The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women

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

PROLOGUE

Reading Check

1. Who are the discoverers of radium mentioned in the book’s prologue?

Short Answer

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

1. What point is the author making in the Prologue by describing the media coverage of radium?

PART 1, CHAPTERS 1-3

Reading Check

1. Who is Sabin von Sochocky?

Short Answer

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

1. How do the workers end up exposing themselves to radium through their own mouths, and why are they not afraid to do this?

2. What evidence does the text provide that the workers’ skin is being contaminated?

PART 1, CHAPTERS 4-8

Reading Check

1. What is the official cause of death doctors provide for Mollie Maggia?

Short Answer

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

1. How do the laxer policies of The Radium Dial Company unintentionally allow the workers to be exposed to even more radium?

2. Why do Irene’s symptoms lead her to push for an investigation of her former place of employment?