A Separate Peace Teaching Resources

Posted on March 18, 2008 by johawke
Creative Commons License photo credit: drainhook

Perspective

A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, was the first novel I ever taught — way back in student teaching, and I’ve loved it ever since.

On one hand, its depiction of teenaged boys in a private boarding school just before World War II (based on Knowles’ own experience at the elite Phillips Exeter Academy) is so far-removed from most of my students’ lives that it may as well be science fiction. On a deeper level, however, these boys are not so different from my students today.

Knowles does a beautiful job of presenting a believable unreliable narrator, a boy locked so tightly within his own insecurities and guilt that he can’t give the key to the one person who desperately tries to get in. I’ve heard it said that you can’t love anyone until you love yourself. Gene can’t love anyone.

Available Teaching Materials

  • Anticipation Guide – Word File
  • Character Analysis – Word File
  • Sample Reading Log – Word File
  • Quiz #1 – chapters 1-3 – Word File (not available for download)
  • Analysis worksheet – chapters 4-6 – Word File
    Chart can be adjusted easily for any chapter(s). Asks for examples of setting (time), setting (place), indirect characterization, direct characterization, vivid language, foreshadowing, simile, metaphor, and alliteration.
  • Quiz #2 – chapters 4-6 – Word File (not available for download)
  • Quiz #3 – chapters 7-9 – Word File (not available for download)
  • Analysis worksheet – chapters 1-9 – Word File
    Chart can be adjusted easily for any chapter(s). Asks for examples of alliteration, dramatic irony, foreshadowing, metaphor, simile, rhetorical question, and verbal irony.
  • Quiz #4 – chapters 10-11 – Word File (not available for download)
  • Quiz #5 – chapters 12-13 – Word File (not available for download)
  • Final Activity – Word File
  • Test Study Guide – Word File
  • Final Test – Word File (not available for download)

© 2008 – 2010, mrshawke-dot-com.

Creative Commons License
Most of my teaching resources are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License, which means you can feel free to use them with attribution as long as you don’t use them commercially. If you’re not sure, don’t hesitate to ask me. Unfortunately, I am currently unable to send out my tests and quizzes, but I am hoping to establish a less time-consuming alternative for this in the near future. Sorry!!

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  • Lisa McGowan

    I would like copies of quizzes and tests.

  • http://www.mrshawke.com mrshawke

    Lisa: Those materials are on their way to your inbox!

  • Louise Graner

    I would love to see your test! If you would share, I’d be grateful! Thank you in advance.

  • Irene Eckert

    i would like copies of tests and quizes. I teach at Immaculata High school

    Irene

  • Sheryl Blanks

    Please send your materials for teaching this unit. I teach high school English at a residential treatment facility. Thank you.

  • http://www.colletonprep.org Betty Fischer

    Hi! I teach 10th grade Honors at my school and would love to have a copy of your quizzes and tests for A Separate Peace. Thanks for sharing! Betty Fischer

  • Selene McAlister

    Hi! I am teaching A Separate Peace for the first time in a while, and I’m looking for fresh ideas. I’d love to have a copy of your quizzes and tests! Thanks for posting your ideas!

  • Lance Pedersen

    I would appreciate the quizzes and tests for A Separate Peace! This is my first time teaching the book so I could use a little guidance for starters! Thanks.

  • Bree

    I would love a copy of your Separate Peace Final Test! I need new ideas!

  • Matthew Roskoff

    I would like to spice up my tests and quizzes. Can I please have a copy of your quizzes?

  • Jill McAndrews

    Hello. I would really appreciate a copy of your final test. Thanks for being so generous!

  • Tim Yancey

    I would like to have copies of your quizzes and test for A Separate Peace. I just finished teaching the novel for the first time to my tenth graders. Some of them liked it and some didn’t. I really didn’t enjoy it all that much. It was the first time I had read it since my time in high school almost 30 years ago.

  • Shannon

    Please send me the unit quizzes and final test! I teach Juniors at Uvalde High School. Thanks!

  • Ednalyn

    I am currently student teaching. I will be teaching this to ninth graders, if you have any suggestions about teaching the novel, that would help me a great deal. Thank you

    Best,

    Ednalyn

  • Heather

    Thanks for offering such a great resource! I’d like to request a file/copy of your chapter quizzes and final test (with answer keys if possible). :) I am teaching this unit with freshman at Mitchell High.

    Thanks!
    Heather

  • Jennifer

    I’m teaching this text in my summer school course and would love to see a copy of your final test for, A Separate Peace. Thanks for sharing!

  • S

    Are you still sending out copies of tests/quizzes? If so, I would like to spice mine up as well. Thank you!

  • Jenn

    I, too would like to request a copy of your quizzes and tests. Thank you for creating these resources and making them available to fellow teachers. I appreciate the work you put into it. :)

  • Hannah Hagger

    Thank you for sharing all your ideas. I am in my first placement for student teaching and will be teaching a novel on “A Separate Peace” to both advance and general classes. This is also my first time reading the novel so it’s a little overwhelming trying to figure out what’s the most important themes and focuses. I am looking for general resources to modify based on what we focus on in class. If I could get copies of your quizzes and tests that would be wonderful – I’m enjoying the process of building a unit very much. Unfortunately, there don’t seem to be a lot of resources for “A Separate Peace” out there. Thank you again for sharing this page – it’s encouraging!
    :)

  • Micah Winston

    Hi There,

    I’m a mid-term sub at a private school and am about to start teaching ASP to my 8th graders. I’d love to have copies of your quizzes and tests to help me.

    Thanks,
    Micah Winston

  • Donnie

    I’d like to have a copy of your tests/quizzes. I teach English II Honors in Kentucky. Thanks for your time and efforts in compiling these resources!

  • Farateach

    Thank you for posting your work! It’s helpful to see what other teachers are doing. Can I have a copy of your test/quizzes and answer keys?

  • Eswara1997

    i would like your quizes sir. I teach English 2 honors in New Jersey.