Haroun and the Sea of Stories

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

Chapters 1-4

Reading Check

1. What does Rashid do for a living?

2. What warning sign of his wife’s unhappiness does Rashid miss?

3. What does Butt’s hair remind Haroun of?

4. What does Khattam-Shud’s name mean?

5. What is the name of the houseboat where Rashid and Haroun are taken on The Dull Lake?

6. In whose voice does the Hoopoe speak?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Soraya’s note end up impacting Rashid’s career?

2. How do Haroun and Rashid end up riding in a mail coach?

3. As they ride across Dull Lake, what conclusion does Haroun come to about the land they are in, and what does his father tell him about his idea?

4. What is the Disconnector, and how is it related to Rashid’s storytelling abilities?

5. What does Haroun wish for when he drinks the Wishwater, and how does his mother’s absence impact his ability to focus on his wishing?

6. What does Haroun’s experience when he drinks from the Ocean of the Streams of Story cause Iff to reveal about the Ocean?

Paired Resource

“Part 1: Khomeini’s Fatwa on Rushdie”

• This article from University of Michigan’s Wilson Center clearly explains the key events in the history of Iran’s fatwa against Rushdie.
• This resource relates to the themes of Freedom of Speech as the Greatest Power of All and The Importance of Stories.
• Rushdie wrote Haroun and the Sea of Stories when he went into hiding after the fatwa was first issued. How do Rushdie’s concerns with The Importance of Stories and Freedom of Speech show up in Haroun? Why would these thematic ideas be especially on his mind at this time in his life? What elements of Haroun are clearly allegorical? Whom does Khattam-Shud represent, and what does it mean that Iff calls him the “Cultmaster of Bezaban”?

“How Reading Fiction Can Shape Our Real Lives”

• This article examines the influence fiction can have on individuals’ lives and, subsequently, society.
• According to Lo Basso’s article, what are some ways that fictional stories can impact individuals and society? How do you think Rashid would react to this article, and why? Do you know of any other examples where a novel has had a big impact on either a single person’s life or on society as a whole?

Chapters 5-8

Reading Check

1. What is Mali made of?

2. What does Haroun notice is printed on the uniform of each Page?

3. What surprising thing does Haroun accidentally discover about Blabbermouth?

4. What does Blabbermouth steal from Haroun while he is sleeping?

5. What is the name of the Chupwala warrior that Haroun sees fighting his own shadow?

6. In Chapter 8, where does Haroun agree to go as a spy?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Iff describe the land between Chup and Gup?

2. In Chapter 5, what does General Kitab tell Haroun has happened to Princess Batcheat?

3. After Rashid is captured as a spy, what is the difference between Haroun’s beliefs about how his father will be treated and Iff’s beliefs about how Rashid will be treated?

4. When Haroun worries about the Guppees’ criticism of their leaders, what does Butt tell him?

5. When Haroun sees the Chupwala warrior fighting against his own shadow, what does he notice about the man’s eyes, and what conclusion does this lead him to reach?

6. In Chapter 8, what do Haroun and Rashid learn about the shadows in Chup from talking to the shadow of the warrior?

Paired Resource

“Art in Protest at the 2022 Oslo Freedom Forum”

• This page, hosted by the Human Rights Foundation, showcases artists who use their creative abilities to counter repressive governments. (Content Warning: You may wish to preview this resource to ensure that the art it features is suitable for your classroom.)
• This resource relates to the theme of Freedom of Speech as the Greatest Power of All.
• What do all of the artists featured in this collection have in common? Why would the Human Rights Foundation want to bring this issue to its audience’s attention? What evidence in Haroun and the Sea of Stories tells you how Rushdie probably feels about the repression of artists by authoritarian governments?

“Language”

• This brief and approachable poem by W. S. Merwin centers on the importance of words to our identities.
• This resource relates to the themes of The Importance of Stories and Linguistic Playfulness and the Slippery Nature of Language.
• What point is Merwin making about the importance of language, and specifically about individual words? In what ways does this poem defy traditional expectations about how poetry looks and sounds? In Haroun and the Sea of Stories, how does Rushdie use puns and other literary devices to draw the reader’s attention to his diction and the possibilities of language? How does this support his larger thematic concerns?

Chapters 9-12

Reading Check

1. In Chapter 9, what does Haroun realize the Wall of Night really is?

2. In Chapter 9, what object does Iff give Haroun after the Chupwalas disconnect Butt?

3. What is Khattam-Shud having built to stop new stories from being created?

4. How much time passes between Haroun making his wish and the sun appearing?

5. What color nosewarmers do the Pages of Gup wear?

6. What is the name of Haroun’s city?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. When Haroun first sees Khattam-Shud, what does he look like?

2. How does Khattam-Shud ruin the stories in the Ocean?

3. In Chapter 11, what trick does the Chupwala ambassador try to play on Bolo?

4. How does trust end up being the decisive factor in the battle between the Guppees and the Chupwalas?

5. When Haroun attends the meeting the Walrus has summoned him to, what does he realize about his friends’ motivations for refusing to go with him?

6. When Haroun wakes in Chapter 12, what evidence is there that his adventure was not an ordinary dream?

Recommended Next Reads 

Luka and the Fire of Life by Salman Rushdie

• In this sequel to Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Haroun’s much-younger brother, Luka, must venture into a magical land to save their father, Rashid.
• Shared themes include Freedom of Speech as the Greatest Power of All, The Importance of Stories, and Linguistic Playfulness and the Slippery Nature of Language.
• Shared topics include magical realism, adventurous journeys, authoritarian government, censorship, and standing up for what is right.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

• In a dystopian future society, Guy Montag is a fireman whose job is to destroy books—until he meets Clarisse, whose ideas change everything for him.
• Shared themes include Freedom of Speech as the Greatest Power of All and The Importance of Stories.
• Shared topics include authoritarian government, censorship, and standing up for what is right.
• Fahrenheit 451 on SuperSummary