Gregor the Overlander

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

Chapters 1-3

Reading Check

1. What do Gregor and Boots fall through to reach the Underland?

2. Which creature do Boots and Gregor encounter upon landing in Underland?

Short Answer

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

1. Why does Gregor not allow himself to imagine life after his dad returns?

2. What is Gregor’s first impression of Queen Luxa?

Paired Resource

“Down the Rabbit Hole“

• This scene from Disney’s 1951 film adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland depicts Alice falling down the rabbit hole to Wonderland, much like Gregor falls through the laundry-room grate into the Underland.
• Students may recall that Suzanne Collins was inspired by Alice in Wonderland and used Gregor’s story to reflect an “urban” adaptation of its setting. Students can use this knowledge to make connections between the two stories and think about how Suzanne Collins transformed the original setting.
• What similarities and differences do you notice between the movie scene of Alice falling down the rabbit hole and the novel’s scene of Gregor falling down the grate into Underland? How do you think the scene from Alice may have inspired the author when she wrote the scene of Gregor falling into Underland?

Chapters 4-7

Reading Check

1. What is the Underlanders’ name for Gregor’s world?

2. Who was the man from 1600s England who led the first people into the Underland?

Short Answer

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

1. Why does Vikus say the crawlers (roaches) did not kill Gregor and Boots?

2. What does Luxa explain is the purpose of the bond between an Underlander and their bat?

3. How does Gregor plan to escape the palace?

Chapters 8-12

Reading Check

1. Which creatures attack Gregor and Boots outside the palace?

2. Who does Vikus believe is the warrior of the Prophecy of Gray?

3. What does Gregor decide he will need most on his quest in the Underland?

Short Answer

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

1. What does Gregor infer the Underlanders mean when they say certain actions will give a creature more or less “time”?

2. Why does Solovet believe that the rats may be keeping Gregor’s father alive?

Chapters 13-16

Reading Check

1. Who do the crawlers choose in their Ring Dance to give them “time”?

2. What does Gregor find himself trapped in after fleeing the rats?

Short Answer

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

1. What does Gregor realize is the true reason he didn’t jump off the pillar when Henry and Luxa taunted him?

2. How does Henry feel about the crawlers?

Paired Resource

“Pest World for Kids: Cockroaches”

• This detailed compendium of information on different types of cockroaches from Pest World for Kids displays important facts, biology, and images of cockroaches, presented in student-facing language.
• Students can connect what they learned about cockroaches to the novel’s Strength in Differences theme.
• What did you learn about cockroaches? What are some unique abilities or traits of the species that you think could be strengths?

“Video: Cockroach Hall of Fame in Plano“

• This video contains footage of the Cockroach Hall of Fame in Plano, Texas, curated by pest control professional and etymologist Michael Bohdan. Now closed, the exhibits in this museum displayed dead cockroaches in various scenes, wearing costumes and posing with objects, often references to pop culture or celebrities.  
• Although the museum is certainly unusual, this video will help students consider the anthropomorphization of creatures typically considered disgusting, which they can use to connect to Collins’s humanization of roaches in the novel.
• Students can make connections to how Luxa, Henry, and the other humans in the novel instinctively react to the crawlers with repulsion; understand the significance of Gregor, Boots, and Vikus’s ability to look beyond their outside appearances and appreciate the crawlers’ strengths; and connect to the novel’s theme of Strength in Differences.
• What do you think of the owner’s comments that we could perhaps learn something from cockroaches since they’ve lived so long? How is that similar to what Gregor and other characters say about the crawlers’ ability to survive being a strength instead of a weakness?

Chapters 17-20

Reading Check

1. What is the “weapon” that Gregor uses to free Luxa from Queen Wevox’s grasp?

2. Who is the guide Vikus selects to lead questers in his absence?

3. Which prophesized questers join the group in the cavern beyond the tunnels?

Short Answer

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

1. Why does Gregor intentionally antagonize Boots into a tantrum?

2. Why does Gregor feel that Ripred is “more complicated and much more dangerous” than the other rats he’s encountered so far?

