Chapter 43 Maximo Restivo

Student’s name:______________

‘Mother died two years ago’ – a prediction

This chapter opens with the words ‘Mother died two years ago.’

Talk about what you would usually expect in a chapter that started like this.
Predict how Christopher will react to news of his mother’s death.
I belive christopher was stunned because of the great change caused by her mothers death, he was probably sad and
angry, this will be a chapter where christpher thinks a lot and talks to us about her mother.
Activity

Take one of the extracts below and write a couple of sentences to explain the effect it
had on you.

Christopher was sad because he thought her mother was ill, so he made her a card for her to get well it was a sad
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part of the book and it made me feel bad for the character and his mother.
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This part of the book helps you understand christopher and maybe even try to put yourself in his situation.
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Rituals and superstitions – quick quiz maximo restivo
Student’s name:______________

Chapter 47
How superstitious are you? Read the questions and choose YES or NO.

What did you score?

Q1: 3 points for yes, 0 for no

Q2: 1 point for yes, 0 for no
Q3: 4 points for yes, 0 for no
Q4: 2 points for yes, 0 for no
Q5: 1 point for yes, 0 for no

Find out what your score means.

0-2: You are not very superstitious and can’t really understand why others get so worried about things that are
supposed to bring bad luck.

2-7: You probably wouldn’t say you’re superstitious, but you are a little. ‘Just in case’ is your attitude.

7-11: You’re superstitious and you don’t care who knows it. Of course there’s such
thing as luck, so why not do all you can to make sure you get the good kind?

Why are people superstitious?

So why are people superstitious? There has been a research for superstition. It is said that superstitious
beliefs are found around the world in every culture, amongst a wide variety of people, including intelligent
and educated people. It is found that superstitious beliefs seem to provide comfort at times when things
are uncertain, or fill a gap when we just don’t have enough information to know what is going to happen,
or why something happens.

Activity

Look back at Christopher’s explanation for his behavior. Why do you

think he has developed his ritual of counting cars. How might it help him? Write it.

People with aspergers syndrom like Christopher find usually need order in their day to day activitys for them to feel well, how chrisopher
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counts cars or always haves the same things in his pockets are great examples. This kind of things help him feel safe and improve his
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mood.
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Old habits die hard (If a belief or way of behaving dies hard, it takes a long time to disappear, and is not
given up easily: Old habits die hard.)

Christopher mentions things people do out of habit, even though they are not logical. He has observed that
his father always puts the same sock on first and starts climbing the stairs with the same foot.

Discuss what this observation shows about Christopher.

Think about whether you have any habits like this. You might surprise yourself!