what is the conflict of homework machine

The Homework Machine

50 pages • 1 hour read

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Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Introduction-Chapter 2

Chapters 3-4

Chapters 5-6

Chapters 7-8

Chapters 9-10

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Summary and Study Guide

The Homework Machine , written by acclaimed American author Dan Gutman was first published in 2007 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers and is the first of a two-book series. The second book, The Return of the Homework Machine , was published in 2011. Gutman is primarily a children’s fiction writer who has been nominated for and won numerous awards, including 18 for The Homework Machine alone. Gutman is best known for his humorous series, My Weird School , in which there are more than 70 books. He lives in New York City with his family.

The paperback edition used for this study guide was published by Simon & Schuster in 2007.

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Plot Summary

The Homework Machine is told from the perspectives of multiple characters in the format of tape recordings for a police report.

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The four main characters are fifth-grade students who are grouped at the same classroom table because their last names start with D: Sam Dawkins (Snik), Kelsey Donnelly , Judy Douglas , and Brenton Damagatchi . Other than sharing the same last initial, the students have nothing in common. Snik is the cool class smart aleck; Kelsey is laid back and doesn’t care about school; Judy is conscientious and in the gifted program; and Brenton is a loner and genius who designs software and studies psychology in his spare time. Snik pushes people’s buttons, and one day he pushes Brenton too far—implying that Brenton spends all his free time doing homework. Brenton retorts that he doesn’t spend any time doing homework and lets slip that he has invented a homework machine.

Snik calls Brenton a liar, so Brenton invites Snik, Judy, and Kelsey to his house to see for themselves. The group are stunned when Brenton’s machine prints out perfectly completed homework in Brenton’s handwriting. Brenton agrees to let Snik, Judy, and Kelsey join him after school to “do” their homework and even rewrites the software to accommodate their handwriting. The unlikely foursome spends every afternoon together, but they insist that they are not friends and that the only reason they tolerate each other is to use the homework machine, which they name Belch. Judy feels guilty about cheating but enjoys getting A’s and uses the extra time to take up ballet. Kelsey’s vastly improved grades earn her privileges, such as a belly-button piercing, from her mother. As the weeks pass, the D Squad becomes addicted to using Belch and the boundaries between their various social identities begin to blur. Snik shows an interest in “boring” chess, which Brenton plays, and Judy tries to be complimentary about Kelsey’s piercings (while finding them disgusting). Everything seems to be going well. However, things start to rapidly fall apart halfway through the year. Judy and Kelsey’s other friends resent their new associations and “unfriend” them, and their teacher, Miss Rasmussen , suspects that they are cheating.

In addition, a strange man has been stalking the group ever since Brenton designed software to instigate a hugely successful social media-driven “red socks day” that spread across America. Miss Rasmussen springs a surprise test on the class to see whether the D Squad really knows their schoolwork. Sure enough—Kelsey and Snik fail, and Judy gets a C, confirming Miss Rasmussen’s suspicions. Before Miss Rasmussen can report them, Snik’s father, who is in the military, is killed in the Middle East. This tragic event diverts Miss Rasmussen’s attention from the cheating, which seems trivial in comparison. The bond between the D Squad strengthens as the stress of keeping Belch secret increases.

Together they decide to shut Belch down, only to discover that Belch has taken on a life of its own and will not power off. They throw Belch into the Grand Canyon and feel relief as they watch it disappear. However, when backpackers find computer pieces at the bottom of the canyon, the D Squad is called into the sheriff’s office where they confess to everything. The case is closed, but their unlikely friendships continue to strengthen and grow. The stalker turns out to be someone scouting Brenton to offer him a job as an influencer for his company. The company’s clients want to market their products to kids. Brenton simply offers him an idea he would like to influence kids with: “Do your homework” (146).

