The War of the Worlds Before Reading, Watched From Mars

Use the before reading sheets first, then the discussion sheets in chapter order. Assign the response and creative sheets after the matching chapters.

Define complacency and disillusionment in the opening of The War of the Worlds and judge its tone. The directions on the page read: Read the opening of the novel closely. Answer the questions on the next page. An answer key is included.

Yes, both. We made it for 8th grade novel studies, and it works the same at home or at school. At home, a student can work through it alone and then go over it with you, which shows quickly what is solid and what needs another look. In class it works as independent practice, homework or a warm-up, and you can print one copy or a full set.

A writer living near Woking, England, sees Martians land, attack with the Heat-Ray and Black Smoke and empty London. The Martians finally die, and the narrator reflects on what the invasion taught humankind.

Comparing the novel with a radio script shows what sound, voice and silence can do that description cannot. The script on the sheet was written for the worksheet and covers the storm scene from Chapter X.

The sheets use passages from Book One, Chapters I, II, IV, V, X, XIII, XIV and XVII and Book Two, Chapters I, VII, VIII and the last chapter. Each sheet prints its own passage.