Leviathan Study Guide

As you read, answer the following questions. Use a separate piece of paper for your answers. You may choose
to use normal sized paper, index cards, or even Post-its to record your thoughts. You will be able to use these
notes on assignments such as quizzes, discussion, and writing in your core classes when school begins. Be
prepared to receive a grade for your work. Attached you will find artwork and supplemental materials.

Question Code:
(E) – English (S) – Science (H) – History
Chapter 1
1. (E) Who is Alek?
2. (E) What reason does Klopp give for the nighttime departure?
3. (H) How long had the Hapsburgs ruled Austria?
4. (H) Why wasn’t Alek fit to inherit royal lands?
5. (E) Why does Volger not respect Alek’s lineage?
Chapter 2
6. (H) What was Alek’s mother’s name?
7. (E) Describe the walker and how it works.
8. (S) What happens to Alek’s body as the walker takes a large step forward? Describe a time when riding in
a car that your body behaved in a similar way.
9. (H) What happened to the Archduke and his wife while they were in Sarajevo?
10. (E) Are Klopp and Volger trying to help Alek or harm him?
Chapter 3
11. (E) In which country were Alek, Volger, and Klopp?
12. (E) In which country are Deryn and Jaspert?
13. (E) As who or what is Deryn planning to disguise herself?
Chapter 4
14. (S) In chapter 3, the omnibus Deryn rode in was pulled by a hippoesque. In chapter 4, the military men are
pulled on a carriage drawn by tigeresques. These are fabricated beasts. What is a fabricated beast?
15. (E) What is a fabricated beast?
16. (S) Describe the tigeresque.
17. (E) Deryn volunteers to go first for what experience?
18. (S) What is the relationship of Darwin to crossbreeds? How was this thought of as controversial and
blasphemous?
19. (S) Hydrogen breathers host symbiotic (close) relationships between bacteria and grasses. The bacteria
break down their food into which three elements? Find these three elements on the periodic table and
highlight them. What are their symbols?
20. (S) Explain why you think that hydrogen is “lighter than air.”
Chapter 5
21. (E,H) According to the book, but not actual history, what happened to Alek’s parents?
22. (H) Who was the emperor of Austria?
Chapter 6
23. (E) Explain why Alek is feeling empty.
Chapter 7
24. (S) How does the Huxley show Deryn that it is nervous?
25. (E) Describe how the Huxley rises higher and drops lower.
26. (S) Another property (characteristic) of hydrogen is its flammability. While Deryn is riding in the Huxley,
why does she become fearful as the Huxley passes over the chimney?
27. (E) How is Deryn’s Huxley different from Alek’s Stormwalker?