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THE HOMEWORK MACHINE

by Dan Gutman ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006

When fifth-graders Judy, Sam and Kelsey discover their classmate Brenton Damagatchi’s homework machine, they think they are on to a good thing and begin to visit him regularly after school. Alphabetically seated at the same table, the brilliant Asian-American computer geek, hardworking, high-achieving African-American girl, troubled army brat and ditzy girl with pink hair would seem to have nothing in common. (They would also seem to be stereotypes, but young readers won’t mind.) But they share an aversion to the time-consuming grind of after-school work. Their use of the machine doesn’t lead to learning—as a surprise spring quiz demonstrates—but it does lead to new friendships and new interests. The events of their year are told chronologically in individual depositions to the police. In spite of the numerous voices, the story is easy to follow, and the change in Sam, especially, is clear, as he discovers talents beyond coolness thanks to a new interest in chess. Middle-grade readers may find one part of this story upsettingly realistic and the clearly stated moral not what they had hoped to hear, but the generally humorous approach will make the lesson go down easily. (Fiction. 8-11)

Pub Date: March 1, 2006

ISBN: 0-689-87678-5

Page Count: 160

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2006

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

Share your opinion of this book

More by Dan Gutman

BOOK REVIEW

by Dan Gutman ; illustrated by Allison Steinfeld

by Dan Gutman

DAVID GOES TO SCHOOL

by David Shannon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1999

The poster boy for relentless mischief-makers everywhere, first encountered in No, David! (1998), gives his weary mother a rest by going to school. Naturally, he’s tardy, and that’s but the first in a long string of offenses—“Sit down, David! Keep your hands to yourself! PAY ATTENTION!”—that culminates in an afterschool stint. Children will, of course, recognize every line of the text and every one of David’s moves, and although he doesn’t exhibit the larger- than-life quality that made him a tall-tale anti-hero in his first appearance, his round-headed, gap-toothed enthusiasm is still endearing. For all his disruptive behavior, he shows not a trace of malice, and it’ll be easy for readers to want to encourage his further exploits. (Picture book. 5-7)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-590-48087-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Scholastic

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1999

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by David Shannon ; illustrated by David Shannon

TUCK EVERLASTING

by Natalie Babbitt ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1975

However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...

At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever. 

Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it. 

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975

ISBN: 0312369816

Page Count: 164

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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by Natalie Babbitt

by Valerie Worth & illustrated by Natalie Babbitt

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• Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

The Homework Machine (review)

• Loretta Gaffney
• Johns Hopkins University Press
• Volume 59, Number 7, March 2006
• pp. 312-313
• 10.1353/bcc.2006.0172
• View Citation

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The Homework Machine: Novel Study

This the homework machine: novel study study guide also includes:.

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Do opposites really attract? The D Squad in The Homework Machine  includes of a quad of opposites. The group, made up of a teacher's pet, a geek, a class clown, and a slacker, make use of a machine to do their homework. In response to the story, scholars complete sentences with vocabulary words, answer comprehension questions, and analyze a quote to show what they know.

Additional Tags

Instructional ideas.

• Assign learners to invent and write about a machine to make life easier
• Integrate other subjects with the study of the Colorado River and forest fires

Classroom Considerations

• Includes only a preview of a full novel study
• Requires knowledge of adjectives
• Incorporates literary elements such as personification, alliteration, and simile
• Contains study of a quote from Abraham Lincoln
• Does not provide sample work or answers

Common Core

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The Homework Machine

Buy from other retailers, what's this book about.

DOING HOMEWORK BECOMES A THING OF THE PAST The unlikely foursome made up of a geek, a class clown, a teacher’s pet, and a slacker – Brenton, Sam Snick, Judy and Kelsey, respectively, – are bound together by one very big secret: the homework machine. Because the machine, code named Belch, is doing their homework for them, they start spending a lot of time together, attracting a lot of attention. And attention is exactly what you don’t want when you are keeping a secret. Before long, members of the D Squad, as they are called at school are getting strange Instant Messages from a shady guy named Milner; their teacher, Miss Rasmussen, is calling private meetings with each of them and giving them pop tests that they are failing; and someone has leaked the possibility of a homework machine to the school newspaper. Just when the D Squad thinks things can’t get any more out of control, Belch becomes much more powerful than they ever imagined. Soon the kids are in a race against their own creation, and the loser could end up in jail…or worse!

