A Single Shard Comprehension Questions
A Single Shard Comprehension Questions
Chapter 1
1.What is a jiggeh?
2. What are honorable ways to earn a meal according to
Crane-Man?
3. About how old is Tree-Ear?
4. What happened to Tree-Ears parents?
5. What is the story behind Crane-Mans name?
6. Where do Crane-Man and Tree-Ear live?
7. What metal makes celadon a gray-green color?
Chapter 2
1. What does the stage, leather hard mean?
2. What was inside the plain large square box that Tree-Ear
picked up in Mins pottery studio?
3. What does Min assume that Tree-Ear is when he first discovers
that Tree-Ear is in his studio?
4. What is Tree-Ears first task while working for Min?
5. What metaphor does Crane-Man use to describe Tree-Ears hand
injury?
Chapter 3
1. While Min is reprimanding Tree-Ear at the beginning of the
chapter, what simile does the author use to describe how Tree-Ear
feels?
2. What food does Tree-Ear gather in the woods?
3. When Min says, I cannot pay you, what does that mean to
Tree-Ear?
4. On the tenth day of work, what does Tree-Ear have to gather
with the cart?
5. What is the proper way to receive something?
6. What mention is made of reincarnation in this chapter?
A Single Shard Comprehension Questions
Chapter 4:
Vocabulary:
Pummeling, Eaves, Gourd ,Felicitous, Viscous, Sieve, Winnowed,
Impurities, Terse
1. Why does Tree-ear bring his own bowl to Mins house the next
day?
2. What did Tree-ear do with the gourd bowl after he found it
empty?
3. What happened to the food Tree-ear was saving for
Crane-man?
4. Why does Crane-man describe Mins wife as an artist?
Chapter 5:
1. List 4 personal attributes that Tree-Ear exhibits? (ex:
loyalty.) 2. Compare the apprentice system to the formal education
system in a Venn Diagram with 2 bulleted points in all 3 sections
of the Venn Diagram. 3. Compare homelessness today with Tree-Ears
time using a T-chart; include 3 points for both sections
4. Why was Kang wheeling a cart with a cloth over it?
5. Why do clay diggers avoid the areas where the clay was dirty
white or rusty red?
6. What does Crane-man make for Tree-ear by plaiting (which
means braiding) several layers of straw?
Chapters 6 and 7
Students create their own vocabulary list and comprehension
questions with answers.
Chapter 6: 8 words with definitions: 7 questions with
answers
Chapter 7:8 words with definitions: 7 questions with answers
Or alternative for absent students:
Chapter 6
Vocabulary:
Spurned pg. 60
Hailed pg. 60
Impassive pg. 61
Connoisseur pg. 64
Stealth pg. 64
Taut pg. 65
Explicit pg. 65
Surreptitiously pg. 65
Prunus pg. 67
1. What do the village children think about Tree-ear being an
orphan?
2. Why was the emissary visiting Ch-ulpo and Kanjin?
3. What did the potter Kang lack?
4. Why did Min want the emissary to face the ocean while looking
at his pottery?
5. How long did commissions typically last for a potter?
Chapter 7
Vocabulary
Feigned pg. 73
Chrysanthemums pg. 74
Sediment pg. 75
Incision pg. 76
Dismissively pg. 77
Commission pg. 77
Ferocity pg. 78
Treacherously pg. 80
1. What did Tree-ear say that made Min laugh for the first
time?
2. Which part of making pottery did Min dislike anyone
watching?
3. What happens to pottery pieces if the temperature in a kiln
rises too fast?
4. Since Tree-ear and Crane-man do not have time to take walks
or other activities, what do they do instead?
5. What happened to the 5 melon-shaped pots that were shattered
on the ground?
Chapters 8-13
Bio-Poem
Write a bio-poem about one of the main characters in the story
(Min, Mins wife, Crane Man or Tree Ear). A bio-poem should use
words that are relevant to the story and describe the characters.
It has eleven lines that should follow this format:Line 1: the name
of the characterLine 2: four traits that describe the characterLine
3: friend of...Line 4: lover of... (three items)Line 5: who
feels... (three items)Line 6: who needs... (three items)Line 7: who
gives... (three items)Line 8: who fears... (three items)Line 9: who
would like to see... (three items)Line 10: resident of...Line 11: a
possible nicknameWebquest: Group project
