Princess Bride Study Guide

Name ______Date ______Princess Bride Study Guide “Prologue” to The Princess Bride Reading Comprehension: 1. To whom did William Goldman personally request a copy of his first book be sent to?

2. How did Goldman come in contact with The Princess Bride?

3. Who “wrote” The Princess Bride?

4. Why is it so significant to Goldman? What about it is significant?

5. Infer: What is Goldman’s relationship with his family like?

6. What kind of lengths does Goldman go to in order for his son to have a copy of The Princess Bride?

7. What discovery does Goldman make with his son’s copy of The Princess Bride?

8. How does it set up the rest of the story? Chapter One: The Bride Reading Comprehension: 1. What are Buttercup’s rankings compared to other women of the world? What is she being ranked for?

2. How does the Farm Boy respond to Buttercup’s demands?

3. How do we distinguish Morgenstern from Goldman?

4. How do Buttercup’s parents look? Describe them.

5. Why are the Count and Countess at Buttercup’s house? 6. What is the Farm Boy’s name?

7. Infer: Why does Buttercup imagine the Countess staring at Westley?

8. How does her feelings about Westley change over the course of the day? After she talks to Westley?

9. How does Westley feel about Buttercup?

10. Why did Buttercup start taking care of herself? What happened to her rankings?

11. What is the ironic twist in the story? How does the chapter end?

Chapters Two-Five: The Groom, The Courtship, The Preparations, The Announcement Reading Comprehension: 1. How does Prince Humperdinck resemble General Zaroff? Write 4-5 sentences.

2. What do you think the 5th level is going to eventually contain?

3. Why does the Prince refuse to marry Noreena of Guilder?

4. Who brings Buttercup to the Prince?

5. How does the Prince propose? What are the conditions of the marriage?

6. Why is there no chapter 4? What is the sentence that summarizes the chapter?

Analyze and Evaluate: P.O.V. (who is the narrator): Conflicts: Internal/External ______V. ______Explain: Internal/External ______V. ______Explain: Internal/External ______V. ______Explain: What effect does the first-person narration have on the story? ______

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The Princess Bride is a story within a story. Explain what this means and what the story within a story is in this novel. ______

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Goldman often uses hyperbole and understatement as part his narrative style. Find one example of each. Use page numbers. ______

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Chapter Six: The Festivities What does Morgenstern/Goldman use to mark the time of Florin history? That is, how does the reader know where it is in the past (in relation to other nations, events, etc.). ______

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Goldman often uses hyperbole and understatement as part his narrative style. Find two example of each. Use page numbers. ______

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Characterization: Below give some traits of the characters and then give examples from the story that illustrate the characteristics.

Character Trait/Characteristic Example of trait/and explanation pg # ______

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Chapters Seven-Eight: The Wedding, The Honeymoon Write a paragraph: Compare and contrast adult William Goldman's relationship with his son, Jason, and young William Goldman with his father. ______

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Write 2 paragraphs: Westley, Buttercup, Fezzik and Ingio (together), Prince Humperdink, and Vizzini might be considered medieval archetypal characters. Pick two of the characters and explain how they are typical and atypical of their particular archetype. ______

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