What Kind of Book is .css-1msjh1x{font-style:italic;} The Homework Machine

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The Creative Behind the Book

Dan Gutman is the New York Times bestselling author of the Genius Files series; the Baseball Card Adventure series, which has sold more than 1.5 million copies around the world; and the My Weird School series, which has sold more than 12 million copies. Thanks to his many fans who voted in their classrooms, Dan has received nineteen state book awards and ninety-two state book award nominations. He lives in New York City with his wife, Nina. You can visit him online at www.dangutman.com.

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Book Details

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The Homework Machine

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Table of Contents

About the book, about the author.

Dan Gutman hated to read when he was a kid. Then he grew up. Now he writes cool books like The Kid Who Ran for President ; Honus & Me ; The Million Dollar Shot ; Race for the Sky ; and The Edison Mystery: Qwerty Stevens, Back in Time . If you want to learn more about Dan or his books, stop by his website at DanGutman.com.

Product Details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (June 26, 2007)
• Length: 176 pages
• ISBN13: 9780689876790
• Grades: 3 - 7
• Ages: 8 - 12
• Fountas & Pinnell™ R These books have been officially leveled by using the F&P Text Level Gradient™ Leveling System

Browse Related Books

• Age 12 and Up
• Children's Fiction > Social Themes > Adolescence & Coming of Age
• Children's Fiction > Social Situations > Adolescence
• Children's Fiction > School & Education
• Children's Fiction > Humorous Stories

Awards and Honors

• ILA/CBC Children's Choices
• Maud Hart Lovelace Award Nominee (MN)
• Booklist Editors' Choice
• South Carolina Picture Book Award Nominee
• Iowa Children's Choice Award Nominee
• Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee (IN)
• Indian Paintbrush Book Award Nominee (WY)
• Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best
• Nutmeg Book Award Nominee (CT)
• Colorado Children's Book Award Master List
• Child Magazine's Guide to Top Books, Videos and Software of the Year
• Pacific Northwest Young Reader's Choice Award Master List
• Volunteer State Book Award Nominee (TN)
• Virginia Readers' Choice Award List
• Prairie Pasque Award Nominee (SD)
• Land of Enchantment RoadRunner Award Nominee (NM)
• Nene Award Nominee (HI)
• Sunshine State Young Readers' Award List (FL)
• Massachusetts Children's Book Award Nominee
• Golden Sower Award (NE)
• Sasquatch Book Award Nominee (WA)

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The Homework Machine

Also Available From:

ON SALE: March 1st 2006

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers

PAGE COUNT: 160

What's Inside

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The Homework Machine

Starting with a stern statement from the Grand Canyon, Arizona Police Chief Rebecca Fish, meet four fifth graders in big trouble. There's long-haired, rebellious, cool guy Sam Dawkins; fun-loving, unacademic, pink-haired Kelsey Donnelly, African American grind Judy Douglas, and friendless genius Brenton Damagatchi. The whole thing starts because Sam is anti-homework, especially the daily fill in-the-blank worksheets his first-year teacher Miss Rasmussen hands out. Sam is skeptical when Brenton claims he has programmed his computer to search the web and do all his homework each day, but it’s true. Soon the four seatmates are spending every afternoon in Brenton’s bedroom, printing out their daily assignments on the computer they nickname Belch. It can’t do any harm, right? The chronology and confession of their ill-fated escapade is related entirely through a series of transcripts, narrated by the four contrite kids, their parents, classmates, and Miss Rasmussen.

