1. Tuck Everlasting
Natalie Babbitt

2. The Fountain of Youth In 1503 the explorer Juan Ponce de León
was searching for new lands for Spain.
Legend has it that rumors about a miraculous
spring led him to Florida. Native Americans
told him of a magical water source on an island
called Bimini that could make old people young
again. In 1513 Ponce de León went looking for
this island. He landed on the coast of Florida near the site of
modern St. Augustine. There he continued to search for,
but never found, the fabled “fountain of youth.”
Ask History: Is There
Really a Fountain of Youth?

3. The story takes place in the imaginary village of Treegap.
Time and Place
Babbitt gives clues that allow the reader to figure out that the events of the novel take place in the 1880s.
Notice the details about Winnie’s high- button shoes and people’s use of wagons and horses rather than cars.
The story takes place in the imaginary village of Treegap.
Treegap is based on Clinton, New York, a small town in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, where Babbitt and her husband lived.

4. Writer’s NB Entry: T.E. Eternal Life . . .
Consider our discussion on the fountain of youth
If you had a chance to drink from the fountain would you take it?
Consider what life would be like if you stayed this age forever . . .

5. What if you could live forever?
PROS/Positives
CONS/Negatives
1.) 2.) 3.) 4.) 5.)
1.) 2.) 3.) 4.) 5.)

6. Writer’s NB Entry: T.E. Reflection 1
Review the last paragraph on p. 4 in the Prologue.
“No connection, you would agree. But things can come together in strange ways. The wood was at the center, the hubs of the wheel. All wheels must have a hub. A Ferris wheel has one, as the sun is the hub of the wheeling calendar. Fixed points they are, and best left undisturbed, for without them, nothing holds together. But sometimes people find this out too late.”
In 2-3 sentences, try to make sense of
what you think Babbitt is saying.

7. Writer’s NB Entry: T.E. Reflection 2
Review the second paragraph on p. 7 in Ch. 1
“Nothing ever seems interesting when it belongs to you-- only when it doesn’t.”
In 2-3 sentences, explain why Winnie Foster feels this way. Give an example of when this quote has applied to your life or a friend’s life.

8. Writer’s NB Entry: T.E. Reflection 3
Review the fourth paragraph on p. 14 in Ch. 3
“I’m tired of being looked at all the time.”
In 2-3 sentences, explain Winnie Foster’s internal conflict.

9. Writer’s NB Entry: T.E. Reflection 4
In Ch. 6 Winnie is “kidnapped” by the Tucks. Winnie encounters the man in the yellow suit while she is clinging to the saddle. Winnie could have called out to the man to ask for help, but she did not.
“”Discovering him, seeing his surprise, and presented at once with choices, Winnie’s mind perversely went blank.”
In 2-3 sentences, explain why you think Winnie chose NOT to ask for help.

10. Active Reading: Prologue & Ch. 1-8
The Tucks have mixed feelings about living forever. Create a chart in your Writer’s NB to note their attitudes about what has happened in their lives since they drank from the spring. In the second column, summarize in a few words their feelings about living forever.
Writer’s NB Entry: T.E. Immortality Reflection

11. Writer’s NB Entry: T.E. Immortality Reflection
Character
Proof of Immortality
Feelings About Living Forever
Angus Tuck
Mae Tuck
Miles Tuck
Jesse Tuck

12. Writer’s NB Entry: Reflection 5
In Ch. 10, Winnie and Mae discuss what eternal life is like for the Tuck family. Mae Tuck states,
“‘Life’s got to be lived, no matter how long or short. You got to take what comes,’” (Babbitt 54).
“‘Still—there’s no use trying to figure out why things fall the way they do. Things just are, and fussing don’t bring changes,” (Babbitt 55).
In 2-3 sentences, explain how Mae’s advice to Winnie can be applied to your personal life and the world around you.

13. Writer’s NB Entry: T.E. Reflection 6
In Ch. 12 Angus Tuck takes Winnie out on the
pond in the rowboat. Angus Tuck describes an analogy/correlation to Winnie about life and a
wheel.
“‘It’s a wheel, Winnie. Everything’s a wheel, turning
and turning, never stopping. . . That’s the way it’s supposed
to be. That’s the way it is,”’ (Babbitt 62).
“‘You can’t have living without dying. So you can’t call it living, what we got. We just are, we just be, like rocks beside the road,’” (Babbitt 64).
In 2-3 sentences, explain why Angus Tuck took Winnie out to the pond and why he is making this comparison.

14. Writer’s NB Entry: T.E. Reflection 7
In Ch. 19 the man in the yellow suit
described his obsession with his
grandmother’s stories.
In 2-3 sentences, summarize the
man in the yellow suit’s story.
The man in the yellow suit also
shares his plan for his newly
claimed land and spring.
In 2-3 sentences, summarize
what the man in the yellow suit
plans to do with the spring water.

15. Writer’s NB Entry: T.E. Reflection 8
Throughout the novel, Babbitt purposely connects the
weather to the plot. In Ch. 23, Babbitt opens the chapter with
“It was the longest day: mindlessly hot, unspeakable hot, too hot to move or even think,” (Babbitt 116). Furthermore, Babbitt mentions the grandfather’s clock and the rhythm of its ticks on p As nighttime approaches, Babbitt begins to describe the inevitably of rain as Winnie’s grandmother reflects on the week.
Finally, Babbitt closes the chapter with “The clock was ticking steadily, the darkness was complete. Outside, the night seemed poised on tiptoe, waiting, waiting, hold its breath for the storm,” (Babbitt 120).
In 2-3 sentences, explain what the clock and looming storm SYMBOLIZE.

16. Writer’s NB Entry: T.E. Plot Diagram
Ch. 25 begins with a description of the seasonal change and another correlation to the wheel.
Tuck Everlasting is one of the easiest novels to translate into a plot diagram. The inclusion of the Prologue really helps readers to build a foundation before reading the novel. Additionally, the inclusion of the Epilogue helps readers to find closure and a sense of resolution.
Turn your Writer’s NB sideways and create a plot diagram. Include the essential plot elements (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution) AND describe the weather patterns for each plot stage.

17. Writer’s NB Entry: T.E. Plot Diagram
Include weather changes for EACH stage!