Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-7

Reading Check

1. Why does Hannibal have to wear a mouthpiece?

2. Who is Bella and what is she experiencing?

Short Answer

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does Hannibal tell Clarice that she will find in the car?

2. How did Clarice and Crawford meet?

Paired Resources

Phrenology

“An Empirical, 21st Century Evaluation of Phrenology”

• These paired sources from Encyclopedia Britannica and the National Library of Medicine offer a definition of 19th-century phrenology and a 2018 medical study evaluating its (lack of) legitimacy.
• The information in these resources connects to the theme of The Manipulation of Others for Good and Evil.
• Hannibal is critical of the FBI’s reliance on behavioral science, claiming that it is just elevated phrenology. Consider the racist origins of both practices. Do you think that the antiquated pseudoscience of phrenology influenced the modern behavioral science used to catch serial killers? Why or why not? Is Hannibal justified in his skepticism?

Chapters 8-11

Reading Check

1. To whom does the head belong (according to Hannibal)?

2. What is the Blue Canoe?

Short Answer

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does the FBI suspect Buffalo Bill is white?

2. Where does Buffalo Bill dump the bodies of his victims, and how does this complicate the investigation?

Paired Resource

“The Problem with Pop Culture’s White Male Serial Killer Obsession”

• This opinion piece by Sandra Song critiques the proliferation of true crime content.
• The information in this resource connects to the theme of Performing and Repressing Identity for Acceptance From Others.
• What racial disparities does American media promote? How does the vast amount of content depicting white male serial killers create a dangerous double standard? To what extent do Hannibal and Buffalo Bill further this standard?

Chapters 12-18

Reading Check

1. What did Bill take from the victim found in West Virginia?

2. Where does Clarice go to identify the insect?

Short Answer

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Crawford want the information about the cocoon to remain confidential?

2. Why does Senator Martin mention Star Wars?

Chapters 19-25

Reading Check

1. Who is Precious?

2. What condition does Sammy have?

Short Answer

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Catherine figure out her captor’s identity?

2. What is an imago and why is it significant?

Chapters 26-31

Reading Check

1. What clue about Buffalo Bill does Hannibal give Chilton?

2. What was Clarice’s mother’s job?

Short Answer

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Hannibal know who Jame is?

2. Why does Crawford call Johns Hopkins?

Chapters 32-38

Reading Check

1. What is Jame’s essential accessory?

2. Whose body do they find on top of the elevator?

Short Answer

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Hannibal explain Bill’s need to kill?

2. What common object has Hannibal fashioned into a weapon? How did he procure it?

Chapters 39-45

Reading Check

1. What is the identification of the insect?

2. What does Catherine use chicken bones for?

Short Answer

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does Billy Rubin refer to?

2. Who is Lloyd Wyman and how has he made himself useful?

Chapters 46-51

Reading Check

1. What is Jame’s favorite thing to watch?

2. Who reveals Jame’s identity to Crawford?

Short Answer

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does Hannibal mean by “desperately random”?

2. How does Catherine stall her murder?

Paired Resource

“Stigma, Prejudice and Discrimination Against People with Mental Illness”

• This American Psychiatric Association article discusses how language and media representation affect the public perception of mental illness.
• The information in this resource connects to the theme of Performing and Repressing Identity for Acceptance From Others. What light does this article shed on the depicted difficulties of receiving care as both a child and an adult? What misconceptions about mental illness does the American public still hold, and how do these misconceptions complicate attitudes toward behavior that is easy to criminalize?

Chapters 52-55

Reading Check

1. Who is Stacy Hubka?

2. What crimes did Jame commit as a child?

Short Answer

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What realization does Clarice make while going through Fredrica’s closet?

2. Why was Fredrica rejected from the job that she applied for?

Paired Resource

“Deviance, Disorder, and the Self”

• This article from Birkbeck University discusses the Victorian pathologizing and criminalization of deviant sexuality. (Content Warning: Due to mature topics, this may be more suitable as a teacher-facing resource.)
• The information in this resource connects to the themes of Performing and Repressing Identity for Acceptance From Others and Gender Bias Against Women in Male-Dominated Fields.
• How did the sexual policing of the late 19th century influence views on behavior? How did these precedents usher in a culture of homophobia and transphobia? To what extent is the Johns Hopkins Center aware of this precedent?

Chapters 56-61

Reading Check

1. What makes Jame aware that Clarice knows exactly who he is?

2. Where does Ardelia find Clarice napping?

Short Answer

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Clarice track down Jame?

2. What is Hannibal’s escape plan?

Recommended Next Reads

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris

• The first novel in the Hannibal series depicts FBI agent Will Graham’s struggle to catch a killer and Graham’s reluctant journey to seek advice from Hannibal Lecter.
• Shared topics include nature versus nurture, serial killers, the making of a monster, and the reluctant need to enlist the authority of a murderer.
• Shared themes include The Manipulation of Others for Good and Evil and Performing and Repressing Identity for Acceptance From Others.
• Red Dragon on SuperSummary

Dracula by Bram Stoker

• Stoker’s iconic gothic novel tells the story of the fight against Count Dracula.
• Shared topics include the monstrous versus human, changing role of women, mistrust in institutions, and the hypnotic qualities of dangerously charismatic figures.
• Shared themes include The Manipulation of Others for Good and Evil and Gender Bias Against Women In Male-Dominated Fields.
• Dracula on SuperSummary