Plot
What event begins the rising action of the story?
What is when all the clocks in Brinley stop at exactly 6:11?
“The scent of oiled gears lingered in the air like a whispered promise” is an example of what device?
What is a simile?
What is the general mood created by the story?
What is a mysterious, eerie, and suspenseful mood?
From what point of view is the story told?
What is third-person limited?
What caused the townspeople to gather at Mr. Doran’s shop?
What is the sudden stopping of all the clocks in town?
What is the climax of the story?
What is when the constable discovers the hidden chamber of strange, shimmering clocks beneath the shop?
Which two senses are appealed to most strongly in the opening paragraph?
What are hearing and smell?
Describe the author’s tone toward time or mystery.
What is a reflective and reverent tone, treating time as profound and unknowable?
How does this point of view shape the reader’s understanding of Mr. Doran?
What is that it keeps Mr. Doran’s motives hidden, preserving mystery through the constable’s limited perspective?
What effect did Mr. Doran’s disappearance have on the town’s sense of time and order?
What is that it made them question the reliability of time and their dependence on it?
How does the resolution create lingering mystery rather than closure?
What is that Mr. Doran is never found and one clock strikes thirteen, leaving the mystery unresolved?
Find a metaphor in the story and explain its deeper meaning.
What is “the clocks reflected memories instead of minutes,” meaning time preserves human emotion and memory?
What is the main theme of the story?
What is that truth and meaning appear when the ordinary rhythm of life is disrupted?
Describe how the constable’s reaction contrasts with the townspeople’s.
What is that the townspeople panic and gossip, while the constable calmly investigates, showing logic and composure?
Infer what the note “When time stops, truth begins” might mean.
What is that truth is revealed when people pause and look beyond routine or mechanical order?
Identify one example of foreshadowing that hints at the strange ending.
What is the description of the ticking “like a whispered promise of order,” hinting that order will soon be broken?
How does personification enhance the description of the clocks?
What is that it gives them life—by making them “chime with laughter,” they seem sentient and mysterious?
How does the ending reinforce or challenge the theme?
What is that the thirteenth chime reinforces that time and truth cannot be fully controlled or understood?
Explain how the type of narration affects suspense.
What is that it keeps readers in the dark, revealing only what the constable observes, which heightens tension?
What could the clock that struck thirteen symbolize about Mr. Doran or the nature of time?
What is that it symbolizes imperfection, or that Doran transcended time and left a supernatural trace?
Explain how the story’s pacing contributes to the theme of time and mystery.
What is that the slow pacing mirrors the steady ticking of clocks, building suspense and highlighting the fragility of time’s order?
Identify and analyze one piece of imagery that symbolizes time as more than a physical force.
What is the “shimmering clock faces,” symbolizing time as emotional, spiritual, and memory-driven?
Discuss how tone and word choice work together to create atmosphere.
What is that poetic language like “whispered promise” and “echo of laughter” blend beauty with unease, crafting a haunting tone?
If the story were told from Mr. Doran’s first-person perspective, how would it change the tone or theme?
What is that it would remove mystery and suspense, replacing them with understanding and reflection?
Evaluate whether Mr. Doran’s disappearance was literal or symbolic.
What is that it was symbolic—Mr. Doran became one with time, merging his spirit with the clocks and transcending reality?