The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells Quiz and Answer Key Bundle

Promote homework accountability and evaluate general reading comprehension with these plot-based quizzes covering H. G. Wells' dystopian science fiction novel The War of the Worlds. The assessments may otherwise double as guided reading worksheets to facilitate engagement with the novel. Answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. (Alternatively, a self-grading Google Drive bundle is available.) A breakdown of content follows.

Book 1, Chapters 1-5 Quiz. Questions pertain to the following aspects:

• Setting

• Strange sightings on Mars

• The Martians' intentions

• First impressions of the Martians' ship

• General characterization of the narrator

• The narrator's assumptions about the cylinder

• The identity of a journalist

• Physical description of the alien beings

• An apparent complication for the extraterrestrials

• Acts of violence

Book 1, Chapters 6-10 Quiz. Questions pertain to the following aspects:

• Effects of the heat ray

• The narrator's interactions with his wife

• The reason many news agencies report that Martians are not a true threat

• The arrival of a second cylinder

• Factors that contribute to the aliens' formidability

• The item rented by the narrator

• The narrator's intentions

• The weather conditions

• The means by which Martians travel on Earth

• A complication that faces the narrator

Book 1, Chapters 11-17 Quiz. Questions pertain to the following aspects:

• Setting

• How the narrator survives the heat ray

• New threats facing the narrator

• General characterization of the narrator's brother

• The reason news of the invasion has not spread farther

• The fixation of the minister

• How the narrator's brother escapes the aliens

• Details concerning "Thunder Child"

• Ominous observations by the narrator's brother

Book 2, Chapters 1-5 Quiz. Questions pertain to the following aspects:

• The narrator's stated intentions

• The narrator's main motivations

• The eerie strangeness of London

• The reason for the narrator and minister's entry into a house

• The reason the narrator and the minister get stuck in the house

• The narrator's observations of the aliens

• The conclusions the narrator draws about the extraterrestrials

• The means by which the minister dies

• What happens to the minister's body

• The length of the narrator's confinement

Book 2, Chapters 6-10 Quiz. Questions pertain to the following aspects:

• A reunion with the artilleryman

• Characters' specific fears

• An unappealing suggestion for humanity's survival

• The narrator's judgments about the artilleryman

• A theory concerning the aliens' cause of death

• The narrator's psychological state

• Beliefs concerning an alternative location for colonization

• Discoveries made at the narrator's home

• The invasion's effect on humanity in general

Materials are available for a range of dystopian and science fiction texts:

• 1984 by George Orwell - Google and printable

• Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card - Google and printable

• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - Google and printable

• Feed by M.T. Anderson - Google and printable

• Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer - Google and printable

• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - Google and printable

• The Works of Ray Bradbury - Google and printable