There are many interesting threads explored in this nimble story: keeping secrets, making friends, being popular, the morality of taking the easy way out, first crushes, the meaning of war, and even the loss of a parent. The setting of the Grand Canyon and sub-themes about playing chess, starting fads, and using a catapult will get kids looking up supporting information in books and on the Internet. Questions readers can think about as they read include: Which of the four main characters is most like or unlike you and why? Which one would or would not be your friend and why?

Reviewed by : JF.

Themes : DEATH. FRIENDSHIP. GRIEF. HUMOR.

Also Available From:

CRITICS HAVE SAID

• “A dramatic and thought-provoking story with a strong message about honesty and friendship.” – Elaine E. Knight, School Library Journal
• “Booktalkers will find this a natural, particularly for those hard-to-tempt readers whose preferred method of computer disposal involves a catapult and the Grand Canyon.” – Carolyn Phelan, Booklist
• “Tucked in between the laughs are excellent messages about tolerance, honesty, and the importance of what the students’ teacher calls the “homework machine [that] already exists. It’s called your brain.” – Child Magazine
• “Short chapters of alternating voices tell the story, which is funny in some places, but is not without intense and sometimes sad moments.” – Susie Wilde, Children

IF YOU LOVE THIS BOOK, THEN TRY:

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• Clements, Andrew. Frindle. Simon & Schuster, 1996. ISBN-13: 9780689818769
• Clements, Andrew. Lunch Money. Simon & Schuster, 2005. ISBN-13: 9780689866852
• Clements, Andrew. No Talking. Simon & Schuster, 2007. ISBN-13: 9781416909835
• Codell, Esm Raji. Sahara Special. Hyperion, 2003. ISBN-13: 9780786816118
• Fletcher, Ralph. Flying Solo. Clarion, 1998. ISBN-13: 9780395873236
• Gutman, Dan. The Get Rich Quick Club. HarperCollins, 2004. ISBN-13: 9780060534424
• Gutman, Dan. The Kid Who Ran for President. Scholastic, 1996. ISBN-13: 9780590939881
• Gutman, Dan. Qwerty Stevens Back in Time: The Edison Mystery. Simon & Schuster, 2001. ISBN-13: 9780590939881
• Park, Barbara. Maxie, Rosie, and Earl—Partners in Grime. Knopf, 1990. ISBN-13: 9780679806431
• Pearsall, Shelley. All of the Above. Little, Brown, 2006. ISBN-13: 9780316115261
• Rocklin, Joanne. For Your Eyes Only! Scholastic, 1997. ISBN-13: 9780142003220
• Sachar, Louis. Sideways Stories from Wayside School. Morrow, 1978. ISBN-13: 9780380698714

• Minimize conflict over homework
• Families and youth
• Success in school
• Supporting learning

Homework is a powerful tool that can contribute to the advancement of your child’s education. But homework can also create tension at home. Children need structure and routine. At home and at school, children do their best and feel responsible for their own behavior when structure is implemented.

Why tension rises

Sometimes when you get involved in your child’s education, tension rises. You want the best for your child’s future, and your child may experience that desire as pressure to succeed. Homework is a challenging factor influenced by students’ learning styles, preferences, and motivation. These are some of the reasons why parents and caregivers need to accommodate individual needs and preferences with the desired outcome being success at school.

To reduce homework tension, help children to schedule their time, set aside a place and find their personal homework style. Remember: your child needs guidance and support, as well as leadership, to feel more competent and in control.

How to create structure

One way to help your child’s learning is by structuring your child’s environment to support the learning process that starts at school and continues at home. Structure is implemented when students have clear and consistent rules and know what is expected of them.

Here are some tips for parents and caregivers to help children make the most of their study time.

