Writing Wizards

“Charles” by Shirley Jackson

Questions

Please type your answers in MLA format, in formal style, with at least one sentence per
answer, and snippet quotes when possible (citations not necessary).

1. What changes does the narrator observe in her son on the day he starts kindergarten?

2. How does Charles influence life in Laurie’s family?

3. What are three moments in the story that, when closely read, indicate that “Charles” is
quite similar to Laurie?

4. What happens to Charles’s conduct in the third and fourth weeks? How do Laurie’s
parents interpret this change?

5. What does the end of the story indicate?

6. How does irony figure in this story? In what way does the difference between what we
expect and what is really happening provide information about the narrator?