deformity; everyone is happy because they are all alike; there are no individuals p.88
3. Who is IT? The boss of Camazotz; he is who makes everyone of one mind p.89
4. Why is IT evil? It wants to take away individuality and the freedom to choose p.90

Chapter 9

1. What happened to Charles Wallace when Calvin recited the Tempest words to him. He started to come out of the trance, but he seemed to get smacked with an invisible hand and was knocked to the ground by it; he sat on the floor whimpering p.93
2. How did Meg get through the invisible barrier that led to her father? She put on Mrs. Who’s glasses p.94
3. What were Meg’s faults that she realized were supposed to help save her? Her anger, impatience, stubbornness p.100

Chapter 10

1. Describe how Meg felt after they had tessered away from IT. Icy cold; couldn’t move; like stone /marble p.107
2. Why was Meg so angry and accusing to her father and Calvin? The Darkness had a hold of her p.109
3. Describe the beasts on this world that wanted to Meg away. Very tall; no eyes, just soft indentations; four arms with tentacles for fingers; had heads and faces, but had indentations where the features would be and instead of eyes and ears there were tentacles p.110

Chapter 11

1. Why did Meg resolve to give in to the beasts and realize they were good? Because of the way they made her feel p.114
2. How was Meg feeling toward Calvin and her father during breakfast? That she couldn’t trust them; they wouldn’t help her save Charles Wallace p.119
3. Why couldn’t the beasts on this planet understand what the humans tried to explain to them? The beasts understood things in a different way.  They didn’t have eyes to see or ears to hear, yet they understood things more deeply p.120

Chapter 12

1. Why did Meg decide to go save Charles Wallace by herself? Only she knew him well enough to help him; she was the only one who could save him p.124
2. What gifts did Mrs. Whatsit and Who give to Meg this time? Love; a verse from the Bible p.128
3. Why didn’t Mrs. Which give Meg a gift? Meg needed to find the gift for herself p.128
4. How did Meg defeat IT and save Charles Wallace? By loving Charles Wallace p.132