Chapter 8
28. (S) What happened to butterflies during the steam age?
29. (E) How is Deryn rescued?
30. (S,E) What is the Leviathan made of?
31. (S) How are the Leviathan and the Huxley related?
32. (S) The Leviathan is a beast with hundreds of symbiotic relationships. What is the name of the six-legged
beasts that crawl on the Leviathan and what is their purpose?
Chapter 9
33. (H) According to Count Volger, why were Alek’s parents killed?
34. (H) Who were the Serbs allied with?
35. (H) Describe the alliance system as discussed by Alek and Count Volger between pages 86 and 89.
Chapter 10
36. (S) Why is Alek worried that the walker may be moving too fast?
37. (S) What metal does Klopp show to Alek? What property of metals is displayed? This metal is an element
on the periodic table. Highlight it on your table. What is its symbol?
38. (E) Explain the terms “Clanker” and “Darwinist.”
Chapter 11
39. (S) Who figured out how to breed the fabricated beasts?
Chapter 12
40. (S) “Survival of the meanest was one thing the boffins couldn’t breed out of their creations.” What exact
instance in this referring to?
41. (S) How are the flechette bats weapons?
42. (E) Describe what the flechette bats and kraken do to the boat during the combat drill.
43. (S) What two animals is the kraken made of?
Chapter 13
44. (E) What lesson does Alek learn at the market with the commoners?
Chapter 15
45. (E) What is the purpose for the Leviathan stopping in London?
46. (E) How will this affect the middies?
47. (S) What does “aerostatic” mean?
48. (S) What do you think “density” means? Describe two ways the ship could become more dense and two
ways the ship could become less dense.
Chapter 16
49. (S) What do you think the animals in the zoo thought of the Leviathan? What do you think their instincts
told them? Could they sense the many breeds making up the Leviathan?
50. (E) What is unusual about Dr. Barlow? Describe the appearance and personality of this character.
51. (S) Dr. Barlow’s pet, Tazza, is a real animal that went extinct in 1936. What kind of pet does she have?
52. (S) What does Deryn think the thylacine is related to due to it hopping on its hind legs?
53. (S) What does Dr. Barlow say that some believe about birds? What do you think “the ancient lizards”
might be referring to?
Chapter 17
54. (E) What challenges have Alek, Volger, and Klopp faced in the past month?
Chapter 18
55. (E) Why is the Stormwalker headed for the border?
Chapter 19
56. (S) What can be said about the temperature of the air at high altitudes?
57. (S) The walkway on the Leviathan is made of what metal? Find and highlight it on the periodic table.
What is its symbol? If it’s used aboard the Leviathan, do you think it has a low density or high density?
Explain.
58. (S) What role do bees play on the Leviathan?
59. (S) When Dr. Barlow tastes the honey, Deryn tells her it is made of “water mostly, with a few squicks of
carbon for flavor.” If the chemical formula for part of the sugar in honey is C6H12O6, why is Deryn’s
remark logical?
60. (E) What are Dr. Barlow’s suspicions about Deryn?
Chapter 20
61. (E) Why does the German plane ram the Leviathan?
62. (S) The strafing hawks carry aeroplane nets. How are the aeroplane nets able to stop the aeroplane?
Chapter 21
63. (E) Where are Alek and his group? Why?
64. (E) How did the marriage of Alek’s parents affect his father’s political standing?
65. (E) What did the Pope give to Alek’s father?
Chapter 22
66. (E) Describe Volger and Alek’s disagreement about how to handle the Leviathan.
67. (E) What does Alek bring with him when he sneaks away?
Chapter 23
68. (S) Hydrogen is a colorless and odorless gas. When lit, it reacts explosively with oxygen to form water
(H2O). What does Deryn say on page 247 that is actually incorrect regarding the properties of hydrogen?
What does she say that is correct?
Chapter 24
69. (E) What is Dr. Barlow protecting and keeping warm?
70. (S) What is contained in the thermometers? Find and highlight this element on the periodic table. What is
its symbol? What property of this element is described in the passage on page 253?
71. (S) When Dr. Barlow asked about the temperature being 98.6 – do you think this is in degrees Celsius or
degrees Fahrenheit? Explain why you think so.
72. (E) Why will the Leviathan struggle to produce hydrogen while on the glacier?
Chapter 25
73. (E) Why is Alek frustrated by his conversation with Dr. Barlow?
74. (S) When Deryn laughs, “We could probably use your hydrogen!” this implies that your body contains
hydrogen. Where is the hydrogen in your body?
Chapter 26
75. (S) Deryn states that the digestive track has regular air and a bit of methane. Why does she say methane
smells like? (In reality methane is an odorless gas, but when it mixes with other digestive wastes, the
other substances have a smell, making it seem like methane has a smell.)
76. (S) The eggs described on page 275 and 276 have a distinct odor. This is because eggs have “loads” of
which element? Find and highlight this element on the periodic table. What is its symbol?
77. (E) What shared experience do Deryn and Alek bond over?
Chapter 27
78. (S) The Leviathan contains organisms that “make” or breathe out hydrogen. What do humans breathe out?
79. (S) Why does the ship “swell” over time?
80. (S) Dr. Busk asks, “Why don’t we simply take hydrogen from the snow around us?” Explain why this
isn’t possible even though snow is made of water, which contains hydrogen and oxygen bonded together.
81. (S) Another property of metals is that they are malleable, which means they can be flattened when hit with
a hammer instead of shattering into pieces. Metals lose their malleability and become more brittle under
what condition?
Chapter 28
82. (E) What is Deryn’s plan to stop the walker from attacking the Leviathan?
Chapter 29
83. (E) Explain the agreement or trade that is made at the meeting of Volger, Alek, Dr. Barlow, and the captain.
Chapter 30
84. (S) In this chapter, Deryn refers to mammothines, which are huge shaggy elephants suited to cold weather.
What extinct species would the Darwinists have to bring back in order to have mammothines?
85. (E) Explain why Alek is jealous of Deryn.
86. (E) What danger appears as the Stormwalker starts to drag the sledge?
Chapter 33
87. (E) Explain why Volger thinks that Alek showing himself to the Kondors was a mistake.
88. (E) How does the Leviathan intend to get away?
Chapter 34
89. (E) Describe the collaboration between the Hapsburg group and the Leviathan crew.
Chapter 35
90. (E) What is a left-handed marriage?
Chapter 37
91. (E) Why is the Leviathan struggling to climb?
92. (E) Why must it climb quickly?
Chapter 38
93. (S) Why are the gold bars tossed out of the window? What property of gold is illustrated by tossing them
out the window?
94. (E) How does Volger and Alek’s relationship change as they deal with the gold bars?
 95. (S) As the Germans fired their weapons, what element does Alek smell? Find and highlight this element
on the periodic table. What is its symbol?
Chapter 39
96. (E) How does the Leviathan now symbolize the relationship between its crew and Alek’s group?
Chapter 40
97. (E) What is the captain concerned about?
98. (E) Give examples of foreshadowing that Deryn and Alek’s relationship might change?
Chapter 41
99. (E) Explain how Winston Churchill has affected the war.