• Set a regular time. Finding a regular time helps children finish assignments. The best schedule is one that works for your child and your family. What works well in one household may not work well in another. The biggest challenge might be sitting down and getting started. Work with your elementary child to develop a schedule. An older child should be able to make up a schedule on their own, although you’ll want to make sure it is workable. It may help to write out the schedule and post it in a place where it’s easy to see.
• Set aside a place. Kids study better if they have a certain place where they can work. It doesn’t have to be set aside only for studying — it can be the kitchen table or the child’s room — but it should be the same place every night. Pick a place that has lots of light, supplies close by, and is quiet. Be open to discussing your child’s preferences, but remember that they need guidance.
• Provide adequate supplies and keep them where they are easily found. Nothing wastes time like a search for a pencil or paper. Ask your children to write down what they need. Keep supplies such as pencils, pens, writing paper, stapler and assignment books together in one place. If you can’t provide your child with needed supplies, it’s okay to check with the teacher or school social worker.
• Find alternatives to a personal computer. If you don’t have a computer available in order for your child to complete a homework assignment, check with the teacher. Many schools have computers and printers in the classroom. Some schools have after-school programs where your child can use the computers. Many public libraries and community centers make computers available.
• Eliminate distractions. Some homes are naturally noisy. To the extent that you can, create a quiet space. Turn off the television and discourage phone calls or visits during study time. If you live in a smaller noisy household, try having all family members take part in a quiet activity during homework time. Remember there are individual preferences as well; discuss with your child if background noise like quiet music would help to complete homework in a pleasant and efficient manner.
• Help your child to find their own working style. Some people like to tackle one project at a time. Other people like to go back and forth between projects. Some like to take notes and draft graphs while others prefer to write plain and simple.
• Try to promote the use of organizational tools. Ask them to write down their to-do lists, to use an online calendar or school agenda or even a small dry-erase board. This will help them focus. It will also give them a sense of accomplishment when they cross something off a list.

Remember, the goal is to provide quality parental support and structure, reduce tension, and complete homework.

Hong, E., & Milgram, R. M. (2004). Homework: Motivation and learning preference . Greenwood Publishing Group.

Katz, I., Kaplan, A., & Buzukashvily, T. (2011). The role of parents' motivation in students' autonomous motivation for doing homework. Learning and Individual Differences , 21 (4), 376-386.

Solomon, Y.,Warin, J., & Lewis, C. (2002). Helping with homework? Homework as a site of tension for parents and teenagers. British educational research journal , 28 (4), 603-622.

Author: Kevin Fenton

Reviewer: Silvia Alvarez de Davila , Extension educator

Reviewed in 2015

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The Homework Machine Quotes

FreeBookNotes found 7 important quotes from 2 key chapters of The Homework Machine by Dan Gutman.

For your reference, we provided these The Homework Machine quotes with page numbers using the following version of the book: The Homework Machine , Simon and Schuster, 2009 (176 pages) .

To view 2 Book Reviews for this book, visit our The Homework Machine  - Summary and Analysis page.

Chapter 1 Quotes

It's interesting how things happen sometimes. If I line up ten dominoes and I push over the first one, the others will fall one by one. But if I leave the first one alone, the other dominoes remain standing. Life is like that. The way your life plays out depends on which dominoes you choose to push over and which ones you leave alone. In this case, we pushed over the wrong domino. Chapter 1, Page 6

I feel that a person can change himself or herself no more than a giraffe can decide it doesn't like having a long neck. It would be easy enough to buy the latest clothes and watch the hot new TV shows and surround myself with cool things. Chapter 1, Page 11

If everybody was cool, everybody would be the same. Nobody would be cooler than anyone else. There would be nobody to make fun of. So I suppose I serve a purpose, in a weird way. Chapter 1, Page 11

Abraham Lincoln once said "That is cool"? It's true. I looked it up. He said it in his famous Cooper Union speech. Google it if you don't believe me. Chapter 1, Page 11

Judy: stuck-up. Kelsey: a loser. Brenton: mutant dork from another planet. I was the only cool one. Chapter 1, Page 15

Chapter 2 Quotes

to print the answers in a typeface that looked like my own handwriting. Chapter 2, Page 43

Suddenly I realized that for all his dorkiness, Brenton was the kind of kid I really want to hang out with. Chapter 2, Page 44

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The United States and other Western governments have said repeatedly that the Islamic State — which itself has issued two claims of responsibility — was behind the assault. U.S. security officials named a specific branch of the organization, the Islamic State in Khorasan. Plus Washington warned Russia both publicly and privately on March 7 about the threat of an attack on an unspecified concert venue.