Paired Resource

Spider Web-Build Time-Lapse

• This BBC Earth video shows a time-lapse of a spider building a web, accompanied by text explaining each step of the spider’s process. Students can connect this to the events in Chapters 17 and 18; it will give them a visual for the intricate webs of the spinners who have the questers trapped.
• Students can connect to the Strength in Differences theme and consider how the spinners’ unique skills represent their society and protect against threats.
• How do the spinners use their special skills to trap the questers in the novel? How do they use their specific strengths to create a society and a livelihood, such as weaving things and trading them? How does this help characterize the spiders?

Chapters 21-25

Reading Check

1. Whom do the questers find in the circular pit in the land of the rats?

2. Who is ultimately “the last to die” who “must decide where he stands?”

3. What surprising character comes to Gregor’s aid when he leads the rats away from the questers?

Short Answer

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

1. How has Luxa learned to overcome the fear of losing time?

2. What is the punishment if a human or flier breaks their vow to their bonded?

3. How does Gregor fulfill the final lines of the prophecy?

Paired Resource

“In Praise of the Great Rats in Literature“

• This article by Austin Ratner (really) analyzes the depictions of rats in literature and discusses their use as symbols or vehicles for humanity’s “darker self,” as creatures that provoke horror and live on the underside of society. Due to length and above-level text complexity, this could be a useful resource to excerpt or paraphrase.
• The “Rats Personified” section of this article may be particularly useful, as it analyzes the rats as tools of integration for a complete concept of humanity. Ratner’s analysis may be useful in prompting students to both think about the rats and humans as foils to one another and also identify how recognizing and empathizing with the rats enables characters in the novel to confront their own violence and cultivate cooperation, connecting to the novel’s theme on Strength in Differences.
• How are the rats in the novel characterized? How do characters in the novel perceive the rats? How does Ripred, a rat, deviate from the stereotypes imposed on other rats? Why do you think the author emphasizes Ripred’s intellectualism and depth?

“Of Rats and Men”

• NPR’s Throughline podcast covers various topics of historical and social interest. On this episode, the host invites researchers, scholars, and other professionals to discuss the relation of rats to humans, both in the ecosystem and in the cultural consciousness. The above link includes both the audio and the transcript for the episode, which is 51 minutes in length. Because of its length, excerpts may be most helpful.
• “Part 1—Eating at the Same Table” and “Part 2—The Fancy Rat” are likely to be the most relevant to class discussion and connections to the novel. In Part 1, Dr. Jason Munshi-South, biology professor and researcher at Fordham University, discusses the migratory history of rats as well as the species’ behaviors and need for socialization. This could be relevant for class discussions on how Collins has incorporated realistic rat behavior into her anthropomorphized gnawers in the novel. Part 2 features Gerard O’Sullivan, self-described “amateur rat historian” with a background in 18th- and 19th-century literature. O’Sullivan discusses the role of rats in Victorian literature and in characterizing the city of London and examines the human fascination with rats as liminal creatures that straddle the lines between light and dark, above and below, and life and death, compelling both fascination and horror.
• How does Collins use realistic rat behavior to characterize the rats in the novel? What similarities do you see between the social needs of rats and the social needs of humans? Do you think rats reflect the darker side of humans?

Chapters 26-27

Reading Check

1. What is the gift Vikus wishes to pass on to Gregor instead of the sword?

Short Answer

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

1. Why does Gregor choose to bond to Ares?

2. Why does Gregor reject the sword Vikus offers him?

Recommended Next Reads 

Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane by Suzanne Collins

• Gregor’s story continues in Book 2 of The Underland Chronicles. The Underlanders kidnap Boots to coerce Gregor’s participation in a new prophecy, the Prophecy of Bane, which sends Gregor on a quest to slay a white rat known as “the Bane” to prevent old enemies from resurfacing.
• Shared themes include Peace.
• Shared topics include nature of war, prophecies, heroes, self-determination, nature of good and evil.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

• Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson discovers that he is the demigod son of the Greek god Poseidon. Compelled by a prophecy, Percy must venture into the world of gods and monsters to retrieve a stolen object and, just possibly, bring his mother back from the Underworld.
• Shared themes include Strength in Differences.
• Shared topics include missing parents, prophecies, Chosen One archetype, heroes, quests, and betrayal.
• The Lightning Thief on SuperSummary