Code Name Verity

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

Part 1, Chapters 1-4

Reading Check

1. To whom is Part 1 of the novel written as a “confession” by Verity?

2. What type of building did the prison in which Verity is being held at the start of the novel used to be?

3. When did Maddie receive her pilot’s license? Name the month and year.

4. In Chapter 3, Julie and Maddie discover they are both the same age. How old are they?

5. What nationality does Julie say she is, correcting Captain von Linden and Anna Engel?

Short Answer

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

1. Each chapter in this section (Chapters 1-4) has a subheading that is written in a specific format—for example, the first is “Ormaie 8.XI.43 JB-S.” What is the meaning behind the subheading? Explain using Chapter 1 as an example.

Paired Resource

“Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) 1939-1949”

• In this section, Maddie joins the WAAF as a switchboard operator. The WAAF was a real organization, the history of which can be found at the link above, courtesy of the British Royal Air Force Museum.
• Can we make any inferences about Maddie’s personality based on her joining an organization like the WAAF? What, in general, were women who joined the WAAF like?

Part 1, Chapters 5-8

Reading Check

1. With what staff member in the Gestapo headquarters in Ormaie does Julie strike a deal to see von Linden?

2. What substance do Julie’s captors use to delouse her hair?

3. If von Linden is not pleased by Julie’s report, to which concentration camp will Julie be sent?

4. Georgia reveals to Julie that the nickname for the hotel in which she is imprisoned is “Le Château de Bordeaux.” What does this name mean in English?

Short Answer

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

1. What does it mean that Julie is a Nacht und Nebel prisoner? Provide the literal definition as well as the more general one.

Part 1, Chapters 9-11

Reading Check

1. On what kind of paper does Julie write her November 21, 1943, confession?

2. Disoriented by hunger and having being beaten by Engel that day, what does Julie make a list of to help ground herself?

3. In Julie’s recollection of her April 1943 mission with Maddie, she thinks back upon telling Maddie her deepest secret. What was the secret?

4. What happened to the original pilot who was supposed to fly with Julie, before Julie suggested Maddie for the job?

Short Answer

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

1. Briefly describe Maddie’s two secret flights with Julie.

Paired Resource

“The Female Spies Who Helped Win World War II”

• This Atlas Obscura article features the research of the scholar Sarah Rose, who writes about long-forgotten women spies of the SOE, who fought against the Nazis and helped turn the tide of the war.
• Does Rose’s research deepen your understanding of Women’s Roles in World War II? Did you learn anything new that helps you better appreciate Julie and/or Maddie’s character?

Part 1, Chapters 12-15

Reading Check

1. In Julie’s recollection of her and Maddie’s flight into France, when they are hit by antiaircraft flak, what part of their plane catches fire?

2. To punish Julie for her impudence, what substance does von Linden order her to wash her mouth out with?

3. What is Julie’s full name?

4. Who is the speaker in Chapter 15, which consists of a note not written by Julie?

Short Answer

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

1. How does Julie convince von Linden to believe that she is skilled at the art of interrogation?

2. What are some examples of the immense psychological pressure Julie endures in this section?

Part 2, Pages 207-264

Reading Check

1. What is Maddie’s full name?

2. What cargo was Maddie carrying in her airplane during her flight to France on October 11, 1943?

3. What is the name of the French Resistance circuit that Paul leads?

4. What pictures does Maddie encourage the French photographer who takes official photos for the Gestapo to give them?

Short Answer

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

1. Why do you think the author wrote this section without chapter numbers or chapter divisions?

Paired Resource

“Honoring the Female Pilots of WWII”

• This 6-minute clip from CBS Sunday Morning honors and tells the story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (the WASPs), whose sacrifices during World War II were barely known until relatively recently.
• Do you think female pilots—ones like Maddie—were held to a different standard than men? Why do you think their stories took so long to be told to the world at large? How does their work relate to the theme of Valor?

Part 2, Pages 265-300

Reading Check

1. Which of the Thibaut children witnesses the French girl’s execution at the hands of the Nazis?

2. Which person does von Linden get in trouble for allowing Georgia Penn to interview?

3. What makeup item contains the Resistance contact instructions, in a covert exchange between Engel and Maddie?

4. What does Julie call out just before she is shot in the head and killed?

Short Answer

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

1. How is Julie’s death foreshadowed in this section? Describe the foreshadowing in terms of how Julie’s death plays out and how it relates to something Maddie said to Julie in the days prior.

Paired Resource

“Admiral Lord Nelson and Captain Thomas Hardy”

• Held among the National Museums Liverpool’s collection, Benjamin West’s 1806 painting The Death of Nelson depicts the great British naval hero, Lord Nelson, at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, as he lies dying after being shot by a French sniper. The painting can be viewed at the link.
• The museum’s discussion of the painting, as part of their Queer Relationships collection, mentions Lord Nelson’s famous (supposed) last words, echoed in Code Name Verity.
• How does Lord Nelson’s death connect to Julie’s story? Does knowing more about Nelson’s relationship with Captain Hardy affect your understanding of the theme of Friendship in Code Name Verity? Why or why not?

Part 2, Pages 301-332

Reading Check

1. As reported by Engel, what did Julie have written on the palm of her hand when she was captured by the Nazis?

2. What notable event, as recalled by Maddie, occurred on December 11, 1943?

3. Whom does Maddie visit before she is evacuated from England?

Short Answer

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

1. What is the fate of Operation Verity? In the end, is it a success or a failure?

Recommended Next Reads

A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of Virginia Hall, WWII’s Most Dangerous Spy by Sonia Purnell

• This is the biography of Virginia Hall, an American female spy during World War II who was considered one of the “most dangerous” in the Allied forces.
• The book gives insight into the lived experiences of female spies during World War II, whom the characters of Julie and Maddie are modelled after.
• Shared themes include Valor and Women’s Roles in World War II.
• A Woman of No Importance on SuperSummary.com

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

• This is Wein’s follow-up novel to Code Name Verity, which follows the story of Rose Justice, an 18-year-old American volunteer pilot during World War II who is captured by the Nazis and sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp.
• With a few recurring characters from Code Name Verity, Rose Under Fire also shares themes including Friendship, Valor, and Women’s Roles in World War II.
• Rose Under Fire on SuperSummary.com