But on Friday evening, gunmen infiltrated the Crocus City Hall and opened fire, killing 139 people and injuring many others.

“It was classic for Putin to discount the warnings,” said Fiona Hill, the former senior director for European and Russian affairs at the National Security Council. “The security services don’t have the bandwidth. They never have because they’re so focused on internal repression, and so focused on Kyiv, and they want everything to fit that narrative.”

Accepting publicly that Islamic militants alone were responsible for the worst terrorist attack in Russia in two decades might also dilute the Kremlin’s message that Russians need to unify around the war with Ukraine, Ms. Hill said. “You are having a big existential battle with the West, so you cannot divert attention away from it.”

When it comes to managing crises, disinformation has been a favorite tool of Mr. Putin’s Kremlin, and outside players like the United States are often the villain of choice. Examples stretch all the way back to the terrorist attack on a school in Beslan , Russia in 2004, that left more than 330 people dead, most of them children.

Moscow has arrested eight people in connection with the concert hall assault, most of them from Tajikistan, the Central Asian nation whose citizens hold prominent positions in the Islamic State. The group has maintained its threats against Russian and other European targets, even after the collapse of its caliphate in Syria and Iraq by 2019.

Mr. Putin expressed surprise on Monday that Muslim extremists would attack Russia given that, he said, it “stands for a fair solution to the escalating Middle East conflict.”

Yet Russia has been in the cross hairs of Sunni Muslim extremists, particularly the Islamic State, since 2015, when it deployed its air force in Syria to shore up the brutal rule of President Bashar al-Assad, often striking civilians. Syria was fighting an ISIS insurgency, among other factions, with the backing of its close ally, the Shiite Muslim regime in Iran. Russia continues bombing ISIS targets there to this day.

Mr. Putin “is ignoring the fact that they have bombed places like Aleppo into oblivion,” said Ms. Hill. “Russia is suffering from the same targeting as any other Western country from the point of view of ISIS and Islamic-inspired terrorist organizations.”

Russia has frequently blamed the United States for the rise of ISIS, which emerged after the American-led invasion of Iraq that toppled the government of President Saddam Hussein. Jihadist groups filled the resulting power vacuum and seized significant territory, and were dislodged only after a yearslong war.

The claims on Tuesday from Mr. Bortnikov, the Federal Security Service director, were broadly in line with Mr. Putin’s earlier contentions, and they reflect Moscow’s growing determination to muster its political and media resources against what it depicts as Russia’s main enemies at the moment: Ukraine and its Western backers.

Asked whether Russia saw American, British and Ukrainian roles in the attack, Mr. Bortnikov said, “We believe that’s the case,” the state news agency Tass reported.

“Overall, we believe that they were involved in this,” Mr. Bortnikov told journalists, referring to Ukraine. He said that his accusations were still based on preliminary information.

Other senior officials, including Maria V. Zakharova, the spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, began within hours of the attack to cast suspicion on Ukraine and undercut any other account of what happened at the concert hall. After the United States linked the attack to ISIS, and said there was no indication of Ukrainian involvement, Ms. Zakharova said that American officials had “no right to absolve anyone,” and hinted that Washington somehow had inside information.

So far, the Russian government has not produced any evidence that the men arrested after the attack had any links to Ukraine. The Kremlin has tried to build its case that Kyiv was involved around the fact that the four men described as the main suspects were detained hours after the attack on a highway leading toward Ukraine.

President Alexander Lukashenko of neighboring Belarus, a close ally of Mr. Putin’s, seemed to cast doubt on that scenario. His nation had sealed its borders — the nearest to Moscow — after the attack, at the request of Mr. Putin, he said on Tuesday. Given the heightened security measures, the men “went toward the Ukrainian-Russian section of the border,” Mr. Lukashenko said, according to the state-run news agency Belta.

