Listen&Learn: A Wrinkle in Time

A science fiction novel loved by children and adults alike.

Pre-listening vocabulary

• protagonist: the main character of a story
• rescue: to save someone from a dangerous place
• entity: an existing being
• literary critic: a person who analyzes books
• praise: to express a positive opinion of something
• conformity: the act of following others without original thought

Listening activity

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Gapfill exercise

A Wrinkle in Time is a 1962 science fiction novel by American author Madeleine L’Engle. The protagonist of this book is a girl named Meg Murry who lives with her mother and her three siblings. One day, Meg, her younger brother Charles Wallace and their friend Calvin meet three women. Their names are Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which. The women claim that Meg’s father is in and that they need the children’s help to rescue him. The story follows the group as they travel through space and time to find Meg’s father. Along the way, the characters discover new to explore and evil entities to defeat. Literary critics have praised this book because it explains complex themes in a way that children can . Some of the themes in this novel are the nature of evil and the danger of conformity.

Comprehension questions

Discussion/essay questions

1. Although A Wrinkle in Time is loved by critics now, Madeleine L’Engle originally had trouble finding a company that would publish her book. L’Engle believed that one reason for that was the book’s female protagonist, which was uncommon in science fiction at the time. How has society’s view of female characters changed since then?

Transcript

A Wrinkle in Time is a 1962 science fiction novel by American author Madeleine L’Engle. The protagonist of this book is a teenage girl named Meg Murry who lives with her mother and her three siblings. One day, Meg, her younger brother Charles Wallace and their friend Calvin meet three mysterious women. Their names are Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which. The women claim that Meg’s father is in danger and that they need the children’s help to rescue him. The story follows the group as they travel through space and time to find Meg’s father. Along the way, the characters discover new planets to explore and evil entities to defeat. Literary critics have praised this book because it explains complex themes in a way that children can understand. Some of the themes in this novel are the nature of evil and the danger of conformity.