Key Details
Who told most of the story?
The Narrator
What does the word “machine” mean in the phrase “time machine”?
A tool or device that does work; it lets someone move through time.
Why did the guests not believe the Time Traveller at first? Give one reason.
Because the story sounded unbelievable and he had little proof.
In one short sentence, what is the main idea of the Time Traveller’s trip?
The Time Traveller sees a future where humans have changed and warns about what could happen.
Who wrote The Time Machine?
H.G. Wells
What small proof did the Time Traveller first show his guests to suggest time travel is possible?
He causes the small machine to move and change position briefly in the room.
What does “fragile” mean? Give one reason the Eloi are fragile.
Weak or easily broken; Eloi are weak because they do not work and are small.
What happened because the Morlocks took the time machine? (Give one clear effect.)
The Time Traveller could not go home until he found the machine.
Give one theme the book shows (choose from: class difference, change over time, or danger of laziness) and one sentence that explains it simply.
Theme: class difference — the story shows rich/comfortable people becoming helpless while workers become dangerous, suggesting harmful inequality.
Was The Time Machine written before or after 1900?
Before (Published in 1895)
In what time period (approximate year) does the Time Traveller first arrive in the far future?
802,701 A.D.
What does “subterranean” mean? Where do the Morlocks live?
Underground; Morlocks live underground.
How did the warm, overgrown future help the Eloi survive? Give one cause and one effect.
Cause: warm, easy environment
Effect: Eloi did not need to work and became weak.
How does the story make a comment about Victorian society? Give one simple example connecting the future to Wells’s time.
Example: Wells shows extreme class separation (Eloi vs. Morlocks) to criticize how Victorian class divisions could harm society.
What country was H.G. Wells from?
H.G. Wells was from England (United Kingdom)
Name the two future groups the Time Traveller meets.
Eloi and Morlocks
Define “decayed” in simple words and give one example from the future world (buildings, people, or machines).
Fallen apart or rotten; e.g., old buildings are ruined and machines are broken.
How did long-term work and factories (industrial change) change people in the story? Give one cause and one effect in short phrases.
Cause: long-term industrial change and class separation
Effect: humans separated into two groups with different lives.
In one sentence, what warning does the Time Traveller give about the future of humans?
Warning: If society stays unequal and depends only on machines, humans may weaken or become divided.
The Time Machine is one of the first books to use the phrase “time machine.” True or False?
True
Put these events in order:
(A) Time Traveller’s machine is taken
(B) He meets the Eloi
(C) He returns home to tell his story
(D) He builds and shows the machine.
D (builds/shows)
B (meets Eloi)
A (machine taken)
C (returns home).
What does “evolution” mean in one sentence? Give one simple example from the story.
Slow change in living things over a long time; example: humans split into Eloi and Morlocks.
The Time Traveller tries to save an Eloi child. Name one thing that caused him to act and one effect of his action.
Cause: he wanted to protect the Eloi child
Effect: he drew attention from Morlocks and learned more about them.
Write a short summary (2-3 sentences) of the Time Traveller’s visit to the far future using simple sentences.
The Time Traveller goes far into the future and meets the gentle Eloi and the hidden Morlocks. He finds that humans have changed because of long social and industrial changes. He fights to get his machine back and returns to tell a warning about this possible future.
Name one way modern movies or books still show ideas from The Time Machine.
Example answers:
time travel devices in movies (e.g., DeLorean in Back to the Future)
stories that show divided or dystopian societies (e.g., The Hunger Games, Divergent)
films/books that portray future worlds with social split (e.g., Planet of the Apes).