The Ukrainian government has denied any involvement in the assault. Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior Ukrainian presidential aide, called Mr. Bortnikov’s statements “lies,” and in a post on social media, said, “This is now chronic.”

For almost a day after the attack, Mr. Putin remained silent. Only three days later did he describe it as having been carried out by “radical Islamists” — and even then he insisted that Ukraine may have had a role.

The Kremlin is often at a loss for how to address such crises, analysts noted, and needs time to figure out how they can be used to advance its aims. The message that eventually emerges is often meant more for the domestic audience than the international one, to distract Russians from casting blame on their government.

Independent voices abroad were not buying it this week, but their reach inside Russia is limited. Many critics noted, for example, that the Russian government had been busy labeling gay rights organizations as “extremist,” while failing to find the real extremists right under its nose.

Russia’s security forces can “see rainbow earrings a kilometer away, but not a car with heavily armed terrorists,” wrote Leonid Volkov, a senior figure in the opposition organization of Aleksei A. Navalny , who died in a Russian prison last month.

There is a pattern to the claims, analysts note.

In 2004, during the attack on the Beslan school, the Kremlin first denied that the attackers were Chechens retaliating against Russia for the war in their region, where Moscow had been using scorched-earth tactics against Islamist separatists. Russia instead pointed a finger at neighboring Georgia, accusing it of harboring terrorists.

The same playbook seems to be in use now, and not just in Kremlin statements. Russia’s broader disinformation machine has also cranked into full gear, spreading baseless accusations and conspiracy theories in state-controlled media and online.

The social media accounts of Russian embassies have been “fairly conspiratorial,” said Bret Schafer, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund who studies information manipulation, “kind of en masse pushing out content that is effectively saying this wasn’t ISIS, or if it was ISIS, it was ISIS under the loose — or in some cases more explicit — direction of Washington and Ukrainian intelligence.”

Most Russian propaganda since the full invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022 has sounded a similar theme: that Russia was forced into the war because the West was using Kyiv as a stalking horse to undermine Russia.

“I think we’ve moved to a period where the West and Ukraine are behind all the nefarious actions in Russia,” said Prof. Edward Lemon of Texas A&M University, who specializes in authoritarian governments across Central Asia. “There cannot be a bad action now without the hidden hand of Ukraine and its Western puppet masters.”

Tiffany Hsu and Steven Lee Myers contributed reporting.

Neil MacFarquhar has been a Times reporter since 1995, writing about a range of topics from war to politics to the arts, both internationally and in the United States. More about Neil MacFarquhar

Ivan Nechepurenko covers Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the countries of the Caucasus, and Central Asia. He is based in Moscow. More about Ivan Nechepurenko

Our Coverage of the War in Ukraine

News and Analysis

Ahead of the U.S. elections, Russia is intensifying efforts to elevate candidates  who oppose aid for Ukraine and support isolationism, disinformation experts say.

President Vladimir Putin said that claims Russia planned to invade other countries were “nonsense,” but warned them against hosting  warplanes meant for Ukraine.

A large-scale Russian missile and drone attack damaged power plants  and caused blackouts for more than a million Ukrainians in what Ukrainian officials said was one of the war’s largest assaults on energy infrastructure.

Symbolism or Strategy?: Ukrainians say that defending places with little strategic value is worth the cost in casualties and weapons , because the attacking Russians pay an even higher price. American officials aren’t so sure.

Elaborate Tales: As the Ukraine war grinds on, the Kremlin has created increasingly complex fabrications online  to discredit Ukraine’s leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, and undermine the country’s support in the West.

Targeting Russia’s Oil Industry: With its army short of ammunition and troops to break the deadlock on the battlefield, Kyiv has increasingly taken the fight beyond the Ukrainian border, attacking oil infrastructure deep in Russian territory .

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