Posted: September 16th, 2016

In Bonnie Smith-Yackel’s “My Mother Never Worked,” what is her main idea and support

1. In Junot Diaz’ “The Money,” do you think Diaz feels more angry at the “morons” or at himself? Does he also feel frustration? Disappointment? If so, with whom and for what?

2. In Alan Dean Foster’s “Living with Fire,” Foster writes about the experiences of confronting the “iimmediacy of destruction.” Describe what his experience was and then reflect, have you ever had an experience of this kind? Even if you have not witnessed disaster or tragedy on a grand scale, have you ever confronted a scene or situation that “switched the channel” in your life? If so, how did you respond? Did you learn anything from the experience? What was the switch for Foster?

3. In Bonnie Smith-Yackel’s “My Mother Never Worked,” what is her main idea and support? Do you believe that a homemaker who has never been a wage earner should be entitled to a Social Security death benefit for her survivors? Explain your reasoning.

4. In Martin Gansberg’s “Thirty-Eight Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police,” what was the situation? If you were in this or a similar situation, what would you have done? Called the police? Gone outside to help? What factors might influence your decision?

5. In George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant,” do you think Orwell is a coward? Why or why not? Do you think he’s a racist? Explain your answers.

6. In Sherman Alexie’s “Indian Education (Fiction),” what does the “Postscript: Class Reunion” tell readers about Indian education? Is this information consistent with what we have learned inthe rest of the story, or does it come as a surprise? Explain.