The Secret Garden Homeschool Literature Study Guide

Strong answers should draw on specific details from the early chapters: Mary was cared for entirely by Indian servants who were expected to keep her out of the way; her mother, who valued her own social life, had little interest in spending time with her daughter; Mary was never taught to do anything for herself; she had no playmates or friends; and no adult appeared to notice or mourn her when her parents died. Students might also note that Mary herself does not know how to play alone or how to behave kindly toward others, which suggests her character was shaped by years of emotional isolation. Look for at least two specific examples rather than a general statement.

This inference question has no single correct answer, but strong responses will make a clear claim and link it to a detail from the text. Students who argue circumstances shaped Mary might point to the fact that she was never shown affection or given consistent, caring attention. Students who are unsure might note that the author leaves the question open in these early chapters. Encourage students to distinguish between what the text shows and what they personally believe.

Students might identify: the hundred locked rooms that Mary is forbidden to enter; the crying sound she hears at night that adults dismiss or deny; Archibald Craven's long absences and the reluctance of servants to speak about him or his wife; the locked garden whose key has been buried; and the general atmosphere of secrecy and sorrow. Strong answers will distinguish between things Mary observes directly and things she learns from Martha or others. The goal is to notice that Burnett plants multiple overlapping mysteries rather than just one.

Students should be able to state that the garden was Mrs. Craven's favorite place and that after her death there, Mr. Craven locked it and buried the key. The follow-up asks for inference: students might reasonably suggest that seeing or thinking about the garden causes him grief he does not know how to face. Accept any inference that is grounded in details from Chapters 5–8 and acknowledge that the novel develops this further in later weeks.

Students should identify concrete changes: Mary begins waking up hungry and eager, which is new for her; she starts digging and clearing around dormant plants, discovering that physical work is satisfying; she pays close attention to living things — bulbs, shoots, and early growth — in a way she never has before; she begins to run on the moor and sleep more soundly; and she becomes curious and even excited rather than sullen. The garden gives her a private sense of ownership and purpose. Look for students to connect the outward changes (eating, sleeping, energy) to the inward shift (curiosity, care for something outside herself).

This question asks students to make an empathic inference. Strong answers will connect the garden's enclosed, secret quality to Mary's history of being overlooked — having a place that is entirely hers, that no one else can enter without her permission, gives her a sense of belonging and control she has never had. Students might also note that in the garden nothing judges her; the plants simply grow in response to care, which mirrors the kind of attention she herself never received.

Students should identify that Colin's beliefs come from several sources: the adults around him, particularly the servants and the doctor, who have treated him as fragile and reinforced his fears rather than challenging them; his father's grief-driven absence, which left Colin with no confident, caring parent figure; and Colin's own habit of being alone with his thoughts, which has allowed his fears to grow unchecked. Some students may also note that the hump fear seems tied to his awareness that his father finds him difficult to look at. Two pieces of evidence, as the activity requires, might include Colin's reaction when he thinks someone is staring at his back, and the way servants immediately obey his demands for fear of upsetting him.

Students should note that Mary pushes back on Colin's self-pity and dramatic declarations rather than agreeing or tiptoeing around him. She is blunt, sometimes impatient, and treats him more like an equal than a patient. This matters because Colin has never encountered anyone his own age who takes him seriously as a person rather than as a medical case. Mary's frankness — however socially rough — may be the first honest relationship Colin has experienced.

Students should observe that the garden gives both children a common purpose that is larger than their individual complaints. Colin, who has spent his life being waited on, begins to do physical work for the first time; Mary, who has spent her life thinking only of herself, now cares about the garden's progress and about Colin's wellbeing within it. Their arguments become less about power and more about what to plant or how to manage Dickon. Students might also note that Colin begins to believe he could be well, and Mary begins to feel responsible for another person — both shifts are visible in these chapters.

Students should contrast Dickon's matter-of-fact, nature-centered attention with the nervous deference of the servants. Dickon does not treat Colin as special or frightening; he treats him as a boy who can learn to do things. This is significant because Colin's entire indoor world has been organized around his alleged weakness. Dickon simply assumes competence, which invites Colin to assume it too.

Students should describe Dickon's ease with animals — creatures approach him rather than fleeing — and connect this to his broader character: patience, quietness, lack of self-importance, and genuine curiosity about living things. His relationship with animals demonstrates that he relates to the natural world on its own terms. For Mary and Colin, observing Dickon with animals seems to reinforce that the garden is a living system they are part of rather than a backdrop for their personal dramas. Some students may also note that Dickon's calm manner has a settling effect on Colin's anxious temperament.

Accept any honest engagement with a dialect word or phrase from the assigned chapters. Students do not need to be linguistically precise; the skill being tested is using context clues to infer meaning. The follow-up dimension — what dialect adds to character — should prompt students to recognize that Dickon and Martha's speech marks them as belonging to the moor and the village in a way that Mary and Colin (and the reader) initially do not.

Any of the three characters is a defensible choice. For Colin: the shift from believing he is dying and tyrannizing servants to running, digging, and declaring he wants to live is dramatic and well-evidenced; moments might include his first day in the garden, his physical exercises, and his changed relationship with his father. For Mary: she moves from a self-centered, friendless child to someone who cares for Colin and the garden; moments might include her decision to find Colin and her attention to the needs of the plants. For Archibald Craven: his transformation is less visible until these final chapters, where his dream and his return to Misselthwaite signal an opening of the grief he has carried since his wife's death. Look for clear claim + two grounded examples rather than vague summary.

Students should recognize that father and son have been emotionally — and often physically — separated for most of Colin's life, largely because Archibald found Colin a painful reminder of his wife's death. The running reunion signals that both have changed enough to meet each other. Strong answers will note the contrast between this active, joyful physical gesture and the years of avoidance that preceded it. Students might also observe that Colin's transformation had to happen before his father's return could mean anything — each change enables the other.

This synthesis question has no single correct answer, but strong responses will identify multiple, interconnected conditions rather than one simple cause. Students might point to: access to nature and fresh air (the garden and the moor); honest relationships that do not treat fragile people as helpless; purposeful work with visible results; the presence of someone who believes in your capacity to change (Dickon's role with Colin; Mary's role with Colin; Ben Weatherstaff's quiet faith in the garden); and the healing of grief when it is finally acknowledged rather than sealed away. Encourage students to connect at least two characters' stories rather than focusing only on Colin.

Students should recognize that symbols can carry more than one meaning simultaneously and that there is room for individual interpretation. Common and well-supported readings include: the locked garden as grief that has been sealed away rather than faced; the garden as the inner life of the Craven family, neglected and hidden; the revival of the garden as parallel to Colin's physical revival and Archibald's emotional revival. Look for students to make a claim about meaning and link it to two specific moments — for example, the buried key at the beginning and the running, growing children at the end.