Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom Thematic Discussion Questions Love o What is love? How do you define it? o Are there different kinds or types of love? If so, what are they, and how do you differentiate between them? o Are humans capable of loving unconditionally? Friendship o What are some good “rules” of friendship? o Does age factor into a friendship? Explain why or why not. o What elevates someone to “best friend” status? Family o How do you define “family”? o What is the “perfect” family? Explain your answer. o What is the best thing about your family? What is the worst thing about your family? Aging o What is the best thing about aging? What is the worst thing about aging? o Why does society seem to have such a fixation on remaining young? o Does wisdom come with age or experience? Explain your answer. Forgiveness o What do you believe about forgiveness? o Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? “Forgive and forget.” Explain your answer. o Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? “Forgive yourself before you die. Then forgive others.” Explain your answer. Death o Do you fear death or dying? Explain why or why not. o What do you think happens when you die? o Have you ever had to deal with death? If so, how did you handle the situation? Grief o How and when do you grieve? Acceptance o What is acceptance? Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom What a Character! Literary Terms to Know Define the following literary terms. 1. antagonist __________________________________________ 2. character __________________________________________ 3. characterization __________________________________________ __________________________________________ 4. protagonist __________________________________________ Characters to Know Write a brief description about each of the following characters. 1. Al Axelrad __________________________________________ 2. Charlie __________________________________________ 3. Charlotte __________________________________________ 4. Connie __________________________________________ 5. David __________________________________________ 6. Eva __________________________________________ 7. Janine __________________________________________ 8. Lou Gehrig __________________________________________ 9. Maurie Stein __________________________________________ 10. Mitch Albom __________________________________________ __________________________________________ 11. Morrie Schwartz __________________________________________ __________________________________________ 12. Peter __________________________________________ 13. Rob and Jon __________________________________________ 14. Steven Hawking __________________________________________ 15. Ted Koppel __________________________________________ 16. Ted Turner __________________________________________ Skills Practice Using complete sentences, respond to the following prompts. Be sure your response contains part of the prompt. 1. Find an example of direct characterization. Write the text in the space provided. Identify the character it describes. _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 2. Find an example of indirect characterization. Write the text (or part of the text) in the space provided. Explain how you interpret the author’s characterization. _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 3. Select one of the characters listed above. Identify the motivation behind his/her actions. _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom The Curriculum—The Syllabus Vocabulary Define the following terms. 1. amyotrophic lateral sclerosis _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 2. demise _____________________________________________________________ 3. inexplicably _____________________________________________________________ 4. sociology _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 5. syllabus _____________________________________________________________ 6. theology _____________________________________________________________ Study Questions Using complete sentences, respond to the following prompts. Be sure your response contains part of the prompt. (Note: You may be able to answer multiple parts of the prompt in a single sentence.) 1. a) Where does Mitch Albom’s last class with Morrie Schwartz take place? b) When do they meet, and what is the subject they study? _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 2. Identify at least three of the topics Mitch and Morrie cover. _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 3. a) Identify Morrie’s fatal illness. b) Give the date of diagnosis and the prognosis. c) For what famous person is the disease named? _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 4. a) What is the first “loss” Morrie experiences to the disease? b) How do you think this affects him emotionally? Provide direct textual evidence to support your answer. _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 5. Identify at least two examples of the following rhetorical devices: simile, metaphor, personification, or rhetorical question. Then, explain why the author chose to use each example in such a manner. _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom The Student—The Orientation Vocabulary Define the following terms. 1. aphorisms _____________________________________________________________ 2. deferment _____________________________________________________________ 3. gaunt _____________________________________________________________ 4. insatiable _____________________________________________________________ 5. insidious _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 6. narcissist _____________________________________________________________ 7. philosophies _____________________________________________________________ Study Questions Using complete sentences, respond to the following prompts. Be sure your response contains part of the prompt. (Note: You may be able to answer multiple parts of the prompt in a single sentence.) 1. a) How does Mitch’s life change after his uncle dies? b) Why do you think he makes these changes? _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 2. Describe Morrie’s physical and mental condition the first time Ted Koppel interviews him. _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 3. a) Quote one of Morrie’s aphorisms. b) Explain what you think it means. _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 4. During Koppel’s interview, how does Morrie explain his philosophy about living with a terminal illness? _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 5. Compare and contrast Morrie Schwartz to Mitch Albom (the sports writer). _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom I Need a Change of Pace Literary Terms to Know Define the following literary terms. 1. flashback __________________________________________ 2. pacing __________________________________________ 3. periodic sentence __________________________________________ __________________________________________ 4. style __________________________________________ 5. syntax __________________________________________ Skills Practice Using complete sentences, respond to the following prompts. Be sure your response contains part of the prompt. 1. The following is an example of a periodic sentence on page fifteen. “My favorite uncle, my mother’s brother, the man who taught me music, taught me to drive, teased me about girls, thrown me a football—that one adult whom I targeted as a child and said, ‘That’s who I want to be when I grow up’—died of pancreatic cancer at the age of forty-four.” Explain the significance of the author’s decision to use this type of sentence at this point in the story. _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 2. Pages fifteen and sixteen supply the reader with examples of distinctive shifts by the author in sentence length and complexity, subsets of style. Identify at least one of these examples by writing the text (or part of the text) in the space provided. What purpose did the author have for adjusting his style at this point in the story? _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 3. Reread the two flashbacks in this section (pages fourteen through thirty- one). Why did the author include them? _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 4. Identify at least one use (there are several) of an em dash (—) in this section (pages fourteen through thirty-one). Write the text (or part of the text) in the space provided. What purpose did the author have for including it? _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________