Study Guide for The Dream House & Comprehension Test

The Dream House
by Craig Higginson
About_
This study guide accompanies Craig Higginson’s novel The Dream House, which follows an elderly South African
couple on their final night at a farm haunted by a violent, buried past. Told through shifting perspectives, the novel
explores memory, guilt, race, and reckoning as a visitor forces long-hidden truths into the open. This guide covers
the novel’s five main narrative parts. This study guide contains 65 questions across 5 chapter sections (50 Factual +
15 Critical), 1 Crossword Puzzle (12 clues), and 1 Character Focus Activity.
What’s Included_
This study guide features 5 sets of 10 Factual Questions with an answer key (50 total), 5 sets of 3 Critical Analysis
Questions (15 total), 1 Crossword Puzzle (12 clues), and 1 Character Focus Activity (8 traits + evidence prompt +
critical thinking question).
Target Grades_
Grades 11-12 (AP/college-prep level, due to mature themes)
Teacher Note_
This guide is designed to help students track the novel’s layered timeline and multiple perspectives while pushing
them toward deeper discussion of memory, complicity, and justice. The factual questions build a solid
comprehension foundation, while the critical questions and character study encourage the kind of interpretive
thinking this challenging text rewards. We hope it saves you preparation time and sparks rich classroom
conversation.