Afterword
100.(E) Who is the speaker in the afterword?
101.(S) When did Charles Darwin make his scientific discoveries?
102.(S) Aside from formulating the theory of evolution, what else does Westerfeld say that Darwin does?
103.(S) In reality, when was the role of DNA in evolution actually discovered?
104.(E) Explain how this book is about both the past and the future.

Broader Historical Questions

Answers to these are not required. The topics will be discussed in class after you have been given additional
resources.
105.What countries of Europe in 1914 did the biologically armed “Darwinist” powers represent? What
countries did the technology minded “Clanker” states represent?
106.Compare and contrast the weapons of the Darwinists and Clankers with the “new technological” weapons
of World War II.
107.How does the image of the Clankers represent “old-world Europe” and the Darwinists a “future-oriented”
Europe? (Hint: It might have to do with imperialism, militarism, nationalism, entangling alliances, etc.)
108.Leviathan represents an alternative view to WWI. How does this view differ in several important areas
from the “real” version of WWI?
109.What are some of the realities of social politics that existed at the beginning of WWI in 1914? (Example:
Was Deryn allowed to join the army? Why not? Did strict social classes exist in Europe? Why does
Deryn disguise herself as a boy?)
110.One of the constant themes of war is duty pitted against morals. How does Deryn wrestle with this
question and how does this theme relate to similar issues of WWI?
The Clanker Powers: Germany is a massive military machine with weapons aimed outwards to all surrounding countries. It
points threateningly at Britain, not so much as a sign of direct aggression, but more as an indicator that it was now Germany’s
turn to start a grand global Empire to challenge the world’s current one. Austria Hungary is an aggressive armored giant,
teetering on shoddy foundations. It is also the primary aggressor in a land grab against Serbia, with two bayonets piercing the
border. The Ottoman Empire is a teetering automaton, collapsing under the weight of a paranoid and ungainly spying network
that gazes at Europe through many lenses and spy glasses. Istanbul is labeled Constantinople following the period's English
naming conventions. The Swiss watch ticks away the time, comfortable to wait it all out.

The Darwinist Powers: Britain is a militaristic lion with a Roman Imperial italic-type helmet. It sits upon a mound of riches
gathered from its Empire. France’s elephant beast (wearing the French kepi they started the war with before adapting their
firefighter helmets) is influenced by the Elephantine Colossus built for the Universal Exhibition of 1889 in Paris (later it
ended up going to the Moulin Rouge). Russia is a huge imperialist bear, rotting and filled with maggots. Serbia’s imagery is
an indicator of the huge amounts of civilian deaths and suffering they’ll find themselves subject to. Norway and Sweden are
both Scandinavian trolls in the style of John Bauer, an inspirational illustrator from the era who produced a lot of phenomenal
work during the war. Portugal is a parrot for the Entente trying to goad a slumbering Spain into the war. Ireland looks
askance to Britain and brandishes a shillelagh; an indicator of their very rough relationship at the time and of their upcoming
involvement with the Central powers. Italy is a clutch of snakes with intents on the Central powers despite existing
agreements, a foreshadowing of their arrangements at the secret 1915 Treaty of London where they were promised land in
exchange for involvement. It was heavily influenced by Italian Prime Minister, Antonio Salandra’s open policy of serving
Italy’s "divine self-interest."