Read The Man in the Well (The Man in the Well) Audio: Man In the Well Audio
Part I

Respond to the following prompts by highlighting and/or bolding the correct selection:

1. Which of the following is the best theme statement?

Children help others when they feel fear or embarrassment
People can act in cruel ways when they hold power over others.
Anyone can be a hero, but it is a choice people have to make
Distrust of strangers has caused modern society to become less caring

2. How does the narrator’s point of view influence how the events are described in the passage?

The narrator is ashamed of what happened and portrays the others as more deserving of blame
The narrator is no longer ashamed of what happened and recounts the events with confidence
The narrator feels shame about what happened but still tries to tell the story in a truthful way
The narrator is an adult now and does not remember all of the details of what happened years ago

3. Part A: How do the children respond to the man’s initial cry for help?

Some of the children want to play tricks on the man, and the others go along with it.
They make their decision without talking, but why they choose not to help the man is left unclear
They are unable to come to an agreement about how to help, so they decide not to help at all
They want to help him, but so much time passes that they fear he will punish them if he ever gets out

4. Part B: Which of the following quotes best supports the answer to Part A?

“Everyone, like myself, was probably on the verge of fetching a rope, or asking where we could find a ladder, but then we looked around each other and it was decided” (paragraph 2).
“I remember that we were still full of games and laughter when we called down to him. He heard us shouting while we were playing” (paragraph 3).
“At first afraid to disobey the voice from the man in the well, we turned around and actually began to walk toward the nearest house, which was Arthur’s. But along the way we slowed down” (paragraph 5).
“As we were rising quietly and looking at the dark shadows of the trees we had to move through to reach our homes, he said, ‘Why didn’t you tell anyone?’ He coughed. ‘Didn’t you want to tell anyone?’” (paragraph 56).

5. Which statement best describes the relationship between the children and the man in the well at the end of the story?

The children hoped the man would be honest with them
The children were embarrassed that they had treated the man poorly
The children were sad they never got to know the man before he died
The children became annoyed with the man when he started to question their actions